Editorial Reviews for Nominees
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 Score: 95+/100 (9.5+ out of 10)
Academy Bound is a tense, emotionally-charged, and thrilling science-fiction novel by J.C. Mastro! It is also a brilliant audiobook narrated by Fred Berman! Eight years ago, a fierce and bloody war was fought between two powerful interstellar forces, the Earth System Alliance (AKA “The Alliance”) and the Independent Colony Worlds (ICW). In the midst of this, an Alliance commander named Kari Aurelian and her crew (including a younger Lt. Commander Briggs) undertook a perilous mission to steal ICW plans. This snowballed into a desperate attempt to destroy the ICW capital ship, the Invictus. In the chaos of the ensuing battle, Kari Aurelian went MIA with some believing her to have been a traitor and others a hero. A ceasefire and peace treaty was signed soon after, effectively putting a halt to the war. But what happened to Kari Aurelian and where did her true allegiances lie? Idolizing his mother and believing her to have been a hero and possibly still alive, Zach Aurelian dreams of following in her footsteps to become a commander for the Alliance Fleet. He trains every day via virtual reality simulations (games) and works toward entering the Earth System Alliance Fleet Academy against his father's wishes. The heartbreak over his father's resistance is only the beginning of his trials and tribulations as he finds himself heavily opposed by the academy's headmaster, Commandant Trask, who was demoted from rear-admiral after what happened with Zach's mother eight years ago. Trask seeks every opportunity to trip up, penalize, and expel Zach, making him one of the primary antagonists of the book alongside the ICW. Zach also suffers from an anxiety disorder, likely caused by the loss of his mother, which causes him to overthink, hesitate, and become indecisive, something which Trask preys on. He is also bullied and antagonized by another cadet named James, who serves as his rival. And, to top it all off, we also learn that the academy is insanely competitive with many cadets failing to make it past the first year! The cadets endure multiple trials and tests, each of which could lead to their failure or expulsion. They must watch what they say, do, and even drink. The oppressive, prison-like atmosphere is ever-apparent. This is an immensely personal story, which the first-person perspective perfectly facilitates. Thankfully, Zach isn't alone. This book is full of colorful, deep, and interesting characters. There's Lt. Commander Briggs, Zach's mentor who knew his mother and was a friend of the family. Briggs is one of the coolest characters in the book. He's a badass, a hard ass, but he's also fair, especially in comparison to Trask. You can tell that even when he challenges and is hard on Zach, he's only doing it to teach and guide him. It's just tough love. Briggs also has an aura of mystery surrounding him, especially since he's one of the few people who knows what happened eight years ago. He kinda reminded us of Gill from Finding Nemo or Martin from The Oasis King by Mark David Pullen. He's just a really cool, calm, and collected character. Next, there's Russell White (usually just called “Russ”), Zach's nerdy best friend who specializes in engineering, something which becomes crucial in the later sections. Russ truly shines in later sections of the book, but is greatly overshadowed by others like Sam and Briggs throughout most of it. At the very least, he comes across as a truly good and loyal friend. He shares a great friendship phrase with Zach: “Never leave your wingman.” He also has a somewhat sympathetic side-story in which he tried to make the academy's prestigious hoverball team in order to branch out from his social awkwardness and impress girls, however, was gravely disappointed. Anyone who has failed to make a sports team (or was cut) can empathize. Next, there's Joel Nero, who we're often told is one of Zach's closest friends (probably after Russ and maybe Samantha). He is Zach's bunk mate and their parents apparently served together years ago. Really, the key time when Joel comes across as a great friend is when he realizes that him asking Samantha out might have hurt Zach. This really shows what a kind and considerate friend Joel is. He's one of those friends you'd love to keep around. There's also the aforementioned bully/rival, James. James is kinda the Draco Malfoy of this book. Of all the characters, except for maybe Zach himself, James is probably the one who develops the most. When we first meet him, he's an absolute jerk. Over time, we actually realize that a lot of his jerkish attitude and behavior is inspired and encouraged by his terrible father, a major donor to the academy, and his “perfect brother.” As we learn more and more about James, James's father, and his brother (Chad), it's hard not to sympathize with James. It's also special to see his relationship with Zach grow and even blossom. They go from being rivals who can't stand the sight of each other to being teammates and eventually friends. It's one of the highlights of the book. Speaking of highlights of the book, we now come to probably everyone's favorite character: Samantha Harriman (often just called Sam)! Sam is awesome. We could end it there, but let's dive deeper. First and foremost, Sam is a very likable and charismatic character. She is kind and caring, friendly, fair, empathetic, intelligent, and passionate. However, she's not a Mary Sue. There are times when she panics. There are times when she's frazzled. There are times when she doesn't get what she wants or things don't go according to plan for her. Sam is the main love interest of Zach throughout the book, though not the only one. She is also one of his very best friends. She seems to know Zach better than he knows himself, even saying things like “I know you” and “I know you better than that.” Unlike some of the other characters, she is sensitive and attentive enough to recognize when Zach is feeling a certain way or thinking a certain thing. There are many key moments in this book when Zach is immensely crushed, disheartened, and disappointed, and Sam is there to let him know that she recognizes and understands how he feels. She is also capable of being a tough loving sisterly figure, like when she gets Zach to straighten up rather than being a hindrance to the group by being selfish and negative. You can tell that Zach and Sam truly love each other, though it's iffy whether their love is romantic or just a very powerful friendship. There are a few other things about Sam that reveal more to an attentive audience. For example, when Sam is chosen as commanding officer of Crew 8 (the “Crazy 8”) over Zach, the audience immediately feels as disappointed as Zach. That's because we know how much being the commanding officer meant to Zach and how hard he worked for it. However, there are some subtle hints that being the commanding officer meant a lot to Sam too, however, her dreams and ambitions weren't force-fed to us like Zach's were. For example, during the school field-trip to the Dreadnought, Sam fan-girls over Captain Christina Alonso-Jarin, the female captain of the pride ship of the whole fleet. Why would she react with so much awe and admiration for this particular person? Well, the answer is simple: it's because she aspired to be in that role—to be a female captain. That point gets further hinted at when we learn that Samantha's father is actually the captain of a private ship, which plays a role in the teaser for book 2. Lastly, there's Brianna, the other love interest of the book. This creates a bit of a love triangle in the book, though not an annoying one that dominates it and distracts from the cooler stuff happening. Brianna holds a great attraction to Zach, something which actually seems to annoy and scare him away. However, Brianna is a good person. She's not a snob or someone out to use Zach. So, in effect, we're actually left with two suitable choices for Zach: his good friend (Sam) and this good girl who genuinely likes him. Now, let's be honest, almost no one wanted Zach to end up with Brianna simply because Sam was such a great character and option. Sam is just too cool. She outshines Brianna in almost every way. However, something happened near the end of this book that really changed our minds about Brianna. We went from being annoyed with her to really feeling for her, similar to what happened with James. Brianna actually develops into an interesting and sympathetic character by the end of this book. She actually brought us to tears at one point! No, she doesn't die (that would be cheap), but something happens that really elevates her in our hearts and minds. This book gets very tense and emotional at times. There are moments in this book that made us want to shout and made us want to cry. With that said, there are also moments in this book when the action and the narrative kinda hit a wall. A lot of the action and tension in this book actually isn't real, it's actually a simulation (virtual reality). For example, there are description of space battles, a collision with an asteroid, and other cool stuff, but none of it is actually happening, robbing these scenes of some of the immersion. With that said, however, these scenes aren't absent of weight or stakes, just less so than if they were real. For example, the simulation test has A LOT of stakes, albeit not life or death. The narrative makes it clear that any screw up or failure can get Zach and the Crazy 8 crew kicked out of school. To quote Hermione Granger from Harry Potter: “We could all have been killed — or worse, expelled." Some fates are worse than death. This book really makes it seem like being expelled is the worst thing that could happen to a cadet. They might as well be put on an ice shelf and left to die for being a complete and utter disgrace to society. It's also kinda cool that the plot and conflicts of this book are built methodically and subtly. For example, we get a news report about a super weapon (a teleporter/wormhole machine) that may have been stolen by the ICW. Nothing is really made of it at the time, especially since that conflict seems to be in the background. We also learn a lot about Briggs and Zach's mom. More and more information is revealed to us over time. There are also subtle hints and foreshadowing like the way that other officers and people react to hearing Zach's last name. We also love and admire that Zach isn't the only person who has a major story and not the only character who has wishes, dreams, desires, motivations, feelings, and emotions. Every character in this story seems to have a story of their own. Every character in this story seems like an actual, living individual. Even minor characters like Captain Christina Alonso-Jarin seem like real people. For example, Captain Christina Alonso-Jarin comes across as a rebel with pink lipgloss and her hair not perfectly in a bun. Like we said, James has a story that we weren't privy to earlier in the book (involving his dad and brother). Samantha has a story regarding her dad being a ship captain and a desire to be like Captain Alonso-Jarin. Russ has a story regarding his desire to be more than a nerdy kid, wanting to become an athlete (hoverball player) and desirable to women. Zach's dad is a deep and emotional character who clearly loves his son and is protective of him. At the same time, he's also someone who wants to move on with his life and find greener pastures. He has endured tragedy after tragedy, trauma after trauma. You can hear it in the voice of the audiobook narrator. In fact, his parts are some of the best and most powerful parts of the audiobook. We could go on and on. Heck, even Giles the PAI (personal artificial intelligence), has an arc in which he becomes increasingly respected and useful throughout the book. You could make a similar argument for Quark, Russ's PAI. That's something we respect. Now let's briefly talk about Zach, the main character himself. There are times Zach annoyed and angered us. There are also times when Zach inspired and compelled us. He's a dynamic character, which is great. He starts this book as incredibly self-centered and selfish. For example, when his dad expresses wanting to meet a new girlfriend and start a new life, Zach becomes incredibly angry and upset, largely because he's protective of his mom's memory (and the hope of her return) and partly that he's immature and selfish. He can't bear to see his dad happy if he's not happy. He can't bear to see his dad happy without him or his mom. That really highlights his immaturity early in the book. He becomes jealous and angry when he learns that Joel asked Samantha to the end of the year dance, even after being asked by Brianna and agreeing to go with her. Although we can somewhat sympathize with the way he feels, it's also rather jerkish and selfish. We've known people in school who wouldn't “allow” schoolmates to date certain people, as if they're entitled to them or have marked their territory. Zach also becomes jealous when Samantha is chosen as squad commander/commanding officer over him, even though Sam has always supported and been kind to him. Zach behaves rather reprehensibly and selfishly. On that note, he almost completely ignores the sadness and disappointment that his best friend Russ feels upon not making hoveball team because of not being chosen to command. That's also admittedly a funny scene because it interrupts the final announcement in a humorously anticlimactic way. What else did we like? Well, there was a lot of tension in scenes like when Zach had to meet with Commandant Trask and Lt. Commander Briggs in the span of about 1-2 hours, both of these men offering to provide devastating news to Zach. The final action scene was truly tense, incredible, and even emotional. Scratch that, it was VERY emotional. We also loved descriptions like the one about the asteroid field and how it interacted with the sunlight. The world-building was pretty cool. Characters often say “hack” instead of another curse word. There's a real sense of wonder and adventure. So, how is the audiobook? It's awesome. Heck, it may even be better than the paperback! The audiobook is narrated by Fred Berman. Berman did a really admirable job, especially at portraying so many different, unique characters! He really nails Brigg's strong, bold, authoritative, cool voice. He also nails Giles's posh butler voice and Quark's robotic voice. Some of the other characters sound a little stock and stereotypical, but they're good too. James sounds like a brooding, dopey, finger-pointing bully. You can almost imagine him saying, “Ha-HA!” like Nelson from The Simpsons. Russ kinda sounds like a stereotypical, glasses-wearing geek who desperately needs an inhaler. Joel sounds like Billy & Ted at times, like some surfer dude. Trask's voice is both awesome and hilarious. We have notes about him sounding like a “pissed off pirate” sometimes and like Tywin Lannister (from Game of Thrones) at other times. Many of the instructors have posh, British accents. Captain Christina Alonso-Jarin has a Spanish accent and is actually the best-sounding female voice that Berman does. Speaking of female voices... that's something that didn't always jive with us. Some of Berman's female voices are hilarious and comical, though you can't fault the guy for trying. It wasn't for a lack of effort. What's kinda funny is that Sam is supposed to sound like a strong, independent, yet caring girl. However, she often sounds like KrimsonRogue voicing Empress Theresa. But she's not the worst one. The worst one is far and away Brianna. Brianna almost sounds like a cross between a valley girl and a snobbish high school cheerleader. That might work if she were actually intended to be a flakey, snobbish character, but 1. She's not flakey or snobbish, 2. We're reminded time and time again how kind and good of a person she is. So, why does Brianna sound like this? Well, because Berman was trying his best to imitate what a young adult girl might sound like, just with a lot more testosterone and bass. Now, while that's kinda funny, it actually didn't really detract from the entertainment of the audiobook. Again, Sam still came across as an awesome character despite sounding like a middle-aged dude trying to sound young and feminine. Also, it's actually really fun to hear the voices of Sam and Brianna clash with some of the others like James, Joel, Russ, and Zach. Speaking of Zach, his voice is almost perfect. Rather than sounding like a young, weak, timid, and whiny teenager, he sounds like a young, aspiring, strong, and bright male. Berman is actually great at making Zach portray a range of emotions from anxiety, fear, apprehension, ambition, jealousy, and—perhaps best of all—sadness. Zach is growing throughout the book. Like we said, he begins the book being very immature, very insecure, and very jealous. However, he progressively becomes more mature, more confident, and less jealous. He also becomes much more empathetic. There's a scene in which Zach has been bombarded by two heartbreaking, nerve-wrecking moments, then finds that James is having a hard time of his own. Rather than making it all about him and his problems (like he used to), Zach shows empathy to James, his old rival. This is an excellent book! Check it out on Amazon!
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 Score: 94/100 (9.4 out of 10)
Interview with Death is a thought-provoking, entertaining, and—at times—emotional supernatural novel by V.K. Pasanen! The audiobook is brilliantly narrated by Jimmy Moreland. The book follows Nathan Miller, a journalist (war correspondent) and best-selling author who is famous for his controversial documentary series (“Barrets”) and his books about his experiences in war-torn nations. After surviving numerous near-death experiences including an ambush by Middle East insurgents that kills multiple U.S. soldiers, Nathan is given the nickname, “Indestructible Nathan Miller.” This ironic and somewhat erroneous nickname haunts him, especially since he knows that a lot of the drama and violence he documents is actually manufactured and partially-controlled by his unscrupulous employer, General Cornelius Adamson, who uses it for propaganda purposes and to get him promotions. Adamson is described as being like a “slow acting cobra” who gradually gains Nathan's trust only to betray him, which actually foreshadows and sets a precedence for another major relationship in Nathan's life. Indeed, Adamson, one of the main villains of book (at least in the mortal plane), eventually uses the violence and supposed heroism of war to get his choice candidate, Ethan Cranston, elected president in a landslide. He then gets President Cranston to promote him the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Caught in the middle of all of this is Nathan, who loses several friends and witnesses profound suffering among those he documents. However, suffering, sorrow, and guilt aren't the only things to follow Nathan. And General Adamson isn't the only one menacing Nathan. Nathan frequently encounters (or briefly glimpses) two enigmatic figures: a man in black who looks like Johnny Cash and a man in white. Nathan assumes that the man in black may be the Grim Reaper or Death based on his appearance before bloodshed, but who is the man in white? And what does he want? One of the most incredible things about this book is how it slowly builds the mystery behind the supernatural aspects of this book. It also uses misdirection and a few red-herrings to make us believe that this book will be about one thing (like a military, journalism, or even romance novel/drama), then becomes something completely different. With that said, the tension slowly builds along with the mystery. What's more? This book isn't afraid to take its time and tantalize you with possible answers. It's some of the best lore and mythos of the contest alongside books like Code Sohrakia by KM Taylor (these two books may be neck-and-neck for “Best Lore”). WARNING: The following may contain spoilers that are necessary for a thorough, in-depth review Anyway, this book has multiple inciting incidents that almost act like the gears of a vehicle shifting, throttling this book into overdrive. The first inciting incident is the aforementioned ambush, which results in the death of a friend. The second incident is the revelation that the military under General Adamson has opted to use a nuke to swiftly end the conflicts in the Middle East, making Adamson a faux hero. The third incident, which is probably the biggest spoiler (SO BE WARNED) is the tragic death of Nathan's wife, Vanessa (a nominee for “Hottest Character” and “Best Supporting Character”), after Nathan allows their relationship to deteriorate with his constant cheating, lying, and drug use. Now let's rewind a little bit. There's a character we meet early on in the book named Gavin, a survivor of genocide in war-torn Yugoslavia. While his introduction is one of the most tragic, compelling, and emotional scenes in the whole book, it progressively becomes clear that Gavin is more than what he initially seems. Gavin befriends and starts working with Nathan in the United States. He introduces Nathan to a drug-like substance (“Dead Blow”) that helps him to take the edge off after experiencing so much trauma and guilt. There are actually two kinds of Dead Blow, blue Light Ethereal (which kinda reminded us of Walter White's meth from “Breaking Bad”) and Dark Ethereal, a stronger version which Gavin calls, “the substance of dreams and imagination.” Gavin clarifies and distinguishes Dead Blow as being different from recreational drugs. It is stronger and out of this world, literally. Gavin also encourages Nathan to live a little, supposedly to destress. This includes drinking alcohol, consuming the addictive Dead Blow substance, partying and eventually sleeping with women out of wedlock. In effect, this leads to Nathan cheating on Vanessa, the wife he once cherished and treasured “like a goddess,” multiple times. It should also be noted that Gavin also introduces Nathan to gambling, which Gavin proves to be very adept at. Gavin is such a lucky gambler that some casinos even ban him. He is known as “He Who Always Wins” As the mystery of Gavin grows and grows to a fever pitch, so does the mystery behind the man in black, the other entity who seems to be stalking Nathan, presumably for his own purposes. Gavin puts himself across as a friendly and inviting figure to Nathan, but the audience progressively realizes that he's actually a terrible, unlikable, and toxic person. WARNING: MORE HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD! ARE YOU STILL HERE? Nathan's once-beautiful and vibrant relationship with Vanessa disintegrates as his infidelity is revealed. Vanessa is said to adopt his “liquid diet” (alcoholism) and occasionally becomes drunk just to cope with the hurt and heartbreak that Nathan has caused her. It can't be emphasized enough how sad and frustrating this is. Nathan adorably fell in love with Vanessa while she was dressed as an escaped prisoner during a costume party. He called her his “goddess” and absolutely adored her. She loved him the whole time he was away for his journalism. She bore and raised his children. She was always faithful to him. Yet, Nathan betrayed her trust and stabbed her in the back with his infidelity. Absolutely inexcusable! We found ourselves disliking and even hating Nathan for the rest of the book. To make matters worse, Nathan's guilt and regret isn't enough to stop him from sleeping with one of his supposed “fans” at a book signing event, a gorgeous she-devil who calls herself Delores Destiny. All of a sudden, Nathan says that Deloris is “the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life” (something he had once said of Vanessa). What a joke of a human being! We wanted to strangle him ourselves! It becomes pretty obvious that Delores Destiny was no mere mortal, and likely a supernatural being like Gavin and the man in black probably are. During their sexual encounter, Vanessa desperately tries to call Nathan before failing to then choosing to take her own life. Her death is the most tragic and devastating event in the entire book. It really hits hard. It makes Nathan seem like even more of an irredeemable piece of trash than he already was, and we're not even done trashing on the main character yet. He makes it worse (believe it or not). If you're still here, you must be okay with even bigger spoilers. You've been warned multiple times. Anyway, it turns out that the real Gavin died many years ago and that a supernatural being took up his form. This new Gavin is actually Frederick Chance, the angel or god of chance (luck), which explains why he's so good at gambling. He is compared to Loki from Norse mythology, and that's pretty much who he is. Frederick Chance is a troublemaker and a meddler. Now, with that said, it is kinda sad and tragic to think that Frederick Chance largely did a lot of his evil deeds because he wanted Nathan's friendship, love, and admiration to himself. Frederick Chance, despite his successes in games, is actually a bit of a loner and an outcast. The other supernatural beings, with the exception of maybe Morduk, the devil, don't seem to associate with him much, probably because he constantly betrayed their trust and made poor choices (to say the least). Frederick Chance, the man in white, is effectively the main villain and antagonist of this particular book (which is part of a series, apparently). His actions directly or indirectly lead to many of the bad things that happen to Nathan, his friends, and his family. But what about the man in black? What about Death? Well, he's arguably the best character in the entire book! Death's proper name is “Morton Death.” He's surprisingly kind, courteous, and polite, far from the cold, heartless skeletal monster that one would think. An argument can be made that he's actually the most benevolent character in this entire book. Morton Death understands that his job of reaping souls is grim, but that it's a job that needs to be done for the greater good. However, thousands of years of reaping souls has left him tired and jaded. He treats it almost like a 9 to 5 job, often being hassled and strongarmed by his bossy sister, Gladys Fate, who acts as both his business partner and supervisor. Humorously, the only real enjoyment he seems to have in his life is watching the Dallas Cowboys lose. He religiously watches Cowboys games whenever he can in the hope that they will lose. Because of this, he wants a bit of a vacation and views Nathan Miller as the perfect person to take up the mantle in his absence—becoming Nathan Reaper. Oh, and by the way, Nathan also sees his mother, father, uncle, his friend who died during the ambush, and even Vanessa in the afterlife. It's actually kinda anticlimactic, albeit upsetting. And this creates A LOT of issues for us with both Nathan (as the main character) and the book as a whole. Here's why: Vanessa is kinda in “hell.” See, in the “Afterworld,” as this book calls it, the souls of the dead are guided to special rooms. Vanessa is held in a white room in which she is essentially punished by Karma, a fearsome “bitch” of a spirit (even Death fears her) due to an agreement by the spirits that Karma would be allowed to punish those who broke the Gray Rule: don't kill or end a life before the planned time. As a victim of suicide, Vanessa is punished as someone who took a life (her own), forced to view all the multiple possibilities of if she'd still been alive. It's merciless, endless psychological torture! And fatherly Morton Death, motherly Deloris Fate (who bakes cookies for everyone), and Nathan basically allow it to happen through 60%+ of this book. Nathan doesn't even try to stop it or intervene. This is even more painful and upsetting considering that Vanessa's last words/request was the Nathan would visit her in the afterlife. So, when given that opportunity, does he do that? No. He observes. What's extra upsetting is that Nathan is given great power and authority as Nathan Reaper and has DIRECT FRICKIN' ACESS TO THE GODS yet still doesn't advocate for Vanessa's release or the release of his Uncle Frank from a similar fate. No, Nathan is more concerned with his own dumb@#$ and about the supernatural mysteries of it all. That would be like being the ambassador of a country that is suffering from drought, famine, and genocide, yet—when given the audience of the United Nations—instead of advocating for your people and asking for food, water, and intervention, you ask the UN to talk to you about their history and what's next for you. What an #%$hole! Then he goes off and starts dating, having sex with, and wanting to marry the Finnish author of his childrens' favorite book (Kaisa Jannok)?! SCREW THAT! What an $^#hole! This guy literally knows that his wife—who died BECAUSE OF HIM—is suffering eternal emotional and psychological torment BECAUSE OF HIM! This guy literally has access to the gods. He can just squeeze his hand and think a thought, then Fate or Death will show up, yet he doesn't so much as put in a good word for Vanessa and Frank. What an *&^hole! Yes, you could reference the scene in which he fantasizes about breaking them free, but he doesn't come anywhere close to attempting to act on that fantasy. Hey, you know what? Let's go back to way before all this big supernatural stuff happened. What about how he totally helped General Adamson conceal war crimes all because of an NDA he signed? Remember that? He did that KNOWING FULL WELL THAT ADAMSON PLANNED TO USE A FRIGGIN' NUKE ON A POPULATED AREA FULL OF INNOCENT PEOPLE! Nathan sacrificed thousands of innocent lives just to preserve his career and stay out of jail. What a friggin' #$*hole! So, yes, our opinion of this book really dropped because of how much we hated Nathan Miller. Rather than experiencing a change or becoming a better person, you could almost make the argument that he becomes a worse person, just with more powers and knowledge. What makes him a worse person than before? Well, it's the fact that he has absolutely no plausible deniability anymore. He knows everything. He knows the secrets of the universe. He has met the gods. He is best friends with Death. Fate is like his aunty now. He has no excuses anymore. This is the difference between a child who plays with an outlet and accidentally sets the house on fire and a grown man who does it knowing that his actions will trigger a fire. That's what makes Nathan despicable in our eyes. Thankfully, Death is there to be a likable character, something this book sorely needed after the halfway point. Morton Death actually allows the audiobook narrator, Jimmy Moreland, to do his best Johnny Cash impression. He sounds so cool, calm, and collected! Moreland also does a good job at voicing Frederick Chance when he's in disguise as Gavin, using a thick Baltic accent. Something else we appreciated about the narration of the audiobook was that Moreland didnt go over-the-top with the female voices like Fred Berman did in the Academy Bound audiobook. Anyway, one of our favorite moments in the book was the brawl between Frederick Chance and Morton Death through the Las Vegas Strip (especially Caesar's Palace). That was awesome and hilarious. What made it even more humorous is that the news described and presented it like some cartoon rather than a serious, real-life event. So, maybe if you don't take this book too seriously and just treat it as entertainment, you can look past its flaws and enjoy it. Check it out on Amazon!  95/100 (9.5 out of 10)
Looking for Legends by Scott and Tarantino might be the ULTIMATE adventure book! Looking for Legends is an enthralling travel memoir that takes readers on a journey through some of the world's most awe-inspiring and perilous locations. Blending personal anecdotes with historical and cultural insights, the authors share their experiences of climbing the greatest mountains, exploring dangerous jungles, and visiting historical sites. The book recounts significant climbing adventures, including tales of the greatest mountain climber who began his ascent at age five (Reinhold Messner), emphasizing the allure and danger of conquering the world's highest peaks. Historical escapades are vividly brought to life, such as the daring escape from a POW camp by Austrians (Heinrich Harrer and Peter Aufschnaiter) in colonial India and the remarkable story of Lawrence of Arabia. Hey, did you know that Lawrence of Arabia lost his first draft on a train and had to rewrite it all from memory? Dang! Can you imagine that? Well, some writers can. Cultural reflections are woven throughout the narrative, with explorations of the origins of tango in Argentina and connections to the legacy of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. The spirit of exploration and discovery is a constant theme, with stories of figures like Jim Thompson, the Silk King of Thailand, and ethnobotanist Richard Schultes, who turned ethnographic myths into scientific facts. The search for kawari poison darts in the Amazon further showcases the intersection of traditional knowledge and modern science. Jim Thompson, known as the Silk King of Thailand, is one of the most interesting figures in thee book. Thompson's story is one of adventure, entrepreneurship, and mystery. An American architect who became enamored with Thailand, he revitalized the Thai silk industry, turning it into a globally recognized brand. His extensive knowledge of Southeast Asian art and culture, combined with his innovative business strategies, transformed the local craft into an international luxury commodity. Thompson's passion for exploration led him to deep jungles and remote villages, where he sought out traditional silk weavers and brought their exquisite craftsmanship to the world's attention. His sudden and mysterious disappearance in the Malaysian highlands in 1967 adds an enigmatic twist to his legacy, leaving behind a tale of intrigue that continues to fascinate and inspire. Through Thompson's journey, the book highlights the intersection of cultural preservation and modern entrepreneurship, illustrating how one man's vision can impact an entire industry and culture. Now, in all honesty, we got a little mixed up around this time because there were two major people named Jim in this section: the aforementioned Jim Thompson (the “Silk King”) and Jim Corbett, the legendary hunter. We kinda conflated them into one person in our minds. Anyway, Jim Corbett is probably the most fascinating person in the book. Why? Well, because he took on and killed two nigh-mythological beasts like some kind of Greek or Sumerian hero. Specifically, he hunted and slayed the Champawat Man-Eater and the Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag (among others). The Champawat Man-Eater was a female Bengal tiger responsible for an estimated 436 human deaths in Nepal and the Kumaon area of India. Her attacks began in Nepal, where she killed approximately 200 people before the Nepalese army drove her across the border into India. Once in India, she continued her attacks, instilling terror in the local population. The British colonial government was forced to close schools and other establishments in the area to protect the people. Jim Corbett was called in to hunt the Champawat Man-Eater. In 1907, Corbett tracked and killed the tiger near the town of Champawat. His successful hunt brought him significant recognition, and he later documented the story in his book Man-Eaters of Kumaon. The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag was active between 1918 and 1926, responsible for the deaths of more than 125 people in the Rudraprayag district of the Garhwal region. The leopard was known for its cunning and ability to evade hunters, creating widespread fear in the region. It would often enter villages at night to carry off its victims. Jim Corbett was once again called upon to track and kill this elusive predator. The hunt was particularly challenging due to the leopard's intelligence and stealth. After several months of pursuit, Corbett successfully shot the leopard in 1926. While these stories celebrate Jim and vilify the man-eating animals, they also highlight another theme in this book: the destructive influences of colonialism (especially British colonialism) and how it disrupted and disturbed the natural habitats of animals like tigers and leopards, forcing them toward population centers to get food. Philosophical musings invite readers to reflect on the significance of recorded history and the meticulous documentation of Himalayan climbs, pondering the choice between dreams and memories. The memoir underscores the perils of mountaineering, noting that 80% of climbing deaths occur on the descent due to fatigue and premature celebration. Through the lens of Richard Halliburton's ultimate adventures, the authors celebrate the human spirit's relentless pursuit of the extraordinary. There are some interesting passages that we enjoyed, the key one being: “WHICH WOULD YOU RATHER HAVE, DREAMS OR MEMORIES? THE ANSWER TO OUR QUESTION DREAMS. We’d rather have dreams than memories. We’d rather look forward than back. We prefer tomorrow to yesterday. And our favorite trip has always been the next one. And why not? You can’t look forward unless you have a forward to look forward to” Scott and Tarantino bring their unique experiences and perspectives to the book. Scott is a multisport athlete, equestrian, coach, mentor, and explorer, who has traveled to more than fifty countries, all while being a mother of four, grandmother of eight, and great-grandmother of fifteen. Tarantino, an entrepreneur and private investor, complements her adventures with his extensive library that facilitates vicarious travel. Together, they aim to introduce readers to unique destinations and the people who inhabit them, blending personal experiences with historical and cultural narratives. Their stories of individuals and places make Looking for Legends more than just a travel guide; it is an inspiring and educational journey that encourages readers to explore new cultures and appreciate the diversity of the world. This is a book about pioneers, mavericks, and trailblazers! Check it out on Amazon!  Score: 96/100 (9.6 out of 10)
This is How We Heal from Painful Childhoods by Ernest Ellender, PhD might be one of the most thorough, exhaustive, and practical self-help books we've ever read! What we really appreciated about this book was how grounded and usable the advice was, which is fitting considering Ellender's background as a black belt in BJJ (Brazilian jiu-jitsu), a martial art that emphasizes being grounded and having no wasted movement. Similar to chess, it's about efficiency and effectiveness, and those are things that describe this book too! This book is long and technical, similar to BJJ. However, also like BJJ, it's worth learning. It also incorporates a lot of the same routines as the martial art/sport. For example, there are a lot of “Skills and Drills” as well as “20 Rules” to make things as digestible, understandable, and applicable to real life as possible. We greatly appreciated that! This book makes use of various ideas and concept from psychology, psychiatry, and self-help that you may already be familiar with. There are parts of this that read like cognitive behavioral therapy. There are parts of this that read like family or couples therapy. There are other parts that read a bit like yoga, emphasizing mindfulness, control, posture, and deep breathing. These are things that are also useful in martial arts and sports since they keep you from losing proprioception, core control, and ultimately flying all over the place and getting hurt or injured. In other words, this is practical advice, and it WORKS. Probably the single major focus on the entire book is mastering the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems. In this life filled with stresses, our sympathetic nervous systems are almost always on overdrive and full-blast (what the author describes as “Chronic Sympathetic Arousal”). We're constantly drinking coffee, energy drinks, sugar, and other things in an attempt to keep ourselves awake and going. Hey, we hear you there, author! We have a refrigerator full of stimulant drinks. However, the more energy you are constantly dishing out, the less sustainable you will be. Large stars burn out faster. An overactive sympathetic nervous system affects our longevity and well-being. That becomes apparent when it starts to affect aspects of the parasympathetic nervous system like sleep and digestion, sometimes leading to illness, burnout, and death. According to this book, you're also not yourself when your sympathetic nervous system is in overdrive. You are like Mr. Hyde. You are your “MONSTER SELF.” This is, again, applicable to BJJ. In a ground-and-pound fight, endurance and stamina are king. Once your opponent is exhausted and tired, they're done. They can't defend themselves. They can't fight back. The same can be said for you. Being tired, exhausted, and/or overly stimulated can also make you more prone to mistakes and errors. Again, you're not yourself when you're in overdrive. You're your “MONSTER SELF.” This is the side of you that is more likely to say and do hurtful, self-destructive, or even illegal things. This is the side of you that's more likely to ruin relationships or get caught up in addiction or addictive behavior. If you're always going, going, going and running yourself into the ground, you're going to burn out and experience heightened stress and anxiety. It also inhibits your ability to heal and recovery. There's one great line in this book about how resting/sleeping more affects healing: “Imagine healing 40% faster.” This book talks about natural rules and man's rules. For example, natural rules (guided by our reptilian brain or “primal brain”) were meant to protect us from things like tigers and lions. Man's rules were meant to protect us from getting in trouble with the law, your boss, the IRS, or our parents. Speaking of parents, this book does a good job at showing how parents provide structure and guidance for children, and how children will either follow, reject, or be denied these things (for example, in the case of a neglectful or non-present parent). A child can also be driven against a parent's example like when their alcoholism affects their relationship. This leads into discussions of generational/intergenerational trauma. One of our favorite passages from the book describes how people from dysfunctional families tend to choose partners and marry into dysfunctional families in the mistaken belief that this is normal. Hmm... you don't say... A thing called “Trauma Lies” exists. These are false and destructive things we tell and ingrain in ourselves in an attempt to cope with trauma—things like: “I am unlovable” “I will never be any good” “I don't deserve happiness” “People I love will eventually always abandon me” This book helps readers to reframe these lies in a positive, constructive way. For example: I am broken=I feel broken=I am resilient There's so much great information and there are such interesting concepts in this book! For example, “When in doubt, write it out” The pendulum effect Boundary setting Center of the universe/systems of controlled And so much more! Check it out on Amazon!  Score: 95/100 (9.5 out of 10)
CONEtrolled by Nava Israel (PhD) is one of the most interesting reads of the whole year! This book discusses the systems of control that societies, cultures, religions, cults, governments, and people use to keep us serving them (rather than the other way around). This book says a lot and shares a lot of fascinating case-studies (which we'll talk about). However, if there's one big, huge takeaway we had from this book, it's that you shouldn't allow yourself to be conned by these systems of control. Do your own due diligence. Do your own research. Don't be ignorant about these systems. Don't close your mind off and believe everything you hear. Don't fall for their lies, tricks, manipulation, plots, schemes, and machinations. This book is a reminder that no one should tell you WHO you are and what your purpose/role in life is except for YOU. It's also a reminder that human beings shouldn't be pigeon holed into one role, one type, or one “kind.” No one is always lazy or always hard working. You're more than a citizen of one country or a member of one community. You're more than an employee of one company or a soldier in one army. As a human being, you're a member of human kind—every human on Earth. This book invites readers to think about the bigger picture. Seeing the big picture is important because when you mistake the symptoms of a problem for the problem, you may end up making the real problem bigger (or creating a new one altogether). Perhaps the best example of this is when Mao declared sparrows an enemy that needed to be killed (because they supposedly ate all the seeds). However, this caused the locust population to grow out of control, destroying all the crops and causing a famine that starved and killed millions of people. This is a book about gaining (regaining) freedom, sovereignty, independence, and self-governance from these “cones”—these systems of control. Oppressors and manipulators like tyrants and cult leaders use these cones to keep us caged. Cones have two agendas: well-intended agendas (like serving or helping society) and self-serving ones (like accumulating power and wealth). Even seemingly benevolent, well-intended agendas can have a dark side or ill effects. In fact, the author often discusses how this happened during the COVID-19 pandemic including the suppression of information that was contrary to the established narrative. The book uses the example of Dr. Martin Kulldorff who attempted to share legitimate data that seemed to be contrary to what the CDC, FDA, and governments around the world were promoting at the time. He attempted to share data from Sweden that suggested ending lockdowns, particularly for young people who were significantly less affected by the virus. He was even supported by Sunetra Gupta from Oxford and Jay Bhattacharya from Stanford who published these findings alongside him. However, Kulldorff was suppressed. CNN English refused to run his story, though CNN Espanol did. He was also fired from Harvard for challenging the established narrative. Scientific and medical dogma is still dogma—it's a cone, a system of control. Interestingly, we just read Cancer Culture by Jacqueline Acho, a PhD in Chemistry from MIT, who basically championed that same stance after surviving ovarian cancer by going against medical advice. This book encourages you to always question and to never accept something as absolutely true or unquestionable. Part of the author's motivation for writing all this was growing up in the former Soviet Union, constantly being controlled and lied to by the government. The author describes how the state-controlled government would constantly run PSA about how great the crop yields were doing, yet the grocery store shelves were constantly empty—indicating that the reality was far different from what the people were being told. This book is also about using questioning and inquisitive thinking to get to the root of problems. For example, you might take Tylenol to feel better from a headache, but that ignores why the headaches happen to begin with. Maybe you're dehydrated. Maybe you've eaten too much or too little sodium. Maybe you have a tumor. If you never ask questions, you'll never get to the root of the problem. Cones often take advantage of the concept of needs—either natural/basic or manufactured. Basic/natural needs include air, food, water, shelter, warmth, rest, and clothing. However, manufactured needs are ones that are created or invented to get something from you (primarily money). These include purified/filtered/ionized/”pure” oxygen, brand-named foods, designer bottled water, mansions, branded cooling and/or heating systems, expensive vacations, brand-named clothing, and an abundance of sex to prove status. As you might have guessed, this book is against the evils of consumerism and capitalism, especially when they become exploitative. This book constantly points out ways in which we are either blatantly, subtly, or subliminally manipulated by companies, corporations, and businesses to buy from them or subscribe to their services. They dangle carrots over our noses. They sell ideals like beauty, convenience, and comfort. They make us addicted to them and take advantage of us through underhanded tactics like planned obsolescence, which Apple was caught doing by slowing down their older devices to get people to buy new ones. According to this book, they bring fantasy worlds for the middle class to aspire to. They sell dreams and the idea of true fulfillment. Of course, true fulfillment never comes from a box or container. The author argues that even ideas like family values and traditional families are cones that are sold to us. They don't represent all or even most families. They simply promote what society wants. Cones are created and controlled by people designated as “cone builders” and “cone masters” according to the author. These include people like Hugo Chavez, Joseph Stalin, Bill Cosby, Jim Jones, and many others throughout our long, dark history have used manipulation tactics to become cone masters. There are some great quotes from this book. For example: “The trees kept voting for the ax because its handle was made of wood and they thought it was one of them” “Oh, you don’t need to fight them—you just need to convince the pitchfork people that the torch people want to take away their pitchforks.” “The sheep will spend its entire life fearing the wolf, only to be eaten by the shepherd.” "Genghis Khan didn’t want to be a zookeeper with a zoo full of disgruntled animals, so he ordered everyone to be content or be executed." There's an especially interesting thought experiment in this book in which the author describes encountering multiple disturbing or troubling scenarios (a struggling homeless man, the burning of a nation's flag during a protest, and a woman battling cancer who chooses to forego modern treatments for alternative medicine). The author then challenges you to choose which of these bothers you the most, which reveals what your values and cones may be. Look, we didn't agree with every single little thing in this book, and that's perhaps the point. Don't accept everything you read and hear. Always challenge and question what you're being told. Check it out on Amazon!  Score: 93/100 (9.3 out of 10)
Are There Really Plenty of Fish in the Sea? by Tony Demechees is an insightful and metaphorical journey through the complexities of modern dating and relationships. The book cleverly uses the metaphor of fishing to explore the stages of finding a life partner, from the naive enthusiasm of youth to the mature contemplation of middle age and beyond. Each chapter reflects a different phase of life, with the metaphor of a day guiding the narrative: morning symbolizes early adulthood, afternoon represents middle age, and night time signifies later years. The book opens with the author’s reflections on the oft-repeated adage that “there are plenty of fish in the sea,” questioning its validity in today’s dating world. Demechees uses his experiences as a Navy veteran, world traveler, and father to weave a narrative filled with personal anecdotes and cultural insights. This backdrop allows him to present a unique perspective on relationships, blending humor, wisdom, and a touch of philosophy. In the initial chapters, Demechees discusses the youthful approach to relationships, likening young men to inexperienced fishermen setting out to sea without the proper equipment or guidance. He explores how societal expectations and the absence of strong role models can leave many young men floundering, relying on luck and instinct rather than strategy and understanding. The early fishing expeditions are often impulsive, driven by superficial desires and a lack of clear objectives. The bluegills analogy is our favorite in this whole book. It illustrating the concept of quantity over quality in relationships. In the narrative, Demechees recalls his childhood experience of fishing for bluegills, a type of fish that is easy to catch but lacks substance (meat) and nutritional value. This analogy is used to represent the superficial and fleeting relationships that some people pursue, particularly in their younger years. Demechees describes how, in the early stages of life, many young men are tempted to seek out easy "catches," much like fishing for bluegills. These relationships are often based on convenience or superficial attraction rather than genuine connection or compatibility. The thrill of easily catching these "fish" can lead to a false sense of abundance, where one believes there are always plenty of options available if a particular relationship doesn't work out. However, just as bluegills provide little sustenance, these superficial relationships often leave individuals feeling unfulfilled and lacking the depth and satisfaction that comes from a meaningful partnership. Demechees emphasizes that while it might be exciting to reel in a catch easily, it is ultimately not nourishing or satisfying in the long term. The bluegills analogy serves as a cautionary tale, urging readers to look beyond the superficial and seek relationships that offer true value and substance. It highlights the importance of quality over quantity in the pursuit of love, encouraging individuals to refine their approach and seek partners who fulfill them on a deeper level. This analogy is woven into the broader theme of the book, which advocates for a more intentional and thoughtful approach to finding a life partner. As the narrative progresses into the afternoon phase of life, Demechees shifts focus to the more informed and strategic approach to finding a partner. This period, typically occurring between ages 30 and 50, sees individuals armed with increased life experience and a clearer understanding of their preferences. Here, the metaphor of refining one’s taste for a specific type of fish is apt, illustrating the transition from indiscriminate searching to a more targeted pursuit. For women, the narrative delves into the influence of early paternal relationships on their partner preferences. The author highlights how a positive male role model can enhance a woman's ability to select a suitable mate later in life. The chapters explore how women, much like seasoned anglers, navigate the waters of relationships with a clear vision and defined criteria. However, the ticking biological clock introduces a sense of urgency, particularly as women approach their late 30s. In the later chapters, the book transitions to the night fishing phase, representing the later years of life. Here, Demechees poignantly describes the challenges and reflections that come with age. Men and women alike face societal pressures and personal introspection as they seek meaningful connections amidst the constraints of time. The narrative emphasizes the importance of substance over superficiality, as individuals prioritize compatibility and enduring qualities over fleeting attractions. Demechees introduces various characters throughout the book, drawing on real-life encounters to illustrate his points. One standout story involves the author himself, who reflects on a missed opportunity with an older woman due to his fear of meeting her children. This anecdote serves as a cautionary tale about the importance of communication and maturity in relationships. Another memorable story is about a friend who juggles a girlfriend and a wife, illustrating the pitfalls of valuing physical appearance over genuine connection. These personal tales are interspersed with broader observations about dating dynamics, making the book both relatable and thought-provoking. Are There Really Plenty of Fish in the Sea? concludes with a reflection on the journey of life and relationships, urging readers to gather the necessary tools—communication, maturity, and perhaps a bit of luck—to find their ideal partner. Demechees leaves readers with the understanding that the abundance of "fish" in the sea is contingent upon one's approach and perspective. This book is a must-read for anyone navigating the turbulent waters of modern relationships. With its engaging metaphors, relatable anecdotes, and insightful observations, it offers a fresh and enlightening take on the timeless quest for love and connection. Whether you are a seasoned angler in the dating pool or casting your line for the first time, Demechees provides valuable lessons and perspectives to guide you on your journey. Check it out on Amazon!  Score: 95/100 (9.5 out of 10)
This May 2024 issue of Story Monsters Ink magazine is jam-packed with fascinating and inspirational stories from artists and illustrators in the literary field! To say that this is an interesting bunch of creators would be an understatement. Each of the featured creators offers something special and unique to the world! This includes Mia Armstrong, Pan Cooke, Ashley Iman, Margaret Finnegan, and Aiden Woosol Lee. Mia Armstrong headlines this issue and serves as the cover model, and rightfully so! Mia Armstrong is a highly accomplished young woman and probably the most interesting and inspirational of the bunch (and that's saying a lot)! Mia is a remarkable young actress, model, voice-over artist, and author who has achieved significant milestones while advocating for individuals with Down Syndrome. She broke new ground as the first child with Down Syndrome to voice a cartoon character on Netflix. Her book, I Am a Masterpiece, provides insight into her life and encourages children to embrace their uniqueness and share their stories with pride. One of our favorite quotes from Mia and her section is that she describes herself as “sassy, smart, and strong” (which all start with S). Mia is passionate about promoting inclusion and challenging outdated stereotypes about disabilities. She believes in being a "masterpiece," which involves understanding one's purpose and striving for excellence despite life's challenges. Her supportive family has always reinforced her belief in her capabilities. Besides being an author, Mia has made appearances on various TV shows and films. She advocates for adaptive clothing, which facilitates independent dressing for people with disabilities. On that note, she modeled adaptive clothing for Tommy Hilfiger, which really elevated our respect and appreciation for that brand. Mia enjoys hobbies like art, surfing, rock climbing, and gymnastics. Mia's lively personality, determination, and optimistic approach make her an inspiring figure, showing that differences are beautiful and everyone has the potential to impact the world positively. She is proof that disabilities aren't what define you and that you can live a full, satisfying, and fulfilling life with them. Mia is a dreamer and a go-getter who aspires to be the first person with Down Syndrome on American Ninja Warrior and to voice one of the trolls in the Trolls movies someday. The next featured creator in the issue is Pan Cooke, a talented and passionate illustrator who is the author of Puzzled: A Memoir About Growing Up with OCD. Cooke shares his experiences with OCD and his journey to becoming a successful cartoonist. His cartoons are deep, interesting, and thought-provoking. People with OCD are often misunderstood, looked down on, and even made fun of. Through his illustrations, Cooke is able to take us into the mind of someone suffering from OCD, nurturing a better understanding and empathy. Ashley Iman's section also got us in the feels, especially since she talks about how brilliant, intelligent, and creative children often feel like they can't perform or share their knowledge to the best of their abilities because of the rigid ways that school and society are structured. We had a similar conversation in the office the other day, talking about how there needs to be a balance between discipline (in a school) and allowing creativity and innovation. You, as an educator, might think you have all the answers. You might have a lot of knowledge of what happened before. However, one of your brilliant students might have answers and solutions for things in the future. We should be nurturing that. Iman has one of the best quotes in the book: “Schools can either replicate oppression or dismantle it.” Next, there's Margaret Finnegan. Finnegan, an accomplished author, celebrates the release of her fourth middle-grade novel, Sunny Parker is Here to Stay. The book delves into issues of community and identity, following the journey of Sunny Parker, a young girl who finds her voice amid controversy over an affordable housing project in her neighborhood. Inspired by a vision of a girl cycling through an apartment complex, Margaret crafted a narrative that highlights the significance of affordable housing and social inclusion. Margaret's personal experience of growing up in affordable housing informs the emotional depth of her storytelling. She seeks to impart the message that one's value is not determined by wealth or material possessions. With a background in political science and U.S. history, as well as extensive teaching experience, Margaret brings a unique perspective to her writing. She is passionate about the revision process, seeing it as an opportunity to refine and strengthen her stories. For Margaret, writing is a rewarding endeavor that allows her to connect with young readers and inspire them. She eagerly anticipates the release of her next book, Spelling It Out, slated for publication in 2025, which will continue to explore themes of courage and community. Aiden Woosol Lee is a 16-year-old author from California who wrote A Galon of Water, a book inspired by his own experiences with bullying. He began writing the book at age 13 and finished it at 15, focusing on themes of self-love and overcoming differences. Aiden grew up in a creative environment with an art teacher mother, which enriched his storytelling abilities. In addition to writing, Aiden illustrates his books using techniques like watered-down acrylic and colored pencil. He is currently working on a new book set to be released in December, experimenting with a hybrid style of fiction and nonfiction. Aiden advises first-time authors to write with genuine passion and shares that he is a high school sophomore interested in psychology, currently reading Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck. It should be noted that the major sections of this magazine are actually written by Raven Howell, a previous Outstanding Creator Awards winner for her children's book, Finding Joy! Howell does an excellent job as accentuating the positives of each of the featured creators (as well as their works). Speaking of familiar faces, there's a sizable section about the experiences of Conrad J. Storad, one of the authors and illustrators who has been a mainstay at Story Monsters Ink and has participated in multiple Outstanding Creator Awards contests! His section in this issue talked about his inspiration in writing Arizona Way Out West and Wacky, a play which highlights many of the amazing flora and fauna of the great state of Arizona. In particular, he talks about the giant saguaro cactus. We were surprised by how much we learned! For example, did you know they could grow over 50 feet, live for more than 100 years, and weight over eight tons?! Wow! Storad is always amazing us by teaching us about plants and animals. He might be inspiring a new generation of future zoologists, veterinarians, and conservationists among his young readers. Another familiar face we recognized was Once Upon a Dance, which is highlighted in the book recommendations throughout the book. Speaking of which, there's a rather long section which contains ads and summaries for outstanding Story Monsters Ink books. We're not going to take anything away due to that section, because every magazine needs to advertise, either other peoples' products or your own. Like commercials during TV shows, there's no way around it. Ads keep businesses going. It helps that there are some stellar books in that section including Sora Searches for a Song by Once Upon a Dance, Desert Friends by Linda Harkey, and Cate and the Garden Bandits by Betsy Coffeen, all of which have founded enormous success in our contest. Check it out!  Score: 95/100 (9.5 out of 10)
We're blessed and honored to have yet another O'Cyrus poetry book be a part of our contests! Dear Sick Mental Virus is yet another passionate and spirited poetry book by O'Cyrus, the author of Sacred, a previous Outstanding Creator Awards super winner. It is debatable which of these two books is better, but both have a lot to offer and a lot to sink your teeth into, especially if you love poetry. While Sacred was much more about the author and his personal struggles, observations, musings, and experiences, Dear Sick Mental Virus concerns and involves the author's wife, Melissa, to whom the book is dedicated. The book talks a lot about her personal struggles/battles including sensitive topics like suicidal ideation. With that said, this book is surprisingly positive and uplifting. You wouldn't think that considering the subject matters. However, it became very clear pretty quickly that this wasn't a book about moping, whining, and venting, it was a book about inspiring, motivating, and uplifting. There were poems in here about determination, self-respect, self-discipline, faith, and personal responsibility. We greatly admired and appreciated that! Let's just say it: O'Cyrus is a talented and masterful poet who really grasps poetic techniques and literary devices. One of those literary devices is imagery: the ability to create images in readers' minds. In “Haunting Image,” the poet very briefly mentions a detached/severed head, mentions how it made them feel, then pauses, leaving a lot of blank white space for the rest of the page. This is subtly brilliant because it forces the reader to imagine. It forces them to hang on that thought and linger on it. As we've said in the past, the imagination of what might be is often more terrifying and haunting than an explicit description. Why? Because of mystery. Because of the natural human fear of the unknown and not knowing. It's unsettling. One of our favorite passages also demonstrates the poet's use of imagery: “Suddenly I was on the ground trying to scream for help but I couldn’t yell Struggling to stand as if I was being grabbed by hands from hell” You can vividly and viscerally imagine hands reaching up from out of the ground trying to pull you down. This is going to sound like a weird comparison, but it kinda made us think of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves with all the prisoners reaching up through the bars. Repetition is also a great tool in a poet's tool belt, and O'Cyrus makes great use of it. For example: Red eyes Red eyes Darkness lies Red eyes Red eyes Darkness dies This also helps to create a beat or rhythm to these poems. In fact, one of our favorite passages reads: Be ready so you don't have to be ready Not only does this demonstrate repetition, but it also makes sense. If you're prepared and do your due diligence, you're less likely to be caught off guard by what life throws at you. If you try to wing everything, then you're probably going to be caught off guard. And how about: "Defeated, Depleted, Received it, Relieved it" Where O'Cyrus really shines is his ability to latch onto (and use) sounds via assonance and consonance. Many of these use the “E” or “I” sound like: “It is much easier for a person to deny you than to apply you” There's also alliteration in lines like: "My sweat, My tears, My blood, My fears" “Walk with bravado and believe” “This life My life My life without my wife is a life I can’t imagine” It's a lot easier to rhyme or reuse end sounds like “E” or “I” but O'Cyrus often does this with sounds in the middle of words, which is a lot more challenging. For example: “A right haymaker above the side of my waist I dodged that left hook but took an uppercut to the side of my face Dropped clean on the center of the mat Staring at the ceiling lying flat on my back” So, why is the passage above so special? Well, it effectively uses and highlights two different “A” sounds, one that sounds like “ace” and the other that makes the “ah” sound. How about: “I would struggle to raise our children alone in a home where the scent of your spirit would roam” Notice how he latches onto the long “O” sound. Next, consider this: “I’m to blame and I feel ashamed So take me lord and drop me in the flames Because I would rather burn in hell than see her in pain” In the above example, the “A” sound is prominent, but it is created with words with completely different suffixes. Even in poems when O'Cyrus just uses end-rhymes, they're not simple end-rhymes. For example: “Deep down I’m scared and terrified to my core And yet I provide her with more More and more with death knocking at door The harder it gets the harder it is to ignore Blood pressure rising faster and faster I’ve seen this story before and it ends in disaster” In the above example, there are two different end-rhymes with two different spellings. However, they are very close in the way they sound. For example: “disaster” and “core” make two different end-sounds (“ur” and “or”), but sound almost identical when read aloud. O'Cyrus is also able to use personification. For example, there's a poem that refers to depression as being a “Major” (like a military rank), calling it “Major DD.” The poem eventually makes it clear that this stands for Major Depressive Disorder. Is actually reminded us of how mental illness was portrayed in C.A. Nicholas's books like how Soudade, the monster, represented depression in Cycles of the Phoenix. O'Cyrus also has a lot of uplifting and positive messages, which we alluded to earlier. One of the messages that stood out to us is encouraging people born as minorities to not accept that they are lesser than, victims, or destined to be victimized. He encourages Black communities to do everything it can (starting from individuals) to build itself up rather than accepting meager prospects. That comes with some personal responsibility and perhaps some change in mindset and culture. We enjoyed this poetry book. Check it out on Amazon!  Score: 94+/100 (9.4+ out of 10)
Elizabeth Kirkpatrick-Vrenios’s A Concerto for an Empty Frame is an interesting and unique collection of poems that weaves together themes of memory, grief, love, and the passage of time. The book is structured musically, with sections titled to reflect the movements of a concerto, enhancing the lyrical and rhythmic quality of the work. Elizabeth Kirkpatrick-Vrenios was a professor emeritus at American University in Washington D.C., heading the vocal and music programs there. She has traveled the world as a singer. That actually explains a lot in terms of the structure of the book and its musical influences/inspirations. There's a lot of this book that seems experimental in nature, or at least very outside-the-box. Poems like “Seed,” “Straw Light,” and “Breakout” feature a lot of staggered lines and ornamentation, almost like musical notes on a sheet. It should be noted that both “Straw Light” and “Breakout” are cento poems, using lines from various other poems and poets including Joy Harjo, Emily Berry, Julie Hensley, Rajav Mohabir, and Chris Abani. This is very unique and we've rarely seen these kinds of poems come through our contests. Probably the most unique (and strangest) of all the poems is “The Rag Lady Casts a Spell.” It is described as a “cadenza,” a solo passage typically found in a concerto or other musical composition in which the performer showcases their technical skill and interpretive abilities. The poem itself is bizarrely arranged, more so than any other poem in the book. Text appears inside and outside rectangular boxes, even appearing in different directions (like up and down instead of the standard left and right). In terms of more typical literary/poetic devices, there's actually a lot of repetition in this poem, creating a beat/rhythm. For example, “maybe, maybe” is repeated as well as the word “away.” “Could be me?” is also repeated throughout the poem. You might describe this as creating a conscientious or thought-provoking aura around the poem. Repetition is one of the key techniques that the poet utilizes. For example, in “Still Flying Over Lockerbie,” the word “never” is repeated, again in different contexts. It should briefly be noted that this particular poem also features staggered lines, forming two separate frames, almost like dueling sides of a duet. The poem "Seed" explores themes of growth, transformation, and the potential for rebirth. What's unique about this poem, besides the staggered lines we earlier mentioned, is that sections of this poem are deliberately crossed off, almost as if the writer were self-correcting or changing, sorta like a seed into a tree (perhaps fitting the title) or a caterpillar into a butterfly. There are some other cool and interesting things that the poet does throughout the book. Beautiful and colorful examples of alliteration and assonance are sprinkled throughout, for example (from “Riding Home in Your White Valiant After the Opera”): “...green and gentle and brilliant as glass.” “...stars sprinkled us with sugar. I can only remember sugar and stars” The poem we'll transcribe erroneously as “N(t)=N 0 e 𝜏 ln (2))t1/2” demonstrates a great use of anaphora (as well as repetition) with the phrase “What is the half-life...” beginning each stanza. This poem was actually one of our favorites because it made us think about the arbitrariness of certain facts and statistics. In truth, some things (like memories and love) can't be quantified. They are unquantifiable and invaluable. Furthermore, this book also touches on concepts like impermanence and the dangers of wanting instant gratification. “Unbuttoned Blues” is an interesting poem for a lot of reasons, but one of our favorite reasons is the way that it uses and emphasizes the “th” and “st” sounds in words like “there” and “those” and “dust of stars this dust that we don’t trust.” In that last example, notice how the “st” reoccurs at the beginning and end of different words. There's also idiomatic language used throughout the book, particularly with similes like: “fragile as an eggshell” “...the wrong octave... like waves of the sea rising and falling” “like bitter honey” Personification is also used like with: “the moonlight spilled its gold-white perfume over me” “stars are still sobbing” This is a very ambitious and very unique book of poetry. Check it out on Amazon!  Score: 96/100 (9.6 out of 10)
We were immensely impressed with From Purpose to Profit by Erin Andrea Craske! Just when we thought we had a good idea of the results of this contest, a book like this comes along late in the judging and shakes everything up! Specifically, this is a book about brands and how they can be used to generate and sustain business success. As the title suggests, it's a book about how brands and business start with purpose: a vision for where we're going, why we're going there, and how we're going to get there. From Purpose to Profit is an incredibly insightful and extremely practical book about business and marketing success! This might be the best business book of the year! This book is also full of actionable advice as well as tasty, compelling anecdotes, all of which we greatly appreciated! Most of all, we were so happy to have found a book that seems to support our business model, particularly when it comes to practices, vision, and values. We constantly found ourselves comparing ourselves (the Outstanding Creator Awards) to the advice and case studies the book was referring to. From what we gathered from this book, we're on the right track! Could we do better? Is there room for improvement? Are there some ideas from this book that we could try? Yes, yes, and yes! And that's the fun of it! We found ourselves tantalized by all of the different marketing and business ideas this book threw at us! So, where do we even begin? Well, what is a brand and why is it important? Well, according to the author: “A brand expresses the essence of a business - the values it stands for, who it serves, its benefits and points of difference. It demonstrates why a customer may want to consider it. Proper branding shapes your audience’s entire experience with your company, product, or service... A powerful brand can transform your offering from just another me-too product into a category leader. It brings visibility, profitability, and longevity to your business.” Gosh, we love that last part! In other words, a brand expresses what makes you stand out, what makes you special, different, and unique. It's what sets you apart from the competition. This book provides SO MANY excellent examples of brands and how they work. Next, let's touch on how this book discusses the types of brands, because we found that extremely interesting. There are parent brands, master brands, organizational bands, sub-brands, endorser brands, and even hybrid brands! The book and author can probably break it down better than we can (there are diagrams outlining it in the book), but we took away that smaller sub-brands and endorser brands can and should have a complementary, reciprocal relationship with the parent brands. In other words, sub-brands and endorser brands can and should be pointing back to the parent brand in some way, contributing to their financial success, profitability, and outreach. Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm, both owned by Walt Disney, attract audiences to the larger Walt Disney brand. The Prius brand points buyers to Toyota. The Focus brand points buyers to Ford. The Amazon Essentials and Audible brands point customers to Amazon. The iPod and iPad brands point customers to Apple. Polo points customers to Ralph Lauren. The list could go on and on. This had our thinking caps and imaginations running wild imagining what kind of sub-brands and endorser brands the Outstanding Creator Awards could create someday! Speaking of which, our favorite brand type that this book taught us about was the challenger brand! Challenger brands take on the establishment—norms, the status quo, the businesses and corporations that are well-entrenched. Challenger brands are willing to be different, unapologetically so! Furthermore, they empower customers to be different, to think different, and to put aside preconceived notions and outdated practices. Challenger brands are pioneers, renegades, rebels! Sounds a bit like us! The Outstanding Creator Awards was started out of strong and passionate sense of dissatisfaction and disappointment with the literary award industry, particularly literary contests that unfairly discredit or outright ignore self-published and indie authors in favor of large publishing houses and established authors. We were frustrated that you had to pay an extra fee just to compete in a second category. We were angry that these contests could provide little to no proof that they actually read the books. We were pissed that book contests were only reading the first 10 or 100 pages (if they even touched the books at all), judging these books based on... what exactly? We were outraged that there were book contests out there that were making selections based on extreme political leanings or social agendas, unwilling to even hear or consider the other side—holding the latter back, in fact. These passionate feelings inspired us to be a challenger, an alternative—to do better than other book contests. There's a great quote in here about how “Ideally, you should know your customers better than they know themselves. Customer empathy doesn’t necessarily have to be innate. It can be learnt.” Well, that spoke to us too. The reason we know our customers so well and have so much empathy is because we've been in the game ourselves. We're authors, writers, creators, hopers, and dreamers. We've competed in other contests. We've marketed our own works. Apple was a challenger brand once, being a challenger to Microsoft which debut only a year later yet took a while to climb out of that shadow. It had to differentiate itself under the leadership of Steve Jobs with gimmicks like more portable devices (like the iPod, iPad, and Mac book), synchrony between devices (which Microsoft still seems to lack), and a reputation for being less vulnerable to viruses. You could argue that even Amazon was a challenger brand once upon a time. It had to compete with the big, established retail stores, namely Walmart, K-Mart, and Target. You could add Toys R Us, KB Toys, and other brick and mortar stores to that list. Ebay was even more established than Amazon once upon a time. Amazon is also heavily discussed in the section of the book about targeted/niche marketing. Amazon is now a bit of an exception to the rule as it arguably sells to everyone. However, it wasn't always like that. Once upon a time, Amazon focused only on selling books and only online. Anyway, Red Bull and Under Armor were also challenger brands. We're assuming they were challengers to Monster Energy and Nike. Lululemon is another challenger brand with a niche market (yoga practitioners), serving as an alternative to other athletic wear brands. This book also talks a lot about customer experience. According to this book: “Experience - what people experience when they engage with a brand. When a brand consistently does what it promises, people trust it more. They feel closer to the brand and use it more often.” Customer experience isn't just about a buyer interacting with the seller (or vice-versa), although that's part of it. Customer experience is about sights, sounds, smells, and—most powerful of all—tastes. You can smell Subway and McDonald's when you're in their vicinity. You pop a cork before drinking tequila, it's part of the experience. You break a Kit Kat bar in half, it's part of the experience. You unwrap Hershey's chocolate bars from foil, it's part of the experience. You recognize a familiar jingle, song, or tune related to a piece of media. Look, we have about EIGHT PAGES of notes about this book. It was that awesome and insightful. If we wrote about all of it, this review might never end. So, here are a few of our favorite takeaways and quotes: - "The key to success in launching a challenger brand is to religiously stick to your beliefs." - "Goals are transient by nature; having achieved one, we tend to immediately set a new one. It’s a never-ending process of putting ourselves under pressure to seek more, achieve better results, or reach ghostly satisfaction. Such goals are toxic. Replacing ‘goals’ with ‘destinations’ and ‘achievement’ with ‘concentrating on the process and journey enjoyment’ will help you avoid stress, self-flagellation, and disappointment. It doesn’t mean that your business becomes aimless. It means you don’t let goals rule your business and life." (As an aside, this quote kinda reminded us of the idea of the concepts of the “Pusher” and “Perfectionist” selves from LASTING Transformation Abby Rosen, PhD) - "Some entrepreneurs, supported by a solid moral foundation, have a strong sense of mission, aiming to make a positive impact. They tend to prioritise values over profits, often leading to undervaluing their business. Additionally, they may face difficulties with scaling, financial constraints, and conflicts between growth and the original purpose." (This quote makes us feel like slightly raising our prices because our services are undervalued, which is something that several business book authors have told us) - "You have to explore existing demand. First, learn what people want and then why they want it. And finally, why hasn’t this desire been answered yet. The money you may care about doesn’t come from selling your products or services. It comes from people willing to pay you for them. - “Customers don't come cheap. The only free cheese is in the mousetrap.” (SUCH a GREAT QUOTE!) - “A BRAND WITHOUT VALUES IS LIKE A BOAT WITHOUT A STEERING WHEEL, LOST IN A CHALLENGING SEA OF UNCERTAINTY.” - "A seeded launch may run for several months...if you seed for too long, the mainstream market will forget about it. The key to the success of such a strategy is to generate continuous buzz.” (This reminded us of how we're constantly trying to create hype and buzz with the Outstanding Creator Awards by introducing exciting, new wrinkles like different prizes and different gimmicks) - "People can adapt their decisions based on their needs and the EVER CHANGING context of what is happening around them and within themselves. So, if a brand shows up in the right way at the right time, a customer’s decision about a brand can be influenced." (And this is why we should try to be ubiquitous. Advertise everywhere, constantly.) - "CUTTING ADVERTISING TO SAVE MONEY IS LIKE STOPPING BREATHING TO CONSERVE AIR." (We restarted our Facebook ads IMMEDIATELY after reading this) One last thing we loved about this book was the formatting. It wasn't just plain prose. The information is presented in numerous different ways including blocks, bullet-points, charts, and diagrams. Check it out on Amazon! |
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