Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Book Review #29: The Catcher in the Rye

***Note:  This book is not in the public domain.  --Tim

The Catcher in the Rye is a classic novel by J. D. Salinger. It is written as a retrospective narration by Holen Caulfield, a teenager who was kicked out of four private schools for boys. He talks mainly about a three day period a little before Christmas the previous year when he left the fourth school. Most of the story takes place in New York city.

This book is interesting, especially considering it was first released in a couple different magazines with a change or two in some incidents shortly after World War II. It portrays some of what life was like for wealthy teenagers back in those days. The book sometimes seem confusing, ut later explains it a little better.

Purchase Links:
This book can be purchased from the following sites:



Tim’s Rating: ****
(Four out of five stars)

I’m off to read another book. Check back periodically for more book reviews.




Monday, February 27, 2017

Book Review #28: 80AD: The Hammer of Thor

***Note:  This book is not in the public domain.  --Tim

80 AD: The Hammer of Thor is the second book in the 80 AD series by Aiki Flinthart. It is a fantasy series aimed at young adults, but has been read by many adults, also. In this book Phoenix and Jade, along with Brynn and Marcus, need to return Truda to her father, Thor, before the spring equinox which is only days away. There are many obstacles in their way slowing them down.

I enjoyed this book as much as the first one of the series. There are elements of Beowulf included in the story which might get the target audience to read that and other classics. Beowulf is even mentioned in the book. It is a Smashwords book, so I’ll include a link to the book in the links below. It kept me wanting to read more.

Donload Links:
This book can be downloaded for free in various ebook formats from the following links:




Tim’s Rating: ****
(Four out of five stars)

I’m off to read another book. Check back periodically for more book reviews.


Sunday, February 26, 2017

Book Review #27: Around the World in 80 Days

Around the World in 80 Days is the eleventh book written by Jules Verne. This book follows Phileas Fogg and his newly hired French valet, Passepartout. This book starts out with Fogg being wealthy and very predictable in his ways by being at the having a daily schedule which was the same everyday with exact times that he would leave home and arrive at the Reform Club in London. On the same day that he hires Passepartout he makes a wager with a group of men, with whom he plays whist daily at the club, that he could make a trip around the world in eighty days. Surprising Passepartout he arrives home early telling him to pack some clothes in a carpet bag along with some money they immediately begin their travels. After they started on their journey Detective Fix started following their trail and tried to delay them along the way while waiting for a warrant from England for the arrest of Fogg, who Fix believes robbed the Bank of England just days before their departure.

Many of us have seen 1956 or 2004 movie or one of many cartoons or spoofs loosely based on this book. I noticed many differences in the book. A stop in Paris is briefly mentioned in the book. None of the travel was made in a balloon in this story, most of it done by sea or rail. By his description of the area they travel, you feel like you are with them. Despite the differences, I still like the book better than the movies.

Download Links:

You can download this book in various ebook formats from the various sites:





Tim’s Rating: ****
(Four out of five stars)

I’m off to read another book. Check back periodically for more book reviews.



Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Book Review #26: 80 AD: The Jewel of Asgard

***Note:  This book is not in the public domain.  --Tim

80 AD: The Jewel of Asgard (Book1) is the first book in the 80 AD series by Aiki Flinthart. It is a fantasy series aimed at young adults, but has been read by many adults, also. In the first book Phoenix and Jade, both around 13 years old, never met before and both having a parent they despise, start playing a pre-release copy of a new computer game titled 80 AD at the same time. All of a sudden they are both pulled into the game which is set in Britain back in 80 AD, where they meet. Not knowing what is happening since the online version hasn’t started up yet, they find it weird that the are more than playing the game, but playing it. They soon find out that they have a quest that they must complete together, otherwise the world in the game and their real world will be changed forever for the worse. They got through the game scared and wondering how they will be able to accomplish the quest.

This is the first fantasy book that I’ve read for a good while and enjoyed it. Even though it is aimed at the young adult audience, there is enough action to keep adults engrossed in the story. It is a Smashwords book, so I’ll include a link to the book in the links below. It kept me wanting to read more.

Donload Links:
This book can be downloaded for free in various ebook formats from the following links:




Tim’s Rating: ****
(Four out of five stars)

I’m off to read another book. Check back periodically for more book reviews.


Book Review #25: The Pioneers

The Pioneers, Or, The Sources of the Susquehanna by James Fenimore Cooper is the first novel that he wrote in the Leatherstocking Tales series, the fourth in chronological order. The story takes place in a fictitious settlement in the mountains of New York in 1793. It tells the story of Marmaduke Temple, the founder of the settlement, and his daughter Elizabeth and various residents of the settlement as well as Natty Bumppo, a Mohican Indian chief that became a Christian and took the name John and a younger man named Oliver Edwards that live a few miles outside the settlement. The book covers a little under a year.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and it was slow reading at first. There are people from various ethnic backgrounds in the community and each talk with an accent of their native tongue. It gets confusing at times when there are several in a discussion and each talking in their accent. It also have a lot of “thee’s” and “thou’s” in the dialogues which get confusing at times in modern English. There isn’t much action or adventure in the first half of the book, which combined in the above statements, makes the reading dry and not as much interesting to me, but I stuck it through to the end.

Download Links:
This book can be downloaded in various ebook formats from these sites:





Tim’s Rating: ***
(Three out of five stars)


I’m off to read another book. Check back periodically for more book reviews. 

Friday, February 10, 2017

Book Review #24: Northern Lights

***Note:  This book is not in the public domain.  --Tim

Northern Lights is the second novel written by Tim O’Brien. This novel follows brothers Paul and Harvey Perry for around a year starting with Harvey returning home from the Vietnam War, after losing an eye, in a small town in northern Minnesota. The book covers both the life of a veteran from that war and life in that area the forests that fill that part of the country. It gives account of adventures encountered during a cross country ski trip as well as other aspects of their lives.

I just recently found out about Tim O’Brien. I can’t remember where I heard or read about him. He is originally fro Austin, Minnesota which is fifty miles or less from my hometown in Iowa. This is the first book by him that I’ve read. When I was a teenager, my family went on vacation up in northern Minnesota two or three times where we would spend a week camping, canoing and fishing. While reading this book, his descriptions of the places they would go brought back memories of those trips. His descriptions gave enough detail that the reader could actually place themselves in those settings which you can’t always say for many novels.

Purchase Links:
You can purchase the book at the following links in various formats:



Tim’s Rating: ****
(Four out of five stars)


I’m off to read another book. Check back periodically for more book reviews.