Required Reading

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Books I have authored.

Many times I receive books for FREE to give them an honest review. I do not get paid to give a good or bad review. Spotlights are promotional and should be regarded as advertising for the book spotlighted. Regardless of where or how I got a book, my review will be as honest as I can make it.

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

Pardon Me, Please by Lois Wickstrom


This is a book focused on a Thanksgiving staple, the turkey.

Albert lives on a turkey farm and a family has come to pick him up for dinner, not as a guest but as the main entrée.   Albert is aware that everyone needs to eat but does his best to convince the family that they should eat something else.

The book shows the dilemma of holidays and what they mean to people and their children.  It does not go into any diatribe on veganism or vegetarian lifestyle, it just leaves the reader to extrapolate whatever values they wish from reading the story.

This book was formatted correctly to show up on a Kindle Fire tablet and Google phone.

 This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned



Tuesday, November 29, 2022

The Gratitude Jar by Katrina Liu




The Gratitude Jar, great concept, I like the moral of the story. It reads quite nicely on the computer screen but very cramped on my phone and tablet. Good story, mechanics of the digital version could be improved. I'd recommend reading it on the computer or buy the hard copy.  Illustrations were very good, too. 

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned

Friday, November 25, 2022

The Fun Thieves by Carli Valentine


The author offers a valuable perspective to disgruntled children.   It is so easy to complain and feel like the world is conspiring against you.   Children often feel powerless and unable to control any aspect of their lives.  Valentine shows how easy it is to feel disgruntled.  She then shows how to turn it around and look at alternative perspectives.    I think the book provides an excellent lesson on how to look at life without ever mentioning glass half full. 

Well done and I recommend the book. 


This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned



Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Goodbye Dad, A Military Funeral by William G. Bentrim, with Trailer

This is not a rerun.  Military Funerals can be substantially different than civilian funerals. 

Funerals are part of life. As adults, we have a basic understanding of what occurs when there is a funeral.

Children often do not have even a basic idea of the funeral process and a military funeral is frequently different. This book tries to explain what a funeral is and what happens at a funeral. It is non-denominational and does not deal with the grief that normally accompanies a funeral. This book just tries to explain the basic aspects of a funeral from the perspective of a ten-year-old boy who just lost his father. 

If you like the book a review on Amazon or Barnes and Noble would be great!

Trailer on Youtube

Buy Here

Review from Amazon:

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 23, 2015

My own father passed away when I was seven years old. He wasn’t active duty at the time, but he was a veteran, and he received full military honors at his funeral. The memorial service was beautifully and tastefully done. That was the good news. The bad news was that nobody told us anything. My sister, my two brothers, and I were completely in the dark. No one explained to us what was happening, or what to expect. At one of the most frightening and disorienting times of our lives, we were expected to stumble through blindly, with no comprehension at all of the processes or symbols of our dad’s funeral.
A book like this would have gone a long way towards helping us cope. Enriched by realistic illustrations, this story — despite its inherent sadness — is an excellent guide for helping children understand the customs we use to say goodbye to our lost loved ones.
Nothing can ease the pain of losing a parent, but lack of understanding doesn’t assuage grief. It compounds it. Although the book is written for the children of service members, it works equally well for civilian children who face this misfortune.
This might not be the kind of book that you look forward to giving people, but it may be just exactly the book they need.

Kind Obi by Kamapala Chukwuka


Terrific topic!  I loved the story line and the message.  The activities at the end of the book were spot on for younger children.   Pencil Master did beautiful illustrations too.  

My only criticism is based on formatting and doesn’t diminish the value of the book.  I read the book on a Kindle Fire and the pages did not show up correctly.   I think the book should have been shown in a landscape mode but it did not react to the Fire’s change from portrait to landscape.   I tried reading it on my phone and it did not change from portrait to landscape there either.  The formatting consequently leads to a lot of pinching of the screen to get the page large enough to read the text. I tested it on a Samsung Galaxy tablet with the same results. The book read beautifully on the PC.   I don’t have any Apple devices to test it on.

I recommend the hard copy of the book or reading it on a PC rather than a Kindle Fire.  The message is terrific and well worth reading. 

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned



Friday, November 18, 2022

Goodbye Dad, The Funeral by William G. Bentrim, with Trailer

Funerals are part of life. As adults we have a basic understanding of what occurs when there is a funeral.

Children do not have that luxury. This book tries to explain what a funeral is and what happens at a funeral.

It is non-denominational and does not deal with the grief that normally accompanies a funeral. This book just tries to explain the basic aspects of a funeral from the perspective of a ten-year-old boy who just lost his father. 

If you like the book a review on Amazon or Barnes and Noble would be great!

Trailer on Youtube

Buy Here


Review from Amazon

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on August 19, 2014
When a child loses a loved one it can be quite devastating. William's book, Goodbye Dad, is intended for just a time as this.

Randy has lost his dad and is going through one of the hardest times of his life. His mother takes him to the funeral home to arrange his dad's funeral. Randy meets Kirk, the funeral manager's son, a knowledgeable as well as sympathetic, young man about Randy's age. After he takes Randy around the funeral home and describes to him the basic preparations of a funeral, Randy's finds some solace in his sad situation.

This sensitive topic isn't the most popular to write about, however, William's intent is to bring understanding and comfort to children who have lost a loved one. Incorporating a young boy helping another young boy may help grieving children deal with pain and sorrow. Children, quite often, find comfort when their peers take interest in them as well as show them empathy and kindness. This book showcases just that kind of situation. It could be helpful for children who are dealing with the painful loss of losing a loved one.

Sunday, November 13, 2022

DOES JOHNNY HAVE AUTISM? by William G. Bentrim with Trailer


DOES JOHNNY HAVE AUTISM?

 Much has been made about the dramatic increase in autism. Something to note is that autism as a term has been replaced by the expression autistic spectrum. Various disorders have been placed on a spectrum of behavior which has differing levels of impact.

All too often children have been labeled and then the self-fulfilling prophecy aspect occurs when realistic perceptions are clouded by a misplaced label. This book’s goal is to decry the label of autism and to provide a simplistic description of the autistic spectrum suitable for elementary-age children.

If you like the book a review on Amazon or Barnes and Noble would be great!


Trailer on Youtube

Buy Here

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 15, 2017

Once again counselor turned author William Bentrim focuses his experience and compassion on a much misunderstood subject, autism and the overuse of that expression to 'pigeon hole' thousands of youngsters. Using the format of a down to earth and believable conversation between two adolescent boys, Bentrim explores the broad spectrum of autism and exposes the tendency to 'label' kids who are different, usually with tragic and long lasting results. By helping his protagonists understand the strengths (and weaknesses) of their classmate who exhibits some evidence of autistic disorder, Bentrim skillfully demonstrates the differences in severity across the broad spectrum of this condition. Though written at an elementary level to help kids understand the condition, folks of all ages can benefit from this short and relevant story. I certainly did. Kudos to Bill Bentrim for his continued work in educating the rest of us on this and many other issues.

Wednesday, November 9, 2022

Birthright by Charles Lambert



A narcissistic young woman strives to feel less alone.  She questions her patrimony and is convinced that somewhere she has a twin.   The result of that search leads to a wide variety of chicanery.

Fiona is not a likable character.  Her incessant whining contributed to my overall dislike of the book.  There is a lot of romance or seeming romance but it appears Fiona’s biggest love affair is with herself.   Herself possibly including her sought-after twin which may or may not exist. The one facet of the book I appreciated was that there was no shirtless hunk with a Stetson pulled low gracing the cover.

I didn’t like the book.   I suspect romance fans will probably enjoy it.  I am not a romance fan.   


This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned

Friday, November 4, 2022

The OC by D. P. Lyle

This is an unlikely crew of private detectives. Nicole, beautiful a talented writer and Jake a retired MLB pitcher are asked to help Megan, a TV reporter, with her stalker.


Nicole has had stalkers of her own so she and Jake go from Alabama to OC. They find that Megan’s stalker is accelerating and they call in their partners, Ray, ex-CIA maybe, and Pancake a very large, very physical computer gear head.


The stalking gets out of hand and the four PIs are pushed to their limits.
Jake is, again, given the opportunity to use his pitching skills in a surprising manner.


I enjoyed the book.






This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned