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    Graeme's Book Reviews
    Graeme's Book Reviews
    Graeme's Book Reviews
    Ebook55 pages54 minutes

    Graeme's Book Reviews

    By Graeme Bourke

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    About this ebook

    It is so hard to find a good book to read and I do get annoyed when I spend good money on a book and then find it doesn't meet my standards of reading, or that it is poorly written. Today we are inundated with e-books with marvelous reviews that don't stand up. I can guarantee that you will find something here that you will enjoy. By acquiring these reviews you will save money

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGraeme Bourke
    Release dateJan 27, 2018
    ISBN9781370902538
    Graeme's Book Reviews
    Author

    Graeme Bourke

    In 1985 Graeme took up fly fishing in Tasmania and during this journey he kept a diary which was used to produce his first non-fiction book "Come Fly Fish With Me," which has now been published as an ebook. This book received wide acclaim from the fly fishing fraternity. He then completed a correspondence course on writing and began writing articles for sporting and travel magazines. In 2008 he published his second book on fishing "If Only The World Would Go Fishing." This book is no longer available having been sold out. His main ambition was to write fiction, so in 2010 he published "Hawkins' Grove" which has also been converted to an ebook. "Come fly fish with Me" and "Hawkin's Grove" are available in hard copy from "Window on the World" bookshop in Ulverstone, Tasmania. Mountain Pride, The Ghost Ship,The Gates of Hell and The House of Dreams are only available as ebooks. In June of 2014 Graeme uploaded the first book in his trilogy "The Orphan and the Shadow Walker: The feedback has been very positive. Sales from the second and third book have been encouraging. "An Ancient Warrior" is his most recent fiction novel. Graeme writes book reviews for a local newsletter and from the these he has compiled the best of these reviews so If you are looking for a book to read he guarantees you will find something here. He has just published a new book called "A Fortunate Destiny," a love story set in the early seventies around the trauma of the Vietnam War. "Tears in Thailand" has now been published. This is a true story telling of Graeme's journey in Thailand, his experiences and emotions as he enjoys the land of smiles. Read his excerpt on the blog, of his separation from his partner in Thailand because of the Corona virus. Copies also available at Window on the World book store in Ulverstone, Tasmania. Critics have praised his work and even compared it to be the equal to anything that is out there.

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      Book preview

      Graeme's Book Reviews - Graeme Bourke

      Introduction

      In 2016, I began writing book reviews for a local newsletter in my home town of Ulverstone in Tasmania. It was always something I wanted to do, to voice my opinion because so many books do not come up to scratch and those that do, deserve to be praised. It’s so hard to find a good book unless you have some prior knowledge of the author, some feed back from another reader or a good review to guide you.

      I very rarely read book reviews now because most of them don’t do what they are meant to do, and that is to inform the reader of its readability. A synopsis is not a review and I see these all the time in newspapers and magazines. There are also those academic reviews that use adjectives that I have never heard of and leave me perplexed and wondering what in the hell I just read.

      Then we have those books that have fantastic reviews on the back eg: Fast paced, Impossible to put down. I once read a book that had the back page full of marvelous reviews. By the time I was halfway through the book I was struggling. Two thirds of the way through the book, I quit and wrote my own review in the back repudiating all the so-called reviewers. Honestly, they couldn’t have read the book.

      Of course, everyone has different requirements in reading but there are some basics that need to be adhered to in the writing of a book, especially fiction. I really can’t understand why some books even get published by the big-name publishers, while other more genuine writers don’t get past the front door.

      Poor characterisation and weak story telling is so common that I feel it is an epidemic of huge proportions that has somehow unleashed itself on an unsuspecting public and we continue to put up with it! Why do we continue to buy these books? Maybe it’s because we are fooled by the glitz of the cover and the marketing spiel by the publisher. The reader must be able to feel the pain, anguish, love and happiness of the character. The reality is very few writers are able to do this. It is a rare gift.

      For example, I had to get one of my books edited by an editor who I didn’t know as my normal editor wasn’t available. After the edit, he said to me: ‘Don’t you dare kill the key character off I’m in love with her.’ This is the sort of feedback on characters that all authors love to hear. There is much more I could say about reading, writing and books in general, instead I will let you read my reviews and you can judge for yourself.

      These twenty reviews (now updated to thirty-seven reviews in 2021) are books that were picked up at random in the local library and the second hand book stores. I haven’t targeted any particular author, instead, preferring to be surprised, to have the joy of discovering a gem. There are not many fives in the list because of the fact that I have read hundreds of books and for me to give a novel five stars it has to be exceptional in one way or another. I can guarantee that there is something here for every reader in the world.

      A REDBIRD CHRISTMAS

      Every now and then you come across a book that stands out, that satisfies all your needs as a reader. A Redbird Christmas by Fannie Flag is one of these stories. Books like this are rare in the literary world when compared to the sheer volume of work that is written.

      This is a charming, heartfelt, feel-good story that is simply written. The writing is not crowded with adjectives. It doesn’t need them. The story has its own life, its own ebb and flow. In places I felt that the author stretched the bounds of reality a little, but this did not distract one from the very essence of the tale. To stretch the imagination is a time honoured fiction right, and done properly, it can enhance any story.

      The author creates in the mind of the reader a compelling urge to read on in the first page, in the first chapter. This is something that many authors fail to do. I see it all the time, even from those best-selling authors who should know better.

      A reluctant Oswald T. Campbell moves to a warmer climate in Lost River in Alabama on his doctor’s advice

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