ashton the book blogger

Review - Faith, Hope and Reindeer

Title: Faith, Hope and Reindeer

Author: Joe Moore as told to by Santa Claus

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Santa Claus has treated many of the Moores kindly. He inspired Clement Clark Moore into writing one of the most beloved poems in literary history. And now he has asked Joe Moore to write Santa's memoirs about several families who have visited him, the North Pole and its people.
~
But this book is much more then a novel about Santa Claus. It is about families who have struggled through life and its adversities and are in need of a booster shot of Faith. It is about all of us who struggle in life, but never dare to give up Hope. And of course it is about the North Pole and the goings on in this magical land, including the elves and Reindeer.

Follow the story of the Gradys and other families as they take a magical journey that will change their lives forever.

This book will not only answer the questions you have about Santa Claus, but it will bring the true magic and meaning of Christmas into your life; regardless of the month or season. Return to a time when you knew it was all real.

Believe all over again and visit this magical land to get your own booster shot of Faith, Hope & Reindeer.

Come believe, again.

My Review:

Delightfully Heartfelt.
~*~*~
When I first received an e-mail from none other than Santa Claus asking me to read this, I was shocked. I thought, 'Santa is really sending me an e-mail?' And then I thought, 'This is super awesome!' I mean it's Santa Claus!!!!
~*~
This story was truly heartwarming and special. It delivers great insight to the NorthPole, the activities up there, the elves, and of course Santa himself. The story revolves around the Grady family, who receives a package indicating that they have won a trip to Alaska for the Christmas break. Upon traveling they discover they are actually headed to go visit Santa Claus, along with a few other select families. While at the NorthPole they all have these incredible experiences: visiting the shops, seeing the Aurora Borealis, conversing with all of the elves and learning about the Pole and Santa. And of course visiting with Santa himself.
Faith, Hope, and Reindeer makes you relive your adolescence, and yearn for those innocent childhood days full of magic, hope, faith, love, and of course Santa Claus, while teaching you the true meaning of Christmas. It was just a superb tale.

My Rating:
An Amazing Wedding Cake

this book is available @
Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Friday, June 17, 2011

Review - A Lost and Found Land

Title: A Lost and Found Land

Author: Rick Sand

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Irving Davies finds a magical key buried beneath a heap of used retainers in the school’s lost and found box. The key unlocks a gateway to another world – one away from dodge ball “accidents,” disinterested parents, and his boring English class.

Irving’s idea of paradise is lost inside a maze of moving trees, when he is separated from Emily, his best friend and loyal protector, who tagged along to keep him out of trouble. Their roles are reversed when Emily is captured by a moderately evil and excessively insecure preteen witch, who is determined to permanently enslave Emily as her new “best friend.”

In his race to rescue Emily, Irving must play doctor to a band of hypochondriac giants, escape a mounted cavalry of witchdoctor monkeys in a haunted forest, outsmart a trickster troll, navigate a giant underground ant farm, challenge the dreaded bright-eye beast, and enlist the aid of a goofy ranger girl that commits acts of near-super-human derring-do without losing any of her femininity.

As vultures circle overhead and the obstacles seem unending, will Irving find the strength to overcome the mighty power of the witch?

My Review:

What an adorable, fun, and exciting read! This is definitely one of those stories every child should read. It was full of laughter, danger, and it even had some good morals.

While some younger children might get a bit frightened during the latter half of the book, I think it would be perfect for 9-13 year olds. My favorite part of the book was when Irving met the dwarves who have the most ingenious little names! I loved how they were named after food - for example: Pumpkin Olive-Jam, Mustard Cherry-Milk, and my personal favorite Raspberry Bacon-Taco. And that their food had human names! Who wouldn't to eat some Mashed Lindas and Tom.

Overall I thought it was a very clever book, that in the end taught children the importance of friendship and over coming your fears. 5 stars.

My Rating:

An amazing wedding cake

pick up this book @

Sunday, May 01, 2011

Review - Airmail

Title: Airmail

Author: Naomi Bulger

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Reclusive old Mr. G.L. Solomon's favorite things are single malt whiskey, Steve McQueen movies, and gingersnap cookies. He hates processed cheese, washing detergent commercials, and the way the teacup rattles in the saucer when he picks it up. Solomon has become accustomed to his lonely routine in Sydney, Australia-until the day he begins sporadically receiving letters in his mailbox from a complete stranger. On the other side of the world, Anouk is a mentally delicate young woman living in New York who insists she is being stalked by a fat woman in a pink tracksuit. When Anouk declares to Solomon that she is writing "from the Other Side," the old man breaks away from his daily grind of watching soap operas and reading Fishing World and travels to New York to find her. As he is drawn into Anouk's surreal world of stalkers and storytelling, marbles and cats, purgatory and Plato, Solomon has but one goal-to unravel the mystery

before it is too late.

My Review:

AMAZING! I absolutely loved this book from word go! When I was asked to review this by Ms. Bulger, I was thrilled. Mostly I read pdf's, I'm all for saving an author postage (lol), but she was so kind to send me a physical copy - I was ecstatic.

The cover, I thought was so fantastic. I loved how it looked like one of the letters to Mr. Solomon.

The story itself was very intriguing to me as well. As I got towards the last few chapters of the book, I found myself holding my breath, I was flipping through the pages, at what felt like lightening speed. I just wanted to know how it ended.

Airmail is a fast read. At 103 pages this was a novella of a different kind.

I don't want to include any spoilers, but I'll give my brief synopsis:

G.L Solomon is a lonely old man living in Sydney, Australia. The "highlights" of his day, are putting out the trash, watching the soaps, having a glass of whiskey, and checking the post every day at 4 o'clock. The only real excitement he had, was every fortnight (two weeks for us American folks) his pension would be in. He would fancy himself up and go down to Stanley Street, where he laughed, drank, and smoked like a young man again.
Anouk is young woman living in New York who claims she is being stalked by a fat woman in a velour pink track suit. She corresponds with Mr. Solomon through letters, that range from humorous, to bizarre, to down right unnerving.

G.L. leaves the comfort of his daily routine to travel to New York to find Anouk. It is here that he unravels the mystery of what is her, along with re-discovering a few things about himself.

Just superb.

My Rating:

An Amazing Wedding Cake!!!

pick up Airmail @

Amazon UK

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Review-A Pittsburgh Affair

Title: A Pittsburgh Affair

Author: T.L. Peters

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Spencer Wedgeworth, a rising young star in an elite law firm, fears that he is being drawn into an international crime ring headed by his superiors at the firm, including some rather flashy and violent women. Aided by a quirky paralegal planted to spy on him and with whom he falls madly in love, Spencer uncovers the real truth about the contraband that he has been spiriting around the globe, a truth far more terrible than anything he could have imagined. But when his friend and long time mentor betrays him, Spencer flees to Bolivia where he has it out with the mob bosses in a wild brawl instigated by his girlfriend. Will Spencer survive to see justice done, or will he become just another in a long line of unfortunate victims in a violent, no-holds barred game of espionage and murder?

My Review:

This novel surprised me. In the beginning it was hard for me to get involved, even though the first chapter was fast-paced. I'm not sure exactly what was keeping me from really being taken in by the book. But, I pressed on and once all of the other characters started showing up I was in. From there it was a fact-paced, thriller, sometimes even a bit humorous. I especially loved Moonglow. =) She was super awesome, and she kicked ass. Literally.

There were a few grammatical errors, although they didn't deter from the story. And I felt that some of the characters and situations were under-developed.

Overall, it was an enjoyable read.

My Rating:

Some book lovers cupcakes

pick up this book @

Monday, April 25, 2011

Review-The Meteoric Rise of Simon Burchwood

Title: The Meteoric Rise of Simon Burchwood

Author: Scott Semegran

Synopsis (Goodreads):
On his way to New York to celebrate his impending literary success, Simon Burchwood is the prototypical American careerist: arrogant, egotistical, narcissistic. But a quick detour to Montgomery, Alabama to visit a childhood friend sends Simon on a bizarre journey, challenging his hopes and dreams of becoming a famous writer. The Meteoric Rise of Simon Burchwood is a character study that delves into the psyche of a man who desperately tries to redefine himself.

My Review:
This book cracked me up! Simon Burchwood is the author of the soon to be published novel THE RISE AND FALL OF A TITAN. He's crude, arrogant, and well just a jerk. He loves to shamelessly self promote and hands anyone, and I mean anyone, his flashy business card. While traveling to New York to do a reading of his new novel at a Barnes and Noble, he decides to take a quick stop in good ole' Montgomery, Alabama. The town of his childhood. Simon quickly realizes that this may not have been the best idea, and that his literary success may be in jeopardy.
Overall a very good and funny read. The only draw back I had was the over usage of vulgarities.

My Rating:
A nice birthday cake

pick up this funny book@

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Review - Life Seemed Good, But...

Title: Life Seemed Good, But...

Author: Richard Bell

Synopsis (Goodreads):

Welcome. Are you interested in entering a funny, bizarre and unpredictable world? I mean besides the one we all live in? Are you in the mood for dark, or possibly goofy, or possibly just hilarious stories? Then meet the strange characters who live in and around the Mystee Forest, including Oscar the Too-Lucky Gambler, Plooky the Mean Clown, Diane and her Clumsy Unicorn, and various aliens and wizards. Read about the thoughts of a grilled cheese sandwich. As an added bonus, you will also read about my various adventures involving aluminum foil, which are amazing and not to be missed. Lots of the stories are interrelated and contain hidden trivia references, which will give you something to do while you’re laughing.
Warning: This is a book of humor and not meant to be mistaken for great literature.

My Review:

Rolling on the floor, laughing my ass off funny!!! I loved this book. It seriously cracked me up. I actually loved some of these stories so much that I took it to work and read a few out loud. My co-workers, in turn, were laughing their asses off!

Richard Bell brings you into this very unique and bizarre world, that is a very nice breath of fresh air - well if you don't include Farty-Horse, whose real name is Melvin....but that is a horse of different color...lol.

Seriously, this was a great book. The stories were original, and very entertaining. I can definitely say, I will never ever look at a potato the same, ever again.

My Rating:

A Beautiful Wedding cake

pick up this hilarious book @

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Review-Joe is Online

Title: Joe is Online

Author: Chris Wimpress

Synopsis (Goodreads):

In 1997 a 13 year-old boy with no friends called Joe went online. He decided the offline world was too harsh be real. With the help of an internet psychic called Magda Magenta, Joe unleashes a series of co-ordinated attacks on the world, beginning online and spreading into the offline world. He develops an online cult populated by people who've also been let down badly by the real world. Nobody can trace their source until a quiet, shy professor in terrorism called Penelope Hunt discovers a link to Joe. She finds herself sucked into a conspiracy which transcends race and religion. With only a radical tele-atheist to help her, Penny decides to shut down Joe's activities, placing her own life in grave danger in the process.

'Joe is Online' spans continents and decades. Its setting is the boundary where the online and offline worlds meet.

My Review:

This was a very different read for me. When I say that, I mean this is not written in the typical story format. This is a story told from multiple perspectives, through blog posts, diary/journal entries, emails, webpages and chatroom logs. Since it was written in a different format than I was used to, I did find it a little difficult to keep track of some of the players involved in the story. 'Joe is Online' also spans time. The entries and the story starts in 1996 and ends sometime during or after the year 2020. I found the story to be very intriguing.

A warning though; 'Joe is Online' does contain very strong language and adult themes which some people might find disturbing.

I think what I liked most, was figuring out how everyone was connected. How each person somehow fit in to what was taking place in the online and real world. Overall I found 'Joe is Online' to be a very fast and enjoyable read.

My Rating:

A Birthday Cake

you can pick up 'Joe is Online' @

Amazon UK

Saturday, April 09, 2011

Review-Red Asphalt

Title: Red Asphalt

Author: Scott Cherney

Synopsis: (Goodreads)

See that car in your rear-view mirror?
The driver wants to kill you.
Don’t take it personally.
You just happen to be in the way.

In Scott Cherney’s new novel, Red Asphalt, the operator of the vehicle in question is a troubled medical courier in a triple threat cage match with his two biggest adversaries-everyday life and himself. His marriage to the woman he believed to be his soul mate is rapidly evaporating before his eyes. The book he’s been working on for over a decade is slipping through his fingers as he struggles to complete it. As these pressures grow, he compensates by conjuring up outrageous road rage scenarios in the multiplex of his mind. As his life, job and dreams simultaneously implode, his wild fantasies begin to literally bleed over into reality. Now with a gun in one hand and a steering wheel in the other, this distant runner-up in the human race feels empowered for the very first time. At least our boy’s finally found a purpose in life.

My Review:

What an amazing book. I would have to say that this is a must read for anyone who has a drivers license or has ever rode in a car. Calvin Wheeler's life is not exactly the American Dream. With a crumbling marriage and a dead end job (he drives for a living) Calvin's life is like a tire with a slow leak. Not to mention his magnum opus, the book that he has been writing for a good 7 years is going no where. And as we know, a tire with a slow leak, eventually pops. This is exactly what happens to Calvin and his entire life.

This story is a 294 page violent, in your face, darkly humorous thrill ride.

......the moral of the story????

TRAFFIC CAN BE MURDER.

My Rating:

An Awesome Wedding Cake

pick up Red Asphalt @