July 7, 2007
The Symposium Updated
Our fair Lady Joana has been doing some remodeling since the last time we visited The Symposium, the book blog arm of the Nanashi, Inc. network. Her new theme is sophisticated with just a touch of whimsy. What hasn’t changed is the “brutal dose of honesty” promised by her tagline. Whether the author is an old favorite or a promising newcomer, Joana keeps it on the level in her reviews.
I’ll admit I probably would have picked up Mysteria by Mary Janice Davidson et al simply because I was disappointed in my last read in the Undead series and want Davidson to redeem herself. Joana has saved me the trouble of searching out the book and perhaps wasting the cover price. The brutal honesty I menitoned? How’s this: “Truth be told I forgot the events that unfolded by the time I got to writing the review and had to re-read it again. Why did all the details slip my mind? Because there was nothing worth remembering. Disappointing doesn’t begin to sum up this short story.” Oh, but it gets better: “Do I recommend this novel? Only if you plan on forcing hardened criminals to read it while wearing a tutu or you’re just the type to enjoy cheap dime store romance fiction.” Joana has no patience with bad writing, pathetic characters or weak story lines.
While she enjoyed Birth of an American Family by Geoffry Moehl II enough to give it four stars out of a possible five, Joana kept it honest and gave a balanced review. The author told her a pleasing tale, but suffered a few mis-steps along the way. Joana gives her readers a straighforward review that will benefit them as they decide whether or not to seek out the memoir.
Reading challenges spring up like mushrooms in a damp basement during the summer months. The overabundance sometimes makes it hard to decide which are worthy of participation. Joana has joined the Beach Blanket Bonanza challenge and selected an eclectic mix of books to get her through it. The challenge reminds us that even serious readers need to do some of their reading “just for fun.” Registration by July first was recommended, but you probably won’t be turned away if you decide to jump onboard soon.
Check out my friend Joana at The Symposium. I like her style and I think my reading friends will too! There’s a problem with sidebar displacement in IE, so I recommend you view in FireFox.
[tags]blog reviews, bogs, book reviews, books[/tags]
RSS feed for comments on this post.
TrackBack URI
July 8th, 2007 at 6:47 am, Joana Says:
Awesome review skeet!
Thank you muchly!
I find myself having a hard time getting through MJD’s series as well right now. Very sad really since she’s so highly touted.
July 8th, 2007 at 8:11 pm, skeet Says:
I was really disappointed in the last Undead book I read, Joana. Poor grammar and sentence structure, which is just annoying, and a story that felt erratic and lacked flow, which a cardinal sin for a writer, IMHO.
Geoffry Moehl just sent me an email and a PDF of the book.