Reviews with TLC

The General Store by Wright Forbucks is made up of chapters that feel like reading connected short stories. The stories sometimes feel a bit weird and push the reader toward edges of morality and immorality. Human interactions are strange but sometimes feel all too real. The idiosyncrasies of the characters make them interesting but often not very likable. The General Store weaves the stories of the members of the community together in ways that often don't seem connected yet end up being so in unexpected ways. Forbucks mixes up a variety of beliefs, attitudes, and people in ways that often can seem to decide if he's going to humor or to make a societal, perhaps even political, statement or both. The General Store is filled with the same kind of bluntness, humor, and double meanings that the author's name suggests. Note: I couldn't find this book on Amazon.com to link to it though I downloaded the ebook from there during either a discounted offer or a free offer ...

Verseweavers: The Oregon Poetry Association Anthology of Prize-winning Poems Number 21 2016 pulls together the winning poems from The Oregon Poetry Association's annual Spring and Fall poetry contests. It includes commentary by the judges that is sometimes enlightening and sometimes distracting. The poetry covers a wide range of talent, ideology, form, and points of view. As with other years, I related to some poems more than others, but I could appreciate the decision-making process of the judges involved. Verseweavers is published as a limited edition, but is worth the read if you can find a copy. In fact, the order form on the Oregon Poetry Association's website doesn't seem to currently include this issue.

Change We Can Believe In: Barack Obama's Plan to Renew America's Promise set on my shelves in my reading stacks for approximately a decade before I finally read it. It's interesting to read it now that Barack Obama has served two terms as President of the United States. The successes, failures, and compromises of his presidency are all highlighted by reading this plan filled with hope, unifying ideas, and calls for working together. Reading it also reminded me of my own cynicism and how important it is to have hope. As I read I thought about how often we, as voters and citizens, get caught up what we hear on television or in speeches and don't bother to pay attention to the actual proposals being put forth. Change We Can Believe In holds a hope within it that we can rise above petty differences to achieve the aspirations we claim to have.

Love-Based Copywriting Method: The Philosophy Behind Writing Copy That Attracts, Inspires, & Invites Volume 1 by Michele PW explains why marketing works and why it makes so many of us feel manipulated. Michele examines fear-based, aka traditional, marketing and compares it to a more positive based marketing she refers to as love-based. Michele makes a good argument for why love-based marketing has the power to be more effective than fear-based marketing. She simplifies the concept and offers steps to get started in an approachable manner. Love-Based Copywriting  offers an alternative to the kind of fear-based marketing that often feels so icky for both those creating it and those on the receiving end.