not a book review Archives | A.S. Akkalon

Ten self-help books I read so you don’t have to

I read ten self-help books and took away various insights, some of which are helpful. I summarise the helpful ones and the others here.

At their best, self-helps books are amazing because they literally teach you how to help yourself, and inspire you to do so. Want to become a millionaire by sitting on your couch playing video games? There will be a self-help book for that.

However, some self-help books would have been better if they’d remained blog posts, and some should never have been written at all.

I forget most of what I read in most self-help books, maybe because it isn’t relevant to me, or maybe because I’m too busy trying to put Princess on a diet without starving Runs from Jeans.

A year later I might remember one main point, and I’m fine with that. It was probably the most important point.

Today I’m going to share some of these main points.

A rant about A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow

I read the YA fantasy novel A Song Below Water by Black author Bethany C. Morrow. It’s a powerful book, but the oppression it portrays might not make it the best escapist read right now.

As part of my recent mission to read a string of books by Black authors, I read A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow. Sebastian and Rain had strong opinions about it. I’ll let them explain.

In case you missed it, last week I wrote about A Song of Wraiths and Ruin. I’m thinking of renaming my WIP so it has “song” in the title.

Rain: I get to start this time! This book was such a weird mix. It’s set in the real world, which I don’t approve of, but it had all these mysterious magical elements that I loved so much. There’s only one gargoyle in Portland, and it lives on the roof of the main characters’ house. Sirens are real–they’re always Black women–but they look like people and live like anyone else, and there are magical elokos who also look like people and are universally adored, sprites whose pranks occasionally go too far–

Sebastian: I got it. You liked the magic stuff.

Not a review of A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown

Sebastian and Rain bicker about what they did and didn’t like in A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown, a fantasy novel by a black author that was inspired by West African folklore.

A week ago I shared a list of books by black authors that had jumped to the top of my TBR pile. Ten minutes ago I finished the first, A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown.

In a moment I’ll hand over to Sebastian and Rain to chat about it. In case you haven’t met them, Rain is my reader half and Sebastian is my writer half. I should warn you Sebastian is a bit of a prat, but I hope you don’t hold that against him.

The advantage of setting Sebastian and Rain loose rather than trying to write a review is that this way I don’t have to decide what I think about the book.

Genius, right?

Not a review of The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams

This is not a review of The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams, because there are rules on how to review and this doesn’t follow any of them.

Sebastian, my writer half, and Rain, my reader half, recently read The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams, which is the first book in The Winnowing Flame Trilogy. They finished it, which was quite an accomplishment given the pandemic wrecked their concentration.

Rain: We finally finished reading a book. We should do something to celebrate.

Sebastian: We can’t go out – we’re still in lock-down.

Rain: We could drink.

Sebastian raises his eyebrows and his half-empty glass of wine.

Rain: Fine. Let’s talk about The Ninth Rain.

Sebastian: Given our state of mind, this isn’t going to be a fair review.

Rain: This isn’t a review. It’s a not-review. I thought we’d done this enough that you got the idea.

Not a review of Baking Bad by Kim M Watt

I read Baking Bad, the first Beaufort Scales mystery, by Kim M. Watt and laughed a lot. I’m not going to review it, but hopefully I can help you decide whether you’d enjoy it.

While I was AWOL, something wonderful happened: lots of my friends published books.

(Lots of other things happened too, some great, some not so much, but we can come to those later.)

I’m planning to read them and review them, but not on this blog.

Hey, they’re my friends. If I say negative things feelings will get hurt, and if I gush and spout unicorn sparkles about how great they are (the books, not the friends) you won’t believe me.

So I came up with a different plan. I’m going to help you decide if you want to read them. (Again the books, not the friends.)

Today’s victim, I mean, book, is Baking Bad by the lovely Kim M. Watt.