When Fall arrives, I like to hunker down and bundle up wearing a cozy sweater with a mug of hot tea, and a good book. The advicesisters.com book review roundup for Fall 2020 offers 6 books that can divert your attention from troubles or stress. We’re featuring several non-fiction books that will show you different ways of viewing life. There is also a romantic novel and a book about how to grow your own sprouts. One or more of these is sure to pique your interest. If you’ve read any of these I’d love to hear what you think of them. I have included direct links where possible to Amazon to download immediately! Have a fascinating Fall with suggestions from this Book Review Roundup 2020!
Funny Romantic Novel:
If you’re looking for a fast-paced, romcom book to while away a few hours, check out The Love Scam (August 2020, St. Martin’s Publishing Group) by New York Times bestselling author MaryJanice Davidson. Rake Tarbell is wealthy, single, and apparently irresponsible, but he wakes up in Venice not knowing how he got there. or how he lost his wallet.
He also doesn’t remember getting drunk, or about a woman who claims her daughter is his. Money can’t make all your problems disappear, but maybe you don’t want them to. This is a fast-paced fun romance. Read, and enjoy!
Michael Jackson, Personalized:
According to author Gary Revel, author of Don’t Stop Dancing Stranger Than Fiction (Jongleur Books; 2 edition (April 8, 2020) Michael Jackson was tired during a show at a seedy bar. Michael’s father Joe Jackson scared the little boy into continuing to dance by telling him that a big white man with a fun would “blow your brains out” if he stopped moving.
Gary Revel’s investigation into the life, music, and career of the King of Pop is touted as “a true story.” It reads as dialogue as if Gary was in the room with Michael.
I can’t tell how much is fact vs. fiction. However, you really get a feeling for what the pop star went through in his life.
Michael Jackson had incredible talent. However, his father and the music business robbed him of his childhood. This shaped every aspect of his life.
Did MJ really end up molesting young visitors at his Neverland Ranch, or was he just trying to be a child again? You can judge for yourself.
The book also delves into the toll the molestation charges/trials took on Michael which weighed very heavily on his life, health, and career,
Don’t Stop Dancing is an engaging, tragic look at the superstar.
Grow Your Own Sprouts:
The Sprout Book: Tap into the Power of the Planet’s Most Nutritious Food by Doug Evans, St. Martin’s Essentials (April 7, 2020) is a fascinating look into the world of how to grow and eat various types of sprouts. You see them in salads, and in other fancy dishes, but it’s easier than you think to grow them yourself on a window sill or a pot on your deck or balcony.
The author makes it as easy as possible! If you would like to garden in a small space, growing sprouts is a nutritious and affordable way to have a delicious “harvest.”
It’s also fascinating for children to watch sprouts germinate and grow. You might even get them to eat more healthy foods!
Tales From an Escort:
My Whorizontal Life: An Escort’s Tale by Sephe Haven, Redwood Publishing, LLC (May 1, 2019) is a somewhat fictionalized version of what the author experienced as an escort. As with Don’t Stop Dancing (review above), it is difficult to tell what’s fact and what’s fiction, but it’s so fascinating, who cares?!
Interestingly, the author opines that being an escort and getting paid for sex is not that different from dating. She makes an interesting point, although most women do not become escorts.
However, after being dumped enough times by men she wanted to be with for free, getting paid so she could pay her bills and hopefully become an actress isn’t such a big leap, after all.
The experiences seem true to life and the book is a quick, fun read that kept my attention from beginning to end.
Get Out and Live! (2 books):
In this book review roundup I am suggesting two very different books about connecting with the outside world and finding your passion at any age.
They are: Both Feet On The Ground by Marshall Ulrich (DNA/DNA Books 2019) and Granite and Grace: Seeking The Heart of Yosemite by Michael P. Cohen (University of Nevada Press 2019).
For those still stuck at home. both these books will have you longing for the great outdoors. Granite and Grace is a discourse about the Yosemite and the great outdoors and the author’s lifelong infatuation with rocks, especially granite.
The author opines that while the world might change, the rocks remain the same. It’s a love story to the rocks. There is a lot of name-dropping and references to luminaries that you may or may not know.
The truth is, Both Feet on the Ground reads like an academic dissertation. But the message is clear. The rocks in Yosemite will be there for centuries to come.
Get out and connect with nature.
Both Feet on the Ground is also a love story to the great outdoors but written in a personal style that encourages people of all ages to get out and challenge themselves. The author is an ultra-runner and a fan of extreme sports and challenges that few of us would ever attempt.
The author appears fearless, even in his more mature age. He doesn’t suggest that readers should specifically do what he does. Instead, he urges them to go outside, commune with nature, and challenge themselves as they can.
