More Book Reviews

I am slowly getting back to writing and doing more research, since my stint of Spring cleaning has ended. Not to sound weird but I kind of enjoyed this chore. There is nothing like stripping everything off the walls and emptying a room so that you can get everything washed down. I completed this major work in three days that included 10 rooms, one three closets, and one hallway. Now back to the book reviews. The following book reviews were originally written for a nonfiction site that allows the reviews to be shared on other sites and there are a few where the author sought me out to review their book.

'Fangs' by Frank Barvitch

There are so many different frames of mind when reading vampire stories and 'Fangs' written by Frank Barvitch tries to answer these questions 'What does it really mean to be a vampire?'; 'What does immortality really have to offer one?'; 'Is it worth it?' These are the questions that Frank is trying to answer or answering for the readers. Even when a vampire has all his or her 'enhanced abilities', speed, power and other senses the main character of Lawrence of 'Fangs' seems to be in the throes of making a choice.

What is death and dying is another question to be answered in a way. Is it another form of the 'Awakening' and in further reading the description of what a 'human' goes through when dying and becoming a vampire is quite impressive and scary. To me dying for the most part is not painful, but peaceful for one really does not feel anymore for the pain is over depending on the circumstances. Lawrence is in need of companionship and 'Fangs' is his story of how lonely it is being a vampire and how many of his circumstances change.

This is a creative story just for the fact for something different for Frank has added animal vampires, as in the characters of the dog and cat that he meets when Lawrence went out to 'feed'. Lawrence seems to be bored with his 'life' during this time. Frank Barvitch has written a novel that is quite different from all the other vampire novels out there. 'Fangs' is a story that made me think what would it be like to be dead yet 'undead' as the book showed us. Frank has written various interactions between the humans and other animals, as he did with the dog and cat. This is the kind of book that shows a diversity between the various people of all persuasions 'human' versus 'vampire' versus 'animal'. It is a book of personalities and new traditions as seen as a vampire making a 'life' choice. Frank is with Lawrence and that is what makes this story a fun read.

The next book review is one for an educational book entitled 'Brain Games Mighty Book of Mind Benders. This review was for a nonfiction review site.

Brain Games Mighty Book of Mind Benders

Stephanie Warren Drimmer and Dr. Gareth Moore

2019

ISBN: 978-1-4263-3285-2

National Geographic Partners, LLC

158 pages

Who doesn't like to play games and thinking games lets us have fun and learn at the same time. 'Brain Games' lets the reader be a learner where they learn and use various thinking skills in areas ranging from optical illusions to number puzzles, and even making one's own brain game. The images that Stephanie Drimmer and Dr. Moore chose throughout the book were very interesting choices for each section of the book that range in subject matter from health to language to problem solving as well as memory skills.

This is a book of extra credit that teachers in an upper elementary and middle school levels could use in their classrooms. The optical illusions were fun to do and guess what is happening to learning in a fun way and see what learning in all about.