Welcome to “The Grumpy Book Reviewer”. On this site, I will be sharing my opinion of the books I’ve chosen, and some that publishers and authors have asked me to review. Unlike book reviews written for a college course, or even some high school courses, where reviews are (or should be) written only in 3rd person, I will be writing in a more personal manner, as if I were talking with a friend. Of course, your comments are invited and welcomed.
Lots of people have said you can travel the world through books, but there is so much more. I have learned much from reading that I likely would never have learned elsewhere. For example, in what I assumed to be some chick-lit-style easy reads, I learned a lot about the endangered Loggerhead Sea Turtles, and about the once-popular tourist attractions in Florida, such as Silver Springs, and Weeki-Wachee Springs, being turned into state parks. In a Tom Clancy novel, I learned that the Concord (a now-retired airplane) expanded 11 inches in length when at cruising altitude.
What would make a book reviewer grumpy?
I must have been born with a red pen in my hand because I detest poor writing: bad grammar, a lack of punctuation, poor syntax, run-on sentences, dangling (incomplete) sentences, a lack of research on the part of the author, and incorrect word usage, to name just a few. I will call an author out on these things, but I will always be kind in doing so.
Thank you. I’m working as fast as my little fingers can go. The Grumpy Book Reviewer will be live very soon.
I’m enjoying your new site!
Thank you, and thanks for visiting. I still have a few genres to get posted, but it’s coming along.
This website is looking very good.
Thank you, Sherry, and thanks for visiting.
Thank you, Jeanne. I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
Hi, Grumpy, I have two suggestions for books. Perhaps you have already read / reviewed them. One is “A Land Remembered”, by ? Smith. It is a historical novel, but is accurate in describing life in Florida in the 1860 to 1920 time frame, especially the cattle industry and the development of the Miami area.
The second is “The Island At the Center of the World”, by Russell Shorto. It’s the story of the original documents of New Amsterdam (NYC) in the 1600s, done after all the city records were found in 1960. shows how much of our systems ar more dutch than english, and how liberal the Dutch were, like bi-racial marriages in the 1600s.
Hi Glen,
Thanks for the recommendations, and for reading my blog. I have not read The Island at the Center of the World. It sounds like one I would really enjoy. I’ll put it on my list of books to read. I have read A Land Remembered. Our neighborhood book club read it a couple of years ago. Bo and I listed to the audio version of this on a long road trip. He enjoyed it, too. If you want to read my review of it, here’s the link:https://grumpybookreviewer.com/historical-fiction/a-land-remembered/. I hope you like it.