We have our first spotlight! See below for a book description and links to pick up a great Christian self-help book, which is absolutely free right now!
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Want to become a better leader?
Increase Your Leadership Impact is a short, easy-to-read book that walks you through simple tips to help you feel closer to God and grow in your ability to lead those around you.
If you’re a Christian professional, leader, pastor, or anyone who loves to serve and inspire others—and you’re willing to start by first improving yourself—this book is for you.
Drawing on life lessons learned while attending Oxford and Harvard, author John Christopher Frame, PhD, shares easy-to-implement strategies to help you develop your leadership capacity.
In this quick read, you’ll discover:
What to emphasize to encourage people to follow you
How to make tough decisions with more confidence
A way to easily complete large tasks so you can fight overwhelm
One thing to avoid to come across more professionally
How you can tell your story to touch people’s lives
Inspiring prayers and practical action steps make this a power-packed read.
Unlock your potential and grab Increase Your Leadership Impact today!
Click the photo below and get your free ebook on Amazon. (Free as of this posting. Grab your copy while you can.
Attention self-published/indie authors: I have a new feature I want to try called Self-Published Spotlight. This is a place, not for reviews, but to highlight your book, give a description, and include buy links. If your book is on sale, newly published, or you want a cover reveal, or for pretty much any reason, contact me and send me the book description, cover art, sale information, or anything else you want included. Self-Published Spotlight can be any day of the week, and the frequency I publish it will depend on how many requests I get. These do not include a review.
Email me at bonniereadsandwrites@gmail.com if you want to be in the spotlight! And share this with any authors you know. Please make the title of your email Self-Published Spotlight.
It’s Self-Published Saturday! This is the day dedicated solely to reviews and promotion of self-published authors. Self-published/Independent Authors have to do it all, from editing to cover design to marketing. SPS is my effort to help those authors in the area of marketing. Today we have Wilson Indeed, the first book in the Wifi of Dreams Series by Steve Walsh. This is an extremely clever and creative novel about the merging of the real world with the world of dreams. See my review below.
BOOK DESCRIPTION & REVIEW
BOOK DESCRIPTION
In The Market Square, the fantastical setting for all his dream activities, Wilson Armitage is able to take night classes on any subject and absorb a wealth of knowledge from just a few hours of sleep. As though logging into a wifi of dreams to download information. As his childhood passes, both wary of and reticent to acknowledge his extraordinary ability, Wilson attempts to lead a normal life and stay beneath the radar of family and friends.At the age of seventeen however, his cover is blown by Daisy Meadowcroft. During a chance encounter in The Market Square, they agree to meet the next day and are propelled from a dream world into the reality of a coffee shop in the centre of Manchester. Enthralled by their shared gift, they strike up a close friendship and encourage each other to seek a rational, scientific explanation for their unique talents.
Butterfly Assassins, the second book in the trilogy, is available on Amazon.
In a recent survey, 85% of people said yes to the question: “Do you believe there are things out there that science can’t explain?”
If you’re one of those 85%, you’ll love The WiFi of Dreams series.
BOOK REVIEW
I was captivated by this imaginative novel that immediately throws you straight into the action on the first page. At first, this book seems to be going a certain direction, but suddenly you realize you are reading something extraordinary and going on an amazing adventure with the intriguing young Wilson. Going to school in his dreams, Wilson can speak several languages, restore classic vehicles, perform life-saving medical procedures, and more, and he is still a kid.
When he meets Daisy in the dream state and they decide to meet in the real world, that’s when the fun really begins, and when danger starts to lurk ever closer. From the dream world to the real world, Wilson’s abilities soon become known to the “powers that be.” When Wilson and Daisy investigate the disappearance of Vanessa, the mother of Wilson’s best friend, they truly begin to shake things up.
Wilson Indeed is a captivating mix of fantasy, science and mystery that will take you on a fascinating ride into the world of dreams. Through Wilson and Daisy, we can explore the possibilities of what can happen when the fantastical world we visit when we sleep crosses into real life. This is the first book in the Wifi of Dreams series. I highly recommend this to fans of Fantasy, Young Adult, Mystery, and Science Fiction, as well as those who love genre mashups.
Thank you to Zooloo’s Book Tours for a copy of this book. I also purchased one on Amazon. My opinions are voluntary and are my own.
COVER RATING
When I first reviewed this book on this blog, it had a different cover, which I thought could have been a lot more noticeable. Since then, it appears to have been updated, and I prefer this cover, which I think “pops” a lot more. My only criticism is that the author’s name should be a lot larger and more prominent so people will see it and remember it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
For twenty years Steve Walsh honed his skills in prose as an advertising copywriter; the ‘ideas’ man in a Manchester based marketing agency that carried his name.
In the late 1990’s he stumbled into the world of the dotcom entrepreneur and his claim to fame is as the creator of the hotel booking service, laterooms.com and the first car insurance comparison site, easycover.com. So, the birth of Meerkats, a Welsh opera singer, and being confused.com might be considered as down to him, for which he apologizes.
He now uses his vivid imagination and gentle Mancunian wit to write visionary fantasy novels with bold concepts. Wilson indeed, the first book in his trilogy The WiFi of Dreams takes the reader on a richly imagined, fact meets fiction adventure story to which we can relate and feel we can touch. A whimsical interrogation of the inexplicable and fundamental tenets of our lives – the role and meaning of dreams, the nature of the hereafter, hard and soft science, a love story – what more can you want?
If you read the book, please leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads, and wherever you post about books. Reviews are needed and are extremely important. Some people are intimidated by the thought of leaving a review. Don’t be. The review doesn’t have to be a masterpiece. A couple of lines about how the book made you feel will make the author’s day and help with book sales in a big way.
Please press the Twitter, Facebook, and WordPress buttons below and share this book with your friends and social media followers. Even if a book is not your cup of tea, it might be theirs, and this gives them a look at it too!
Self-published Saturday is my weekly feature where I showcase a self-published author, provide a review, and include links to buy the book. As I’ve said before, self-published authors have to write, edit, and market their book, arrange for cover design, and more. They have to do it all, and they appreciate reviews so much. If you decide to read this book today, be sure to put up a review. They are so important to authors. My selection for Self-Published Saturday this week is a Young Adult Time Travel novel Arriving Through Time by Heather L. Barksdale.
Lizzie has been through a family tragedy and is having a tough time, but she is supported by her two best friends, Sam and Jeremy. They are currently navigating high school life and dealing with bullies Gary and Tiffany. Then a class project has Lizzie wondering about her ancestors, and a school trip ends with the three friends hurtling through time, along with their bullies and Lizzie’s secret crush. Although at first it appears to be a freak occurrence, the time travel seems very designed, as all of the teens begin to meet long dead ancestors.
What I loved about this story is that it combined time travel fiction and genealogy, two of my favorite pastimes, and it did this in a clever way. A class project and a DNA test have brought questions about Lizzie’s ancestors to the surface, and unexpected time travel gives her a chance to get answers. This book reminds us that our ancestors were living, breathing, people, not just names on a family tree. They blazed the way for us, good and bad, and everything they did enabled us to be alive today. We also learn something along the way as we visit people and places that are important to American history.
I loved the way time took the six travelers to locations that were pertinent to all of them and their ancestors and gave them both answers and surprises. I have found those kinds of surprises in my own genealogy research.
If you are a fan of young adult novels, time travel, genealogical research, and/or historical fiction, you will enjoy this book. I received a free copy of this book from the author. I also picked up a copy on Amazon, where Kindle Unlimited members can read it for free. My review is voluntary.
Remember if you are a Kindle Unlimited subscriber, you can read this book for free. Just click the link above. Remember to leave a review.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Heather L. Barksdale
Heather L. Barksdale has been a physical therapist, a researcher, a military brat, and now a novelist. She has also traveled throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia seeking adventure. She is an avid fan of historical fiction and calls upon her adventures as inspiration for her stories. She and her husband share their home in Jacksonville, Florida where she enjoys snuggling with her cats and rooting for the Jaguars.
I’m starting a new feature every Saturday. I will share a review of a self-published book to help Indie authors. I have read some amazing self-published books, and I am happy to help you discover them too. Self-published authors not only have to write their books, they have to arrange for cover design, editing, marketing, and more. They have to do it all. I am happy to help these authors by promoting their books here. If you would like to request a review of your self-published book, just click the Review Requests link on the home page (top right).
My first share will be a review I did a couple of weeks ago of an amazing book by Gail Meath, a wonderful self-published author. Agustina De Aragon is about a captivating real-life woman who fought against Napoleon in the early 1800s. She is sometimes known as the “Spanish Joan of Arc.” Please enjoy my review below and support this self-published author. Links to buy this book are included at the end of the review. This book is only $2.99 on Kindle right now.
Gail Meath brings a legend to life in this beautiful historical romance/thriller based on the life of Agustina Raimunda Maria Saragossa, or Agustina de Aragón, also known as “The Spanish Joan of Arc.” We learn the true story of Agustina’s heroic acts during the First Siege of Zaragosa, her life as a soldier and prisoner, and her romance with her beloved Juan Roca. Set in Barcelona and then Zaragosa, and other points in Spain, we meet Agustina as a girl and then follow her into womanhood, motherhood, and war.
The author’s meticulous research into the life and customs of early 1800s Spain is obvious, as Agustina’s world comes alive. The reader will feel as if they are there, visiting the marketplace and working alongside Agustina in her father’s bladesmith shop. The love story between Agustina and Roca is very well done, and their passion and dedication to each other are painted across every page.
When danger arrives in the form of the Napoleon-led French Army, we can see the bloody battles and the savagery of the enemy, as well as the bravery of the Spanish people, as they fight off onslaught after onslaught. The terrible price of war is shown again and again, and the reader will weep along with Agustina as she faces unspeakable loss. The author’s knowledge of the topic is impressive, and I learned so much about Napoleon’s attacks on and eventual takeover of Spain. Although Agustina is famous for her acts during the First Siege of Zaragosa, she was also a mother, soldier, and prisoner of war, and it all comes alive in this novel. The ending is absolutely intriguing, and not to be missed.
I require two things from historical fiction. The first is that I be transported to the time and place being described. There is no question I felt transported to marketplaces, battlefields, and even prison in this fantastic novel. The second is that I learn something, and this book introduced me to Agustina herself, and then taught me much about the Napoleonic wars.
Agustina De Aragón introduces us to a compelling real-life legend, takes us into her world, and shows us the realities of war. It is a must read for fans of strong female characters. If you have never heard of Agustina, this book will introduce you in an unforgettable way.
Bonnie Reads and Writes 
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