Expat Scribe's Blog: Scribbles of an Eternal Expatriate, page 6
April 10, 2025
Non-fiction Books: New Releases & Pre-orders
Howdy, denizens of Goodreads! Heads up on non-fiction new releases and books on preorder.
Discover them at this virtual book fair: new.expatscribe.com
Have an awesome weekend! Your friendly Goodreads neighbor, Expat Scribe—author of:
1] The Invisible Cyber Bully: What it's like to be watched 24/7
2] The Anti-Bully Manual: How to fight bullies the cyber way
3] My Mother, the Good Witch Doctor: How Mom helped princesses with dyslexia
April 8, 2025
Easter Suggestions for Children's/YA books & Inspirational Reads
Advanced HAPPY EASTER, Goodreads denizens! Here are my recoms for Easter. Discover these children's books and inspirational publications at this virtual book fair: easter.expatscribe.com
A blessed Resurrection Day from Expat Scribe—the author of:
1] The Invisible Cyber Bully: What it's like to be watched 24/7
2] The Anti-Bully Manual: How to fight bullies the cyber way
3) My Mother, the Good Witch Doctor: How Mom helped princesses with dyslexia
Easter Suggestions for Children's/YA books & Inspirational Reads
Advanced HAPPY EASTER to all denizens of Goodreads! Here are my recommendations for Easter. Discover these children's books and inspirational publications at this virtual book fair: easter.expatscribe.com
A blessed & joyous Resurrection Day from Expat Scribe—the author of:
1] The Invisible Cyber Bully: What it's like to be watched 24/7
2] My Mother, the Good Witch Doctor: How Mom helped princesses with dyslexia
3] The Anti-Bully Manual: How to fight bullies the cyber way
April 6, 2025
Book Suggestions for Mystery, Thriller, Spy & Suspense Fans
Howdy, Goodreads fans of mystery, thriller & suspense! I've got recoms for awesome reads just for you. Discover new books at this virtual book fair dedicated to your beloved genres: suspense.expatscribe.com
—Suggestions from Expat Scribe, the author of: 1] The Invisible Cyber Bully: What it's like to be watched 24/7, 2] My Mother, the Good Witch Doctor: How Mom helped princesses with dyslexia & 3] The Anti-Bully Manual: How to fight bullies the cyber way
April 5, 2025
Are the Mind, Body & Spirit Intertwined?
Hey-ho, denizens of Goodreads! Happy to share that
The Anti-Bully Manual
and
My Mother, the Good Witch Doctor: How Mom helped princesses with dyslexia
are participating in a month-long virtual book fair, Living in the Light, which focuses on the connection and transformation of the mind, body, and spirit. Find new reads by
Expat Scribe
and other authors! Visit
light.expatscribe.com
March 31, 2025
Can You Find a Better Version of Yourself From Across the Globe?
A review of
PACIFIC ODYSSEY: The Curious Journey of Lew 2.0
by
Chet Nairene
I had a lot of fun reading this novel because it was quite entertaining. It read like a movie. I typically set a timer for each editorial activity, so I don’t spend too much time on a particular task. However, I found myself repeatedly extending the allotment for reading this book. That was how riveting it was.
I purposely did not read the synopsis of the book nor any reviews from the retailer’s website to avoid preconceptions.
That’s why, after finishing the first portion of the book, I thought it was a financial crisis drama. You know, the stereotypical economic downfall with tales of hedge fund/brokerage/investment woes. It reminded me of the movie, The Big Short, starring Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt because it showcased the inner workings of the behemoth business enterprise, moral dilemmas, and the high stakes that come with it.
Once I got to the second part, however, it became clear that the initial section was just a backgrounder—the “cause” to the later “effect.” The tone shifted swiftly into adventure mode, with exotic locales, colorful characters, jungle creatures, and elementals thrown in for good measure. Now it was more like Joe Versus the Volcano, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.
I had a bit of a lark trying to guess which Southeast Asian country the author was referring to, but realized he amalgamated the various cultures, national attire, language peculiarities, and mannerisms into one fictional nation. He called it Amazia. And no, it’s not pronounced “amaze-ya” but “uh-muh-zee-ya.”
I gave this book 4.5 stars because it had many elements of great storytelling: every chapter was “meaty,” it had loads of hooks that kept me reading, there was no over-explanation, and the scenes were cinematic. In fact, I recommend the author turn this novel into a screenplay. It has the potential to be made into a full-length feature film. I docked half a star from it because I expected conflicts to be resolved logically. Instead, the author threw in some supernatural surprises in the end, enforcing a deus ex machina.
Beyond this surface interpretation, I’d also like to delve into the deeper nuances of this novel. The author said his objective was to entertain, but, whether he was aware of it or not, the life stories of his characters are reflections of the ills of society. Even with his mention of smartphones and Trump, his delivery of those stories seemed like they occurred sometime in the distant past. The cheesy, 60s-style cover reinforced this. However, the issues he described, such as crooked entrepreneurs imposing monopolies, forcing small businesses into bankruptcy so they can take over entire regions, slavery, child labor, marrying off female family members to debtors to settle arrears… these are still happening today.
Ironic that I just reviewed another book totally different from this one—and set in a period so far removed from Pacific Odyssey’s era—yet they track the same theme: that of the strong preying on the weak. Abuse of power. Human beings may have come a long way since the beginning of evolution and yet at this moment in time, as we dot our stratosphere with satellites and prepare to invade Mars, we are still maltreating each other.
Social injustice and bestiality aside, I understand the author’s underlying message: that of a previously selfish, materialistic individual finding a better version of himself. Too bad he had to trek to the far reaches of the globe to attain this. It’s reminiscent of the novel, Eat, Pray, Love. The protagonist had to travel so far just to learn life lessons that people in Asia, Latin America, and Africa have known all their lives.
I had a lot of fun reading this novel because it was quite entertaining. It read like a movie. I typically set a timer for each editorial activity, so I don’t spend too much time on a particular task. However, I found myself repeatedly extending the allotment for reading this book. That was how riveting it was.
I purposely did not read the synopsis of the book nor any reviews from the retailer’s website to avoid preconceptions.
That’s why, after finishing the first portion of the book, I thought it was a financial crisis drama. You know, the stereotypical economic downfall with tales of hedge fund/brokerage/investment woes. It reminded me of the movie, The Big Short, starring Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt because it showcased the inner workings of the behemoth business enterprise, moral dilemmas, and the high stakes that come with it.
Once I got to the second part, however, it became clear that the initial section was just a backgrounder—the “cause” to the later “effect.” The tone shifted swiftly into adventure mode, with exotic locales, colorful characters, jungle creatures, and elementals thrown in for good measure. Now it was more like Joe Versus the Volcano, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.
I had a bit of a lark trying to guess which Southeast Asian country the author was referring to, but realized he amalgamated the various cultures, national attire, language peculiarities, and mannerisms into one fictional nation. He called it Amazia. And no, it’s not pronounced “amaze-ya” but “uh-muh-zee-ya.”
I gave this book 4.5 stars because it had many elements of great storytelling: every chapter was “meaty,” it had loads of hooks that kept me reading, there was no over-explanation, and the scenes were cinematic. In fact, I recommend the author turn this novel into a screenplay. It has the potential to be made into a full-length feature film. I docked half a star from it because I expected conflicts to be resolved logically. Instead, the author threw in some supernatural surprises in the end, enforcing a deus ex machina.
Beyond this surface interpretation, I’d also like to delve into the deeper nuances of this novel. The author said his objective was to entertain, but, whether he was aware of it or not, the life stories of his characters are reflections of the ills of society. Even with his mention of smartphones and Trump, his delivery of those stories seemed like they occurred sometime in the distant past. The cheesy, 60s-style cover reinforced this. However, the issues he described, such as crooked entrepreneurs imposing monopolies, forcing small businesses into bankruptcy so they can take over entire regions, slavery, child labor, marrying off female family members to debtors to settle arrears… these are still happening today.
Ironic that I just reviewed another book totally different from this one—and set in a period so far removed from Pacific Odyssey’s era—yet they track the same theme: that of the strong preying on the weak. Abuse of power. Human beings may have come a long way since the beginning of evolution and yet at this moment in time, as we dot our stratosphere with satellites and prepare to invade Mars, we are still maltreating each other.
Social injustice and bestiality aside, I understand the author’s underlying message: that of a previously selfish, materialistic individual finding a better version of himself. Too bad he had to trek to the far reaches of the globe to attain this. It’s reminiscent of the novel, Eat, Pray, Love. The protagonist had to travel so far just to learn life lessons that people in Asia, Latin America, and Africa have known all their lives.
The Place Where Heresy, Superstition, and Witchcraft Meet
On the last day of International Women's Month, I chose to review
From the Drop of Heaven: Legends, Prejudice, and Revenge
by
Juliette Godot
.
Fascinating in its gruesomeness but with a tinge of melancholy. That’s one phrase I’d definitely use to describe this book, whose genre is historical fiction.
History has always been a draw for many people of a certain age, but it should be studied by the younger generations, the well-off, the depressed, and the constantly annoyed. Why? It will knock some sense into our privileged heads—mainly how easy we have it in life. These days, many folks (including yours truly) complain about our wretched existence, yet we don’t realize we’ve been given a free pass many times over. If you hate your life, I suggest you read this book. You’ll learn to appreciate what little you’ve got.
The author, an ex-software engineer with a passion for genealogy, has woven the lives of her characters into grisly events in the past, including milestones in the history of France, the home of her ancestors. I salute her unabashed rhetoric because she did not whitewash occurrences. She wasn’t ashamed to say her great (13x) grandma was burned at the stake for sorcery. She stated this in the back matter of her book in the section, “Underlying Facts.”
Granted, this is not a memoir, she did not glorify her characters in her portrayal of them. Although this is a work of fiction, she based it on people who actually lived in that era... primarily her ancestors. She wrote about a time when women were second-class citizens. They were traded like cattle, treated as prime commodities from the spoils of war, denied basic education... and, at the slightest hint of eccentricity, burned alive for heresy or witchcraft.
What’s so sad about this epic narrative of families with intertwined lives was that their experiences with racism, bigotry, gross misunderstanding, misogyny, human trafficking, and religious persecution are still happening today. Although not as blatant, since we now have human rights laws protecting us in progressive regions, these issues still afflict millions of people in the developing world today. Worse, these will persist into the next century and will affect succeeding generations if we don’t do something.
This book delivers a multi-faceted portrayal of French pastoral life from the 1500s to the 1600s (ironically dubbed the “Early Modern Era”). It references serious topics, such as plagues, religious intolerance, the conflict between Protestants and Catholics, the Inquisition, forced alliances with former enemies (mainly among the royalty), abuse of power, and the dire consequences (mainly to the peasant population) of the constant change of rulers.
On the bright side, this novel isn’t all mayhem and devastation. It’s also interspersed with stories of loyalty and love—romantic, familial, and friendship-related.
But back to its historical significance... why does this novel matter? What’s the point of history? Why study ancient civilizations, dinosaur skeletons, dead people, circumstances long-forgotten, disasters that wiped out entire populations, and scandals best swept under the carpet? The past is vital to the future of humankind because it compels us to take stock of how far we‘ve come. But have we really evolved? We have to periodically look back at the past to learn from our predecessors’ mistakes. That’s how we move forward in society and ensure succeeding generations don’t kill each other... which we’re doing now, by the way, with the never-ending global conflicts.
I’ve observed that many people—usually tyrants and leaders whose ancestors were accused of enforcing slavery, carrying out massacres, incarcerating political opponents, and other human rights violations—always give this rebuttal when these actions are repeatedly brought up (usually by investigative journalists and human rights advocates): “Why dredge the past? That was a long time ago! Let’s move on!”
These were the same words uttered by the top official in the French town of Mazan, the scene of a recently exposed sex scandal. He was commenting on the case of Gisele Pelicot, a resident of that suburb, as she was preparing to sue her tormentors in court. She claimed she was raped while drugged unconscious by 51 men (including her husband) over the course of 10 years. As that wasn’t horrendous enough, police discovered her husband instigated those crimes, as he was the one who drugged her and invited those monsters into their home. In his interview with a television news network, that official expressed his surprise at the public furor, wondering what the fuss was all about because “no one died, anyway.” This abject disregard for the humanity of women was prevalent hundreds of years ago—as testified by the author, but his wanton utterance is proof that it’s still in malevolent force today.
We HAVE to unearth the past, folks! At least in some instances, however unsavory. We have to examine where we’ve gone horribly wrong, especially when it comes to heinous crimes against humanity. This is necessary if we are to evolve as a species.
I‘ve rated this publication 4.5 stars, despite its focus on one region, due to its importance as a record of our tumultuous past from which we can garner some useful insights.
Fascinating in its gruesomeness but with a tinge of melancholy. That’s one phrase I’d definitely use to describe this book, whose genre is historical fiction.
History has always been a draw for many people of a certain age, but it should be studied by the younger generations, the well-off, the depressed, and the constantly annoyed. Why? It will knock some sense into our privileged heads—mainly how easy we have it in life. These days, many folks (including yours truly) complain about our wretched existence, yet we don’t realize we’ve been given a free pass many times over. If you hate your life, I suggest you read this book. You’ll learn to appreciate what little you’ve got.
The author, an ex-software engineer with a passion for genealogy, has woven the lives of her characters into grisly events in the past, including milestones in the history of France, the home of her ancestors. I salute her unabashed rhetoric because she did not whitewash occurrences. She wasn’t ashamed to say her great (13x) grandma was burned at the stake for sorcery. She stated this in the back matter of her book in the section, “Underlying Facts.”
Granted, this is not a memoir, she did not glorify her characters in her portrayal of them. Although this is a work of fiction, she based it on people who actually lived in that era... primarily her ancestors. She wrote about a time when women were second-class citizens. They were traded like cattle, treated as prime commodities from the spoils of war, denied basic education... and, at the slightest hint of eccentricity, burned alive for heresy or witchcraft.
What’s so sad about this epic narrative of families with intertwined lives was that their experiences with racism, bigotry, gross misunderstanding, misogyny, human trafficking, and religious persecution are still happening today. Although not as blatant, since we now have human rights laws protecting us in progressive regions, these issues still afflict millions of people in the developing world today. Worse, these will persist into the next century and will affect succeeding generations if we don’t do something.
This book delivers a multi-faceted portrayal of French pastoral life from the 1500s to the 1600s (ironically dubbed the “Early Modern Era”). It references serious topics, such as plagues, religious intolerance, the conflict between Protestants and Catholics, the Inquisition, forced alliances with former enemies (mainly among the royalty), abuse of power, and the dire consequences (mainly to the peasant population) of the constant change of rulers.
On the bright side, this novel isn’t all mayhem and devastation. It’s also interspersed with stories of loyalty and love—romantic, familial, and friendship-related.
But back to its historical significance... why does this novel matter? What’s the point of history? Why study ancient civilizations, dinosaur skeletons, dead people, circumstances long-forgotten, disasters that wiped out entire populations, and scandals best swept under the carpet? The past is vital to the future of humankind because it compels us to take stock of how far we‘ve come. But have we really evolved? We have to periodically look back at the past to learn from our predecessors’ mistakes. That’s how we move forward in society and ensure succeeding generations don’t kill each other... which we’re doing now, by the way, with the never-ending global conflicts.
I’ve observed that many people—usually tyrants and leaders whose ancestors were accused of enforcing slavery, carrying out massacres, incarcerating political opponents, and other human rights violations—always give this rebuttal when these actions are repeatedly brought up (usually by investigative journalists and human rights advocates): “Why dredge the past? That was a long time ago! Let’s move on!”
These were the same words uttered by the top official in the French town of Mazan, the scene of a recently exposed sex scandal. He was commenting on the case of Gisele Pelicot, a resident of that suburb, as she was preparing to sue her tormentors in court. She claimed she was raped while drugged unconscious by 51 men (including her husband) over the course of 10 years. As that wasn’t horrendous enough, police discovered her husband instigated those crimes, as he was the one who drugged her and invited those monsters into their home. In his interview with a television news network, that official expressed his surprise at the public furor, wondering what the fuss was all about because “no one died, anyway.” This abject disregard for the humanity of women was prevalent hundreds of years ago—as testified by the author, but his wanton utterance is proof that it’s still in malevolent force today.
We HAVE to unearth the past, folks! At least in some instances, however unsavory. We have to examine where we’ve gone horribly wrong, especially when it comes to heinous crimes against humanity. This is necessary if we are to evolve as a species.
I‘ve rated this publication 4.5 stars, despite its focus on one region, due to its importance as a record of our tumultuous past from which we can garner some useful insights.
March 18, 2025
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Extravaganza
Hey-ho, denizens of Goodreads! Just a note to share that The Invisible Cyber Bully has joined other creepy creatures in a book fair of eerie dimensions. Visit the fair, where you'll discover smashin' scary reads. See ya there! Details: mystery.expatscribe.com
Grab a free copy of The Invisible Cyber Bully: What it's like to be watched 24/7 on Kindle Unlimited: books2read.com/expatscribe
March 17, 2025
The Good Witch Doctor Joins a Book Coven!
Hey-ho, denizens of Goodreads! Happy to share that My Mother, the Good Witch Doctor, has joined other likeminded entities in a coven—er, book fair—of delectable proportions. Visit the fair, where you'll find a smacking choice of great reads. Details: witch.expatscribe.com
Hit me up for a DISCOUNT COUPON .
Grab a copy of My Mother, the Good Witch Doctor: How Mom helped princesses with dyslexia here: books2read.com/witchdoctor.
February 28, 2025
FREE & DISCOUNTED BOOKS!
Hey-ho, denizens of Goodreads! Happy to share that 2 of my books are FREE on Amazon Kindle unlimited (indefinitely) and the other 2 are at 50% discount on Smashwords from March 2-8. Synopses and video trailers here. Check them out here.#ebookweek25
#Smashwords
@smashwords
Scribbles of an Eternal Expatriate
These are excerpts from blog posts I’ve published in the past. Each blog entry has a link to the entire article.
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