S. Lee Spelbring's Blog, page 2

Write a F*$%’ing Book Already by Jim F. Kukral

Write A F*$%’ing Book Already – The Insider’s Guide To Increasing Your Sales & Improving Your Career With A Book by Jim F. Kukral
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have dabbled in writing here and there (and someday I will actually get my ducks in a row) but I had never thought about writing a book to use as a sales tool and I absolutely love the idea.

Write a book and use it as your resume.
Write a book about what you do and how other people can do it too.
Write a book for your hobby.
Write a book for your business lines.

Publishing deals with big book companies aren’t the way to go anymore. It’s so much more of a hassle and too many gatekeepers. Self-publish through Amazon or another independent e-publisher. I used Smashwords for awhile. You can do some fun things through Goodreads.

There’s literally nothing stopping you. If you think there is, go read this book. And then read it one more time. Then go write your book.

View all my reviewsMore Books to Read:Self Publishing Tips for Writers by Tyler Wagner7 Critical Mistakes Writers Make by Angie DixonPut the Cat in the Oven Before You Describe the Kitchen by Jake Vander-Ark

Essentialism 101: Do Less. Live More. by Joshua Cole

Essentialism 101: Do Less. Live More. by Joshua Cole
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Essentialism is a derivative of Minimalism. If minimalism is living with just the bare necessities, then essentialism is living with only the things you need and the things that give you joy.

It’s the idea that you don’t need everything, you need more than nothing, so you need some things. It’s like minimalism lite.

I’ve read and written about minimalism before, and this carries on from that in a useful way, because not everyone is comfortable living with just a handful of items. Some of us need a little more to carry on with life’s activities and that’s okay too.

Essentialism is needing the essentials, whatever that may mean to an individual. This book does a way better job of explaining than what I’m attempting to do here and since it was an Amazon freebie if I’ve grabbed your interest I’d highly suggest reading it too.

View all my reviewsMore Books to Read:Spark Joy by Marie KondoMinimalist Living Guide for Frugal Living by Speedy PublishingThe Joy of Less Book 2 by Cary David Richards

Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot by Lon Milo DuQuette

Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot: An Authoritative Examination of the World’s Most Fascinating and Magical Tarot Cards by Lon Milo DuQuette
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is exact kind of book that every time you read it you learn something new.

The author does such a good job of getting you involved with all the detail and meaning that is depicted in this tarot deck. And there is a lot of information and detail here. There’s a brief look into Aleister Crowley, his life, his work, and his belief system. There is information here derived from the Qabalah, Thelema, The Order of the Golden Dawn, Christianity, and a ton of Egyptian Mythology.

There is numerology, Hebrew, color theory, symbolism, naming systems, and quite possibly the meaning of life, the universe, and everything buried here in these cards. And that’s before we even get to the reverse side of the cards!

My brain is still playing around with all of the information even though I’ve settled down to just drawing a daily card and not pondering the mysteries of existence.

View all my reviewsMore Books to Read:Moon Magic Book & Card Deck by Marie BruceClairvoyance and Occult Powers by William Walker AtkinsonFire Burn and Cauldron Bubble by H.P. Mallory

Painting: 7 Steps to Learning How to Master Painting for Beginners in 60 Minutes or Less! by Nathan Johnson

Painting: 7 Steps to Learning how to Master Painting for Beginners in 60 Minutes or Less! by Nathan Johnson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was a little underwhelming for a book about painting. For starters, it doesn’t specify what type of painting it’s going to teach you to do, so I was expecting a bit of a generic introduction to painting.

The first chapter was picking the color of your art room.

I shit you not.

The rest of the book delves into watercolor painting, which is fine. It’s painting, and a relatively cheap option for getting starting with painting as you can find supplies at your local dollar store. As a watercolor introduction, it’s not terrible.

I do think that you could get a better introduction and tutorial about watercolor painting from YouTube or other video than you could this book. Or perhaps, you could read this book alongside a video tutorial for a better understanding of what you’re trying to do.

The bottom line here is, this isn’t a bad book but it’s not a good one either. It’s just okay and little confusing.

View all my reviewsMore Books to Read:Acrylic Painting for Beginners by Jason FerrisonCreativity Unplugged by Jaspinder GroverDone!: Finish Your Creative Project in One Month by A. P. Lambert

Our Iceberg is Melting by John P. Kotter

Our Iceberg Is Melting by John P. Kotter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As with most of the other reviews for this book, it was a book recommended to me through a work related meeting on leadership. I read it on my own and it was not required reading for work. Disclaimer over, I think.

Anyway, I do enjoy a good fable, and the bit of comedy woven through because our main characters were penguins kept the story light-hearted and not death-defying. I also know very little about the lives of penguins, i.e. if they are stationary or nomadic or whatever else.

It is a well put together story exhibiting the eight steps of culture change and I think it does it well. I do agree that more people should read it, but I also agree that it shouldn’t be forced upon work colleagues and meetings scheduled to talk about it and so on.

This recommendation came out of a voluntary educational program my company provides for those who want to participate and that was it. No strings attached no follow up. I think this is why I enjoyed reading it and plan to reread it in case I missed something. Worth a look if it’s something you’re interested in.

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21 Day Challenges Box Set 1 – Self-Love, Self-Confidence & Happiness

21-Day Challenges Box Set 1 – Self Love, Self Confidence & Happiness by 21 Day Challenges
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have not read a lot of self-help books lately, well I read one that was very Dungeons & Dragons but that was more for entertainment and curiosity than anything to do with improving the way I live my life.

I went into this ebook with a notebook. I took notes. I didn’t take an entire day to do all of the things suggested but I did journal quite a bit along with the prompts. I did not encounter any epiphanies or big break-throughs or anything completely and utterly world shifting. I did, however, learn a few things about myself.

Some of those things I already had inkling about, so it was mostly just confirmation, but there were a few things that made me realize “that’s new”. Also, as this was a boxed set of three books there was an acceptable amount of overlap.

For instance, I’m pretty certain every single section told me to get out of my comfort zone, get to know myself better, and practice a certain amount of self-care. Which I will say are all blanket statements but serve as reminders that well all end up there from time to time.

Enjoyable, but nothing profound here. Certainly a group of good reminders presented in easily consumable chunks.

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Suggested: How to Be More D&D by Kat Kruger

Thoth Tarot Deck by Aleister Crowley

Thoth Tarot Deck by Aleister Crowley
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I am currently reading a separate book on the Crowley Tarot deck, but recently realized that I had not read the guidebook that came with the deck yet.

So I did.

It does not do the deck any justice. It talks about Lady Harris and her involvement in the creation of the deck, the exhibition in 1942, includes 2 essays from Lady Harris, and the content of the cards themselves. Very little is said about reading the cards themselves, though it does give a spread that seems more intuitive than ones I’ve seen before.

Essentially this guidebook is a basic level introduction to why the cards look the way they do. Which is the novelty of this deck, but there is a great deal behind why these cards are designed this way and it’s barely touched upon.

It’s a tiny little pamphlet that doesn’t do the deck justice. If you want to purchase this deck I highly suggest getting a different guidebook or find a reputable website to help you read with it.

The deck itself is great and belongs in everyone’s tarot collection.

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Moon Magic Book & Card Deck by Marie Bruce

Moon Magic Book & Card Deck: Includes a 50-Card Deck and a 128-Page Guide Book by Marie Bruce
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I love the imagery on these cards, it is a very pretty deck. I also found it very intuitive and can very much see this being my favorite oracle deck and vying for favorite deck in general (let’s face it there are many pretty tarot/oracle/decks out there, I’m never going to be able to pick just one).

That being said, the guide book is a little all over the place. After the introductory chapter, there is a chapter on the mysticism and superstition of the moon, a chapter on moon goddesses (which doesn’t feel completely inclusive, but they tried. A for effort.), a chapter on moon magic with spells included(?), then a chapter on specific card spreads, and ending with card interpretations.

I almost feel like that the guide book is trying to do the job of 2 books: a book on moon magic and a book on oracle cards. It’s not terrible and is actually a pretty good basic introduction to moon magic (I think…) but I almost feel that it went off on a tangent before getting back around to what its supposed to do: help you bond with and read the cards.

I still love this deck.

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How to Find the Time to Write by Lizzie Jay

PocketRead’s Pocket Guide – How To Find The Time To Write: For busy people who want to be authors by Lizzie Jay
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Alright, I get that these kinds of ebooks are super easy to write and everyone wants to share tips and tricks from their writing journey, I do, I get it. Heck, I would do it myself if I didn’t have several other distractions that were asking for my attention.

However, I’ve read enough of them to know that they are all mostly the same. Some have found that a certain tip helped them more than another and tout that one about more than this other tip that a different author really liked and thought helpful.

I guess what I’m saying is, read as many of these kinds of books as you can. Then figure out for yourself what is actually going to work for you. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Also, this one is written by a Freelance Article Writer, so that was different.

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100 Romance Writing Prompts by Kate M. Colby

100 Romance Writing Prompts by Kate M. Colby
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Nothing like remembering I like to write things every year around the time the old year bleeds into the new one. It really does happen every year after NaNoWriMo goes whooshing by.

I thought that by reading through some prompts I’d be inspired to actually do the writing (I have been, but’s rather sporadic). I’m not sure if it will work well or not, but I did appreciate this little prompt ebook from a fellow author. (Am I still an author? Talk about a crisis…)

ANYWAY. Some of these prompts are vague (the entire section on eroticism is extremely vague), and some are of the “everyone does this” variety, but there are some gems, and it did get my imagination percolating again so it must’ve done something for me.

It was a free Amazon acquisition, so there.

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