Living with Bipolar Disorder and Mental Illness by Michael Summer.

Michael is a 23 year old paramedic and he has Bipolar Disorder. He has written this small 184 KB Amazon Kindle eBook in 2012 to help raise awareness of Bipolar Disorder and Mental Illness. This book is not a clinical text but a personal account of Michael's own disease, experiences and treatment.

You do not get a detailed medical explanation of Bipolar Disorder but you gain a wonderful insight into what it means to actually live with this disease. Because you are getting the story from the horse's mouth, you get to understand how it feels from the patient's experience.

Michael explains that being Bipolar is different for each patient. How the disease manifests is different with each patient. Bipolar people have differing symptons and triggers. Their mood swings can be fast or slow and their changes happen at random. The medication they are perscribed is very hit or miss. Michael encourages Bipolar people to play around with their medication dosage until they become stable in mood. It is all about getting the balance right.

Michael tells what it is like living with Bipolar Disorder, day in, day out. He is very critical of doctors who do not understand his disease, the way hospitals are run and people's reliance on religion. He explains what effect legal drugs have on Bipolar people and why so many smoke tobacco.

Michael's writing style is bad. The structure of this book is awful. Michael rambles on at great length and he looses focus. He is very verbose and this book reads like a work in progress. There was no proof reading done before publication and he uses the wrong words in many places making the text a guessing game. The number of typos is embarrassing.

I am glad that Michael wrote this book as it raises the public's awareness of a hidden disability. This book is an okay read and I vote it 3 stars.

Kimo's War by James J. Frey.

This novel is the story of Lieutenant Kimo Kitazono, a Junior Officer in the US Navy. It is not a conventional military or war novel. It is all about Kimo's personal experiences and the feelings he got.

The format to this book is similar to a blog that anyone can read or write on the internet. James has wriiten his book in a blogging style, even including the notes after some sections which are like blog links and labels. Just like workplace blogs on the internet, the likes of which employers try to prohibit, Kimo's War reports the bad side of the US Navy. The public face of the US Navy is one of world leading excellence but Kimo's experience is one of bad management, disinformation and a budget restricted failing service. Kimo highlights all the problems with the US Navy in America, Kuwait and Iraq, where top brass claim to be 100% ready for action but are clearly lacking in resources.

Although Kimo's War is about the US Navy, most of the conflicts Kimo encounters are in all large companies and organisations around the world. Staff are keen and are doing their level best only to be stopped by incompetent management.

This story is littered with many typos and bad grammar but I will NOT mark this book down for that because it reflects the many spelling and grammar mistakes on company notice boards around the world. This sloppiness in spelling and grammar makes this book realistic because it is how people speak and write their personal blogs. Kimo's War is not a polished military, the good guys win - novel but a Junior Officer's personal notebook of how he got on. It is about the mental conflict within the head of each serviceman rather than action on the battlefield.

As a coping strategy for all the workplace stress Kimo has to endure, he has an imaginary friend inside his body by the name of Lapu. This is quite a common tactic used by all people in high stress jobs. A lot of Kimo's War is about stress management yet Kimo later becomes a victim of PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Kimo's War is not just about everything that is wrong within the US Navy but with how people cope mentally with their jobs.  Kimo tells the whole mindset within the Navy and how things could be better. He details all the frustations within military life but also adapting to the very different challenges of civilian life.

I really enjoyed reading Kimo's War, it was quite an eye opener for me. James wrote this novel in 2013 and it is available as a 449 KB Amazon Kindle eBook. When I finished reading it all, I was left with a great feeling of empathy for Kimo. He was a man who tried so hard but realised that in the end he was only a tiny cog in a huge machine who could be forgotten and replaced. Kimo's job and experiences are the same the world over in many different jobs. The only person who really cared for Kimo at the sharp end was his imaginary friend, Lapu.

Kimo's War is a good book and I vote it 4 stars.

Jump by David Stokes.

Jump is a 206 KB screenplay that was first performed at the Hop Poles in Hammersmith, London in April 2008. This play features 4 characters in 4 scenes. In scenes 1 and 4 there are 2 girls, Bibi and Tilly. In scenes 2 and 3 there are 2 men, Carl and Ted. One man is standing by an open window on the 9th floor, intending to jump to his suicide.

This is a strange book to read as it is not a novel or a short story. Being a screenplay it is just a listing of each characters words. It is not easy on the brain or eye because each paragraph will start with the actors name, eg Bibi: or Carl: - so that mentally you may think that Bibi: Hello - means Tilly says "Bibi, Hello".

Your reading experience is like listening to 2 seperate pairs of people having a long conversation. You feel like an eavesdropper. It is also like listening to a play on the radio.

As a play, I thought Jump was disappointing. As a book I thought Jump failed big time. The dialogue between the characters is nothing special. The humour is rather weak. The thoughts on suicide are quite shallow and I would be happy for all the characters to jump. This screenplay does not work as a book. Jump is simply a POOR read and I shall vote it only 2 stars. There are lots of good books going for free on the Amazon Kindle, so I suggest you give Jump the MISS.

In the Beginning by Abby L. Vandiver.

In the Beginning is a tale of two mysteries. One involves a conspiracy surrounding the Dead Sea Scrolls and the other grabs the reader to uncover the hidden agenda behind this book. Abby has an interesting writing style. She uses that very feminine tactic of planting an idea in the readers mind with a hint, then bringing it up again later with a nag and finally repeating what has happened before.

This novel starts with a bold prologue declaring a prophetic vision. Chapter 1 begins in Israel during 1949 with the discovery and translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. In Chapter 2 we jump to America in 1997 and meet our heroine Dr. Justin Dickerson, a biblical archaeologist. Her parts of this novel are written in the first person.

In the Beginning then swaps time zones quite frequently as Abby hints and nags at what is going on until Chapter 20 when it settles down to 1997.  Justin is set on her quest to discover the truth behind the Dead Sea Scrolls. Woven into the story are many issues for the reader to think about and form their own opinions.

I really enjoyed reading this novel which Abby finished writing in 2012. It is available as a 487 KB Amazon Kindle eBook. It is an unusual read because you are always wondering about any hidden agendas. You wonder if this story is one big metaphor and Justin is a spokesperson for certain global issues. All the hints are there but you are uncertain how this story will end.

A big part of this novel is the family life that Justin shares with the reader. Family life has it's joys and excitements, which shows easily as when Justin gets heated Abby enters many typos into the script that were never edited out! Do not let this lack of proof reading put you off as this book is a very good read. It puts many of life's little wonders into perspective as you roll along with this conspiracy tale about the Dead Sea Scrolls. Abby has written a lovely book that is a refreshing change from big name author conspiracy novels. She certainly has that female way of telling a story. After 22 years of being happily married to my wife Gail, it was like her telling the story on our sofa. I fell in love with this book and Justin's character comes across so strong, it feels like she is an old friend. Because this book has been written with such great feminine passion, I will vote it the top score of 5 stars.

When you get to the Epilogue at the end, which is set in America during 2000, it all slowly starts to make sense in your mind. What Abby has done is rather clever and very subtle. After a couple of hours after you have finished this book you realize the back story and the hidden agendas.

Inside Out by Truman Pedersen.

Chris Gunning is an undercover Police Officer working for Wiltshire Constabulary. He is highly trained and works on many potentially dangerous missions. His latest case is to help take down a paedophile ring.

Inside Out is not just a regular crime thriller. This book is a roller coaster ride of emotions and suspicions. The language that Truman Pedersen uses is spot on and he clearly knows the nature of the beast. Readers who do not know much about paedophilia will learn a lot from this book as Truman's research is intelligent and he truly understands how peoples' minds work. For readers who already know about paedophiles, they will spot the warning signs straight away! You read the text with it's colourful language outlining desire and it shouts out "PAEDO" to you. As you meet new characters you think, "I have my doubts about them". Then you start to doubt the Wiltshire Constabulary and wonder just how big this paedophile ring actually is.

Inside Out is a 418 KB eBook that was written in 2013. It has a lovely up-to-date social commentary on many of the lifestyle issues running in Britain today. Guardian readers would love this book for it's social observations alone!

I really enjoyed reading Inside Out because Truman's writing is simply top quality. The development of all his characters is terrific as he captures the person's soul. Inside Out is an exciting book and although it covers paedophilia, I do not think any of the content would offend an adult reader.

There are no slow or dull parts in this novel and the ending makes you wonder who you can trust and just how much people will give up for their impulse. I finished this book and thought there was only one way I could vote - the top score of 5 stars. Inside Out is Truman's first novel and he is an author to watch.