I read to my dog: Story of a Stutterer by Malinda Mitchell.

This is a true story of a 65 year old author who used to stutter and found that by reading aloud, she was able to control her stutter. It is a short story where Jennie invites Nancy to her home for coffee and cake. Nancy wants the details of Jennie’s stutter help, so that she can pass it onto a friend.

I enjoyed reading this short story. It is a good illustration of how reading aloud will help people control a stutter. It is focused and warm with the kindly knowledge of a grandmother. It should help the target audience and this common sense approach should reap rewards quite quickly. Anyway, I am sure your dog would enjoy you reading them stories as much as I enjoyed this 4 star read.

I read to my dog is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2014

Anonymous by Di Enw.

Anonymous is an account of a Welsh blokes’ one year backpacking trip to New Zealand in 1997. It is told as a first person narrative by an unnamed author and I assume that “Di Enw” is part anagram and stands for New David. Throughout this book his first name is never used and anyone talking to him calls him “you” or “Welsh bloke”.

His aim whilst travelling around New Zealand is to become windswept and interesting. It was getting him down that he appeared so anonymous and that nobody cared for him. So he went on his way travelling around and staying at backpacker hostels. This is his tale where he meets many interesting and colourful characters.

The writing is good and you really get the feel of the time and location. His story is easy to relate to and you get a full and lively picture because of his skill at describing the people around him…

...He wore a vest, shorts, footy socks and work boots every day, and was louder than a fat Hawaiian shirted Texan with hearing difficulties…

…”Aussie Dyke,” or Toni as others knew her, was the first to extend the hand of friendship my way. Despite her skinhead, multiple piercings and frightening tattoos in none of the places chosen by glamour models, but all those chosen by soldiers, sailors and Maori rugby stars, Toni was the hostel’s mum…

...With The Barber’s hands on the wheel, my head resting on the seat, and her wearing a baggy vest with no bra, I can see the entire west face of her tits…

I enjoyed reading Anonymous and found it a good read. I liked the way his story unfolded and it was very much like getting to know a new workmate as they reveal their colourful past. The whole feel of this book was rites of passage, growing up and forging an identity. He really got to grips with anonymity when he writes…

...Their smart appearance sets them apart from the rest of us, and I suddenly realize that all backpackers and travellers look the same. Each one of us does something to try to show our freedom and independence, but the more we seek not to conform the more we look like a herd. Each extra piercing or tattoo, each new scruffy shirt and every extra inch of hair marks us as different from the worlds we came from, but actually serves only to make us even more conformist. Like sheep we are individually anonymous and only recognizable as an indistinguishable part of a wider flock…

Anonymous has a happy ending and was a good reading experience. I always enjoy reading first person narratives and this one has an honesty and warmth that makes it such a pleasant read. Yes, it is not the best first person narrative I have read but it is a truly good read that I will vote 4 stars.

When I got to the end it reveals the author’s real name which I assume is to leave the reader with an understanding of how anonymous we all are in different fields. He does put over the very transient nature of human relationships and how some are very highlighted and named while others are anonymous and go unnoticed. With social mobility being so great nowadays, even in small towns you will not be able to recognize that face in the street. Recognizing names across the internet is easy and a good place for book lovers is a website called Goodreads. I put book reviews on there but sadly Anonymous by Di Enw or the author’s real name is not listed on there which is a shame but I am sure he has his reasons.

Anonymous is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2014.

Wanted by Chris W. Martinez.

Wanted is a short story about Natalie who finds an online ad “Easiest $200 you will ever make”. All Jim wants is a young pretty girl (18-28) to give him some of her hair but she must cut it in person. Natalie’s friend Brian claims the guy might be dodgy but agrees to accompany her so that she can earn the $200.

This short story is brilliant, it is focused and really defines how creepy Jim sounds from his advert and emails. The scene setting is spot on and the tension really builds at a very fast pace. There are just 3 characters in this short story but their personalities are fully developed and brought to the front. This is one hell of an entertaining read as you wonder what kinks Jim may be into. The dialogue between the characters is realistic, for example...

“Mmm, you smell natural. Not like some whore.” He sniffed again. “Like a real woman, the kind I might see at the grocery store in her workout clothes, or out walking her dog, or at-”

… I thoroughly enjoyed reading Wanted, it is top class stuff. Chris writes with such a polished style that he can create great depth even within a short story. That is some skill and this short story is a gem that I will vote the top score of 5 stars. I was very impressed with the quality and thrill of reading Wanted that I will be on the look-out for future books from Chris. Well done mate, you have made a lunch-time read such a pleasure.

Wanted is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2014.

Overweight and Happy: Reap the benefits of your pounds by Barbara Cunnings.

This book is all about being overweight and leading a happy life. In it Barbara puts forward her case very strongly indeed. She supports being overweight and dismisses diets as unnecessary pursuits that lead to great profits being generated for the diet industry. She warns of the dangers of obesity and suggests that people have a Body Mass Index up to 30 to have a full, active and happy life.

I found this book a poor read although I totally agreed with what Barbara was preaching. Her writing style is very happy clappy though and borrows similar mantras as those used by diet clubs. It is all about confidence building and the same feel good themes are repeated throughout this book. She does rather labour her points but does have the balance to state that you should never become obese.

It was a little ambitious of Barbara to write at such length about being overweight and living an active and happy life. The scope of this book could have easily been fully covered in a well-edited magazine feature. The enlightenment to reading time ratio of this book was poor, so I can only vote her book 2 stars. That is a shame because what Barbara is preaching at great length is balanced, common sense and refreshing. It is great that she is confident enough to challenge the diet industry and slim is best peer group pressure.

Overweight and Happy is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2014.

Bare Down There: Shaved Pink And Big Breasts by Allison Reims.

Beth wants to spice up her sex life with Jack but he is put off by her forest of pubic hair. She decides to take a gamble and shave her pubic hair, this is her tale in this erotic short story.

This erotic short story is very disappointing indeed. Allison is unable to describe the feelings and joy obtained from shaving away pubic hair. The shaving is almost mentioned in passing as this story moves onto regular oral and penetrative sex. There is nothing erotic about this story and it is rather tame. It is poor in it's choice of vocabulary and the dialogue between them both made me cringe! For example...

"Oh yes baby. Bounce on my rod. Bounce on my cock baby. I love being inside you baby. I love it when you are on top of me baby. Keep bouncing on my cock."

or just as bad from Beth...

"Oh yeah honey. I love it when you fuck me hard like that. Fuck me hard and deep. You know I love it when you fuck me hard and deep."

Bare Down There did not excite me and I found this erotic short story a bore. Allison brings nothing to the table and I feel her book is a waste of time. This is not a thrilling or entertaining read and is rather puerile. Writing erotic stories is a hard task and maybe when Allison has some more sexual experience in her private life, she may be able to tease the reader. At the moment her writing is not erotic and her short story is such a sorry tale that I can only vote it the minimum score of 1 star. This is one to MISS even as a free download.

Bare Down There was written in 2014 and is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook.

My life: a coach trip adventure by Brendan Sheerin.

Coach Trip is a very popular travel programme broadcast on Channel 4 television in the UK. It is presented by a very likeable and camp man called Brendan, this is his memoir.

This book covers Brendan's life from his birth in 1959 to 2011, with the content relating to the Coach Trip television programme from 2004. It is not until you have read 53% of this memoir before Coach Trip is mentioned, so the title is a little misleading. However this memoir is easy to relate to and is told in the same soft manner as he uses on the television programme. Brendan is only 5 months younger than me and I found it very easy to fall into his shoes as he described the social themes of the day as his memoir moved forward.

I found this book not the best of reads. Brendan gives a very long name check of all the people he has met overs the years. This name dropping became rather tedious after a while! The anecdotes he raises are quite poor and short. The funniest being about a donkey in Ireland. There is a lot of moving around and Brendan never lives in one place for long. Each new home has a long description and when he leaves there is another tedious roll call of the people left behind.

The information I got from this book about the Coach Trip television programme was very poor. Programme makers can be quite lazy and a full day’s filming is edited down to just 30 minutes for broadcast. But Brendan does reveal a lot about the Catholic church, the way it deals with homosexuals and the personal grief experienced when his partner of 25 years Les, died at the age of 59.

This book is an okay read and solves the readers' curiosity about a celebrity life. It is not a thrilling read and is like someone getting back from holiday and telling you about what a nice time they had. Brendan is not the best of storytellers but I will still vote his memoir 3 stars because of how he explains the challenges of being a homosexual to a wider audience.

My life is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2011 and republished in 2012 when Brendan added a lengthy postscript.

Big Fat Lies: The Truth about Obesity, Disease and Health by Joey Lott.

This book challenges the popular media view about obesity and health. It is well researched and explodes a lot of the myths about body fat and disease.

Joey has done a tremendous amount of research and number crunching to give the reader a different view on the body fat we carry around. I found his book very refreshing and was pleased to read how he captured the bigger picture. He asked a lot of questions about the scale of growing obesity and the highly profitable diet industry. This book really made me think about what is actually going on with peoples' body fat.

I found this book very easy to read and absorb the mountains of information scattered throughout the text. I quickly understood where Joey was coming from and formed my own opinion on the health risks of excess body fat. The way our bodies process food is very complicated and involved but Joey talks you through this magic working in your tummy.

Big Fat Lies is a good read and I really enjoyed reading it. It really makes you wonder who the bad guys are and highlights the problems of commissioning and presenting reports by analyzing available data correctly. I finished this book and felt really enlightened and relieved. I have learned a lot about body fat, health and the way business works. This book gives a real feel-good factor as you develop an awareness about the truth about excess body fat and I vote this commentary 4 stars. Well done Joey for exposing these lies that have been repeated parrot fashion until the general public are brainwashed into submission and more profits made for the diet industry.

Big Fat Lies is available as an Amazon Kindle eBook and was written in 2015.