Tag Archives: book reviews

Looking for Kids’ Books?

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Jennifer Jensen

Hey all you children’s book lovers out there – look what I found!       It’s hosted over at Mother Daughter Book Reviews and if you’re looking for kids’ books, it’s the place to be – fantasy, history, multicultural, picture books and more.  Click the picture, then scroll down past the explanations and you’ll see thumbnails of a whole lot of new books to discover.       And if you’re a children’s writer, read those explanations and add your book to the list.  Cheers!

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Roaming the Blogosphere: Writing & Publishing Tips

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Jennifer Jensen

I’m between school semesters, so of course the blogs that shouted “Bookmark me!” this month were almost all on focused on writing, publishing and/or marketing a book. Here are a few of the posts I bookmarked, starting with some humor: Nick Cross shares definitions of syndromes we writers tend to succumb to.  Read NOW if you’re in need of a laugh! I’ve just discovered that The Creative Penn has podcasts!  (Okay, okay, I know I’m a little slow on the uptake.)  Here’s a great one on characters by Roz Morris.  There’s also a link to a long list of previous podcasts – great for exercise walks! Margie Lawson from Writers in the Storm has a great post about “What’s the Visual?”  She uses that one phrase to get the show-don’t-tell point across – complete with examples from her students’ work.  Even if you’re pretty good at showing already, it’s well … Continue reading →

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Amazon Book Reviews: 3 Stars or 4?

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Jennifer Jensen

I’ll admit it: I’m chintzy with my book review stars.  I save my 5-star recommendations for books that are perfect – the ones I stay up all night for, the ones I’d re-read immediately, the ones for which I’d grab a total stranger by the shoulders and yell, “You’ve GOT to read this book!” Okay, I’ve never really done that last one, but I’ve felt like it.  And when I do, that’s the book that gets 5 stars from me. Most other books get 3 or 4 stars.  Four if I really liked it: well-written, good characters, no plot problems, and it leaves me with a good feeling.  Not necessarily a happy ending, but the right one.  (I don’t bother reviewing just to give 1 or 2 stars unless a book really makes me angry.) Three stars go to books that I liked, but weren’t quite as smooth.  Sometimes books … Continue reading →

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