Ronaldo : The Flying Reindeer Academy by Maxine Sylvester

Ronaldo: The Reindeer Flying Academy is the first book in the Ronaldo the Flying Reindeer series written and illustrated by Maxine Sylvester.

Young and spirited fawn Ronaldo and his best friend Rudi are flying cadets at the Reindeer Flying Academy. Ronaldo dreams of becoming one of Santa’s reindeer just like Vixen, Ronaldo’s hero and a part of North Pole Reindeer Team. With his father’s carrot pancakes in his belly and his grandfather’s words of wisdom in his mind “Imagine. See it, feel it, believe it! You can do anything, if you truly believe in yourself,’ Ronaldo prepares for his toughest flying test ever, The Endurance Challenge.

This is an exciting children’s book of fun and adventure complemented by beautiful and charming illustrations by the author herself. The book is filled with valuable lessons about friendship, family, courage and determination. Each page elicits either smile or laughter and in the case of young readers, offers inspiration and encouragement.

However, traditional parents may find some scenes not proper for very young and impressionable readers (like passing gas in public, belching, and laughing at other people’s misfortune) whereas, the less traditional ones would find the scenes extremely funny.

Congratulations to Maxine Sylvester (@flyingronaldo) on such a marvelous book! For other books in the Ronaldo the Flying Reindeer series, click HERE.

Aaru by David Meredith

Aaru is the first book in the Aaru Cycle series written by David Meredith.

Rose is extremely sick. In fact, she is dying. She wants nothing more than for death to claim her and for the pain and agony, she has endured for years, to stop. But her sister Koren would not let go. Not just yet. So, Rose agrees to try one final attempt to save her life, and that is to upload her mind to a super computer called Aaru.

Aaru is a virtual world where the residents can live forever, free of pain, sickness and death. It is developed by Elysian Industries ‘to allow the truly great members of the human race to continue their work of advancing mankind’ and to save unfortunate children, like Rose, from pain, misery and death.

Now, Elysian Industries is offering this virtual paradise to those who can afford it and with sweet, innocent and beautiful Koren as the spokesperson, Aaru is trending on social media and getting the attention of not only prospective clients but also of moralists and degenerates.

This is a very interesting book with a very timely subject. It actually reminds me of the movies Transcendence and Chappie but more creative since it also presents the virtual world from the inside. The book is told in alternate settings between Koren in the physical world and Rose in the virtual world. It features multiple issues including immortality, familial relationship, fame, obsession and cyber crime.

However, I find the style of writing too verbose for my simple taste, but aside from the few misspelled words (like drug instead of drag and breath instead of breathe) I like everything about the book and I enjoyed it a lot especially the suspense part which actually brings up the dangers lurking in the internet.

Congratulations to David Meredith on such a great book. Can’t wait for the next book in the series. For other books by the author, click HERE.  

The Golden Maple Tree by Marc Remus

The Golden Maple Tree is the second book in the magical children’s fantasy series Magora created by Marc Remus.

The fun and adventure continue as Holly and her friends Amanda, Brian and Rufus return to Magora for their second year as students in Cliffony Academy of the Arts. Happy as she is to be back in this beautiful and fantasy world, Holly is sad to learn that her friend, Ileana, a former Unfinished is so sick she is practically dying and only the leaves of the mysterious Golden Maple Tree could possibly save her life. With her friends rallying behind her, Holly makes up her mind to find the mysterious tree and save her friend.

Just like the first book in the series, The Gallery of Wonders, this is an exciting and adventure-filled book about friendship, what we are willing to do and how far we are willing to go for the sake of our friends. The book also shows how family does not necessarily have to be blood-related.

It is a well-written book and I find the scenes even more exciting and more suspenseful than those in the first book. The author takes us to a completely different word about art and beauty. He introduces new and intriguing creatures like the Chandrills, Hisslers and Sylkies. He also includes unexpected twists that makes the entire series much more interesting.

Congratulations to Marc Remus (@MarcRemusArt) on such an exciting and enjoyable book. For more books by the author, click HERE.

10 Step Plan to Promote Your Book by Scott Hughes

10 Step Plan to Promote Your Book: Online Book Marketing on Any Budget is a practical and helpful reading material written by Scott Hughes.

In this very short book, Online Book Club Webmaster Scott Hughes shares 10 very helpful steps on how to promote your self-published book. As a newly self-published author myself, I find the tips practicable (except for #9 because book clubs are not so common in my country) and practical (in the case of #10).

The book is written in a casual tone complete with colorful language making it amusing and entertaining on top of being helpful. Explanation of each step is concise and direct to the point which makes the book very substantial. Most importantly, the steps are easy to follow if you have the passion and the dedication it takes to make your book a success.

Congratulations to Scott Hughes (@scottmhughes) on such a helpful book. Thank you for sharing it with us. For more books by the author, click HERE.