Huge Summer Sale! 07/22/2010
Come visit us for 40% off our regular everyday price! We are offering these savings on nearly every item we sell; including the already deeply discounted Used Book titles. (That equals 90% off most of our inventory of Used books) We are also holding a "Fill - A - Bag for $5.00" Sale for even bigger savings. (Restrictions Apply) Stop In and Save Today! A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words... 07/22/2010
 Book Review: Images of America: Fort Worth Stockyards... by J’Nell L. Pate... Arcadia Publisher... 127 pages. By Lori Kinnard Arcadia Publishing is all about History. The series of books, Images of America, now has over 4000 titles. They began cataloguing not the great wars, or nations, but tiny microcosms that delve deeply into the photographic and historical records of townships, intersections, even buildings and farms. Pate’s book is no exception. Working with several agencies, museums and preservation societies, we get an in-depth look at the iconic Fort Worth Stockyards through the author’s eyes. The six chapters cover the earliest history of the stockyards, before cars, back when all men wore hats, ten gallon or otherwise. We get a bit of the history along the way; learning the business decisions that changed the tiny community of 20 houses into the thriving tourist attraction Fort Worth is today. We learn that fires shaped a lot of the growing town, and how it evolved from the biggest livestock market in the South in the mid-40’s to a destination hotspot for dining, dancing and entertainment today. The book is light on the written history; the pictures are intended to do the talking. The author has mostly kept things chronological, which helps, but the book might have been better served with chapter introductions being a little more thorough in the back histories of the folks in the pictures and places highlighted. You feel a little like you’re looking through Grandpa’s old photos with his explanations as the captions instead of more objective details. In a photograph of a cattle buyer for Swift and Company, the author gives us a great explanation of the gentleman’s job and why it was important; we may not have needed the author’s commentary of “Obviously, O’Connell must have been excellent at guessing weight.” The book is peppered with nifty facts about people’s jobs, clarifications for those of us who grew up in Texas as well as those who did not (but got here as fast as they could), plus side notes that help paint a clearer picture of Fort Worth. However, words like “perhaps” or “maybe” would’ve best been left out; the guesswork remaining on the editors’ desk. It would’ve been nice to see the pictures in their original colors… the transition from black and white to color would’ve accentuated the changes to the Stockyards since their meager sepia beginnings. It does make it flow though, especially as the author used the last chapter to look beyond the history of buildings to the people who have most influenced Fort Worth: photos of rock stars and politicians alongside hardworking, earnest young businessmen, trying to shape their city, might have looked choppy or unfinished with a mix-match of photo types. All in all, Arcadia and Pate have created a charming book about the Fort Worth Stockyards; we get a clear image of the history surrounding Dallas’s neighbor city, with a little local flavor to season the photos within. A Hearty Thanks! 07/10/2010
The Booksigning/Pirate Fun Day was today and it was a resounding success! Thank you to all who set sail for an afternoon of adventure with us! We look forward to future events with you! Blackbead The Pirate (Steve Sanders) was on deck with his books, cd's and jewelry! He signed a few of his volumes for fans and recited poetry aloud for a rapt audience as only a pirate could. Thank You, Steve! Thank you to The Fine Arts Department of Shepherd Valley. They were on hand to serve hot dogs, drinks and sweets galore to raise money for their upcoming trip to a Nationals Competition. (I confess to loving the brownies!) A huge thank you to The Sign Solution in Burleson for sponsoring our Event Today sign! Call on Rusty Smithson and his crew for all your signage needs! Visit their Website: Here Our gratitude extends as well to Party Warehouse in Burleson for their donation of balloons for the day. Visit their Website: Here We'd also like to thank, once again, the following local businesses for their generous contributions to our goodie bags: In Joshua: Co-ed Cuts 512 N Broadway St 817.295.6672 Dairy Queen 109 N Broadway St 817.641.7591 Website: Here Lazy S & M BBQ 1601 S Broadway St 817.475.5687 (Located At Joshua Deer Processing) Sonic 315 N Broadway St 817.558.3294 Website: Here In Cleburne: Jack - In - The - Box 603 W Henderson St 817.202.0153 Website: Here In Burleson: Peter Piper Pizza 1551 Southwest Wilshire Blvd 817.484.2131 Website: Here Popeyes 1216 Southwest Wilshire Blvd 817.495.4007 Website: Here Premier Cinema 1581 Southwest Wilshire Blvd 817.426.3000 Website: Here Smash Burger 1505 Southwest Wilshire Blvd 817.447.4302 Website: Here Taco Bueno 901 Southwest Wilshire Blvd 817.447.6508 Website: Here Saturday, July 10th is Pirate Fun Day! 07/09/2010
 Blackbead the Pirate has been sighted off the mainland! All Ashore tomorrow for our Booksigning/Pirate Fun Day… enjoy sea shanties, games, pirate loot and freebies, movies and so much more. Participate in Pirate Trivia, hear stories from the pirates themselves and participate in a silent auction with proceeds supporting ovarian cancer. Come dressed in your scurvy best! *Special guest vendor will be the Fine Arts Department of Shepherds Valley serving up hotdogs and brownies! (Be sure to show your support for their worthy cause and enjoy tasty food at the same time.)* We’d like to extend a very special thank you to Co-Ed Cuts, Dairy Queen of Joshua, Jack in the Box of Cleburne, Lazy S & M BBQ in Joshua, Party Warehouse, Peter Piper Pizza, Popeyes, Premier Cinema Burleson, SmashBurger in Burleson, Sonic of Joshua, and Taco Bueno for their generous contributions to our giveaway goodie bags! Shore Leave Starts At 11 a.m. – See You There!! Thoughts About Amphibology... 07/08/2010
 The last couple of years, I pick up a book every day and read. I’m often left feeling rather like I ventured unawares into a patch of cactus. What is it that scratches me? What is it that’s sticking in my craw? It’s the grammatical ineptness of the books being published lately. Take self-published novels as one (by no means the only) example since they quite often emphasize what I’m about to expound upon. I think it’s great, wonderful, awesome, and amazing that there are services enabling anyone, for a price, to create, print, and distribute their ideas to the general reading public. It surely beats having to send off manuscripts to “name brand” publishing-houses or magazines and get rejection letter after rejection letter or worse yet: no response at all. But here’s the stickler: these books are more like the product that my fourth grader turns out via his classroom writing assignment. The spelling is often incorrect, the tenses are more likely than not botched in the telling, and words that sound similar but with wildly different definitions are mistakenly put into place. I’m just flat out irritated by such obvious faux pas. Any word processing program available today has the ability to weed out any spelling error imaginable. The newest of them are even capable of ensuring proper grammatical format in every sentence composed. Despite this fact, most self-published novels I have delved into contain these basic mistakes. Worse still, they are crowded with the aforementioned problems of tense and words that are properly spelled but should be a different word altogether to maintain the integrity of the author’s voice. Your story, the gist of it, may be the best thing since Harrison’s Hollows, McCaffrey’s dragons, or H.G. Wells’ time-machine. However, improperly edited it has as likely a chance of thriving as prickly pear spines in a blowtorch’s path during a Texas drought. I’ve read some really inspired ideas lately, but found that it was hard to give them more than cursory attention because I spent more time trying to decipher which words were really meant to be included rather than being wrapped in the loving arms of a well-told tale. I am not just concentrating my ire on self-publishers. Increasingly, I am noting these exact mistakes in “legitimate” publishing-house books as well. Is it just a sign of the times? A product of publishers assuming that the bevy of readers will understand that they now have to pay more and receive less so that room is made for ever expanding profit margins? Why have Ace, Bantam, Penguin, Tor and Ballantine, among others, abandoned their editors of old? When budgets reach upwards of two hundred grand on marketing campaigns, surely there should be an expectation of zero errors between the covers of the titles being promoted. I am an avid reader and have been known to purchase, borrow or be gifted about three titles every week of the year. Self-published novels usually market at a price ranging from ten to twenty-six dollars in the “trade paperback” format. Other publishing-house “trade paperback” books are in a comparable price range. The “mass market” paperbacks average five to nine dollars. Hardcover editions from any publisher generally retail at twenty to thirty-five dollars. Seeing as how I spend that kind of money on reading material, I don’t think it untoward that I expect it to be grammatically correct or mostly correct; the rare mishap easily overlooked. When I sit down to read, it is with the intention, and sole joy of briefly inhabiting a written world someone else conceived for fictional or non-fictional exploration; mostly not with an eye toward reviewing the text. The fact is, I generally write up a review on only one out of every ten books I pick up. So make no mistake, my complaint here is based on more than the paltry sum of written reviews I’ve churned out. In the vast number of manuscripts I’ve perused over the last twenty-four months, the editor in me rudely wrenches me from the idyllic settings and straight back into harsh reality with nearly every other sentence. What is it that is glaringly needed by these independent works as well as a growing number of the major publishing-house novels? PROOF-READING! I’d love to see real proof-reading happening. Not just someone reading the story and giving the author an ego boost by saying, “Wow, this is great stuff!”, “I can’t believe you were able to write this!”, “How do you get your ideas?”, or “Okay! We want to contract the next two novels of the series as well!” A good author knows to welcome the critiques as easily and warmly as those ego strokes. I’ve ranted enough, but I will not leave you with only the negative. Here’s my offering of a “tweezers applied to the thorns” solution: When authors send their works to proof-readers, before publishing the damn things and committing every future reader to the same dull task of deciphering the errors – Stop! Ask them to proof more than the storyline! It takes only the most basic of English education to be able to ferret out whether “past” or “passed” should be used in a sentence; or my pet peeve of all misused language: “rein” or “reign”. Come on folks! Errors like this are elementary. They can be solved with a simple request to proofers to highlight and submit suggestions so that corrections can be made before subjecting the reading masses to such unsolicited drivel. I would guess that every author out there has at least one person who would be willing and able to put in the work involved as a pro bono favor for their friend/colleague/family member. It would not cost authors anything but time! Bottom line is: If your book is important to you then the time invested to “get it right” in regards to grammar should be equally as manifest. If all else fails, most burn barrels are able to easily maintain 451 degrees Fahrenheit. Second Time Around 07/08/2010
 Book Review: Notes To Stephanie: Middle Aged Love Letters And Life Stories Author and Publisher: Jeffery W Turner…214 Pages…$20.00 By Lori Kinnard This book is a compendium of “love notes” that the author wrote for his wife of three years. The two were older when they met, fell in love and subsequently married. Both had grown or half-grown children to assimilate into their new family dynamic. Read along and catch glimpses of what travails and victories were theirs for the taking. It is a universal truth that no two relationships are the same. However, within the contents of this collection there will be something that resounds as familiar to anyone over the age of thirty who has ventured into a new romance. Unfortunately, most of the “notes” contain a tone of lecture within them and are one-sided, since only Mr. Turner’s voice is included and his Stephanie’s thoughts are not heard except within the author’s own mind. I found myself wondering what HER exact thoughts would have been in quite a few places. For example, here is a bit of an excerpt: “I do love you my dearest Stephanie. Even with some of things [sic] in your personality that drive me to near insanity on occasion… ” What was Stephanie’s reply to the entirety of this note? The Forward to the book explains that each of the entries is unedited for the most part. I can understand why Turner went that route since it did serve to preserve the integrity of “hand-written” notes sent to his wife. It would have been nice if he had been able to print the pictures that were originally an accompaniment to most of the notes; letting the reader get a visual on where his thoughts were leading. Overall, this book is decently put together; especially given that it is a self-published work. As summer is in high swing, I would not hesitate to recommend this work as being worthy of inclusion in the beach bag to enjoy while soaking up the sun… or shade. I’d also recommend keeping an eye out for forthcoming books by Turner. Visit the author's website: Here Be sure to check out Mr. Turner's Interview on our Author In The Headlights page! Fight Back! 07/02/2010
 Book Review: Watchdog Nation… Dave Lieber… 192 pages… Yankee Cowboy Publishing… $20.00 By Lori Kinnard “What are you waiting for? Start Squeaking!” Dave Lieber seems to, like the cover of his book, represent a modern day hero. I’m exaggerating, of course; but he will tell you how to go about bringing your own personal justice to the credit card companies, big box stores and appliance repair people. Mr. Lieber has had enough of endless hold times and overbilling; he wrote a book to help others avoid suffering the same irritations that he and his fellow “Watchdogs” have endured. Mr. Lieber is a columnist for the Fort Worth Star Telegram, where readers can write in with their inquiries: “my contractor took all my money and didn’t finish the job”, “the toaster oven I bought on sale doesn’t work and they won’t give me a replacement”. Mr. Lieber quite often tracks down the offending company or provider and aids the customer in getting their due. The book itself is broken into individual stories and what actions should be taken to remedy those situations. Helpful quips and even special people to contact (phone numbers included) are enclosed. It makes for fun reading because most of us have been in at least some of these positions and the advice he offers heads off potential “shopping misadventures”; better arming us for dealing with anyone trying to sell us something. I especially like his enthusiasm: he seems earnestly thrilled to get the bad customer service representatives out there to do the right thing… or get them fired. Like most people who love their jobs, his energy is contagious. I’ll approach my next purchase differently having read this book. The bottom line in this story is that YOU too can do what Dave has done. The book’s static moments are only part of what Mr. Lieber is aiming to achieve; an end to poor service everywhere. So grab your recorders, take notes as well as a few minutes to think over that salesman’s pitch before buying what he’s selling and be your own “Watchdog”. Visit the Watchdog Nation website: Here Piratical Poetry and Prose 06/24/2010
 Book Review: Raising Black Flags: Original Poetry By and About Pirates…Edited By Stephen Sanders… BlackBead Books… 91 pages… $12.00 Echoes From Other Worlds…By Various Authors… BlackBead Books… 187 pages…$16.00 By Lori Kinnard In Raising Black Flags, I can taste the salt water, feel the deck below my feet and smell the briny promise of the blue sea… it’s calling, and I’m ever a landlubber as there be! Rarely does poetry transport a reader like prose, but the tales told in this richly laden text are the kind you curl up with late in the evening; you can imagine your cup of tea is grog, and close your eyes to feel the living room rocking in calm waters. The different perspectives related in this collection give a voice to those young “powder monkeys” and the old, grizzled captains who make their final journey … some to Davy Jones Locker, others to the home towns they left decades ago. In this compilation, mermaids, wenches and ladies left behind and women who captained their own ships are all prominent voices, too. These poems are more dirges and sea shanties. They’d be best sung or read by burly men or bawdy wenches aloud to a crew to set a rhythm with which to fire the cannons, man the oars or assuage the winds on a becalmed day. My opinion is that the meter and rhyme must be bellowed or sung to best enjoy these pirate stories; each of which tells of an adventure or lament. In Echoes From Other Worlds, we read about more pirates, but also aliens, monsters and all sorts of fantastical creatures and people who clearly “think outside the box”. The stories give stronger voices to the authors, who created lovely poetry, but speak volumes more when writing prose. You can tell that these authors probably grew up on the classics. I suspect that Bradbury, Asimov and Pohl and maybe even Pratchett, Gaiman, and L’Engle are all likely influences on their writings. The pirate poems are like songs in that a lot of the inferences and messages can be glazed over when read to (or by) children, but the short-stories in Echoes are more substantial. They can leave a reader feeling quite sure the world is not really what it seems and that one is, most likely, in imminent danger of losing one’s mind (or arms!). I was pleasantly surprised not to trip over any major grammatical errors during the perusal of these volumes. I especially enjoyed the voices conveyed by dialogue in most of the short-story entries. Blackbead Books and Stephen Sanders looks to be on track as a publisher putting correctly edited material on buyers’ bookshelves. Both of the volumes are also loaded with original pirate artwork which helps set the scene and reinforce the mood. These two books would be worthy additions to any fantasy library. I’d also recommend them as an introduction to poetry and short-story writing for High School literature classes. Visit Blackbead's (Stephen Sanders)Website: Here  The Sign Solution 06/24/2010
 We would like to extend our most hearty thanks to Rusty Smithson and his crew over at The Sign Solution in Burleson for sponsoring our beautiful new 'Event Today' sign! Thank You! Visit The Sign Solution for custom design/logos, wide format printing,full-color graphics, lighted signs, magnetics, banners, decals and screen printing. Phone: 817.295.6004 Website:here A Helping Hand For A Time Of Grief 06/17/2010
 Book Review: A Handbook for Widows Author: Corrine Jacobson and Rose M. Rubin… Publisher: C. A. Bond… 56 pages… $7.99 By Lori Kinnard In A Handbook for Widows, help is offered for women of any age who have suffered the loss of their mate. This simple little book provides timeless gems of advice. It will actually be of immense benefit to those feeling all the confusion and grief of tasks needing completion when death inevitably pays a visit. No one really wants to take care of all the many and varied issues that arise. However, it is a fact that life is for the living and a large part of moving forward is dealing with the situation. Within the pages of this book, women will find comfort in the words of someone who has already done it all – and survived the process to look forward to the future. Part and parcel of this hand book is advice reminding grieving widows to stay focused and tend to the simple daily things, easily forgotten in the morass of emotion such as: not leaving keys in the car, watching pots and pans when cooking, and watching speed limits when driving. The authors include suggestions on funeral arrangements, how to deal with and include other family members, getting started right away on any legal matters, making sure of finances, and how to make those first days and nights alone more bearable until enjoyment returns on some unknown day. There is much to be appreciated between the covers of this small book. I spotted only a few grammatical errors while reading it through, which was a relief given that more manuscripts these days seem rife with them. The book's contents are a positive reflection of what being a surviving spouse feels like; from the moment of loss until healing begins and the future looms brighter. Corrine Jacobson suggests that “Hospice workers and those with loved ones in Hospice are ideal to receive this book. Financial Planners and Probate Lawyers also find it useful and especially when writing wills.” I’d say that anyone who is female is a prime candidate for owning and at some point utilizing this thoughtful guidepost. For more information visit: http://www.handbookforwidows.com |  AuthorLori Kinnard is the Owner of Winding Roads Books & More - an Independent Bookstore in Joshua, Texas. 
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