Down Under Views

I’m so sorry about the technical difficulties that have been happening around here lately. They’ve been weird. Sometimes the site is down for me but not for others. Sometimes it’s down for one friend, fine for me and find for other friends. EESH. Stop already, okay?

Anywho, other plans are going well. I’m planning on having my first Wednesday book giveaway. I don’t have too many books on offer at the moment, but will have a heap more as soon as I get some time to read! I put some of my favourites that I have decided I am willing to give away on the list as well. I’m not telling which ones, though. Haha.

I’ll have other giveaways happening here on occasion, but the Wednesday one should be happening every Wednesday without fail.

That’s all for now. I have some contest winners to announce!

Down Under Views Grand Opening Contest!

Also celebrating the upcoming release of Shapeshifter: The Demo Tapes Year Two!

There are three opportunities to win your choice of either The Demo Tapes Year One or The Demo Tapes Year Two. You have to wait just a smidge longer for Year Two because it’s not set to officially be released until September, but it will be worth the wait.

Official Bits

1. The contest starts… now. It goes through until 11.59pm on August 31st (which is September 1st 2.59pm my time, so it works out quite nicely).

2. There are ways to get three entries. You must complete the first step or the other entries are null.

3. This contest is open internationally because I’m, well, an international.

How to Win

1. Leave a comment on the review. This one is a must to be able to get extra entries.

Extra entries you say? Why yes… You can get extra entries by:

2. Posting about this contest on your blog. Easy peasy.

3. Twittering about this contest. Make sure to RT @JMScribe. No, you don’t have to follow me on Twitter. Tweeting about the contest will get you the extra entry.

Make sure that you leave your comment on the review post. Comments left on this post are not considered entries.

Also make sure to leave a link to your blog announcement and/or let me know what your Twitter name is so I can apply the proper points to the right people.

Also make sure you leave a valid email address because it’s pretty useless entering if you don’t.

Best of luck everyone, and thank you for participating in my first ever contest and review.

I am so excited to have my first ever book review here at Down Under Views!

To celebrate this wonderful even along with the soon to be released second book from my wonderful friend Susan Helene Gottfried, I decided to put up my review of her first book up as my first review. There is an awesome contest coming up, so be sure to stop back in just a couple minutes!

On to the review…

About the Book

A band’s demo tape is intended to introduce listeners to their music. Likewise, this collection of short pieces allows readers into the fictional world of Trevor Wolff and his band, ShapeShifter.

Originally published online between April 2006 and March 2007, the Demo Tapes: Year 1 brings together the moments that parallel – but never encounter – Susan Helene Gottfried’s debut novel, Trevor’s Song. Arranged chronologically and with introductions to each, this is a must-have volume for anyone who’s ever wanted to hang with a rock band.

The Long Version

In my opinion, one true measure of a book is whether or not you want to continue reading the book through stressful events. Recently, The Demo Tapes, was put to this test by yours truly and passed with gold stars and a bottle of Ping’s soy sauce.

The husband took me into the doctor and the book I grabbed to read just so happened to be The Demo Tapes. Right from the beginning, I was drawn into the lives of the ShapeShifter band as well as the people who loved them. I’m not a rock n’ roll chick by any means, but I found the well-formed characters to be endearing right from the start. People I couldn’t help but want to get to know more.

I didn’t want to put the book down, even as I sat waiting for an x-ray – and not even when I sat down later to wait to hear the results of the x-ray.

Gottfried’s writing style is easy and relaxed, so the reader’s focus is exactly where it is supposed to be: the characters.

Even if you aren’t familiar with Trevor Wolff and ShapeShifter, you can enjoy this introduction to the band. The fly-on-the-wall vantage point you get in this book will make you feel like you’re hanging out with the guys on tour, stopping over at the Voss house to hang out and laughing it up with them as they experience life.

The Short Version

I definitely recommend this book even if, like I said before, you’re not familiar with ShapeShifter. This book is still worth a read.

My only complaint is that it ended.

PS. I’m fine, by the way. Definitely on the mend.

Rating: 4.5 stars

[What do the stars mean?]

***

Shapeshifter: The Demo Tapes – Year 1
By Susan Helene Gottfried
http://westofmars.com/
ISBN: 978-0557023448
Length: 132 Pages

Booking Through Thursday asks:

What’s the lightest, most “fluff” kind of book you’ve read recently?

I went looking for a bit of fluffy reading earlier this month and brought home three fluffy reads from the library:

*True Love (and Other Lies) by Whitney Glaskell (I enjoyed this book and will have a review up soon)
*Italian for Beginners by Kristin Harmel (I’m about halfway through this one and not quite as enthusiastic about it)
*The Art of French Kissing by Kristin Harmel

I think we all need a bit of fluffy reading from time to time. What is fluffy for you is probably different from what I consider fluffy, but as long as you get the same, relaxing result, it’s all good.

…is coming soon. I’m not quite ready to roll things out yet, but I will be next week.

Cheers,

Jaime