Book Reviews – Caleb Fast

Review: How to Write Copy That Sells

April 14, 2020April 14, 2020
by Caleb Fast

How to Write Copy That Sells

By Ray Edwards

My Rating 10/10

This book was super helpful for me when I was writing all of the content for the various blogs I write, and for the copywriting that I have needed to do for my author career too.

Before I go on, let me explain what “copy” and “copywriting” is. Quite simply, “copy” is what a marketer writes to try to sell something. For self-published authors like me, you are a marketer and an author. You’re several other things too, but I find authoring and marketing take up the bulk of my time. “Copywriting” is the act, or more accurately, the art of writing copy. It isn’t the same thing as “Copyrighting” which I delve into in another post.

Now, back to the book.

This book is filled with great tips, tricks, and ideas for those of us who have to write copy. And writing copy is important, even if you aren’t advertising your book yet. Why? Well, your book description is copy. The test on the back of your book is copy. If you’re clever, you’re dating profile can be copy too! Ad copy permeates everything we do, and it can be very valuable if you know how to do it.

If you end up buying this book, which I highly recommend, then you may want to get a paperback version. For those of you who like writing in the margins of your book and underlining, I am sure you’ll be doing a whole lot of that in this book! It’s just so full of great stuff!

My Store Review: (5 Stars)

This book comes highly recommended by quite a few online marketers. After reading it, I know why. It is second to none, and can propel you ahead in your journey as a professional or hobbyist marketer. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.
Caleb Fast’s Store Review

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Book Reviews

Review: Published.

April 14, 2020April 14, 2020
by Caleb Fast

Published.

By Chandler Bolt

My Rating 10/10

This is a fantastic book for anyone who wants to publish a book. It gives you a fantastic step-by-step guide, and it has a free audiobook download link inside of it too!

Up until reading this book, I never dog eared a page in a book. I didn’t underline or write notes in a book either. This book was so good and so informative that I found myself doing both! And trust me, I never, like, never never mark up a book like this. That’s how good it was.

I didn’t stumble across this book, or the rest of Chandler Bolt’s offerings until I already had several books out. Within a matter of a few weeks, I had his book and a membership with his super helpful school. And trust me, once you finish this book, you’ll be at least a little interested in his Self Publishing School.

And if you are interested in Self Publishing School, please check them out! If you are interested in Self Publishing School (SPS) please send me an email at calebfast@calebfast.com so I can set things up for you. If you buy one of their awesome coaching programs I will also send you some free bonus content I wish I had when I started writing. Please note, I will receive compensation if you choose to sign up with SPS.

And if you don’t want to wait for an email, then check out this link to the Self Publishing School website! Please be sure to say that I (Caleb Fast) referred you because it will get you a sweet little discount! (I will also receive compensation) If you go this route and sign up with them, then I would still love for you to send me an email at calebfast@calebfast.com so I can send you some great bonus content!

Now, with my shameless plus aside, back to my review. (You really should check Self Publishing School out though, I mean it! I don’t care if you don’t mention me, they’ve got some really great stuff!)

This book includes several different launch strategies that can make your career as an author if done right. These launch strategies can help you get more sales as soon as you publish your book and make you an Amazon Bestseller.

And if you aren’t at the publishing stage yet, then this book still is for you! The first section (7 whole chapters) is committed to helping you write your book! If you have yet to write a book, then you’ve got an amazing journey ahead of you, and (another shameless plug) Self Publishing School can help you there too!

My Store Review: (5 Stars)

This is a must-read for everyone who wants to be a published author. If you are writing fiction or non-fiction, this book can really help in your publishing and promoting! You can even benefit if you’ve already published a few books, as I found out. 🙂
Caleb Fast’s Store Review

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Book Reviews

Review: That Hideous Strength

April 14, 2020April 14, 2020
by Caleb Fast

That Hideous Strength

By C.S. Lewis

My Rating 10/10

This book did feel a little clunky when I first started it. To me, it felt like C.S. Lewis was trying to force a third book into his Space Trilogy. But, after a short while, this feeling passed and I was once again fully in the story.

Despite my initial withholdings, this book turned out to be really good. Something about C.S. Lewis’s writing just draws you back in.

Despite this book taking place within the Space Trilogy, it ended up taking more of a fantastical route, like Narnia. If it were published today, I would say this would fall into the realm of Urban Fantasy meets Science Fiction. All in all, I think I ended up enjoying it even more than I liked the first two books. I’m a sucker for the Arthurian legend. (Yes, that’s a spoiler, enjoy it!)

My Store Review: (5 Stars)

I liked That Hideous Strength more than book two. I think this is because C.S. Lewis reverted back to his strong suit of medieval literature. He just has such a knack for it! That being said, it is still sci-fi and awesome. I really liked both this book, and the series as a whole.
Caleb Fast’s Store Review

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Book Reviews

Review: Perelandra

April 14, 2020April 14, 2020
by Caleb Fast

Perelandra

By C.S. Lewis

My Rating 9.5/10

I was very happy when I learned that there was a second (and later a third) book in C.S. Lewis’s venture into science fiction.

On the one hand, I really liked the story and wanted some more. On the other, I did have some unanswered questions that needed answering. This book did a great job at answering them, and I felt satisfied.

…And yet there was still a third book in the series! Everything seemed to be tied up nicely, so I was curious. We had already visited our two neighboring planets, so my curiosity seemed well-founded.

My Store Review: (4.7 Stars)

Great book that really put the C.S. Lewis flare into this series. I liked how Venus was depicted as a very livable world in this book.
Caleb Fast’s Store Review

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Book Reviews

Review: Out of the Silent Planet

April 14, 2020April 14, 2020
by Caleb Fast

Out of the Silent Planet

By C.S. Lewis

My Rating 10/10

This book is great at face value, and then when you start thinking about it, it gets even better.

C.S. Lewis describes space travel before man had ever been to space. In fact, he does it pretty well too! For me, a science guy, I found this very interesting.

Once I finally got past the nifty-ness of the science, I found myself just as interested in the story. I really enjoyed how C.S. Lewis painted a picture of an inhabited Mars. The tastefulness that he is known for was carried over into this book which made it all the more enjoyable.

Ransom, the hero of the story, is someone I can really relate to at times. However, at the same time, his character is also just not relatable enough that I found myself all the more drawn in. His strange differences piqued my interest in a way I didn’t think it could.

This book made me think of two different stories. One, of course, is C.S. Lewis’s Narnia. In some ways, this felt like Narnia in space. That being said, it also made me think about Edgar Rice Burroughs’s John Carter. Of course, there are quite a few differences, but it just felt like a cool crossover.

My Store Review: (5 Stars)

I’m a sci-fi fan and a C.S. Lewis fan. I didn’t find out about this book until a few years ago, and I quickly picked up a copy and burned through it. It was amazing, and I loved how C.S. Lewis had such great insight into space travel. I highly recommend it!
Caleb Fast’s Store Review

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Book Reviews

Review: Pearl Harbor

April 14, 2020April 14, 2020
by Caleb Fast

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Pearl Harbor

By A.J. Barker

My Rating 10/10

This book opened my eyes to so much stuff I never knew about WWII. A.J. Barker took so much time to research countless facts that are commonly overlooked.

I’m a history buff and a huge fan of straight facts, so I loved this book. The fact that A.J. Barker is a veteran adds to his credibility as well.

Something I loved in particular about this book was all the content Mr. Barker had on why Japan bombed Pearl Harbor (spoiler alert, they had a very good reason!). So often, people gloss over the “why” and they paint a horrible image of Imperial Japan. Yes, Japan did commit quite a few atrocities, Pearl Harbor included, but they weren’t raving madmen.

This book also takes time to go over the shortcomings of the United States who had intelligence reports that Pearl Harbor was going to be bombed long before it happened. In fact, Japan warned the US that they would be forced to go to war if their oil was cut off. Of course, the book goes a lot more into the interesting details, and I shouldn’t spoil too much, so I’ll stop there.

This book boasts quite a few photographs from WWII all of which are placed right where they ought to be for the book. I loved them. The images illustrate the war very well, and I found myself enthralled by several of them.

I got a second-hand copy of the paperback at a garage sale, and I must admit that it did not survive the test of time. Several pages were loose, which was a bummer for a tactile book lover like me. Regardless, there are a lot of these books in better condition, so you may want to get one of those!

My Store Review: (5 Stars)

I am a major student of history. World War Two is a particular point of interest for me, so I decided to pick up this book on a whim. I quickly fell in love with it as I learned so many new facts about the War in the Pacific during the Second World War. There was so much new insight into what happened at Pearl Harbor, why it happened, and how it happened. I know I’m far from being an expert, but this book was a huge step in the right direction!
Caleb Fast’s Store Review

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Autobiographies and Biographies

Review: B-17s Over Berlin

April 14, 2020April 14, 2020
by Caleb Fast

B-17s Over Berlin

By Ian L. Hawkins

My Rating 10/10

This is my all-time favorite WWII book (or it’s way up there, at the very least). A definite must-read for any World War enthusiast.

The content can’t be beat. This book is filled to the brim with first-hand accounts from quite a few airmen from the Second World War. These airmen all served in the 95th Bomb Group in the USAAF* (United States Army Air Force). These heroes’ roles in the fall of Hitler’s Europe cannot be overstated. Without the unwavering courage of these airmen, the war on Nazism could have very well been lost.

B-17s Over Berlin recounts numerous tales that range from lighthearted true stories and tall tales to harrowing recounts of death and near-death. This book provides valuable insight into the lives of these wonderful GIs, and I have read through it several times now.

This book also has several black-and-white photos that really help to paint a better picture of what these airmen saw. Many of these photos were taken during the various missions the bombers ran and they are beautiful.

I got the hardcover version of this book, and it is gorgeous. I highly recommend getting this one in hardcover, and I don’t say that often! It just commands such a presence.

My Store Review: (5 Stars)

This may very well be one of the best books on the Second World War. It follows the lives of quite a few US airmen in the USAAF who did what was thought to be impossible. They bombed Berlin in the broad daylight. I have the hardcover and love it! It has a prized place on my shelf.
A must-read (It is also a great source for research projects, I got quite a few A’s on assignments I referenced this book in.)
Caleb Fast’s Store Review

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*Interestingly enough, the USAF (United States Air Force) didn’t come into being until after WWII. Up until World War Two the various bomber and fighter wings were all part of the Army or Navy and not part of their own Air Force.

Book Reviews

Review: The Blue Serpent

April 9, 2020April 14, 2020
by Caleb Fast

The Blue Serpent

By Claire Buss

My Rating 9.5/10

Right off the bat, I will say that I am a sucker for wars and rumors of war. If the stakes aren’t insanely high (life and death, extinction of mankind, all those funzies) then I will usually end up being more critical. Hey, I love a book with a good “pew pew”, ok?

That being said, this book may not have had any “pew pew”-ing, but it did hold my attention, and give me a sense of intrigue. And the writing? Wow.

Like, wow, wow.

It isn’t often that I stumble across a super well-written piece like this. Perhaps it is just because the author is from the UK and seemingly everyone across the pond is good at writing. Her editing was amazing, and her descriptiveness was very keen.

Although I wasn’t too hot on some of the more unusual aspects of this book, namely the first story, the rest of it more than made up for it. There was plenty of creative writing that took an interesting, albeit somewhat critical, look on society today. The science fiction aspects of this book are loose, as the book seems to be based in the very near future. In fact, several companies from today were referenced throughout the various stories.

My Store review: (5 Stars)

This book has a neat collection of short tales and flash fiction that cover a broad scope of people’s lives. Some stories are super imaginative, some are unusual, but all are enjoyable. I really enjoyed the author’s writing ability and her descriptions, they had an artistic flare that didn’t seem too abstract.
Caleb Fast’s Store Review

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Category: Book Reviews

Review: How to Write Copy That Sells

How to Write Copy That Sells

By Ray Edwards

My Rating 10/10

Review: Published.

Published.

By Chandler Bolt

My Rating 10/10

Review: That Hideous Strength

That Hideous Strength

By C.S. Lewis

My Rating 10/10

Review: Perelandra

Perelandra

By C.S. Lewis

My Rating 9.5/10

Review: Out of the Silent Planet

Out of the Silent Planet

By C.S. Lewis

My Rating 10/10

Review: Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

By A.J. Barker

My Rating 10/10

Review: B-17s Over Berlin

B-17s Over Berlin

By Ian L. Hawkins

My Rating 10/10

Review: The Blue Serpent

The Blue Serpent

By Claire Buss

My Rating 9.5/10

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