Showing posts with label new book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new book. Show all posts

Friday, 18 May 2012

Why Do So Many Students Fail? Read My Story

The Bookshop Guru

I devote a chapter in my book to: why students fail with explanation and examples so that you don’t fail?

Here is a list of stories included in “How to Pass a Degree with Confidence” they are not in any order, purely random.

To be or not to be

It’s never too late

We don't all wear the same shoes

We have all the time in the world

Sat there like a Cheshire cat

There’s a bit more meat on the bone

More stress than a chaining smoking nurse

The golden rule

How I got my T-Shirt

A girl came knocking on my window

Realise your potential it’s within you to succeed. Your success is not proportional to the effort you put in, that part is purely random.

I can win the lottery in a second, but spend a lifetime finding a cure for cancer. Which is more rewarding?

As Jesus said, “belief is everything.”

The book “How to Pass a Degree with Confidence” also includes the following:
  
A study guide including:  How to write your project or dissertation, exam preparation, how to research, time management, how to reference correctly, critical thinking, how to study, how to revise, a girl game knocking at my window, how to build confidence, the need to set goals, a student perspective, how to cope with stress, how to cope with meagre funds, score more goals than Casanova, top tips for university, and much more.

Readers' comments
"very well written and organized tutorials…its indeed a great help for beginners like me to keep up the interest and at the same time learn this important subject."

"Brilliant. One of the very best I have read. Well written, with style and intelligence. I have spent hours looking for erotica like this... ."

An interesting, innovative, and motivating self-help book on how to pass a university degree with confidence by providing not only the do’s and don’ts, but also an insightful and fascinating personal experience. It was written using the author’s experience gained as a student representative as well as the achievement of gaining an MSc and a BSc Honours degrees. Comprehensive and detailed information is provided, to help those individuals contemplating an undergraduate or a postgraduate degree visualise and achieve their goals. 

Each chapter recalls a personal experience that helps to reinforce the academic topic. Every important academic aspect is covered to help you achieve what you want.
Click Here
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In my latest book “It’s Never Too Late” read how dreams do come true, but be careful what you wish for. Understand the secret of greed and you will attain one of the secrets of prosperity. The book will also take you on a journey and explores love, money, luck, and much more.

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Hey, Chuck. Did you bring any spending money? Viva la vida loca.


Conducting Survey into Precognitive Choices

Which would you prefer half-price digital or paperback?

 Read my latest book "It's Never Too Late" by Anthony Fox,  published by Chipmunka Publishing

Saturday, 14 April 2012

The Quest

The Bookshop Guru

It’s time to start writing again. I haven’t posted in awhile, due to lack of activity caused by my bipolar. But let’s forget that and move on. It hasn’t been a total waste these past months; well that’s how I look at it. I have spent the time thinking and wondering about my next book project. I apologise to anyone out there who I haven’t replied to.  Before I stopped writing I was reading a lot which I like, but with bipolar sometimes it’s difficult to pick up a book and focus. Anyway I hope to get back to the fold sometime soon.

In the meantime let me recommend a book for all those readers who like to read a story with a big good time factor. I have read and reread this book a few times, that tells you how good this book is. “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho is story where at the end you will find the moral. And in doing so realise some of the most important things in life are staring you in the face.


I’m not going to write about the story because it’s not long anyhow only about 250 pages or so. I guess you could say it’s a quest and one we all need to find.

Are you listening,  what are you dreaming?

As Jesus said, “belief is everything.”

In my latest book “It’s Never Too Late” read how dreams do come true, but be careful what you wish for. Understand the secret of greed and you will attain one of the secrets of prosperity. The book will also take you on a journey and explores love, money, luck, and much more.

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Hey, Chuck. Did you bring any spending money? Viva la vida loca.


Conducting Survey into Precognitive Choices

Which would you prefer half-price digital or paperback?

 Read my latest book "It's Never Too Late" by Anthony Fox,  published by Chipmunka Publishing

Monday, 7 November 2011

Living With Bipolar a Black Cloud

The Bookshop Guru

Living with Bipolar

Sometimes it’s difficult to express how I feel living with bipolar. But I have to say I am disappointed and frustrated with how things have turned out.  Sales of my book have been disappointing, maybe that’s due to the fact that the public see that it was a mental health publisher who published my book. Maybe people feel someone who has mental health issues cannot help others cope. I chose to write a book about my experience at university and how to cope with the stresses and strain that university can place on you. I put a lot of effort into writing this book as a real story of how to pass a degree, not only as a study guide but also a witty and personal experience of do’s and don’ts of a passing a degree.

It wasn’t long after passing my MSc that life was about to kick me in the teeth again. I had been offered two highly paid jobs as a software engineer in London. Yet, I found myself in hospital for a month, having had several manic episodes. I was severely ill. Even when I was released from hospital I was still very ill. My world came crashing down. Eventually, I started to write the book. I was still ill, but I hoped the focus of writing would help me recover. Slowly, I did recover, but my career as a software engineer was over. I couldn’t deal with the stress and besides I now had bipolar to contend with.

At the time I was alone and trying to cope with bipolar. My son and daughter didn’t understand what bipolar meant, and nor did I. I had to go out find out myself. I surfed the internet and read what I could about bipolar. I began to understand what bipolar was. Sometimes dealing with bipolar became a living hell. I find bipolar difficult to express and often misunderstood. Eventually, I had regular counselling sessions and still do. I would say to my mental health counsellor and  my doctor that the best way I could describe how I felt was using the analogy of living under a ‘black cloud’ day to day.

Click Below and Listen

Today, I try my best to deal with this disability. But it isn’t easy when that black cloud descends upon me without warning. I find it hard sometimes to do anything. I push myself, but I can’t avoid the ups and downs of this disorder. I imagine and hope that maybe one day my book will help you. Read it and tell me what you think.
Are you listening,  what are you dreaming?

As Jesus said, “belief is everything.”

In my latest book “It’s Never Too Late” read how dreams do come true, but be careful what you wish for. Understand the secret of greed and you will attain one of the secrets of prosperity. The book will also take you on a journey and explores love, money, luck, and much more.

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Hey, Chuck. Did you bring any spending money? Viva la vida loca.


Conducting Survey into Precognitive Choices

Which would you prefer half-price digital or paperback?

 Read my latest book "It's Never Too Late" by Anthony Fox,  published by Chipmunka Publishing

Thursday, 29 September 2011

This is a Story Worth Dying For

The Bookshop Guru

Book Review: Worth Dying For by Lee Child

This is the first book I have read by Lee Child. I came upon it by chance. I was on the way out of the bookshop when I saw this book. So I started to read a few chapters and ended up buying the book. I like the way Lee Child writes. And the storyline is good. I hate the way some writers think they are clever by over use of metaphor and simile. I hate what I call descriptive diarrhea which is what some writers marinate in. Lee Child writes in a way that lets you read fast without losing the plot. You do not have to read a long list of adjectives in his book.

The main character is Jack Reacher who is what I call a superhero, but not in the sense of someone with super human abilities, no, he is an all-round good guy with courage. And he has the skills as an ex-army cop to tackle the bad guys. Whatever comes his way, he will find a way to put things right.

‘Worth Dying For’ is a story about a missing child that disappeared some 25 years before Reacher hears about it. Reacher cannot let go. And why should he. He is the good guy. Someone you want and trust to dig deep and find out what happened to the missing child. You want the bad guys found and dealt with.

The location of the story is in the heart of rural Nebraska, America. It is a flat and dusty landscape of fields where corn and alfalfa are grown. You can drive for miles without seeing a living soul. It can be a harsh environment. And Reacher soon finds out what that means. Reacher finds the locals living under the spell and fear of a local redneck family, the Duncan’s.

The red-faced, pot belly Duncan’s are a family that have contrived and ruled the county using brute force with a small army of cornhuskers and they must find and stop Reacher snooping around. An irritation they must bring down before he finds out the truth.

The Duncan’s are waiting for a mysterious shipment and they want Reacher down and buried before it arrives. But Reacher is smarter and tougher than they can imagine. He never gives up. He keeps going. Every stone is turned. Battered and bruised he never gives up. He just keeps going. Reacher is the all-action hero. Reacher has no time for court room justice only the battlefield where you shoot first and maybe ask questions later if you can be bothered. Jack Reacher, I like.


The book also has a bonus chapter of Lee Child’s latest story due to be published 29th of September 2011. I have started reading another of Lee Child’s books ‘Gone Tomorrow’ which I will review shortly. Jack Reacher is the all-action hero. He never gives up. He keeps going. He is tough and just. He is commando style. I recommend the book.

P.S. Sponsored by Madbrokes a comedian on antidepressants.


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In my latest book “It’s Never Too Late” read how dreams do come true, but be careful what you wish for. Understand the secret of greed and you will attain one of the secrets of prosperity. The book will also take you on a journey and explores love, money, luck, and much more.

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Hey, Chuck. Did you bring any spending money? Viva la vida loca.


Conducting Survey into Precognitive Choices

Which would you prefer half-price digital or paperback?

 Read my latest book "It's Never Too Late" by Anthony Fox,  published by Chipmunka Publishing

Monday, 5 September 2011

How to Write a Bestseller?

The Bookshop Guru

This should interest those of you who are budding writers or wannabe’s. I read this book called ‘How to write a blockbuster’ about a year ago now, in part preparation for my task of writing a book. The book is from the ‘teach yourself range’ by Helen Corner & Lee Weatherly, and contains all the semantics of crafting a story plus all the ins and outs of getting published. In fact, I contacted one of the agents mentioned in the book. I ended up re-reading much of the book several times while writing my first two books. I found the information very useful.

Although the first book I wrote was rejected it was not a novel, but a memoir about me. Looking back now, I can see why it was rejected. The book I had written ended up being perhaps parts of several books. I wanted to write about bipolar and ended up with several bits about different topics. But, no harm done, I now have the beginnings of some new books and some experience.  It was a learning curve. Luckily, I only sent the book to two agents, one of which was kind enough to reply.

The whole process of finding an agent or publisher seemed to involve a lengthy and frustrating time. Happily, my second book was accepted for publication and is now available. In this book I chose to write about my experience at university while studying for an MSc in artificial intelligence. The book is a study guide in how to pass a degree with confidence. I wanted to share my experience with other students because I was well aware of the stress and pressure of gaining a university degree.  Hopefully the book will be a bestseller.

My experience as a budding writer – the rejection, finding agents, and publishers is limited. But, I would like to think I can write a book in the same genre and quality as Malcolm Gladwell, Tim Harford, Dan Gardner and others. To this aim I have already started on what will be a likely 2-3 year project, maybe longer, without the resources such as research help. At the same time I am trying to write a novel. It appears multitasking is a habit of mine, a common trait and one I associate with bipolar. I have a habit of going off in several directions or trying to do too much at once. At least I am aware of it and can make allowances.


 Sunset © Anthony Fox

But writing a novel – crafting pure fiction is not as easy as it may sound. I am given some encouragement though, by what Ernest Hemingway said to his friend Scott Fitzgerald, about how it had taken him all morning to write just a paragraph, and he didn’t hold much hope of writing a novel. This of course is when Hemingway was an aspiring writer living in Paris in the 1920’s, before he published his first novel. Writing a novel is a challenge and one that I have set myself. Follow and I will endeavour to blog about my progress as the weeks and months pass. Yippee ki kay!

Are you listening,  what are you dreaming?

As Jesus said, “belief is everything.”

In my latest book “It’s Never Too Late” read how dreams do come true, but be careful what you wish for. Understand the secret of greed and you will attain one of the secrets of prosperity. The book will also take you on a journey and explores love, money, luck, and much more.

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Hey, Chuck. Did you bring any spending money? Viva la vida loca.


Conducting Survey into Precognitive Choices

Which would you prefer half-price digital or paperback?

 Read my latest book "It's Never Too Late" by Anthony Fox,  published by Chipmunka Publishing

Thursday, 18 August 2011

English as “Apple crumble and cream, and a celebratory glass of port.” Hooray! Hooray!

The Bookshop Guru

A book review of  'Before the Daisies Grow’   formerly Escapades of Glamour Grannies by Micki Street

There are a lot of characters to get your teeth into in this book. The leading characters are English as “Apple crumble and cream, and a celebratory glass of port.” Hooray! Hooray! The ladies get more than they've bargained for. The comedy is driven by the antics the ladies get up to or want.

This is a kind of novel to read while winding down on the holiday on the beach. Get ready to laugh because some of the things the ladies get up to will make your hair curl. 

Wilma, Dotty, and Nora are the leading characters which you could identify with as they make their way to a mysterious island where the trap has been set to capture some rather unsavoury drug smugglers who seem hell bent of doing the most stupid things, but then again it is a comedy. So, it’s easy to read and enjoy the intrigue that surrounds their adventure. Although the ladies are set for a sunny adventure it turns out that they are being watched over by an undercover police force, just as well because the jails are not a welcome the ladies envisage. 

Glamour grans on holiday is more like what the hell are these ladies thinking about. Some of the language is tongue and cheek, “I’m going for a quick bikini wax." “'Wilma, I'm really worried about her and the ridiculous things she's doing lately. I wonder if she's had a stroke." 

But then again what do you expect from a comedy. It’s not easy to write a comedy, but I think the author has done a real job on creating the scenarios and characters where you can laugh and at the same time feel for the characters. The bad guys, the undercover police and the maids are well developed characters that all add to the scene and mix well with the ladies efforts to enjoy themselves, yet unbeknown to them the police and the bad guys are all using the ladies for their own ends. 

At one time I did think and worry about what these ladies got into, but then that’s fiction you go where the story takes you. The book is overall a good read and something to laugh about while you watch the tide come in on the beach. But, I hate to think what my granny was up to if they were anything like these funny characters. A good read to have on your Kindle.


Are you listening,  what are you dreaming?

As Jesus said, “belief is everything.”

In my latest book “It’s Never Too Late” read how dreams do come true, but be careful what you wish for. Understand the secret of greed and you will attain one of the secrets of prosperity. The book will also take you on a journey and explores love, money, luck, and much more.

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Hey, Chuck. Did you bring any spending money? Viva la vida loca.


Conducting Survey into Precognitive Choices

Which would you prefer half-price digital or paperback?

 Read my latest book "It's Never Too Late" by Anthony Fox,  published by Chipmunka Publishing