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Book Review: Spun by Catherine McKenzie

By Amazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
Spun-Catherine-Mckenzie-book-cover
View on Amazon.co.uk
 Spun by Catherine McKenzie is the follow-up novella to her novel Spin. You can read my review of Spin here.

Spun is told in the first person perspective of former ‘It’ Girl Amber Sheppard.

Amber has been two years sober but nobody believes her and she has plenty of problems. They include her ex-boyfriend movie star Connor Parks, the secret her publicist Olivia is keeping, the gossip spread by the media, her attention seeking parents and dealing with the odd craving for the booze.

One night Connor demands Amber’s attention. He summons her to his private jet, it’s about to take off and Amber makes a decision that will change her life forever.

How does Amber deal with the consequences of her choice?

And can Amber resolve the problems in her life in a way that suits all?

Although not much actually happens in Spun, fans of Spin will find the book a satisfactory ending to Amber’s story. The description is good, the characters completely plausible and writers voice is engaging.

Any reader who enjoyed Spin will enjoy Spun. However if you haven’t read Spin, it is highly recommended that you do first.

Spun is available to buy on Amazon and at all good book shops.

Review soon,

Antony

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Sunday 29 October 2017

Productivity Journal Review: Inspire Now Journal by Inspire Now Daily

By Amazon, Inspiration, Life, Reviews, Shopping, The Web, Thinking2 Comments

The Inspire Now Journal by Inspire Now Daily is the best goal-focused journal aimed at increasing productivity and helping you to achieve your goals on the market.

Here are some images of the Inspire Now Journal:

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The Inspire Now Journal Cover
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Inspire Now Journal contents.
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Monthly Planner.
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Birthdays and Glossy Quote pages.
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Long and short term goals.
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Short term goals and glossy quote pages.
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Weekly and Daily Planning pages.
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Weekly Reflection page.
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Savings Chart.
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Debt Management pages.
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Payment Checklist pages.
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Project pages.
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Fitness Planning pages.
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Travel pages.
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Books, Films and Contacts.

Like any productivity journal the Inspire Now Journal has Pros and Cons. Here they are:

Pros Cons
  • Its design is appealing – brown leather cover and ever every page has colour.
  • It’s dateless, meaning you can start using it at any time.
  • It has a 7 day week.
  • It prioritises tasks into: One task must be completed today, top three tasks and other tasks and actions.
  • It has inspirational quotes throughout. Including one for every day.
  • Daily pages also include the following sections: Reminders/Shopping Lists/Appointments, Reward for achieving goals, health & well-being actions, self-development actions and things I am grateful for today.
  • Weekly pages include the following sections: goals – split into categories (Career & Finance, Personal Development & Learning, Health & Wellness, Family & Social, Physical Environment and Spiritual), habit tracker and reward for achieving my goals this week.
  • Past Week Reflection pages include: big achievements this week were, how I was able to achieve these, next week I will take the following steps to avoid distractions, I learnt, I will use lessons I learnt last week to improve next week by and a Achievements Score (1-10) for the week.
  • It has Calendars for 2016-2019.
  • It has Month At a Glance pages.
  • It has a Birthday List page.
  • It has Long Term & Short Term Goal pages, along with Ideas & Notes pages to go with these.
  • It has a Savings Chart page, Debt Management pages, Payment Checklist pages, Project pages, Fitness Plan pages, Travel Checklist pages, Books to Read & Movies to See page, Contacts pages and Notes pages.
  • It has a bookmark ribbon and an elasticated closure.
  • The tasks & actions on the daily pages are too small to write in. I usually have to write over two lines.
  • No daily rating for achievements.
  • No specific section on daily pages for General Notes & Ideas.
  • There are undoubtably pages/sections that you wont use. For example, I will never use the Debt Management pages, Payment Checklist pages and Fitness Plan pages.
  • The planner only has 6 months worth of pages in it. However it would be impossible to make the journal any bigger.

The Inspire Now Journal is brilliant and a journal that I love. Once you get in the routine of using it, you will wonder how you have ever managed without it.

I’d highly recommend the Inspire Now Journal, which is available to buy on Amazon.

Write soon,

Antony

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Monday 2 October 2017

Book Review: Smoke by Catherine McKenzie

By Amazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
smoke-catherine-mckenzie-book-cover
View on Amazon.co.uk
 Who started the fire that threatens to set the town ablaze? Fire Investigator Elizabeth needs to answer.

Could Angus, my secretive son, have been involved with starting the fire? Mum Mindy asks herself.

In Smoke by Catherine McKenzie, former best friends Elizabeth and Mindy have these two questions in their mind.

But Smoke is so much more than just a whodunnit story. Both Elizabeth and Mindy are complex characters with complex lives.

For Elizabeth it’s about her desperation to have a child, the potential ending of her marriage and about her finally looking her problems and fears in the eye and navigating them the best that she can.

For Mindy it’s about wanting to do more than just be a wife and mother. It’s about her wanting to make a difference and find herself. That is until her son is in the frame for the fire.

The story is set over 6 days. Each chapter is set from the first person perspective of one of the two main characters. The description, dialogue and pacing are all excellent. McKenzie uses plenty of hooks that ignite the readers curiosity and drive the reader to read on. The character development is good on the whole, but the plot lacked realness towards the end.

The reader will have lots of opinion-flipping about characters, whodunnit and the plot overall. The reader will enjoy both characters unique and engaging voices, which is a huge credit to McKenzie.

Smoke is a pleasurable read and is available to buy on Amazon.

Review soon,

Antony

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Sunday 1 October 2017

Productivity Journal Review: The Productivity Planner by Intelligent Change

By Amazon, Inspiration, Life, Reviews, Shopping, The Web, ThinkingNo Comments

The Productivity Planner by Intelligent Change is a journal aimed at boosting your productivity.

It focuses on single-tasking rather than multi-tasking and doing the most important task of the day first. It also uses The Pomodoro Technique. The Pomodoro Technique is working on a task for 25 minutes without distraction or procrastination and then taking a 5 minute break.

Here are some images of the Productivity Planner:

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The Productivity Planner cover.
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Weekly Task Planning.
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Daily Planning.
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Weekly Notes.

Like any productivity journal the Productivity Planner has Pros and Cons. Here they are:

Pros Cons
  • Its design is smart and business-like.
  • It’s compact and light to carry.
  • It’s dateless, meaning you can start using it at any time.
  • It prioritises tasks into: Most Important, Secondary and Additional.
  • It has Weekly Planning/Review sections.
  • It has a place for Notes on each day and a full Weekly Notes page.
  • Every daily page has an Inspirational Quote and a Productivity Score (1-10).
  • It has circles next to tasks to measure time. You set a Target and then record the Actual, helping you to allocate a more realistic amount of time for tasks.
  • It has a bookmark ribbon and an elasticated closure.
  • It is really designed for business use. It only has a 5 day week.
  • There’s no Done boxes to tick tasks off on the daily pages.
  • The planner only has 6 months worth of pages in it. Meaning you would need to buy two for 1 year.
  • It is expensive for a journal, being priced at £20+.
  • There’s no short term, medium term or long term goal setting pages.
  • There’s no monthly or yearly view pages.
  • It is black and white throughout.
  • There isn’t anywhere to record rewards for completing tasks. I find rewards really motivating.
  • There’s no way to organise tasks into groups, e.g. Personal, Business, Health, Family/Friends, etc.

The Productivity Planner is available to buy on Amazon.

In my next Productivity Journal Review I will be reviewing the far superior Inspire Now Journal by Inspire Now Daily, which I absolutely love.

Write soon,

Antony

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Thursday 21 September 2017
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