Mark Gilroy

Bringing Books to Life!

Confessions of a Book Reviewer

Confessions of a Book Reviewer is a guest blog, written by John Valeri, popular with thousands (and thousands) of writers and readers as a reviewer with the Hartford Books Examiner. Don’t miss John’s thoughts on spoilers and certain Amazon reviews – and his use of the word salacious! Thanks John!
John Valeri's reviews can be found online at Examiner.com.

John Valeri’s reviews can be found online at Examiner.com.

What Mark (probably) didn’t know when he ever so generously invited me to contribute a guest post on the topic of writing book reviews is that this month marks my sixth year of doing so as the Hartford Books Examiner for Examiner.com. Time flies when you’re having fun!

I have a confession to make: I am as daunted by the task of doing so now as I was when I first began. Maybe even more so. You see, I’ve built up a loyal readership through the years, and knowing that these folks might read a book (or not read it) based upon my opinion is … well, heady. While reading is typically a solitary endeavor—and a subjective one, too—I feel a certain responsibility to guide readers accordingly. [Read more…]

Simple Abundance

Fields of Abundance

Abundance can’t be simply measured in material possessions.

Abundance is often measured in material wealth. But don’t be fooled by all that glitters. There are people with a lot of possessions and money that live miserable and miserly lives. There are people with few possessions and not much money who are filled with joy and walk with a peaceful confidence that transcends the accumulation of things.

I don’t believe there is anything wrong with material success – wealth can be a reward for hard work and a wonderful blessing that spills over into many lives. [Read more…]

Steroids, Blood Doping, and Deflated Footballs

Tom Brady

Deflate-Gate: What did Tom Brady know?

If it wasn’t for steroids, blood doping, and deflated footballs – plus a plethora of well-publicized misbehaviors from adultery to drug abuse to gambling – our sports heroes would still be our heroes.

In a distant past and far away galaxy, reporters would protect the reputation of a raging, self-destructive alcoholic like Yankee great, Mickey Mantle. (Those were his own words.)

The 60s and 70s brought a different brand of reporting that was a mix of a more robust and aggressive investigative journalism with a heaping dose of shock appeal. The “shock” part of that mix exploded first with the internet boom and then went from a hydrogen bomb to a nuclear bomb with the eruption of social media. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and a host of others are Barry-Bonds-level steroid injections for the TMZ-reveal-all world we live in.

The latest scandal to rock the world of sports is the revelation that the New England Patriots used under-inflated footballs in the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts, a game which they won, to reach Super Bowl XLIX in Glendale, Arizona, against the Seattle Seahawks on February 1, 2015. [Read more…]