Official Review: Appalachian Idyll by Brad Jolly

[Rachaelamb1]

Sounds like a book with potential. Very well written review. It makes me want to know more about Appalachia.

[bookowlie]

Thanks for the compliment! The book did have a lot of potential and some sections were very interesting.

[debo9967]

Sounds like a book with an interesting concept. Nice, detailed review!

[bookowlie]

Thanks for taking the time to read my review and leave a comment! The book definitely had some very interesting sections, although it missed the mark for me as a whole book.

[ananya92]

A very detailed and well written review. The idea behind the book sounds quite catchy.

[bookowlie]

Thanks! I selected the book to read/review because the subject matter seemed interesting.

[zeldas_lullaby]

Great review! I spent a week in Appallachia when I was 15 in 1992. It was amazing--gorgeous landscape, misty atmosphere.

[bookowlie]

That's interesting! I wish there were more description in the book about the beautiful Appalachian landscape.

[Mary WhiteFace]

As I was reading your review, I couldn't help but wonder why parts of the story would be so disjointed and wandering, and then others so well written. The same thing with the people.

It could be that that's the way the author's life was. Disjointed and wandering. The reason the people were so vaguely described could be because that's the only way he remembered them.

The wrestling match may have been the most exciting thing in his life, and Phyllis the most exciting person. It sounds possible that he wasn't that connected to his wife either.

Then again, I could be way off track. This is all supposition after all, having not read the book myself. I'll need to do that.

At least your review was thorough and connected. And, I agree with Cee-Jay Aurinko, this review is a great example of how to gently give a lower end rating.

The ability to give five stars would be nice. I have a feeling that there would be large number of three stars, as most books are actually average. That might not be a bad thing. It would really set the exceptional books well apart from the others.

Thank you. I enjoyed your review.

[bookowlie]

Tiny_Turtle, Thanks for the insightful feedback! With self-published memoirs, I think there is a tendency to have these random reminiscences where some parts are interesting and cohesive and other parts go off track. Indie authors don't have the luxury of a mainstream publisher where an editor gets involved and makes recommendations about tightening up the story and/or making the story more organized. Just my opinion. I have reviewed several indie memoirs on this site and have noticed this issue.