The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for The Lady with a Shamrock: A Navy D-Day Veteran's Story of the Destroyer USS Murephy DD603
Because The Lady with a Shamrock was Book of the Day, some of our most trusted members have carefully looked over the cover, the description, and other aspects of this book as a part of purchase-intent focus group. We then asked each participant in the focus group if they planned to buy and read the book, and why they planned to buy and read the book or not. Their answer to that question and reasons are displayed below. We call this awesome feature The First Ten Focus Group.
Keep in mind, the responses from the members are not reviews. This is purchase-intent focus group which means the participants are people who have NOT yet bought or read your book. A purchase-intent focus group is an important and extremely useful marketing tool for any product, not just books. For other products, you might walk on the street and show people an item in a package and poll them about whether they would buy if or $X or not. These kind of focus groups are one of the ways big marketing companies find the ideal price points for products and test the effectiveness of different packaging. The focus group can help you identify your market so you how to target ads of your book, and it can (but may not) provide you new useful info about your "packaging" (e.g. your book cover, your book synopsis on Amazon, etc.). The point of the focus group comments is to give you information from people who have not bought or read your book about why they plan to buy your book which will help you in marketing the book. These are not reviews or critiques of your book because they are not from people have read the book. This is a marketing tool, not reviews. The trick of book marketing and book advertising is that you have to convince people who have not read your book yet that your book is worth buying and reading. For marketing, it doesn't matter much if people love your book after reading it if you cannot convince potential buyers before they read it that they will love it.
IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable. This is because we only poll about 20 or so readers, and all readers have to say "no" to almost all books. Over a million books are published each year. Even a very active reader cannot come close to even reading 1% of books out there.
This is also why publishing books is such a tough industry.
Ekta Kumari
Through the book, the author shares the story of a fighting ship, USS Murphy (DD603), that was active during the WWII. I liked that the book is fact based and is written after careful research. However, I wouldn't have read the book as I wasn't interested in a memoir based on historical events, and I wasn't intrigued by the blurb. The book is still an engaging read for those interested in the genre. The things I liked the most while sampling is the author's careful detailing of the events that took place and also
that he offers links to related resources. This makes the read even more research driven. While I wouldn't read the whole book due to my disinterest in the genre, it's a good read for anyone interested in memoirs set around WWII. The book seems to be professionally edited as I didn't find any errors in the portion sampled. I don't have any recommendations for improvements based on the sample so far. I did see an official review before sampling the book.
First Ten review added on March 11, 2021, at 4:59 am by Ekta Kumari.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Rodel Barnachea
Upon poring over the book's Amazon page and official OnlineBookClub review, I decided not to purchase the non-fiction book. I'm not interested in USS Murphy DD603 and the stories that the author will impart about his and his colleagues' experiences aboard the destroyer. The recorded historical, political, and wartime events included in the title do not intrigue me. I believe the book is not my cup of tea. Reading the Amazon sample failed to change my mind. I wouldn't purchase the book because nothing in its sample convinced me to read the rest of the work. Other reasons stated above also play a significant role in my decision. The first ten pages contain a preface and some pages of Chapter 1 ("The Beginning"). What I liked most is reading and learning about Operation Watchtower, which was the first primary campaign against Japan. I noted these two errors in the sample:
1 — "...[W]ith the loss of 35 Men" should have been "...[W]ith the loss of 35 [m]en." In the original sentence, the word "men" is capitalized.
2 — "More screening ships were needed" should have been "More screening ships were needed[.]" The original sentence does not have a period as its closing punctuation mark.
Since the identified errors are only minor, I believe the book is professionally edited. I advise the author to correct said errors.
First Ten review added on March 11, 2021, at 4:57 am by Rodel Barnachea.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Catherine Hsu
The cover for this is so mysterious and beautiful and World War 2 is my favorite historical event to study so I definitely would have read this book before reading the sample. After reading the sample, I have not changed my mind. The writing was very engaging and it had a lot of factual, descriptive details without seeming to be overbearing. Even small moments of conversation helped, like the little tangent about the narrator referring to a ship as "she" or "Lady." There's nothing I'd change and it was professionally edited. I did not read an official review but that didn't affect my decision.
First Ten review added on March 11, 2021, at 4:31 am by Catherine Hsu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Sou Hi
The cover is quite beautiful. The official review seems interesting, and Amazon's ratings are generally good. Since the concept is distinctive, I decided to give the book a try. The sample gives us many pieces of information about the world in the 1940s. There are details about the destroyer named USS Murphy DD603, the guests who attended the commissioning ceremonies, and the situations of other merchant ships and warships.
I like the refreshing concept of this copy. I've seen many books featuring wars, but it's rare to see one that would focus on a warship. It looks like USS Murphy DD603 and her crew mean a lot to the author. Unfortunately, the editing is not good, so I would suggest another round of proofreading. I prefer an error-free version, so I won't buy this.
Error example: John Ley contributed some important memories of events that occurred during our participation in Operations Neptune, (the Navy part of Operation Overlord). -> Unnecessary comma after "Neptune." Besides, I think it should be [Operation Neptune] instead.
First Ten review added on March 11, 2021, at 1:40 am by Sou Hi.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Jennifer Donovan Smith
I would not have sampled this book outside the program because I do not read nonfiction or memoirs. However, the official review by OBC changed my mind when it informed me that the author is a WWII Navy veteran who wrote this book at the age of 91. As a soldier myself, I am in awe of our WWII veterans. I knew I would be honored to read this book even before sampling it.
The first ten pages did not change my mind. Despite some errors and typos, I am still eager to read this book and share it with my husband, who is also a soldier. We both share a love of military history, especially when it comes to WWII.
My favorite aspect of the book is that you can clearly distinguish the author’s voice in his words. I enjoyed his writing style very much. I would highly recommend having the book edited, though, as I counted numerous errors. A few are listed below.
Thank you for sharing this book for free while it was Book of the Day.
Page 2: A colon should follow “their contribution to my book,” the period should be inside the quotation marks in “My Recollections,” and the name of Operation Neptune is singular, not plural (the book says “Operations Neptune.”
Page 3: “small town” should be hyphenated and “great depression” should be capitalized.
Page 8: the closing quotation mark is missing after “Little Lady.”
First Ten review added on March 11, 2021, at 12:40 am by Jennifer Donovan Smith.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Annelore Trujillo
I would not have sampled this book based on the genre, blurb, OBC review, cover and title. I don’t like to read war books. After reading the first ten pages, I won’t be finishing this book. I liked the pictures and that the picture captions had sources. This shows that the author really did his research. However, I wasn’t into the description of the ship. For example, it discussed the equipment the ship had, and this was rather dry, in my opinion. I also noticed that the book did not seem to be professionally edited as there were errors in grammar and formatting that need to be improved. For example, “little lady” was missing a quotation mark at the end.
First Ten review added on March 10, 2021, at 11:53 pm by Annelore Trujillo.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Jsovermyer
The cover picture of the ship is interesting, and the book title is intriguing. However, since I can tell this book is about war, I would not buy it from its cover alone. This history of the Destroyer USS Murphy is researched and written by a member of its crew. It is filled with information on the crew members and the missions that it sailed. The official reviewer liked this book and gave it a high rating. I found one error on page 4, where it says, "Tragedy struck in October 1943, when the destroyer was cut in two by a US Oiler off New Jersey with the loss of 35 Men." Men should not be capitalized. I liked that the author included so many details, such as the guest list at the dedication ceremony for the USS Murphy. Mr. Cobb completed a large amount of research to write this book. I didn't see anything I disliked or would change about it. However, I don't usually read war or military literature and will not be finishing this story at this time.
First Ten review added on March 10, 2021, at 10:16 pm by Jsovermyer.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Sanju Lali
I could not guess anything about the contents of the book from its cover and its title because "The Lady with a Shamrock" meant many things to me. So, I considered reading the official review of this book to know what is inside the book. The official review gave me the idea that this book focuses on the warship named Destroyer, USS Murphy DD603, and other events that happened during World War 2. This idea aroused my interest to sample the book. After reading the first ten pages, I realized that this book is not professionally edited because I found some grammatical errors in the sample. For example, the sentence, "Winston Churchill, the recently elected Prime Minister of Great Britain, asked for help from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt...". The sentence could have been, "Winston Churchill, the recently elected Prime Minister of Great Britain, asked President Franklin Delano Roosevelt for help... ". The thing l liked the most is the evidence-backed information on the ground situation during the second world war, which was appealing to me. Unfortunately, I could not understand the technical information about the warship. I was expecting some elaboration on these technical terms so that the average reader like me can understand them. My suggestion to the author would be to go for a round of professional editing and consider the shortcomings listed by me in the above sentence. Looking at all these facts, I decided not to purchase and read this book today but wait until the author could help by considering my suggestion so that I could get more takeaways from this book by exerting only a little effort.
First Ten review added on March 10, 2021, at 9:11 pm by Sanju Lali.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Justine Ocsebio
I wouldn’t have sampled this book based on the genre, as memoirs rarely pique my interest. The author describes, in vivid detail, the historical events before his journey aboard the USS Murphy. I think readers who are into memoirs of war veterans will enjoy this book. The genre doesn’t intrigue me, though. I decided not to finish the book for this reason. I disliked nothing, and I didn’t see anything that needed improvement. The text is well edited. The official review did not affect my decision.
First Ten review added on March 10, 2021, at 8:47 pm by Justine Ocsebio.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Ann Ogochukwu
I've watched (and enjoyed) several documentaries on warships, but never I have read about them. So naturally, I was curious about this book, and I would have sampled it based on the OBC official review alone. The tile and cover page are impressive enough to catch the attention of prospective readers, and the official review gives sufficient information on the book. Well, I must say that reading about a warship is not the same as watching a documentary on one. The book was good and detailed, perhaps too detailed for a layman. I didn't flow with the narrative as I was easily bored by the many details. (By the way, I don't think that the details were unnecessary.) I didn't quite enjoy the read, so I won't be completing this book.
I was most impressed by the fact that the author, at age 91, went ahead and wrote a book, as he always wanted to. The book seemed well-researched and was diligently referenced. However, this book is in dire need of re-editing. I noticed errors right from the cover page, typographical and comma omission errors in the title: "A NAVY D-DAY VETERAN'S STORY OF THE THE DESTROYER USS MURPHY DD603." There were also several unnecessary commas scattered throughout the work coupled with comma omissions. Correcting these errors will enhance the readability and enjoyment of this book.
First Ten review added on March 10, 2021, at 7:21 pm by Ann Ogochukwu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Vickie Noel
I wouldn't have read this book outside the program based on its title and cover art. I'm not a fan of nonfiction books that revolve around service to the government, be it the Army, Navy or Air Force. The subtitle of this book places it among one such category: the Navy. The expressions and terminologies incorporated within these sort of books are both unfamiliar, confusing, and irrelevant to me. This book is no different as reading the sample didn't change my mind. It is dominated by narrations that neither captured nor stimulated my interest. I prefer reading books with dialogue, hence, I got bored with this one as my eyes started to glaze over the words. The book is professionally edited. Still, a comma is needed after "13" in the sentence, "On August 13 the Manhattan Engineering District was established in New York..." I have no recommendations for improvement. I saw an OBC review, but it didn't influence my decision.
First Ten review added on March 10, 2021, at 5:04 pm by Vickie Noel.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Howlan
This book is a historical journal about an American Navy officer who has served on the destroyer called Murphy. The narrator introduces himself and gives his ideas about the war and his passion for writing. He starts his story from his first day at the Warship. He explains the political situation of the era and describes the background of how the warship was built. The narration is good and easy to understand. People who love to read about historical journals around WWII and warships will love this book. I do not enjoy reading journals based on warships. So, I am not going to buy and read this book as I am not interested in this book. No typos were found in the first ten pages. I found nothing to improve in the first ten pages. The Official OBC Review is present, and the reviewer rates it highly.
First Ten review added on March 10, 2021, at 2:18 pm by Howlan.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Iva Stoyanova
If I wasn't part of this program I wouldn't have chosen to sample or read this book. I'm not a fan of historical books so the genre was the first thing to put me off. Also, the cover looks dark, depressing, and boring to me. The title is not catchy either. The official review gave me a better idea about the book - it's a well-researched and well-thought book but I confirmed my opinion that it's not something I'd enjoy. So, I will not buy and read this book. I find it boring and the themes of war, history, ships, etc. are not interests of mine. Also, I didn't change my mind about the book after reading the first ten pages.
I think the book is well edited. However, I found some errors in the pages I sampled. For example, on p.9: 'More screening ships were needed' Here, a full stop is missing at the end of the sentence. There wasn't anything that I liked about this book. I'm sure that readers who enjoy historical novels, memoirs, or are just simply interested in topics about war and armed forces will enjoy this book. I have no suggestions for improvement. I hope the errors I noticed are minor, and there are none on the next pages of the book.
First Ten review added on March 10, 2021, at 1:54 pm by Iva Stoyanova.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
gen_g
Based on the title and cover, it seems like a book about war/the navy, which I am not in the market for; hence, I would not have sampled it. I have also come across a positive OBC review of the book, but this would not have changed my decision not to sample, since this book does not belong to a genre that I am looking for. After sampling, there are a couple of errors present. For example, at 2% in the book, there should not be a comma to separate clauses when the clause after the comma is actually placed in parentheses: "...Operations Neptune, (the Navy part of...". I suggest more rigorous editing. However, I appreciate that the author chose to include a preface, which elaborated on some part of the author's background; this will hopefully allow readers to better understand the author, piquing and maintaining an interest in the book. For example, we learn that when the author entered the Navy, he dropped a correspondence course in journalism. Still, when he went to Navy boot camp, he was asked to interview 2 recruits and write an article for the camp paper. One of these recruits was a cross-country runner, and the author had never heard of cross-country track, as he came from a small-town high school. However, as I am not in the market for historical war fiction/books about navy destroyers, I will not be reading the rest of the book.
First Ten review added on March 10, 2021, at 9:22 am by gen_g.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
MarisaRose
After reading the blurb for "The Lady with a Shamrock," by Donald Ray Cobb, I wasn't interested in purchasing the book blindly. The blurb states the book is about a veteran and his time serving on a naval vessel during WWII. This time period isn't something I typically like to read about, and I also don't typically enjoy novels focused on those in the service; this is just my personal preference. After sampling the first ten pages of the book, my initial opinion did not change. In general, I found the writing was not to my liking. I noted various errors in punctuation, and the first-person narration felt amateurish. The narrator dedicates an entire paragraph to how people might object to his calling the ship by female pronouns, which felt ludicrous and unnecessary. Similarly, the narration does not seem to follow the rules of a first-person narrator: the narrator is privy to information that he should not be aware of, like when he discusses the ship's log for the Shamrock but then states that he is not even yet part of the crew. Overall, there wasn't much I liked about the sample of this book. I didn't see an OBC review for this book, but it would not have changed my opinion about the book simply based on my initial impressions. I do not plan to purchase this book.
First Ten review added on March 10, 2021, at 9:21 am by MarisaRose.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Jeremie Mondejar
By just looking at the cover photo, I assumed this book was a romance novel. I read the sample and I'm little bit surprised that this book is partly a memoir of the author's in the overwhelming World War War II events. Though this genre is my favorite thing, I will not going to read this book because I'm quite sensitive right now. I like the first person narrative, which makes me feel that I listen to the protagonist's tale over a cup of coffee. Fortunately, the sample is well-written because I don't see any errors. For a little improvement, I suggest modifying the cover photo because it looks creepy.
First Ten review added on March 10, 2021, at 8:12 am by Jeremie Mondejar.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
xsquare
I don’t usually read historical non-fiction, so I wouldn’t have sampled the book based on the cover, title and blurb. I like that the author explains his motivation for only writing the story now and gives a bit of context to his background. However, I found that the author uses several rather technical terms in a row such as ‘caisson’ and ‘drydock’, which disrupted my reading flow as I had to continuously look up the words. I did not see any typos. Despite the stellar OBC review, I don’t think I will be reading the rest of the book. I was not really a fan of the rather factual tone of writing – I didn’t find it very interesting to read.
First Ten review added on March 10, 2021, at 4:53 am by xsquare.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Shrabastee Chakraborty
The cover seemed to convey a sense of thrill and urgency. The title was also intriguing. However, the premise centering on WWII made me hesitant. The official OBC review rated this book a full 4 stars. Yet, based on the genre, I wouldn't have read the book. In the first ten pages, I found two errors. In location 125, there is an extra space between "did" and "heroic." In location 174, there is a missing endng quotation mark after "young lady." In these pages, the author stated the reasons for his taking up this project, followed by a brief discussion of Murphy and why she was called 'the lady with the shamrock.' I liked the way the author alluded to the brutal history of WWII even within this short span. I have no suggestions for improvement, either. However, WWII based books tend to haunt me, so I decided not to read it.
First Ten review added on March 10, 2021, at 4:33 am by Shrabastee Chakraborty.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Manang Muyang
This is a book about the destroyer USS Murphy. The title, cover, and blurb all say so. As I have no interest in warships, I would not have sampled the book if not for the program. Indeed, the book could be titled "The Diary of USS Murphy." The author included all the details that one can think of about the life of this ship. While I felt the author's love for the ship, I will not read the rest of the book. I am not drawn to know the USS Murphy more intimately. I was amazed to learn that the author joined Mensa at 93! Nevertheless, the editing of the book was not flawless (although the official OBC reviewer found no errors). The author did not consistently italicize the names of the vessels. One such mistake was on page 4 where "The Murphy had been involved in Operation Torch" did not have "Murphy" in italics. I also noted punctuation errors: On page 8, "so I suppose that makes the Murphy a 'Little Lady" did not have the end quotation mark after "Lady." The sentence "More screening ships were needed" on page 9 did not have a period. Another round of editing seems warranted. The book listed all the ship personnel who boarded the Murphy; these people and their progeny would be proud to own a copy of this book.
First Ten review added on March 10, 2021, at 4:13 am by Manang Muyang.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Rayah Raouf
The cover of the book is what grabbed my attention; however, when I learned of the genre, I knew I would not enjoy the book. When I read the blurb and customer reviews, my mind did not change. I will not buy and read the whole book because I know I will not enjoy it. After reading the sample, I concluded that it felt like reading material for a class. I noticed a few formatting errors, but that might be an issue with my kindle. For example, a sentence, on page 8, continued on the next line but with an indentation. The sentence I noticed the indentation is 'It was less than eight months since Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor, and patriotic fervor was extreme.' I don't think this book has been professionally edited, as I also noticed extra spaces at the start of two sentences on page 8. I enjoyed the authors writing style. It seems easy to follow. I also like the addition of the picture on page 10. I always believe that visuals are important when it comes to historical books. I cannot think of any improvements to be made. There was an official review. It made the book sound heavy with details. It does not sound like something I would enjoy completing.
First Ten review added on March 10, 2021, at 4:05 am by Rayah Raouf.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
va2016
The title "The Lady With A Shamrock" indicates that the story could potentially be something related to Ireland. The cover shows a warship, which indicates that the story is related to a World War. There are 10 Amazon customer ratings with an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars, which made me comfortable that I can sample the book. The Amazon summary tells that the book is about US navy ship USS Murphy DD603. From the summary, I could deduce that the warship is called "The lady with a shamrock", but the Amazon summary does not tell me why. So, I got curious about the reason, so I would have sampled the book even if not for the First Ten program. As I sampled through the book, I found the narration describing how the author got accustomed with the ship, and why the ship was called "The lady with a shamrock". As I was intrigued with the history and the writing, I am going to read this book in full. I found the sample professionally edited. There were no grammatical or mechanical errors. What I liked about the book is its interesting narration and the history. I don't have any recommendations for the improvement of the book. Although I found one OBC review of the book, my decision to read the book in full is based on my own sampling.
First Ten review added on March 10, 2021, at 3:38 am by va2016.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Mbrooks2518
I don't have any interest in war biographies, so I would not have sampled the book without The First Ten, and I am not going to read the rest of the book. I did like the preface with the author explaining why he wanted to write the book. He came across as very passionate and invested in this book. There were no editing errors. Nothing needs to be changed or improved. The official review had no affect on my opinion.
First Ten review added on March 10, 2021, at 2:26 am by Mbrooks2518.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Verna Coy
As a Patriot, I would have picked this book up right away because of the title and cover. I love how it’s based on the proud history of a Naval Ship. What I liked best about what I read was how the Murphy, received preferential treatment in her home port of Boston. I believe readers will appreciate how the city felt about this ship. I saw no errors in what I read, so I this book seems exceptionally edited. I found no need for improvements in it in any way. I enjoyed what I have read so far, and I read the 4-star Online Book Club review. Nice job!
First Ten review added on March 10, 2021, at 12:36 am by Verna Coy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
J_odoyo
After reading the first ten pages of this book, I’ve realized that it is a riveting story that seems to have been well written. The book’s title was relevant and could easily attract those who love world war stories. I think the book’s cover page was well designed, and it was attractive. The author’s description on the Amazon website was precise and informative enough to allow for an accurate guess of what to expect in the book. Its storyline is gripping and well written. The book also had a positive OnlineBookClub review, which gave insight into what the book entails. I didn't find any error (in the pages I've read), and I believe that the book was professionally edited. One can’t help but be engrossed by this wonderful story. The author recounts the events that preceded the much-celebrated D-Day. As a crew member on board of USS Murphy (DD603), a destroyer, the author has also researched the events from various sources to weave this masterpiece. I believe the book presents an accurate information. Sincerely, I wouldn't recommend anything for the improvement of this book. The story is promising, and I can’t stop guessing what is next. Having read the sample and the OnlineBookClub review, I’m not going to finish reading because I’m not a fan of war stories.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 11:54 pm by J_odoyo.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
CrescentMoon
After reading the blurb, I wouldn't pick this book up. The subject matter just doesn't interest me so I'm not the target audience for this. After reading the first ten pages, I spotted a few errors. In chapter one, "...Pearl Harbor, and
patriotic fervor was extreme." There is a paragraph break between "and" and "patriotic" which is a formatting error. Also, "More screening ships are needed" there needs to be a period after needed. What I liked best about the book so far was how the author gave the definition of certain terms for those who are not familiar with ship language and the dialogue back in the day. For example, he explained that the term "laid down" meant the placement of a wooden keel and then later changed to the connection between two sections. I thought this was very helpful. The only suggestion I have for improvement is to fix the formatting errors. There was an onlinebookclub review. However, the sample did not grab my attention so I won't be reading the rest.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 11:25 pm by CrescentMoon.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Stephanie Runyon
I would have not sampled this book. The history genre does not interest me. There was an OBC review but it did not influence my choice to not read the rest of the book. I struggled with reading the military strategy of the Allies in Europe. This would be a good book for history students and military strategists. The book appears to be professionally edited and there is nothing to improve. I am passing on this because the topic isn't something I am interested in. I didn't read any other reviews online.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 10:29 pm by Stephanie Runyon.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kasun Perera
The Lady with a Shamrock A Navy D-Day Veteran’s Story of the Destroyer USS Murphy DD603 Donald Ray Cobb is a historical account related to World War II. Just by seeing the main title and the cover page I thought that this is some sort of a thriller, but the subtitle told me that it is not so. The Amazon reviews (this was highly rated) and the OBC official review gave a clear understanding that this is a book about a USS Murphy, the ship, its crew, and the World War. As I am not very fond of this sort of books, I decided not to read this.
The first few pages were nicely written. Though it is a historical account, it has been written with the quality and beauty of a fiction. Straight away we are introduced to the ship and then the story goes on. Editing was professionally done, and I did not see any errors. There were no areas to be marked for further improvement. Hence, I remained in my decision not to buy and read the rest of it since I am not very fond of the genre.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 9:51 pm by Kasun Perera.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Ari Martinez
If it wasn't for this program, I wouldn't sample this book based on its title, cover, or Official OnlineBookClub review because I am not a fan of books about war. After reading the first ten pages, I will not read the rest of the book because reading about wars always leaves me downcast, and right now I am not in the mood for it. My favorite part of the sample was the author's narration of events. As I was reading, it left me with a feeling of suspense, even though we all know the narrator survived and how WWII ended. It especially struck me when he said he knew the attack on Pearl Harbor would affect his life. The author is a great writer. I do not think the book needs any improvement. I found two missing period marks. The first one was in the sentence "More screening ships were needed" on page 9.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 9:29 pm by Ari Martinez.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Gabrielle Sigaki
The Lady with a Shamrock by Donald Ray Cobb is a book that talks about history, about war, and about the armed forces too. If I didn't sample this book, I wouldn't read it based on its Official OnlineBookClub review since I'm not interested in books about wars. After sampling it, I didn't change my mind and I won't read the entire book since the theme of war didn't interest me. However, the book seems professionally edited, there's nothing to be improved in it, and I liked the fact that the author writes in an informal manner as he was talking with someone in front of him.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 8:29 pm by Gabrielle Sigaki.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kelyn
If I had not been a member of this program, it is likely that the genre alone would have kept this book from me. I am not one for historical non-fiction, especially if it is about war. Given the picture on the cover, the title was a bit confusing and that would have been a strike against the book. Perhaps if the title and the cover were more congruent (a shot of the shamrock on the ship, for example), it would have been less puzzling. The blurb was short but to the point and, if the reader had an interest in history, it had the elements needed to draw the reader in. There are a few reviews on the Amazon site. While they are (mostly) positive, I did not see one explicitly identified as being from this program. If I had, I would have been interested in what the reviewer had to say. The review on this program site was very complimentary. This made for high expectations going into the sample. I must admit, the author did not disappoint. I have never found the chronological facts of any history to be interesting, but the author presented the events that led up to Pearl Harbor and WWII in a way that was engaging. I loved that he honored the men and women who had served on the Murphy by listing every name. The research had to be extensive. However, the fact remains that the book is historical non-fiction with a basis in war history. As this is not a genre I enjoy, I have decided not to continue reading the book. The book seemed well-edited. I found no 'countable' errors in the sample.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 8:28 pm by Kelyn.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Mariana Figueira
If I hadn't read the sample I wouldn't have chosen to read the book because I don't like war, movies about war, or anything like that. After reading the first pages, my opinion hasn't changed, I simply don't enjoy the main subject of the book, so I'm not going to continue to read it.
It seems professionally edited and has an Online BookClub review. What I liked the most is that it seemed the author was thinking about the readers when he wrote the novel. I didn't see anything that needed improvement.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 7:25 pm by Mariana Figueira.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Sarah_Khan
I think the cover of this book is really pretty and sophisticated. The title is average. I would not have sampled this without the First Ten program because I am not a huge fan of books that involve war. The first ten pages are professionally edited. Even though I think it is a widely known fact that ships are commonly referred to in feminine, I appreciated that the author mentioned it for those who are unaware. Although I found the list of critical events very interesting, I couldn't help but feel like I was reading a textbook. The OBC review was positive, but it did not change my mind. I am just not interested in the Navy. Therefore, I will not be reading the rest. I do not have any suggestions for the author.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 6:20 pm by Sarah_Khan.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Odette Chace
I like the cover but the title didn't make me curious about the book. The premise of the book, as described on Amazon, does not interest me. I generally don't enjoy war stories. The official Online Book Club review gave the work a perfect rating of 4 out of 4 stars. However, it did not succeed in making me any more interested in the book. "I thank my friends for being interested and not laughing, at least [not] where I could hear them[,] when I told them I was writing my first book at the (then) age of 91" (pg. 2). Despite this error, I believe the work was professionally edited. I enjoyed the preface. However, I found the rest of the first ten pages boring. I like that the title of the book is explained at the very beginning of chapter one. I don't plan to finish reading the book.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 6:10 pm by Odette Chace.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kajori Sheryl Paul
'The Lady with a Shamrock' is a book written by Donald Ray Cobb. The author was a part of the navy during WWII. He was a member of the crew of the USS Murphy. In this book, he chronicles his journey in the ship. The book is meticulously researched. I like the way the author added photographs. This added authenticity. There is an extra space between "did" and "anything" in "I do not feel that I did anything heroic, but I was there and performed my duties to the best of my ability." Apart from these minor errors, the editing is good. I cannot point out anything that is in need of an improvement. The title, cover, OBC review, and the Amazon reviews are all apt for the book. Though I love reading WWII stories, I will have to skip this book as I am not in the mind-frame to read non-fiction books as of now.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 4:57 pm by Kajori Sheryl Paul.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Chelsy Scherba
I like the author’s gentle manner and I’m happy he finally got to realize his lifelong dream of becoming a writer. I enjoyed hearing about “Lady Shamrock” and seeing how she was created and who attended the gathering. It was kind of neat to read the guest list and imagine what those people were like. The book seems well-edited overall. The only errors might be in formatting. I noticed a sentence that had too many spaces: “The other man was a middleweight prize-fighter, named Anton Christophoridis.” The errors didn’t interfere with reading though. I like the cover image and the title. I also like the pictures and newspaper clippings and such. I think those things are pretty cool and bring the story to life, just like the review mentioned. I don’t search a lot for war memoirs, so I would not have found this book outside of the program. I enjoy the story so far so I’ll read my free copy. I can’t think of any suggestions that would improve this book.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 3:52 pm by Chelsy Scherba.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Laura Ungureanu
I'm neutral about the cover, but I was sure that it was fiction based on its appearance. I don't know why, but it looks like a mystery book. Too serious for my taste. Reading the OBC review was eye-opening and very helpful. Unfortunately, I knew that I wasn't going to read this book because I don't enjoy reading anything about ships or the war, so I gave it a chance because of the program. The author seemed to talk with a lot of passion right from the beginning. I was lost when he started naming operations, which made me lose interest quickly. I appreciated that he kept the beginning brief though. I don't think the book needs any improvement, but I personally don't wish to keep reading it because the subject doesn't interest me. In the sentence "In the year 2016, the Greatest Generations Foundation, (Timothy, Davis, Founder, and President), provided me the opportunity to go back to Normandy" it seems to me that the commas surrounding the parenthesis could be reduced to just one. There is no need for two. I see this as a minor error that wouldn't distract anyone from the text.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 3:50 pm by Laura Ungureanu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Mvictoria
After reading the online book club review and the summary, I was not interested in reading this book because the topic didn’t interest me and I usually prefer fiction. Reading the first 10 pages of this book was certainly interesting. I learned a lot about the history of the Murphy and also about other ships. I would recommend the author explain nautical terms to the reader, such as starboard, etc. I did find errors in this book, mostly missing punctuation. The first sentence that I found an error in was on page 8, an apostrophe should that be added after Lady. “I am aware that those large aircraft carriers have been referred to as ‘Lady’, so I suppose that makes the Murphy a ‘Little Lady. (add apostrophe). I found several errors like this and believe this book was not professionally edited. Although it was interesting to read about the history of the ship, I don’t think I will finish this book. The topic doesn’t grab my attention and it’s not a book I would normally read.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 2:38 pm by Mvictoria.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Alice Heritage
This isn't a book I would have sampled on the basis of the OBC or Amazon blurbs as memoirs about World War II aren't a high priority for me. The sample was interesting enough, but I probably won't read the rest of this because I'm not highly motivated to absorb a lot of war details at present. The editing seemed generally good, although I noticed a few errors: "motivated to any particular story" reads oddly - perhaps the verb "write" is missing? In "I like to think of her as, the Lady with a Shamrock", the comma after "as" is not needed, and " 'Little Lady" is missing a closing quote mark. I do like the fact that this member of the "greatest generation" has recorded personal experiences, and it was interesting to learn more about World War II from the US perspective as I'm from the UK and know that point of view better. Nothing needs to be improved as this is a clearly written account of experiences. The OBC review didn't add much to the sample - indeed some phrases were copied verbatim: isn't that plagiarism? So it didn't affect my decision.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 2:32 pm by Alice Heritage.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Emy Katherine
Although both the title and the cover caught my attention, I would not have read the book based on the genre. Throughout the book, the author shares his eventful journey as he served aboard the destroyer USS Murphy (DD603) during WWII. I do not read non-fiction books, so neither the first ten pages nor the OBC review changed my mind. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptive, informative writing style; plus, the inclusion of black-and-white illustrations made the first ten pages enjoyable to read. The book had editing and formatting issues, though, as I noticed some misplaced commas, missing quotation marks, extra spaces between sentences, and missing periods at the end of some sentences. For example, there should be a closing quotation mark after "Lady" in the following sentence: "I suppose that makes the Murphy a 'Little Lady." (page 8) I noticed a missing period at the end of the following sentence: "More screening ships were needed." (page 8) I noticed another missing period at the end of the following sentence: "Apparently, the cable did not reach levels high enough to be taken seriously." (page 14) All in all, I would only suggest another round of editing. From what I have read, those who enjoy reading memoirs or war stories should give this book a try.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 2:08 pm by Emy Katherine.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
MsH2k
After reading the blurb, I would not have sampled this book if I were not part of this program. I am not currently in the market for a WWII non-fiction. I appreciate the author’s motivation to write this book. It is a generous act of service. The book was interesting but a bit too detailed for me. His description of the destroyer reminded me of reading Jane’s Fighting Ships. This seems like it would be a great book for WWII buffs, but I will not finish it. I noticed a few minor grammatical errors in the sample pages. On page 7, there is an unnecessary comma in this sentence: “I like to think of her as, The Lady with a Shamrock.” On page 8, the end quote is missing in this sentence: I suppose that makes the Murphy a 'Little Lady.
The featured OnlineBookClub review was positive, but neither it nor any other ratings or reviews influenced my decision. I have no suggestions for improvement.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 1:25 pm by MsH2k.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Scerakor
After reviewing the title, genre, cover, blurb, and review of this book, I might have read this book. I love a good non-fiction story focused around World War 2 and this one sounds like it brings a unique and specific perspective to the mix. After reading the first ten pages I didn't change my mind and therefore will be reading the rest of this book as I already have my copy. I liked I loved how well researched the book appears to be. This is apparent even as early on as the sample that I read. Something as detailed as the guest list for the launching of the ship shows the author did his homework. Although the book looked well written and edited, there was one thing I would have improved from the sample I read. In the guest list, the first line was fairly long and hung awkwardly on the second line that it reached. In order to make it look better, I would have ensured that everything lined up properly. There was an official OBC review, but it was the sample that piqued my interest even more.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 1:24 pm by Scerakor.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Brenda Creech
The title and cover of this book did not intrigue me at first glance because I am not a war buff. I don't care for books about world wars, so I would not have checked this book. After reading the official review, I was impressed that the author could fill in every detail about the ship, the "USS Murphy." As I read the first ten pages, I knew it took a lot of research to gather all the author's information to write this book. I was very impressed that he could list every name that was present for the christening of the ship. I only found one small error in the portion I read. At Kindle location 145 is the following: " He was followed by Miss M. Elsie Murphy (Sponsor) and, finally, by Lt. Commander Lawrence. W. Bailey, USN," there is a period after the first name of Lawrence W. Bailey. From what I read I would say the book had been professionally edited. I did not find anything that needed improving in the part I read. I don't plan to read the rest of the book as I am not a fan of war stories, but I am impressed by the author's will and skill in compiling all of the information he found into this book.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 12:09 pm by Brenda Creech.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Lucille27
Based on the cover, I think I would have been interested on what the book is about. However, maybe the plot is not my go to. I read the Online Book Club review and it confirmed that this is not the kind of story I usually like. Also, I think it cleared the title for me. I thought this was actually about a woman. Although it seems like a careful historical recall, I think this topic is not for me. While I was reading the sample, I thought it was very well-edited and did not find any mistakes. Something I really liked from the first pages is the careful order in which the information is presented. I think it looks like a chronological order and very detailed situation, just like something from the navy would look like. It also includes some images, which is always nice. I do not know if I would change something from the book, it looks professionally edited and made. However, I am not the target audience for this and that is why I will pass on this one.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 11:46 am by Lucille27.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Yvonne Monique
The book cover has a beautiful picture, and the title and subtitle perfectly explain what the book is about. However, as I am not interested in wars or armies, I would not pick this book up in a book store. The OBC review and blurb did not change my opinion. Nonetheless, I admire the 91-year-old author for finding the time and energy to write this book and leave his testimonial for future generations. The sample seems to be professionally edited, but on the page corresponding with 3% of the sample, the word 'men' had an unnecessary capital letter in the following sentence : "Tragedy struck in October 1943, when the destroyer was cut in two by a US Oiler off New Yersey with the loss of 35 Men." I have no suggestions for improvement. I will not buy this book as I am not interested in the topic, but I am sure that readers of the target audience (war veterans, navy staff, people with an interest in history) will enjoy this book.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 11:13 am by Yvonne Monique.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Theresa Moffitt
The cover art of this book is interesting. It makes me think this is a book about the Navy. I like the title. I would have picked this book up based on the title alone. It appears to be a non-fiction book. The Online Book Club review gave the book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars and recommended it to readers. I didn’t read an additional customer review. The first ten pages were interesting. The author described how he always wanted to be a writer and how he decided to write this book about his experiences in World War II. He served on the USS Murphy and referred to the ship as the lady with the shamrock. This explains the title of the book. The first ten pages drew me into the story of this man’s life, so I want to finish reading this book. I didn’t see any errors in the first ten pages, so I believe the book was professionally edited. I also didn’t see any area that the author could improve upon.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 10:36 am by Theresa Moffitt.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda
From the cover of the book, I thought this was a horror story, perhaps an Irish legend. The blurb is concise and well-written but, although I like historical fiction, I'm not into the intricacies of battles. The ratings are mostly good, but I don't care for the plot and that's why I wouldn't have bought the book based on my first impressions.
I like the authenticity of the narrative voice in the Preface. I am incredibly glad the author finally fulfilled his teenage dream of writing. I can only wish at his age I have the same attitude. I also enjoyed discovering that I was not that far off with my initial guess since: "I suppose the men who built her at the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Staten Island, New York, felt that since she had the Irish name of Murphy, she would not be complete without a shamrock." I found a couple of editing mistakes. The first one is on page 3, where "Great Depression" should be capitalized: "Coming from a small town high school during the great depression, depression, I had never heard of cross-country track." My only suggestion is to fix these editing mistakes. What made me change my mind was that the official review, which let me know that this is not only a war story but a memoir, about the author's life and his family.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 9:47 am by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Bertha Jackson
I would not have checked this book out based on the book cover, title, and genre because I do not prefer war stories. The customer, editorial, and OnlineBookClub reviews are all favorable for this book. While reading the first ten pages, I enjoyed the author's photos, and I think this book shares a part of history that many of us do not know about. I did not see anything I would change in the first ten pages, and the book appears to have been edited by a professional editor. There are no page numbers in the sample, but there appears to be an error on Page 1: “It was less than eight months since Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor, and (hard sentence break) patriotic fervor was extreme.” I will not be buying and reading this book because it not one of my preferred topics.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 9:23 am by Bertha Jackson.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Timothy Rucinski
The Official Review was tempting as I enjoy stories about WWII and the cover was very nicely done. However, this is a memoir and for me to read a memoir, the book has to be something special. I didn't find it to be that way in the sections that I read. What I disliked most was the boring introductory information. As a suggestion for improvement, I would include, as chapter one, some section of the exploits of the ship from later in the story to grab the reader's attention. Afterward, the writing could turn to the more mundane facts of the building and christening of the ship. What I liked most was the author's actual decision to chronicle a story that may have otherwise gone untold. I won't be reading this book because the number of errors would be too distracting. In disagreement with the Official Reviewer, I feel that this book was not professionally edited. For example, on page 3, in the paragraph beginning, "In the year 2016..." there is no need for a comma after "Foundation" as there is one after the closing parenthesis. On page 4 there is an unnecessary comma after the word "maybe" in the sentence, "Maybe, I did have something to write about." Two sentences after, the author uses the same format of a sentence starting with the word "maybe" but without a comma. On page 4 there is an unnecessary comma in the sentence, "Tragedy struck in October 1943, when the destroyer..." In the same sentence, the word "Men" is unnecessarily capitalized. On page 7, in the sentence beginning, "The decks had been scrubbed..." a semi-colon and commas are used interchangeably. On page 8, in the last sentence of the paragraph beginning, "Some people may object..." there is a missing apostrophe/quotation mark at the end of the line. On page 9, there is a missing period at the end of the first paragraph.
First Ten review added on March 9, 2021, at 9:07 am by Timothy Rucinski.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Total ~ 17%
The Lady with a Shamrock earned a score of 17%.
In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 17% plan to read the whole book.
IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable.
Over a million books are published each year. Any given person could not even read .0001% of the books out there. This means readers have to be very selective. Even taking the time to look over reviews and blurbs, let alone read samples, is more time than most readers can afford for most books. The First Ten is a powerful focus group that addresses those issues. It creates a helpful tool for authors, publishers, and other readers.
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