#RPBP #ASMSG Decide To Travel In Asia with Fred's Diary: Travels In Asia

Reader reviews can tell you a lot about a book. 

If you see nine 4 or 5 star ratings and a single 1 star rating, what does that say to you? Does it say the book is not worth reading because 1 person out of ten didn't like it? No, I think it means the opposite! 9 out of 10 people must have really enjoyed it! Do you see the difference here, are you an optimist or a pessimist?

Well, I'm an optimist. Most of the time anyway, but especially when it comes to book reviews.

Let's take a look at Fred's Diary 1981.

Fascinating time capsule from the 80’s


NEWLY RELEASED SECOND EDITION 

Synopsis

Have you ever wanted to read someone else’s diary? 

Would you like to experience travelling in Asia without leaving home? 

Then this book is for you. Fred’s Diary 1981 is a fascinating insight into a young man’s travels around Asia in the early 1980’s. This is a unique opportunity to delve into Fred's daily diary, which details the 158 days he spent travelling around Asia. Follow Fred throughout his extensive travels to Hong Kong, Thailand, India and Nepal. 

Appreciate the many friendships formed along the way with fellow-travellers. 

Relive the highs and lows that he experienced during this fascinating journey. 

Recognise the huge differences in technology, particularly communications. 

Become immersed in the different cultures, peoples and surroundings of Asia in the early 1980's. 

Understand more about the drug culture of the 1980's, especially in Thailand and Nepal. 

Learn from Fred's youthful mistakes, especially if your dream of travelling to Asia becomes a reality. 

Dunbar Square, Kathmandu
One of the many places to Travel In Asia with Fred's Diary

Can you decide whether or not you want to read this memoir about Robert Fear and his Travels through Asia just by reading the synopsis of the book?  

Maybe you can, maybe you can't. 

However, there are these things called book reviews and this book has them!

 Now, these are from genuine readers. People who have purchased or been given this book, read the book and decided to let the author and other potential readers know what they thought!

I'm going to use the reviews from Amazon to hash out the general consensus on Fred's Diary 1981 and his Travels in Asia.
I'm going to start out by listing the ratios:
5 Star reviews=14
4 Star reviews=7
3 Star reviews=1
1 Star reviews=1
Total reviews listed= 23

I'm sure you can do the math yourself, but let me break this down for you.
Out of the 23 people that left a review for "Fred's Diary 1981", 21 of them really enjoyed the book. 

The two left over reviews are considered "critical reviews". Which after reading them, I've decided that they aren't what I would consider a "critical review".
I don't normally do this, but as an author and a reviewer, I feel this is an important issue. 

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Take a look at this information from USNW Austrailia!
https://student.unsw.edu.au/writing-critical-review

Purpose of a critical review

What is meant by critical?

What is meant by evaluation or judgement?

What is meant by analysis?

Writing a Critical Review

The advice in this brochure is a general guide only. We strongly recommend that you also follow your assignment instructions and seek clarification from your lecturer/tutor if needed.The critical review is a writing task that asks you to summarise and evaluate a text. The critical review can be of a book, a chapter, or a journal article. Writing the critical review usually requires you to read the selected text in detail and to also read other related texts so that you can present a fair and reasonable evaluation of the selected text. At university, to be critical does not mean to criticise in a negative manner. Rather it requires you to question the information and opinions in a text and present your evaluation or judgement of the text. To do this well, you should attempt to understand the topic from different perspectives (i.e. read related texts) and in relation to the theories, approaches and frameworks in your course.Here you decide the strengths and weaknesses of a text. This is usually based on specific criteria. Evaluating requires an understanding of not just the content of the text, but also an understanding of a text’s purpose, the intended audience and why it is structured the way it is.Analysing requires separating the content and concepts of a text into their main components and then understanding how these interrelate, connect and possibly influence each other.

Now take a look at this link which tells you the 
structure of a critical review.

https://student.unsw.edu.au/structure-critical-review

From what I can gather out of these two links, combined with my "personal opinion", I would have to say the reviews listed as "critical" are not "critical".


But I will let you be the judge of that!

I'm going to post a few of the newest
 reviews here, but you can go check them all out for yourself and decide what you think.
***
"Here is a book of diary entries written by a young backpacker touring Asia. I love books like this but was really showing my age when I was surprised by the use of recreational drugs. The kid got caught with a small amount of drugs and is shocked when he got caught up in that country's penal system. This isn't a review of a kid who needs a big reality check so I will not focus on that. All in all, the book kept my interest.
I was able to read this book and leave my review in exchange for this interesting book."
~Posted  January 12, 2016 by Marianne S. Bonatakis
***
"An interesting look back at the tail end of the hippy trail of the 1980s, when Fred abandons his job with a bank and goes off backpacking round Asia from Hong Kong through Thailand to India and Nepal.
Recording his daily life meticulously, Fred's diary gives the reader an intimate account of his journey, which is about self-discovery as much as discovery of the countries he visits. The reader shares his meals (as a lover of Asian cuisine my mouth watered more than once), his lodgings, his fellow travellers and his casual use of dope, which lands him in jail.
What I most appreciated in this book is his openness and honesty in revealing his inner thoughts and feelings about himself, about his hopes for the future, and his angst regarding his complicated relationship with his on/off girlfriend who joins him towards the end of his journey.
An entertaining read." 
~Posted on January 8, 2016  Swizzlestick
***
This book will make you feel like you are actually traveling with Mr. Fear. It's such a great, true diary experience that will give you the bug to travel yourself. I loved reading this book because it takes you out of your everyday life into places you might not normally get to go. His easy to read passages are the perfect education if you are planning on taking a backpacking trip yourself overseas. Some of his mistakes are hilarious, while others are truly scary. SPOILER ALERT: Foreign jails! I highly recommend this exciting book for anybody with serious wanderlust.
~Posted on January 8, 2016 by Amazon Customer
***

Please go to amazon and check out the reviews for yourself, all of them. Consider what i wrote here and decide for yourself if you might enjoy Traveling Through Asia with Fred's Diary 1981. 

Read The Reviews online

To celebrate the coming new year, the price of Fred's Diary 1981: Travels in Asia has been dropped to £1.99 / $2.99 (was £2.99 / $3.99). Get your copy while this offer lasts:
getBook.at/FredsDiary1981

You can find out more about author Robert Fear on Rukia Publishing's 
Meet the Author page:
www.rukiapublishing.com/meet-the-author-robert-fear

Jean Gill from 'We Love Memoirs' Facebook group
"We have SNOW here in Provence so it seems like the right sort of day to do some 'cocooning' as they call it here, and visit Asia via Fred's Diary, which I won in a WLM interview giveaway. Thank you Robert Fear!"

We have your chance to win an autographed copy of Robert Fears Fred's Diary 1981!
Join The FB Event and enter for your chance to win!
Join FB Event Here!
Thanks for reading! 

#RPBP "Time Travel Thursday With Time Trap" @rukiapublishing @RichardSmithTT

"Time-Travel Thursday With Time Trap" 

The Time-Travel Through Pictures Series!

Time-travel through pictures

with 

Time Trap 

by Author Richard Smith

Welcome to the first piece of "Time-Travel Thursday With Time Trap".

Each week we will feature a new piece from The Author Richard Smith. 

Please follow along on this exciting journey as we Time-Travel with Time Trap! 

About The Book

TODD'S IN A STREET GANG, JAMIE WANTS TO BE. TO GET HIS FRIEND'S BACKING AND JOIN THE RIVERSIDE POSSE, HE TAKES HIM TO A SECRET LABORATORY. BUT DISASTER IS ABOUT TO STRIKE...

Who was the mysterious Hector Lightfoot? What was he up to when he disappeared, and who were the two ghosts once seen in his house? School friends Jamie and Todd are destined to find out when they go to London to spend a weekend with Jamie's Uncle Simon, who now lives in that very house. Soon after they arrive, Jamie has a frightening encounter with the two ghosts.
Hector, a veteran from the First Afghan War, joined a covert expedition to China, and afterwards worked on a secret Government project in an underground lab at theBritish Museum. He vanished suddenly, and was never heard from again.

Simon takes the boys to the lab, where they find a strange contraption – which, unknown to any of them, is a time-travel device. When the building is struck by lightning, the device is energized, and sends the boys back in time to the year 1862. There, surrounded by danger and exposed to disease, they are sucked into a life of crime in order to survive.

Only if they can find Hector will they have any chance of getting home again. But why has he gone into hiding? Who is the man after him and what does he want? As the boys struggle to escape back to their own time, Jamie becomes convinced that the two ghosts he saw earlier are following them…

"Time-Travel Thursday With Time Trap"

~Issue One of Six~

Temple Bar - the Time Trap Trail

Sketch taken from Time Trap 

Extract from the Trail

The monument in the centre of the road, is where Temple Bar stood, which you will see later on the Trail. Temple Bar is a boundary marker, separating the City of London and Westminster. It was along this street, Hector drove his faltering contraption. 

Time Trap
Catherine clasped her head, as Jamie opened the carriage door. He was reaching for the handrails and using the seat to hoist himself up. 'What are you doing, Jamie? Get back inside!' she screamed.

Jamie ignored her and hauled himself up the side-panelling. Temple Bar lay ahead. The ancient white gateway almost glowed in the moonlight. The driverless coach rapidly approached it.

The history of Temple Bar is a fascinating one. It was erected as a barrier to regulate trade into the city. As the most important entrance to London from Westminster, it has long been the custom that the monarch stop at Temple Bar before entering the City of London, so that the Lord Mayor may offer him or her the City's pearl-encrusted Sword of State as a token of loyalty. 

Its name comes from the Temple Church, which has given its name to a wider area south of Fleet Street, the Temple, once belonging to the Knights Templar, but now home to two of the legal profession's Inns of Court.

Due to the ever increasing volume of traffic, the City of London Corporation were eager to widen the road, though unwilling to destroy so historic a monument, but in 1878, Temple Bar was dismantled carefully (2,700 stones) piece-by-piece over an 11-day period. In 1880, it ended up being erected as a gateway at the house of the brewer Henry Meux, in Theobalds Park.

There it remained, incongruously sitting in a clearing in a wood, from 1878–2003. But where is it now? If you follow the Time Trap Trail, you will get to see it in all its glory.

The structure that replaced Temple Bar. With the removal of Wren's gate, it was designed by Horace Jones, as a memorial to mark Temple Bar, which was unveiled in 1880.

ONCE YOU COMPLETE THE TRAIL AND EMAIL RICHARD THE CORRECT ANSWERS, HE WILL DOWNLOAD TO YOU THE PERSONALIZED CERTIFICATE!

Can you see Temple Bar on the map?

What Are You Waiting For?

Get Your Copy Of Time Trap 

by 

author Richard Smith, 

join in on The Time Trap Trail

and have some fun! 

You won't be disappointed.

**Reader Reviews**

"Very exciting book; keeps you interested from the start right the way through. You can tell a lot of research has gone into the writing of this book because all the roads, pubs, churches etc in the adventure are real and in line with accurate history. Fantastic bonus is the London Walk you are invited to take all educational."

***

"Time Trap came recommended from a review site and I thought my son would enjoy it. As it was I read it first and thoroughly enjoyed it. It has a really engrossing storyline, strong characters and plenty of intrigue."

***

"A hugely enjoyable time romp, Time Trap is the debut novel from author Richard Smith and it really is a little different. Not only a perfect mix of fantasy, intriguing technology and action to keep even the most demanding of young readers entertained, it has more than its share of mystery to boot."

***

"An undeniably fun and engaging read, Time Trap will certainly pique your interest and leave its readers wanting more. Raising high expectations of future releases from author Richard Smith, it is recommended without reservation!"

***

"My 10 year old, well-read son has been reading Time Trap solidly over the last few days and loves it."

***

"Smith it seems has certainly succeeded in weaving a wonderful tale."

--------------------------------------------

What do you get when you mix a couple of boys, 2 too many ghosts and a time travel device? Adventure and mayhem that is what! I purchased this book to read with my daughter who loves adventure books with a little thrill ride built in. Once it arrived we dug right in and I have to say that we both loved it. It really is a great read for older children, teens, and adults with a heart for adventure.

I was a little worried that it would be too intense for my daughter (she sometimes frightens easily) but she loved it. It was interesting to follow along as Todd and Jamie encounter some hair-raising and sometimes threatening situations that only a determined will and strong fortitude could get them through. I love the way the characters are put into those situations where they must show courage and endurance and rely on each other to make it through. I think that serves as a good message for the young readers.

What is there not to love, Richard Smith is a fantastic story teller and Time Trap is an out of this world (or at least this place in time) adventure! Filled with twists and turns and mysterious moments, it encompasses everything I could hope for. It is well written with exceptional character development. 5 stars all the way!

Follow Richard For Updates

Twitter

https://twitter.com/RichardSmithTT

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/Time-Trap-1862-360641754046977/

Website

http://www.timetrap.co.uk/

See Richard on Rukia Publishing

Meet The Author

2015 Competition Winners