I’m Brian D. Hawkins
I’m sooo many things. I’m a blogger and have been for way over fifteen years now. I’m an avid reader, usually with my Fire HD 8 Tablet.
Obviously I’m a fanatical audiobook listener, generally with Audible.
I’m also a prepper but without the whole “crazy survivalist” connotation – I hope.
I’m a ferocious reader of post-apocalyptic and survival books. I don’t know if it’s the prepper inside of me or if I secretly want things to go sideways and a big way but I can’t seem to get enough doom and gloom, world-ending excitement.
So guess what? That’s mostly what you’re going to see on this audiobook review blog – post-apocalyptic and dystopian books.
I like hiking, camping, shooting and the outdoors. I watch very little TV and rarely bother with watching the news. I get most of my information from phone apps and online news sites.
I told you I had a lot of interests.
Just sayin’
I’m An Audible Junky
I thought I’d share my current Audible stats. Today, as I post this, it is/was January 5, 2020, so the January stats are incomplete.
Sincerity is important to me. I DO NOT accept compensation for book reviews and the placement of a book on this site cannot be purchased. The small amount of income generated from this site is solely from your decision to make a purchase using one of my affiliate or advertising links.
How I rate books
Remember that teacher in school that wouldn’t give an ‘A’ to save their life? Unless little Einstein himself was in class, no one was getting a perfect grade.
Well, that’s not me. I’m not going to downgrade a great book because I’m comparing it to the best book Dean Koontz has ever written. That wouldn’t be fair, would it? Neither were you Miss Sanders, you nasty old woman. 😉
My Rating System
Below are the standards I follow when rating a book.
First, I’d like to mention why most of my ratings are between 4 and 5 stars. When I started Books4Ears I already had over 350 audiobooks on two separate platforms that I’ve listened to. Obviously I get to go back through that extensive audio book library to give a quality book review. As you can imagine, since I’m the one choosing the book titles, I’m going through my favorites first.
- 5 Stars: The best of the best. This is a must-read or listen and I couldn’t stop.
- 4.5 Stars: I loved this book and almost everything about it. I highly recommend this book.
- 4 Stars: I liked this book a lot. There were only one or two minor issues that I didn’t care for. I recommend these books.
- 3.5 Stars: I enjoyed the book but there were a few minor issues for me. I’m not disappointed by any stretch.
- 3 Stars: Middle of the road read. I liked it enough to complete the book and offer my review.
- 2.5 Stars: The book wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t good either. A little disappointing.
- 2 Stars: Nice try and I’m sure it has some potential. As it stands I don’t recommend this book.
- 1.5 Stars: I can’t see using this rating on my book blog. Honestly, the book was terrible. I probably wouldn’t take the time to review it unless, for some reason, I felt it important to get the negative review out.
- 1 Star (#DNF): You won’t see this rating on my blog but I may use it on sites like Amazon or GoodReads. If a book is this bad I won’t finish it. I see no point in finishing a book just to offer a very negative review. I won’t use this book blog to trash books or authors.
My Favorite Book Genres
Also, like you, I have my favorite genres. I love post-apocalyptic, science fiction, history and business.
So if you’re more into a nice, romantic novel…
A: You probably won’t find your perfect book here.
B: My rating of an audiobook about a post-war dystopian world slaughtering people by the dozen and eating the dead’s dripping human carcasses may not match what your rating would have been.
Just sayin’ 😉
Brian’s Laws of Book Reviews
Never, Never, Never, Never…
- Never review a book that you don’t own and haven’t read (or listened to) from cover to cover.
- Never accept payment, either in the form of money or product, to review a book differently than it would have been as a random selection.
- Never accept paid reviews or posts of any kind.
- Never accept a free book in exchange for a review if you wouldn’t have otherwise purchased or read the book before the deal.
More personal stuff?
Wow, you must really be bored. Here we go then.
I live an older ranch style home in SE Michigan with my wife and soulmate of 36 years. We live on a gravel road where we can hear the animals, everything from ducks to pigs and horses to cows. We can smell the gardens all around us – including in our backyard.
I have an old bench in the shade that is the perfect spot in the morning to read and drink that first cup of coffee. We love it here.
I’m a local truck driver. I drove truck <-( I’m required to say it like that.) over-the-road for a decade and I’ve been peddling a local tractor-trailer for over twenty years now. It’s an honest living, pays well and horrible on your body, inside and out. We have six grandsons and I’m still waiting on one of our four grown children to give me a little granddaughter.
You can find more at my personal blog, which I mostly ignore, at brianDhawkins.com.