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If you haven’t realized it yet, time is our most precious personal asset because it’s the only one that’s limited. Ensure you spend it well, making time to do what you enjoy most before it’s gone forever!

Posted: 21-Jul-2025



Among money, property, goods, and time, which do you consider is life’s most precious asset, and why? If you ponder it for a while, you’ll realize it is time because it’s time to live that’s limited, while (depending on your fortunes), you may own more or less of the others in the future. And in passing, suppose you had tons of the others, but no time to enjoy them? Wouldn’t that be tragic?

If you haven’t already, you need to sit down quietly and ask yourself questions like “Do I get quality sleep?”; “Sufficient time to spend on family, kids, and relationships?”; “Time for entertainment and exercise?”; “Time for planning finances and savings?”; “Time for quality vacations?”; “A plan (you really believe will work) for items on your bucket list?”, and similar ones.

If your answer is “No,” to any of the above, you really have a problem that you may want to fix immediately, lest life’s dreams slip out of your hands… forever! And you die unfulfilled.

You cannot manufacture time, but you can surely free up and reassign the time you spend on routine tasks like paying bills, home cleaning and maintenance, searching for jobs, etc. that don’t necessarily have to be done by you (i.e. somebody or something else can do it for you) and automating them.

Shall we see how we can up the quality of life by embracing automation (and end the drudgery of life)?

Over to the review now?


Likely a first—Sherlock Holmes vs. the Occult

Posted: 19-Jul-2025




This story begins in Dahshoor, Egypt. A UNESCO World Heritage site today, Dahshoor is home to the famed ancient Egyptian pyramids and necropolises. Sir Henry, the fifth Earl of Convarran and three of his English associates, once conducted an archaeological dig there. But the purpose wasn’t merely academic—while there, they stole some forbidden, expensive, charmed artifacts and objects used by the ancient Egyptian Pharaohs in worshipping their gods, and secretly brought them back to England, thus inviting the deadly wrath of not only some Egyptian radicals who guarded them but worse, of the wicked, evil spirit associated with the stolen artifacts aka “The Black Pharaoh.”

Retribution happens in England. Soon after returning to England, all four members involved die gruesome deaths at the hands of the Egyptian radicals and/or the Black Pharaoh.

Read this book to enjoy a gripping, macabre Sherlock Holmes story, and possibly the first of a kind in which the occult challenge/attack Holmes.

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Sherlock Holmes in “Shorts”: Five great short stories, each solved in about 30 pages!

Posted: 07-Jul-2025



Sherlock Holmes (and his sidekick, Dr Watson) keeps rolling on. Nearly 140 years after his first public appearance in 1887, and long after Doyle stopped writing about him, he’s unstoppable!

His fans keep moving him up with the times. By now, they’ve created second-generation detectives who follow his methods, and imported him into dimensions surely Doyle wouldn’t have even dreamed of (like angels and the celestial world, confrontation with occult practitioners, etc.) And as we move on in time, what more can we expect? Possibly themes like time travel, interstellar crime, robot-assisted crime investigation, unraveling criminals causing dystopian tragedies, and more...? Whatever the new themes, one thing is certain: Sherlock Holmes will continue into the foreseeable future. He refuses to die!

So, what does this collection offer? Five great Holmes short stories, each neatly solved in about 30 pages!

If you are the impatient kind of reader, look no further, here’s instant gratification for you!


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Sad, but true—masculinity is under attack after feminism’s rise! For once, it is men who may need help—to adapt to masculinity redefinitions safely

Posted: 17-Jun-2025




Are you a male? Or a concerned female about the men in your life? Then you need to pay careful attention to this post.

This book examines the crisis precipitated by the third wave of feminism that started in the 90s—this most powerful and impactful wave swept society causing radical shifts in the man-woman dynamic of our times. Women are now showing their true worth, since they are greatly empowered, have equal rights, and enjoy independence. Among other achievements, they have risen to positions of power, and prominence, thus, humbling/relegating arrogant, brutish, and practically worthless men!

Both men and women have to leave their traditional roles behind and accept redefined ones.

This book discusses the crisis. This is the first time, when men undergoing change will be more vulnerable than women to detrimental outcomes—mainly suicides and mental health issues, if proper care isn’t planned/taken. Men will find it harder to change than women because they’ve been molded according to the old blueprint of manhood—sole family breadwinner, tough yet sensitive leader, and unwavering stoic. They need help to change, but the ingrained “tough,” and “stoic” qualities will effectively prevent them from accepting the help they need to change.

Men must cast off their armor of toughness and stoicism and take help to embrace the change.

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In praise of good dads everywhere!

Posted: 31-May-2025



Good dads are our heroes. Why? They silently slug it out with the world outside, providing us with safe and cozy homes insulated from external pressure. You may never know what your dad struggles with all your life. And he likes it that way—though often stretched to the limits of his ability, he doesn’t want you to know.

Even so, dad has his limits. How much can he take before he’s broken? It’s admittedly tough being a wonderful dad in a world as pernicious as ours. And if yes, imagine being successful in a GOG (Grunch of Giants) governed, hi-tech, interplanetary universe of the future. Herculean?

NOTE: GOG (Grunch of Giants), first introduced in R. Buckminster Fuller's seminal work of the same name is an acronym for a conglomerate of supranational giant corporate bodies worldwide. They exist even in our times, though secretly. You may be surprised, but it’s they, not governments, who actually run the world. They are preparing to overtake governments and rule the world openly in the future!

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Make someone smile, say something nice about them today!

Posted: 19-May-2025



Life is full of people who believe they're worthless simply because they hear only bad things about themselves. Daily, monthly ... and for years on end.

“I fail in most exams, while my brother always passes his, with flying colors. So, I’m a worthless kid.” “That damn woman is super selfish. She’ll destroy anyone who works with her.” A feeling of worthlessness develops when we continually hear negative things about ourselves. It’s hurting and doesn’t do any good.

So why not switch off the negative feedback channels and say nice things about others instead, just once in a way? It works like magic, if you’ll believe me!

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Reimagine America under a strong, ideal Republican president instead of Joe Biden, 2020-24.

Posted: 18-Apr-2025



Counterfactuals are fun questions that seek to find alternative paths around historical events that changed the course of life. Sure, there’s no changing whatever already happened, however good or bad. Yet, when we think of a disastrous past event, those hurt or affected most by it find it a healing balm when they relive those old moments asking questions like, “How did it happen?", "If it was possible, what should have been done, in time, to prevent it from happening?”, etc.

It’s also a useful means of learning from history to prevent, or at least to be prepared to face a repeat occurrence better.

We know, according to popular opinion, Joe Biden was incompetent in his presidential role, 2020-24. Besides, he harmed the nation on some fronts, leaving behind a legacy of mass, stuck illegal immigrants, border crisis, mismanaged taxpayer funds, instability on the global stage, etc.

This book is an interesting counterfactual that addresses the question, “How would America have fared had a conservative Republican won the 2020 presidential elections (instead of Joe Biden)?”

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Here’s a book to read if you want to know what really led Jack Stapleton (of the Sherlock Holmes novel The Hound of the Baskervilles) to kill his uncle Sir Charles Baskerville.

Posted: 27-Mar-2025



If the The Hound of the Baskervilles is one of your favorite novels, you surely remember its sinister, sordid end, don’t you? It was an inside job traced to Jack Stapleton (alias Rodger Baskerville II). Jack proved to be the knave who killed his own uncle, Sir Charles Baskerville, in an attempt to inherit Baskerville's estate.

But what was Jack’s motive? Was he just an indolent aristocrat who didn’t want to work for a living, preferring instead to live on inherited riches? Did he do it suddenly, without warning or out of desperation, after all attempts to get his share by just means had failed?

Read this book to find out.

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Seeking success, what to do when you find yourself stuck in the ‘carrot at the end of the stick’ illuson of toxic positivity.

Posted: 13-Mar-2025



You aren’t successful, but want to be. In your struggles, how far will the rant “Be positive!,” “Be positive!?” take you? The self-help industry wants you to believe that being positive, even more positive, unwaveringly positive, etc. will see you through in some time. No, it won’t, this author (who prefers to keep anonymous) says! Using satire on the life of a “Mr Positive,” he debunks the myth of excessive positivity and exposes the emptiness, and pain inside when it turns toxic. You need to accept life with its flaws, limitations, ups, and downs, not force a facade of infallibility by being toxically positive.

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They live in the shadow of death.

Posted: 16-Feb-2025



Deforestation, along with other dark forces such as environmental pollution, extinction of biodiversity, dwindling drinking water supplies, power scarcity, and global warming are choking our planet to death. And what does deforestation contribute to the mayhem? Mainly, the killing of wildlife by destroying their habitats. Trees act as ‘carbon sinks’ by absorbing carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, thus holding global warming in check. Millions of forest trees are lost every year due to deforestation with the result that the capacity of the ‘carbon sink’ they afford depletes drastically, and global warming gets off the hook!

About 10,000 years ago, forests covered one-third of Earth’s land (or 57%). Today, it’s fallen to 31%— about 6 billion hectares then, about 4.06 now.

What wiped out so much of the forests? We did it for agriculture, roads, infrastructure, mining, etc. Currently, 10 million hectares of forest disappear every year.

The bell tolls often for the loss... will we take note and act before it’s too late?

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If you like the ‘Suspense & Thriller” genre of stories, this may be a good choice for your next read.

Posted: 27-Jan-2025




This book, written during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, contains 13 thrillers, one story corresponding to each month between March 2020 and March 2021, when COVID-19 forced people worldwide into seclusion. It’s the fruit of the time the author spent in those 13 months of seclusion.

Evil, ominous, ghostly, deadly and/or chilling are some words I’d use to describe the stories it contains. It’s guaranteed not to disappoint, if you’re a fan of the ‘Suspense & Thriller” genre, but it's not for the faint-hearted.

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So, you think you know all there is to faith? Read this compelling short story to see if you really do!

Posted: 26-Jan-2025




Many believe the trust they’ve developed in some trustworthy individual(s)/system(s) is faith. The more the number of people who have faith in a person/system you trust, the greater the extent of your faith. While there isn’t a 100% assurance they won’t fail you the next time, you’ll readily engage with them again without thinking twice: you’ll be more surprised/shocked if they fail rather than if they deliver the same response! Why is this so?

Actually, faith is an amazing gift God has endowed us with since birth. It’s a kind of antenna that helps us find and connect with him, particularly when the killing feeling of worthlessness and purposelessness inside drives us to look for that higher power (if he exists) who can give us the roadmap of life, and more importantly, where we, personally belong on it.

This story is an analogy that explains how faith works. You can use your faith and know God today! But that can’t happen unless you believe in his existence, and, assuming he’s speaking, you’re ready to strike up a conversation with him with your antenna of faith.

On to the story now?

MY LAST 10 REVIEWS (COURTESY: GOODREADS)

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