The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for Care and Feeding of the Aging Human Male Species: A Sassy Primer
Because Care and Feeding of the Aging Human Male Species 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.
Vickie Noel
I may not have read this book outside the program based on its title or cover; I'm not sure what was implied by the description. However, the OBC review I saw stimulated my interest when it talked about how to handle husbands as they grew older. For me, it's wise to always maintain a realistic view of husband-wife relationships while factoring in the passage of time. I'm on the road to getting married, so I think this book provides me with that inside scoop ahead of time to maintain balance when the scenarios depicted in it start playing out. The sample was a wonderful read. The natural, conversational manner in which the book is written makes it so easy to read. At the same time, adequate imagery is used to beautify the speech, ensuring a pleasurable reading experience. For example, "The call of the Aging Human Male is a shriek-like cry, often heard in the wilds of a leather recliner: “Where’s my beer? Where’s my beer? Where’s my beer?” I found no grammatical errors; the book is professionally edited. I can't find anything I don't like just yet, so I have no recommendations for improvement.
First Ten review added on November 22, 2021, at 4:39 am by Vickie Noel.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Asma Aisha Ansari
I like the cover and the title of the book. Although, I don't qualify as the targeted audience for this book, the funny title and the cover alone made me curious about this book. The official OBC review and the Amazon reviews described the book as a helpful and funny guide. On sampling the book, I couldn't agree more with them. This book, indeed, is a light-hearted and useful read.
There's nothing that I disliked about this book. However, I found a few editing errors in the sample. Here's a sentence with an incorrect pronoun use: The Dame Digest supports your bra-very as your nurture your feelings and passions while balancing your life— all on arthritic knees? In this sentence, the word 'your' before the word 'nurture' should be replaced with the word 'you'. I suggest that the book be edited thoroughly once for such minor errors. Finally, I'm going to read the rest of the book, as I loved reading the sample.
First Ten review added on November 22, 2021, at 4:31 am by Asma Aisha Ansari.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Ann Ogochukwu
I eagerly would have sampled this book after a glance at its cover page and title. The title is screaming and would attract almost any woman's attention.
I enjoyed every bit of this book that I've read, and I'm curious to learn from it all the "wacky, challenging, and heartfelt truths about aging that Grandma never told [me]." My favorite things about this book were the authors and their individually unique writing styles. I like how the three authors took turns in introducing themselves most hilariously and conversationally. I also liked the humor and honesty apparent in this book. I'll need the tips in this Primer later, so I might as well read it sooner.
I didn't notice any errors while reading this book. I think this book is perfect the way it is, with no need for improvements.
First Ten review added on November 22, 2021, at 4:05 am by Ann Ogochukwu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Jeremie Mondejar
The title is quite interesting as well as the woman showing her arms in the cover photo. I sample the book based on the program. It's quite funny and will entertain a lot of readers. I like the funny cartoon faces in the sample. I enjoyed looking at them. I'm convinced reading the rest of the book, while sampling it. The book has an outstanding OBC review, which also affects my decision. Fortunately, the sample looks professionally edited because I don't pick up any errors as well as anything that needs improvement.
First Ten review added on November 22, 2021, at 3:48 am by Jeremie Mondejar.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
va2016
The title "Care and Feeding of the Aging Human Male Species" and the cover that has a lady with a raised hand indicate that the book is of humor content about male species. There are 11 Amazon customer ratings of the book, which is good. The Amazon summary states clearly that the book is about handling an aging man partner. As I am not interested in this theme, I would have skipped sampling if not for the First Ten program. As I sampled through the book, I found the narration explaining the characteristics of aging male species. As I am not interested in this theme, I am not going to read this book in full. I found the sample professionally edited. There were no grammatical or mechanical errors in the sample. I didn't like anything specifically about the book. I don't have any suggestions for the improvement of the book. Although I found one OBC review of the book, my decision to not to read the book in full is based on my own sampling.
First Ten review added on November 22, 2021, at 3:36 am by va2016.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Mutai Marshal
I wouldn’t have read this book based on its cover page or title. They suggested that it is best suited for the aging population, which I am not interested in currently. I liked the comic nature of this book a lot. It is funny how the author prefers how women should act to tame their aging husbands. Having read the OBC review and sampled the first ten pages, I will not buy this book since it seems to target an aging audience. I didn’t find any objective errors, and I believe it was exceptionally edited. lastly, I only recommend incorporating page numbers in the table of contents because some segments of the book can be read independently.
First Ten review added on November 22, 2021, at 2:27 am by Mutai Marshal.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Sou Hi
The cover and the official review from OBC are alright, but there aren't many ratings on Amazon. Since the blurb's promising, I decided to give the sample a try. It begins with some introductory sections from Helen, Rae Jean, and Irene. The first chapter is about the sexual problems between an Aging Human Female and an Aging Human Male.
To be frank, I don't like anything in the sample. Maybe it's because of the generational gap, but I think the content is boring. I would also suggest another round of editing. I don't think this book is for me, so I won't buy it.
Error example: With a hearty does of piss and vinegar, this Sassy Primer offers sage advice and laugh-out-loud stories about surviving and thriving in your Aging Human Partnership—all in 350 pages and four sections of wacky heartfelt truths Grandma never told you. -> Typo. It should be "dose" instead of "does"
First Ten review added on November 22, 2021, at 1:39 am by Sou Hi.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
evraealtana
The cover is cute, particularly the middle-aged Rosie the Riveter. I didn't like calling the aging human male a "species"; the title could do without that last word. Based on the cover and official OBC review, I might have picked this book up for myself just to thumb through it but without expectations of actually reading it in its entirety because I don't have many "aging human males" in my life and am not responsible for their "care and feeding". I rolled my eyes at the entire first page of Helen's foreword and almost all of Rae Jean's. I get that this book is supposed to be comedy, but frankly, neither the presentation nor the content seemed funny to me. All I could see is the same book written in reverse about women, which would be clearly inappropriate and offensive. So if it's not okay to write this way about women, what makes it okay to write this way about men? A book written by men complaining about their wives -- "everything from sexual positions to performance" -- would have feminists up in arms, and for good reason. But somehow doing the same to men is supposed to be acceptable? I can't get behind the way the book paints all men with a broad (and unflattering) brush, as though they were all the same shade of irritating. Sadly, based on the authors' own introductions, it seems that that kind of stereotyping and trash-spewing is all this book will contain. And if I never hear anyone tell me to "juice up [my] vag" again, it will still be too soon. Honestly, I can't think of one thing that I enjoyed in the sample, and I am thrilled to stop reading. I found one error in the first ten pages: a missing hyphen in a compound adjective in "were they new aging men or newly aging men" (new-aging).
First Ten review added on November 21, 2021, at 11:46 pm by evraealtana.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Howlan
I do not think that I would have read this book without the program as I do not enjoy reading a book without a storyline. In the first ten pages, we have a long introduction with a lot of witty and humorous remarks. It essentially lists the highlight of this book and also provides a FAQ on which people this book is directed to and how to use it. Then we have two pages of the first chapter which is basically about how an aging male feels about sex. The narration was very humorous and quick-witted. The delivery was good and fast and most of the jokes were on point. However, I am not going to buy and read the rest of this book as I am not interested in the contents. The jokes are good, but at the end of the day, I do not see myself enjoying a book based on the humourous content alone as I mostly prefer reading fast-paced mystery thrillers. 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 November 21, 2021, at 11:35 pm by Howlan.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Annelore Trujillo
I would not have sampled this book based on the genre, blurb, OBC review, cover and title. I don’t usually read non-fiction books, and this one about aging men geared toward aging women just isn’t something that interested me. After reading the first ten pages, I won’t be finishing this book. I did like the humor. The “PhD” and “BS” abbreviations were pretty funny as were several other quirky comments. However, the stereotypes of the book just don’t sit well with me. I’m not in the generation this is geared toward, but I thought about my parents when I was reading the checklist. My dad doesn’t match any of the checklist, and would score in the “is he even of the male species” category. I know it’s supposed to be funny, but it just wasn’t very inclusive for readers. Obviously, I am not the intended audience, so those that are would definitely find the book to be funny! The book did seem to be professionally edited.
First Ten review added on November 21, 2021, at 10:32 pm by Annelore Trujillo.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Gabrielle Sigaki
Care and Feeding of the Aging Human Male Species by Irene Shere is a humorous book about the process of aging and various aspects involved, such as finances. If I didn't sample this book, I wouldn't read it based on its Official OnlineBookClub review since the theme of aging and its aspects didn't attract me. After sampling it, I didn't change my mind and I won't read the entire book. Nevertheless, the volume seems to be professionally edited and there's nothing to be improved in it. Besides, I liked the fact that the author offered useful pieces of advice with a light tone since the beginning, which caught my attention because most books waste too many pages talking about other themes instead of giving the advice.
First Ten review added on November 21, 2021, at 9:58 pm by Gabrielle Sigaki.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Tori_J
The cover of this book really made me want to read the book. I loved the book cover. It is the thing I liked about the book most. However, I will not be reading this book because it doesn't feature a topic I am interested in reading about. Nonetheless, I think it will work perfectly for the right audience. I did not find any grammatical or punctuation errors. I don't see anything that needs improvement in the book.
First Ten review added on November 21, 2021, at 7:08 pm by Tori_J.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Nathaniel Owolabi
Right from the beginning of this book, I could already see the humor. I love reading humorous books. I also feel it will be packed full of relevant information. This is enough reason for me to read the book. The book cover is not the creme dela creme of book covers but it is better than the average. Even the title of the book is humorous. The thing I like most about the book is also the humor. I found no error in the sample, and I found the official review quite interesting too.
First Ten review added on November 21, 2021, at 6:15 pm by Nathaniel Owolabi.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Sarah_Khan
I think the cover and title of this book are fun. I would not have sampled this book without the First Ten program because I do not read non-fiction. The first few pages were well edited. I thought the dedication was unique. This seems like an entertaining book, but it also seems to play heavily on stereotypes (specially the Dirty Dozen Checklist). The OBC review was positive, but it did not change my mind. I think the subject of this book is not relevant to my life, since I am not in a relationship and I am not a part of this age group. For this reason, I do not intend to read the rest. I do not have any suggestions for the author.
First Ten review added on November 21, 2021, at 4:17 pm by Sarah_Khan.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Manang Muyang
The title and cover are a riot! The blurb had me in stitches, too. I would have sampled the book outside of the program. Even though the sample was too short, I totally enjoyed what I read. The authors' puns were hilarious, and the illustrations added to the fun. Unfortunately, the few pages that I read had many errors. Here are examples I noted on page iv: The title was written with "Care and Feeding" while the cover showed the title as "Care & Feeding." "With a healthy does of piss and vinegar" should have used "dose." "The Field Guy-ed womanplains how to survive" was not consistent with the same sentence on the back cover which used "womansplains." "Your" before "nurture" should have been "you" in "The Dame Digest supports your bra-very as your nurture your feelings." I hope the errors can be eradicated. While the official OBC reviewer found nothing to dislike in the book, the errors dissuaded me from reading the rest of it.
First Ten review added on November 21, 2021, at 1:31 pm by Manang Muyang.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Mercy Bolo
This book's cover didn't entice me to read it, and the OBC review dissuaded me when it mentioned that the author offers advice on how to survive in an aging human partnership. That topic doesn't appeal to me, so I won't read the rest of the book. When I read the sample, I liked that the author included illustrations of the people to whom the book is dedicated. The drawings are a great visual tool and I liked their cartoonish nature. I spotted one error in the text, which a round of editing will eliminate. The phrase "With a hearty does of piss and vinegar." on page iv should be modified to read "With a hearty dose of piss and vinegar." That is the only thing I would change about the bit I read.
First Ten review added on November 21, 2021, at 12:43 pm by Mercy Bolo.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Emy Katherine
As I enjoy reading suspenseful, action-packed thrillers, I would not have read the book based on the genre and the OBC review. Sampling the book did not change my mind. Throughout her book, Irene Shere offers older women some valuable advice on how to handle their aging partners. I enjoyed both the engaging writing style and the conversational, humorous tone as I sampled the book. The first chapter revolves around the theme of sex; I smiled quite a bit while reading it. As I did not find any typos or grammatical errors, the book seemed to be professionally edited. All things considered, there was nothing that needed to be improved.
First Ten review added on November 21, 2021, at 11:19 am by Emy Katherine.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Diana Lowery
I thought that the cover was sexist and condescending. The blurb had too many puns and typos. The OBC review, however, was favorable and mentioned the validity and humor in the book. I did not like the pages that I read, but I liked that I did not see any errors. I am not going to finish reading the book because I do not have an AHMale in my life. I do not have any suggestions for the author.
First Ten review added on November 21, 2021, at 10:01 am by Diana Lowery.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
gen_g
Looking at the title and cover alone, it seems like a piece of satire, with perhaps some themes of medicine. It is also obvious that the book would contain humour. However, as I am not in the market for non-fiction, I would not have sampled it. There is a positive OBC review that I've read, but this would not have changed my mind regarding sampling because I'm not looking to read non-fiction currently. Still, there are a couple of errors present. At 4% in the book, the hyphen in the compound modifier "...brightly-plumaged tropical shirts..." should not be present; this is because the adverb ("brightly") ends in "-ly", which does not necessitate a hyphen. I suggest more rigorous editing. However, I really like the inclusion of humour in the book, as it allows the reader to have a more immersive reading experience, especially in a piece of non-fiction. For example, Weels claims to have a PhD in "manthropology" (the anthropological study of the human male species), and Beech has an B.S. in "mangineering" (the study of the relationship principles by the aging human female in order to come up with a model that allows the aging human male to "function optimally in building an Aging Human Partnership"). Other than the need for more editing, I do not have other suggestions for improvement. However, I am not looking for non-fiction books; hence, I will not be reading the rest of the book.
First Ten review added on November 21, 2021, at 9:16 am by gen_g.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Rodel Barnachea
Upon going over the title's Amazon page and official OnlineBookClub review, I decided not to acquire the non-fiction book. I did not find myself interested in learning about the different issues women face with the aging men in their lives. I believe the title is not my cup of tea. Poring over its Amazon sample did not change my mind. I would not acquire it because nothing in the text captured my attention, piqued my curiosity, or convinced me I'd enjoy perusing the book. Since the title is focused on giving tips to women who need to take care or interact for a lot of time with aging men, I don't think this book would be useful for someone like me. However, I will keep this book in mind since I think it would be helpful sometime in the future. My favorite part is when Shere apologized and acknowledged the fact that the book is not particularly inclusive. I identified these two errors in the sample:
1 — In the sentence "With a hearty does of piss and vinegar, this Sassy Primer..." "does" is used instead of "dose".
2 — In the sentence "The Dame Digest supports your bra-very as your nurture your feelings..." the word "your" before the word "nurture" should be "you".
Since the two errors are minor, I still believe the book is professionally edited. I have no advice to offer to the author.
First Ten review added on November 21, 2021, at 9:15 am by Rodel Barnachea.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kira Bonita Reece
What I liked most about this book is how candidly and humorously the author discusses serious topics. Everyone knows that when men get older there are certain things they cannot do well in a relationship. But people are generally shy to talk about these things. I would choose to read this book based on the cover and the amazing official online book club review. This book also seemed professionally edited. I will read the entire book just because it is very entertaining.
First Ten review added on November 21, 2021, at 5:26 am by Kira Bonita Reece.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Kaitlyn Canedy
Even if Care and Feeding of the Aging Human Male Species hadn't been the OnlineBookClub's book of the day, I would have read the sample of it anyway. The description reminded me of the TV series The Golden Girls; this is why I wanted to read the sample of the book. The humor that I read in the first chapter was my favorite part; it reminded me of the TV series mentioned earlier completely. I don't think that I can relate to this book just yet because I am still young, so I decided to skip the book because of this. No grammatical errors were found in the sample, and I can think of nothing that can be improved. An official OnlineBookClub review exists for this title, but I did not need to read it to make a decision. Readers who are older females and want advice about relationship struggles with men may want to take a look at this title.
First Ten review added on November 21, 2021, at 4:21 am by Kaitlyn Canedy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Yvonne Monique
The book cover is colourful and reminds me of old handbooks for housewives. The book title is funny and makes the possible future reader curious about the content. I would pick this book up if I would see it in a bookstore. The blurb and OBC review give a good description of the book. Although the book cover makes this book sound like a comical book, the OBC review makes it clear that the topic is actually quite a serious one, and that the book can help many women dealing with getting older and getting used to their, and their husband's, aging process. Unfortunately, the free Amazon download was not available for me (screenshot can be provided if necessary), so I have not been able to comment on the editing and writing style. I have no suggestions for improvement either. Personally, I will not read this book as I have no aging husband (yet), but I will keep it in my as a present for friends I have that are in that stage of their lives.
First Ten review added on November 21, 2021, at 3:33 am by Yvonne Monique.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Sanju Lali
I was sure that this book is about the funny problem of aged women due to their husbands. Therefore, I decided to read an OBC official review to know about the hilarious contents of the book. The OBC official review gave me the idea that the book takes on aging males and how they funnily affect their wives. This information motivated me to read the sample of the book before purchasing it. When I read 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, "This automatic brain counter keeps a second-by-second timer of how long it takes from first kiss to the 'end,' the 'end' being AHMale satisfaction." The sentence could have been as follows; "This automatic brain counter keeps a second-by-second timer of how long it takes from the first kiss to the 'end,' the 'end' being AHMale satisfaction.' The thing l liked the most is the funny checklist in the first chapter to confirm an aging human male. Unfortunately, the whole narrative appeared to be revolving around the aging individual's unfulfilling desire for food and sex. Though the book was fun to read, I could not find any takeaways from it except laughing at aging people. This reason pushed me away from reading the book. It would have been nice if the author had provided alternative ways to keep the aging human males happily engaged in some useful tasks, where they could have an upper edge. I would suggest the author for a round of professional editing and look at my problems as described above. After looking at all these aspects, I decided not to purchase and read this book today. I will wait until the author looks at my suggestions so that I have some useful takeaways apart from laughter.
First Ten review added on November 21, 2021, at 2:56 am by Sanju Lali.
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 don't like self-help books, and I wouldn't consider myself an AHFemale yet. After reading the first ten pages, I will not continue reading the rest of the book because of the same reasons mentioned previously. My favorite part of what I read was the humor. I especially liked Irene Shere's humor (the Dr. Seuss reference was my favorite). I can't think of any way to improve the book. In Location 18, "dose" is written as "does" ("With a hearty does of piss..."). It is a small mistake, but since it happens right at the beginning of the book, it makes a bad first impression.
First Ten review added on November 21, 2021, at 12:14 am by Ari Martinez.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Jennifer Garcia 555
Although the cover is cute, the title and the genre do not appeal to me. I have no interest in this subject, though I may when I get older. The official Online Book Club reviews make this book sound like a humorous and silly guide to dealing with an aging partner. I did not see any editing errors in the sample pages but the book is full of acronyms. I found myself having to double and triple check what they stood for. I like that the book uses a humorous style to talk about a some times touchy subject. I do not have any recommendations for improvement. People dealing with the struggles of a difficult aging partner may really enjoy this book. However, that does not apply to me, so I will not be finishing this book.
First Ten review added on November 20, 2021, at 10:40 pm by Jennifer Garcia 555.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Hazel Arnaiz
The cover and title look straightforward and humorous. The blurb and customer reviews are consistent with this vibe. However, I will skip this book outside the program. I am not in the market for nonfiction books about relationships. After sampling, I appreciate that it explores the relationship dynamics of an aging couple from a woman’s perspective. I also like the wit. As for editing, I noticed some issues. Here is an example.
Page iv. Spelling. “Dose” is miswritten.
With a hearty [does] of piss and vinegar, this Sassy Primer offers sage advice and laugh-out-loud stories about surviving and thriving in your Aging Human Partnership—all in 350 pages and four sections of wacky heartfelt truths Grandma never told you.
With a hearty [dose] of piss and vinegar, this Sassy Primer offers sage advice and laugh-out-loud stories about surviving and thriving in your Aging Human Partnership—all in 350 pages and four sections of wacky heartfelt truths Grandma never told you.
I have no suggestions for improvement. Likewise, the official OnlineBookClub review is enthusiastic. But I will skip this one.
First Ten review added on November 20, 2021, at 9:55 pm by Hazel Arnaiz.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Brenda Creech
I would have checked out this book based on the cover and title because of the humor in the title and the picture on the outside. After reading the OBC review, I wanted to read a portion of the book because the review revealed the humor. While reading the first ten pages, I found myself laughing most of the way through what I read. I did not find any errors or anything that needed improvement in the first ten pages. The book appears exceptionally well-edited. What I liked best about the part I read was the description of their Pea POD Poise Parties. This is an excellent book with a lot of good advice presented in a relaxing and funny manner that is sure to relax and entertain the reader at the same time. I plan to read the rest of this book because I could use a few laughs right about now!
First Ten review added on November 20, 2021, at 6:29 pm by Brenda Creech.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Chelsy Scherba
I enjoyed the warm humor and cute illustrations of the ladies. I feel this is a good guide for ladies entering the latter part of life so they don’t feel alone. The editing looks excellent and I couldn’t find any errors. I have no suggestions to improve the book. The OBC review was insightful and helped me decide to read the sample. Although I’m not a senior and wouldn’t have been aware of the book outside of the program, I’m still interested in reading the book because it makes aging sound less bad.
First Ten review added on November 20, 2021, at 5:58 pm by Chelsy Scherba.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Stephanie Runyon
The title of the book is an eye-catcher, and I would have sampled it for a laugh. I was not disappointed with how the three women addressed each topic with humor that held my interest. I didn't encounter any errors and believe this book is edited professionally. Furthermore, I have no suggestions for improvement. There was an OBC review that helped influence my choice to continue reading the guide. The ability to jump to different topics of interest from the descriptive chapter titles is a major attraction for me.
First Ten review added on November 20, 2021, at 4:36 pm by Stephanie Runyon.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Catherine Hsu
If I had not read the sample as part of the First Ten program, I would have read the book. The cover is so fun and I also loved the satiric writing style. After reading the sample, I have not changed my mind. I really loved the little caricatures and doodles throughout the book — it really added to the fun mood and the "sassiness" of the writing. One thing I might change is adding more diagrams and tables, such as in chapter one when the book was describing the two sexual brain types. It was professionally edited. The official review on OnlineBookClub did not affect my decision.
First Ten review added on November 20, 2021, at 3:54 pm by Catherine Hsu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
markodim721
I would choose to read a sample of this book because of the title and cover. The title of the book is both witty and provocative. The cover of the book, although a bit predictable, fits well with the title. I’m not going to read the book because it’s not the genre I prefer. While reading the sample I didn’t notice any typos or errors and the book seems like it is professionally edited. Reading the sample didn’t change my mind from my original guess. I like how the authors conceived the book as well as endless humor. The abbreviations that appear are extraordinarily creative and witty. I like that a quote by Joseph Conrad is included in the book. I don’t think anything needs to be improved in the book. The book has an Official OnlineBookClub review.
First Ten review added on November 20, 2021, at 2:24 pm by markodim721.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kajori Sheryl Paul
'Care and Feeding of the Aging Human Male Species' is a book written by Irene Shere. The book is divided into four parts. The author explains life with an aging man. She also shows how to deal with aging males. I like the illustrations. The humor is also snarky. The editing is good. There is nothing in need of an improvement. The OBC review is insightful. I would skip this book based on the cover, title, genre, blurb, editorial reviews, and customer reviews as I am not interested in reading non-fiction books as of now. I will skip this book as I am not interested in the subject matter.
First Ten review added on November 20, 2021, at 1:18 pm by Kajori Sheryl Paul.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Bertha Jackson
Although I found the cover and title hilarious, I am not a fan of non-fiction books and would have skipped over this one because I felt it would be full of dry facts about the aging male. To my surprise, I found myself laughing while reading the blurb and customer reviews because of the author’s writing style. I enjoyed reading the first ten pages because the author’s writing style softens the blow of the aging process. I loved the illustrations with their funny titles, and Irene’s definition of diminishment as the man unable to make his own sandwich had me rolling with laughter. I agree with the OnlineBookClub review that the author has taken “serious problems about aging and created light-hearted resolutions.” I remember when I woke up one morning and saw my first wrinkles. It was like what happened overnight; I have become my mother. Although much of what is in the book does not apply to me (yet), I have purchased the book and will eventually read it because of its humor. The book appears to have been edited by a professional editor as I did not see any errors or anything I would change in the first ten pages.
First Ten review added on November 20, 2021, at 1:08 pm by Bertha Jackson.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda
The cover of the book is funny, and it intrigued me. The blurb is hilarious, but I'm not yet in "Route 66+", so I wouldn't have bought the book based on my first impressions, despite the mostly high ratings.
I loved the first ten pages. The terms invented by the authors are not just funny but surprisingly accurate. My favorite so far is "mengineers." It also surprised me that, although I'm not a "Boomer Babe" I still recognized some patterns in my husband, such as the "diminishing skills, such as the ability to make oneself a sandwich." I want to applaud that these "Boomer Babes" took the time to acknowledge couples that are not heterosexual: "If your relationship is not cookie-cutter heterosexual, please accept our apologies for the phrase “Aging Human Male” and change the “l” to a “t” in your head to make it "Aging Human Mate." I will read the book, not only because it made me laugh, but because it's apparently applicable to my 35-year-old husband. I did not find editing mistakes. I would suggest mentioning some topics of the index in the blurb because they make it much more relatable than the current blurb, and it broadens the audience that might buy and read the book. The official OBC review furthered my enthusiasm for such an original read.
First Ten review added on November 20, 2021, at 11:00 am by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Timothy Rucinski
From the cover and the title, I first assumed that this was a book specifically for men dealing with their aging issues, not one specifically for women. As a man past retirement age, I thought this might be worthwhile. It's a great cover and certainly would have grabbed my interest had I happened upon it in a store. However, the Official OBC Review indicated that this book was primarily for women. So that meant that I would probably not read it. From reading the first several pages, it's obvious that I'm not the designated audience so I'll be skipping it. Although I just reached retirement age, I happen to clean, vacuum, iron, cook, bake and do a lot of things in partnership with my fiance who is sixteen years younger. So she doesn't need the book either. I spend more time in the gym than watching sports on TV, beer in hand. What I liked most was the humor. This book is very funny and whimsical and it makes its points, generously tossing in the requisite amount of expletives to heighten the whimsy. For that, I think it should find an avid readership. On a side note, betraying my age, I loved the reference to Bill Cullen. There isn't anything about the book that I disliked, just the fact that it's geared toward a female audience. I expect that it was professionally edited as I found no errors, and I have no recommendations for improvement.
First Ten review added on November 20, 2021, at 10:42 am by Timothy Rucinski.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Total ~ 33%
Care and Feeding of the Aging Human Male Species earned a score of 33%.
In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 33% 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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