The Reading Bud

Author: Lancelot Schaubert
Narrator:
Release Date: 14th March 2023
Genre: Historical fiction, Humour, Coming Of Age
Series: 
Format: Audiobook
Length: 7 hours
Publisher: Vale
Blurb:
PRANKS. OIL. PROTEST. JOKES BETWEEN NEWLYWEDS.
AND ONE HILARIOUS SIEGE OF A MAJOR CORPORATION.
Remmy grows up with Beth in Bellhammer, Illinois as oil and coal companies rob the land of everything that made it paradise. Under his Grandad, he learns how to properly prank his neighbors, friends, and foes. Beth tries to fix Remmy by taking him to church. Under his Daddy, Remmy starts the Bell Hammer Construction Company, which depends on contracts from Texarco Oil.

And Beth argues with him about how to build a better business. Together, Remmy and Beth start to build a great neighborhood of “merry men” carpenters: a paradise of s’mores, porch furniture, newborn babies, and summer trips to Branson where their boys pop the tops off of the neighborhood’s two hundred soda bottles. Their witty banter builds a kind of castle among a growing nostalgia.
Then one of Jim Johnstone’s faulty Texarco oil derricks falls down on their house and poisons their neighborhood’s well.
Poisoned wells escalate to torched dog houses. Torched dog houses escalate to stolen carpentry tools and cancelled contracts. Cancelled contracts escalate to eminent domain. Sick of the attacks from Texaco Oil on his neighborhood, Remmy assembles his merry men:
“We need the world’s greatest prank. One grand glorious jest that’ll bloody the nose of that tyrant. Besides, pranks and jokes don’t got no consequences, right?”

REVIEW

Bell Hammers by Lancelot Schaubert is a unique combination of historical fiction that is interlaced with humor. In this book, the author shares the story of Remmy as he grows up into a man and is exposed to the true realities surrounding him. The author’s deft writing and exceptional observations lend this book an unparalleled quality that makes it both an excellent read (or listen) and a reality check of evils such as corporate corruption that plague our society.

This book is a phenomenal read, especially for anyone who grew up in the good ol’ days but because it is so relatable and mind-blowing and funny, I’d recommend it to each and every reader.

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