June 2025 – Page 2 – Everything Is Better With Dragons

Review: Named, by Camilla Balshaw

Bedford Square Publishers
05 June 2025
£18.99
978-1-8350-1071-6
Hardback

The book
Our names are a shadow we carry around with us. They are part of who we are. Our names are a marker of our self-identity and our sense of self. Our names have the power to shock. They have the power to heal, and they have the power to trigger conversations around race, class, social mobility and belonging. But what is a name? What do our names tell us about ourselves? And why do they matter?

Named is a fascinating exploration of names, global naming conventions and identity politics woven into a moving, personal narrative about the finding of family and self. At the intersection of memoir and social and cultural history it is a truly fascinating book about the seemingly ordinary and every day.

The author’s own narrative about her estrangement from her Nigerian father, the grapples with her Jamaican mother and her journey towards identity is woven through the chapters making it an engaging and intimate investigation of what makes us who we are.

Review: The Spirit of the Rainforest, by Dr Rosa Vasquez Espinoza

Before you step into the jungle, there are a few things you need to know…
Join scientist Dr Rosa Vásquez Espinoza as she uncovers one of the most unexplored regions on the planet.

Dr Rosa is no stranger to the Amazon. Growing up with the rainforest as her back garden, she learnt the lessons of the rainforest from her grandmother, a native healer in natural medicine. She went on to pursue a classical education in science, gaining a PhD in the US, but has always been pulled
back to the heart of the Amazon.

As a leading biologist in her field, Rosa continues to explore the region through a unique blend of scientific inquiry and ancient insight.

In this debut, you’ll learn about Dr Rosa’s journeys in the Amazon: her treacherous encounters with a boiling river, her conservation work with stingless bees, her experience of taking ayahuasca as a natural psychedelic – and all the amazing biodiversity of the rainforest.

At the heart of Rosa’s expedition is her passion to combine science with the indigenous knowledge of the Amazon. She shares her experience of learning from the indigenous communities that she visits, and shows what they have to teach us – stretching beyond the realm scientific knowledge. Here Rosa learns the most important lessons in how to reconnect to
the natural world – and, in turn, will teach us to do the same.

In this book, Rosa celebrates the richness of Amazonian culture, the wonders of biodiversity, and the enduring spiritual connections between humanity and the natural world.