Review: Coffee and Ice Cream, by Milo McGivern

Genre: Children’s fiction 8-12
Pages: 144
Publisher: Matador

Buy Links
 
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Coffee-Ice-Cream-Milo-McGivern/dp/1803134941/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1BIEEPO4F3R9G&keywords=COFFEE+AND+ICE+CREAM+by+Milo+McGivern&qid=1660556822&sprefix=coffee+and+ice+cream+by+milo+mcgivern%2Caps%2C127&sr=8-1 
 
https://www.troubador.co.uk/bookshop/young-children/coffee-and-ice-cream/

Blurb 

On an ocean somewhere in the world, is a mysterious island. A place shrouded in fog, that has never been discovered by humans. A land of peace and quiet, and chaotic, funny adventures. Welcome once again to the island of Animaux, a land that continues to mysteriously change its position on the planet each day, to keep it hidden. A paradise, containing a wonderful collection of talking animals. A place we would all like to visit.

The five new tales in ‘Coffee and Ice Cream’ flow smoothly from the ones in the last book, ‘A Surprise Party’. As always, the greedy, dusty, bad-mannered Aubrey the Turkey is up to no good. Watch him open a new delicatessen in the worst place imaginable. See him ruin poor Georgina the Goat’s birthday. Be amazed as Walli Hog and Clifford Platypus take on many jobs so they can pay off the turkey’s huge debts. And then see Aubrey hold a magic show, full of rubbish tricks but ending with the most amazing spell ever cast. Once again, stories packed with fun, silliness, naughty behaviour and happy endings.  

Please enjoy the stories. And don’t be afraid to laugh, particularly as Aubrey’s expense. But please, please, please – continue to remember to keep the latest position of the island top secret!

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Review: Life & Death Decisions, by Dr Lachlan McIver

Publication date Thursday, September 01, 2022
Price £20.00
EAN\ISBN-13 9781913068790
Binding Hardback
304 pages

Blurb
An action-packed tale of medicine in the most remote, poverty-torn areas of the globe from a Médecins Sans Frontières doctor. Set to appeal to fans of War Doctor.

Lachlan was sixteen when he found his father dead on the side of a dirt road in North Queensland, Australia. He had suffered a sudden heart attack and died alone. It was this tragedy that motivated Lachlan to train as a doctor specialising in providing medical care for people living in remote, resource-deprived locations.
Lachlan’s work with the World Health Organization and Medecins Sans Frontieres has taken him to some of the world’s most extreme environments from the sinking islands of the Pacific to epidemics and war zones in the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa.

In this no-holds-barred memoir, Lachlan recounts his experiences treating patients ravaged by tropical diseases, managing war wounds with drug-resistant infections, delivering babies by the light of a head torch, dealing with the devastating effects of climate change and narrowly avoiding being kidnapped by militia in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Tackling such impossible problems day in and day out inevitably takes a personal toll. Lachlan is ultimately forced to face his own battles with depression, alcohol abuse and bankruptcy.

Life and Death Decisions is a deeply human look at the personal cost of our broken global health system and a vital call to action.

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Review: The Bleeding, by Johana Gustawsson, translated by David Warriner

PUBLICATION DATE: 15 SEPTEMBER 2022
HARDBACK ORIGINAL | £16.99 | ORENDA BOOKS

Blurb

1899, Belle Époque Paris. Lucienne’s two daughters are believed dead
when her mansion burns to the ground, but she is certain that her girls
are still alive and embarks on a journey into the depths of the spiritualist
community to find them.

1949, Post-War Québec. Teenager Lina’s father has died in the French
Resistance, and as she struggles to fit in at school, her mother introduces
her to an elderly woman at the asylum where she works, changing Lina’s
life in the darkest way imaginable.

2002, Quebec. A former schoolteacher is accused of brutally stabbing her
husband – a famous university professor – to death. Detective Maxine
Grant, who has recently lost her own husband and is parenting a
teenager and a new baby single-handedly, takes on the investigation.
Under enormous personal pressure, Maxine makes a series of macabre
discoveries that link directly to historical cases involving black magic and
murder, secret societies and spiritism … and women at breaking point,
who will stop at nothing to protect the ones

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Review: The Fall of Roman Britain – and why we speak English, by John Lambshead

By John Lambshead, Foreword by Dr Simon Elliott
Imprint: Pen & Sword History
Pages: 192
ISBN: 9781399075565
Published: 11th May 2022

Blurb

The end of empire in the island of Great Britain was both more abrupt and more complete than in any of the other European Roman provinces. When the fog clears and Britain re-enters the historical record, it is, unlike other former European provinces of the Western Empire, dominated by a new culture that speaks a language that is neither Roman nor indigenous British Brythonic and with a pagan religion that owes nothing to Romanitas or native British practices.

Other ex-Roman provinces of the Western Empire in Europe showed two consistent features conspicuously absent from the lowlands of Britain: the dominant language was derived from the local Vulgar Latin and the dominant religion was a Christianity that looked towards Rome. This leads naturally to the question: ‘what was different about Britannia?’ A further anomaly in our understanding lies in the significant dating mismatch between historical and archaeological data of the Germanic migrations, and the latest genetic evidence. The answer to England’s unique early history may lie in resolving this paradox.

John Lambshead summarizes the latest data gathered by historians, archaeologists, climatologists and biologists and synthesizes it all into a fresh new explanation.

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Review: Class – A Graphic Guide, by Laura Harvey, Sarah Leaney and Danny Noble

Format: 176 pages, Paperback
Publication Date: 4th August 2022 by Icon Books
ISBN:9781785786914 (ISBN10: 1785786911)
Language: English

Blurb

What do we mean by social class in the 21st century?

A new Graphic Guide from Icon Books. Sociologists Laura Harvey and Sarah Leaney and award-winning comics artist Danny Noble present an illustrated journey through the history, sociology and lived experience of class.

What can class tell us about gentrification, precarious work, the role of elites in society, or access to education? How have thinkers explored class in the past, and how does it affect us today? How does class inform activism and change?

Class: A Graphic Guide challenges simplistic and stigmatizing ideas about working-class people, discusses colonialist roots of class systems, and looks at how class intersects with race, sexuality, gender, disability and age. From the publishers of the bestselling Queer: A Graphic History, this is a vibrant, enjoyable introduction for students, community workers, activists and anyone who wants to understand how class functions in their own lives.

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Review: Bodies, Brains & Bogies, by Paul Ian Cross, PhD

Bodies, Brains & Bogies

This fantastic title from Paul Ian Cross, the writer of How to Vanquish a Virus, takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of everything that’s disgusting, unusual and amazing about the human body. Find out everything about poo, pus and bogies, while learning a whole lot about how our bodies work hard in hundreds of fascinating ways to keep us alive.

With tons of hilarious and informative illustrations, it includes lashings of Paul Ian Cross’s trademark laugh-out-loud humour, in-depth knowledge and infectious optimism. It’s the perfect funny, accessible way to discover everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the human body, but were too grossed-out to ask!

Purchase Links

UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bodies-Brains-Bogies-Everything-remarkable/dp/1783128720/

US – https://www.amazon.com/Bodies-Brains-Bogies-Everything-remarkable/dp/1783128720/

Continue reading “Review: Bodies, Brains & Bogies, by Paul Ian Cross, PhD”