Review: The Grove, by Ben Dark

7th April 2022 | £16.99 | Mitchell Beazley

Recent times have seen a renewed interest in urban nature, as can be witnessed in the work of amateur botanists, identifying wildflowers and chalking their names on pavements.
In The Grove the award-winning writer and head gardener, Ben Dark, reveals the remarkable secrets of 20 commonly found cultivated plants – including the rose, buddleja and the tulip – observed in the front gardens of a typical London street on daily walks over the course of a year. We discover how each species found its way into our gardens, the cast of characters who played their part in its story and what each one tells us about our national obsession with gardening and the urge to cultivate our own patch of nature.

‘Every species in this book was seen from one pavement over twelve months and there is little here that could not be found on any road in any town, but they recount stories of such weirdness, drama, passion and humour that, once discovered, familiar neighbourhoods will be changed forever.’

The Grove is about so much more than a single street, or indeed the plants found in its 19 ½ front gardens. It’s a glorious piece of urban nature writing and a skilful blend of horticultural history, personal narrative and an exploration of why gardens and gardening matter.

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Review: Red As Blood, by Lilja Sigurdardottir, Translated by Quentin Bates


Pub date: 13 October 2022
ISBN 13: 978-1-914585-32-6
EPUB: 978-1-914585-33-3
Price: £9.99

THE BOOK

When entrepreneur Flosi arrives home for dinner one night, he discovers that his house has been ransacked, and his wife Gudrun missing. A letter on the kitchen table confirms that she has been kidnapped. If Flosi doesn’t agree to pay an enormous ransom, Gudrun will be killed.

Forbidden from contracting the police, he gets in touch with Áróra, who
specialises in finding hidden assets, and she, alongside her detective friend
Daniel, try to get to the bottom of the case without anyone catching on.
Meanwhile, Áróra and Daniel continue the puzzling, devastating search
for Áróra’s sister Ísafold, who disappeared without trace. As fog descends, in a cold and rainy Icelandic autumn, the investigation becomes increasingly dangerous, and confusing.

Chilling, twisty and unbearably tense, Red as Blood is the second instalment in the riveting, addictive An Áróra Investigation series, and everything is at stake…

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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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