Published By: How2Become Ltd
Publication Date: 26th February 2018
Format: Paperback
I.S.B.N.: 9781912370115
Price: £9.99
Continue reading “Review: ‘How to write & publish a bestselling book’, by Richard McMunn”
Category Archives: Non-fiction
Review: ‘So I Might Be A Vampire’, by Rodney V. Smith
Published By: Lost Bajan Publishing
Publication Date: 13th February 2018
I.S.B.N.: 9781775007210
Format: Paperback
Price: £13.99
Blurb
Nobody expects to get turned into a vampire, especially a guy like Bob. Everybody hopes that if they somehow get transformed into a vampire, they will instantly become some kind of superhero vampire out of the movies. Bad news guys: not gonna happen. More likely than not, you’re gonna be one of the poor clueless bastards hanging out on Thursday nights with Bob in his vampire support group.
You may think you know what being a vampire is supposed to be like, but Bob is here to set you straight. He’s made it his personal mission to get answers about the reality of being a vampire. He’s been shot, stabbed, thrown off rooftops, survived bad coffee and endured crippling boredom – all in the name of answering the eternal question of what it means to be a vampire.
If you think you might be a vampire, this is the book for you.
Continue reading “Review: ‘So I Might Be A Vampire’, by Rodney V. Smith”
Bonus Review #4: ‘A Georgian Heroine’, by Joanne Major & Sarah Murden
Published By: Pen & Sword History
Publication Date: 27th November 2017
I.S.B.N.: 9781473863460
Format: Hardback
Price: £19.99
Blurb
Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs lived an incredible life, one which proved that fact is often much stranger than fiction. As a young woman she endured a tortured existence at the hands of a male tormentor, but emerged from that to reinvent herself as a playwright and author; a political pamphleteer and a spy, working for the British Government and later singlehandedly organising George III’s jubilee celebrations. Trapped in France during the revolutionary years of 1792-95, she published an anonymous account of her adventures. However, was everything as it seemed? The extraordinary Mrs Biggs lived life upon her own terms in an age when it was a man’s world, using politicians as her mouthpiece in the Houses of Parliament and corresponding with the greatest men of the day. Throughout it all though, she held on to the ideal of her one youthful true love, a man who abandoned her to her fate and spent his entire adult life in India. Who was this amazing lady?
In A Georgian Heroine: The Intriguing Life of Rachel Charlotte Williams Biggs, we delve into her life to reveal her accomplishments and lay bare Mrs Biggs’ continued re-invention of herself. This is the bizarre but true story of an astounding woman persevering in a man’s world.
Continue reading “Bonus Review #4: ‘A Georgian Heroine’, by Joanne Major & Sarah Murden”
Review: ‘Comfort Food’, by Julia Bettelheim
Published By: Clink Street Publishing
Publication Date: 13th February 2018
I.S.B.N.: 9781912262632
Format: E-book/Paperback
I’m reviewing this book as part of a Clink Street Publishing blog tour and received an e-book copy of the book in return for an honest review.
Blurb
here’s nothing quite like Comfort Food to put a smile on your face and a feeling of contentment in your stomach.
Chef Julia Bettelheim is passionate about feeding people; from the students in her university kitchen to guests and family at home.
From recipes that are as simple as a sandwich to as technical as a fruit cake, she knows the importance of creating delicious meals that are full of flavour and which always have budget in mind.
Her recipes include easy to make classics and mouth-watering family favourites, using easy to find products that are fresh and economical.
Fun, fast, indulgent and nurturing, there’s a time and a place for Comfort Food in every kitchen.
Continue reading “Review: ‘Comfort Food’, by Julia Bettelheim”
Bonus Review #3: ‘The Pug Who Bit Napoleon’, by Mimi Matthews
Published By: Pen & Sword History
Publication Date: 11th December 2017
Format: Paperback
I.S.B.N.: 9781526705006
Price: £14.99
Blurb
From elaborate Victorian cat funerals to a Regency era pony who took a ride in a hot air balloon, Mimi Matthews shares some of the quirkiest—and most poignant—animal tales of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Meet Fortune, the Pug who bit Napoleon on his wedding night, and Looty, the Pekingese sleeve dog who was presented to Queen Victoria after the 1860 sacking of the Summer Palace in Peking. The four-legged friends of Lord Byron, Emily Brontë, and Prince Albert also make an appearance, as do the treasured pets of Alexander Pope, Samuel Johnson, and Charles Dickens.
Less famous, but no less fascinating, are the animals that were the subject of historical lawsuits, scandals, and public curiosity. There’s Tuppy, the purloined pet donkey; Biddy, the regimental chicken; and Barnaby and Burgho, the bloodhounds hired to hunt Jack the Ripper. Wild animals also get a mention in tales that encompass everything from field mice and foxes to alligators and sharks lurking in the Thames.
Using research from eighteenth and nineteenth century books, letters, and newspapers, Mimi Matthews brings each animal’s unique history to vivid life. The details are sometimes humorous, sometimes heartbreaking, but the stories are never anything less than fascinating reading for animal lovers of all ages.
Continue reading “Bonus Review #3: ‘The Pug Who Bit Napoleon’, by Mimi Matthews”
Bonus Review number two: ‘The Nature Fix’, by Florence Williams
Published by: W.W. Norton and Company
Publication Date: 7th February 2017
Format: Hardcover
I.S.B.N.: 9780393242713
Price: $26.95
Blurb
For centuries, poets and philosophers extolled the benefits of a walk in the woods: Beethoven drew inspiration from rocks and trees; Wordsworth composed while tromping over the heath; Nikola Tesla conceived the electric motor while visiting a park. Intrigued by our storied renewal in the natural world, Florence Williams sets out to uncover the science behind nature’s positive effects on the brain. From forest trails in Korea, to islands in Finland, to groves of eucalyptus in California, Williams investigates the science at the confluence of environment, mood, health, and creativity. Delving into completely new research, she uncovers the powers of the natural world to improve health, promote reflection and innovation, and ultimately strengthen our relationships. As our modern lives shift dramatically indoors, these ideas—and the answers they yield—are more urgent than ever.
Continue reading “Bonus Review number two: ‘The Nature Fix’, by Florence Williams”
Bonus Review #5: ‘Victorian Policing’, by Gaynor Haliday
Published By: Pen & Sword History
Publication Date: 15th November 2017
I.S.B.N.: 9781526706126
Format: Paperback
Price: £10.50
Alex at Pen and Sword emailed me last November to see if I wanted to review this book. I had a long list of books to review so I’ve finally got round to it.
Blurb
What was life like for the Victorian bobby? Gaynor Haliday became fascinated with the history of the early police forces when researching the life of her great, great grandfather; a well-regarded, long-suffering Victorian police constable in Bradford. Although a citation claimed his style of policing was merely to cuff the offender round the ear and send him home, press reports of the time painted a much grimmer picture of life on the beat in the Victorian streets.
Handwritten Watch Committee minutes, historical newspapers and police records combine to reveal an account of how and why the various police forces were set up; the recruitment, training and expectations of the men, the issues and crimes they had to deal with, and the hostility they encountered from the people whose peace they were trying to keep.
Continue reading “Bonus Review #5: ‘Victorian Policing’, by Gaynor Haliday”
Review: ‘Veronica’s Bird’, by Veronica Bird & Richard Newman
Published By: Clink Street publishing
Publication Date: 23rd January 2018
I.S.B.N.: 9781912262618
Format: Paperback
Price: £8.99
Blurb
Veronica’s Bird: Thirty-five years inside as a female prison officer
Veronica Bird was one of nine children living in a tiny house in Barnsley with a brutal coal miner for a father. Life was a despairing time in the 1950s, as Veronica sought desperately to keep away from his cruelty. Astonishingly, to her and her mother, she won a scholarship to Ackworth Boarding School where she began to shine above her class-mates. A champion in all sports, Veronica at last found some happiness until her brother-in-law came into her life. It was as if she had stepped from the frying pan into the re: he took over control of her life removing her from the school she adored, two terms before she was due to take her GCEs, so he could put her to work as a cheap option on his market stall. Abused for many years by these two men, Veronica eventually ran away and applied to the Prison Service, knowing it was the only safe place she could trust. This is the astonishing, and true story of Veronica Bird who rose to become a Governor of Armley prison. Given a ‘basket case’ in another prison, contrary to all expectations, she turned it around within a year, to become an example for others to match. During her life inside, her ‘bird’, she met many Home Secretaries, was honoured by the Queen and was asked to help improve conditions in Russian Prisons. A deeply poignant story of eventual triumph against a staggeringly high series of setbacks, her story is lled with humour and compassion for those inside.
Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Veronicas-Bird-Thirty-five-inside-officer-ebook/dp/B077NXT42X
About the authors: After thirty-five years working for the Prison Service, Veronica Bird is now retired and living in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. She is still an active proponent of the justice system and continues to lecture across the country and is a supporter of Butler Trust, which acknowledges excellence within the prison system.
A qualified architect and Swiss-trained hotelier, Richard Newman enjoyed a forty-year career designing and managing hotels worldwide before retiring in 2001. Since then he has gone on to publish a number of novels: The Crown of Martyrdom, The Horse that Screamed, The Potato Eaters, The Green Hill, Brief Encounters and most recently The Sunday Times bestseller, A Nun’s Story. He is currently working on a new novel about retirement and an autobiography of his time in the Middle East. He lives happily with his wife in Wetherby, West Yorkshire where he enjoys being close to his family.
Continue reading “Review: ‘Veronica’s Bird’, by Veronica Bird & Richard Newman”
Bonus Review #4: ‘Primal Awareness’, by Rob Wildwood
Published By: Moon Books
Publication Date: 26th January 2018
Format: Paperback
I.S.B.N.: 9781785356568
Price: £9.99
Blurb
Focusing on the origins of Western culture and belief systems, from ancient agriculture to modern industry, from primitive religion to monotheism, Primal Awareness explains how we became separated from nature and how, throughout history, these belief systems and social models have imposed a life of servitude and hardship upon millions of people. It also illustrates how modern technology and the modern scientific world view are currently causing the destruction of our natural environment. How can we overcome this separation, and reconnect with nature and spirit once again?
Continue reading “Bonus Review #4: ‘Primal Awareness’, by Rob Wildwood”
Bonus Review #2: ‘Goat Castle: A True Story of Murder, Race and the Gothic South’, by Karen L. Cox
Published By: University of North Carolina Press
Publication Date: 9th October 2017
I.S.B.N.: 978146963503
Price: $26.00
Format: Hardcover
Blurb
In 1932, the city of Natchez, Mississippi, reckoned with an unexpected influx of journalists and tourists as the lurid story of a local murder was splashed across headlines nationwide. Two eccentrics, Richard Dana and Octavia Dockery—known in the press as the “Wild Man” and the “Goat Woman”—enlisted an African American man named George Pearls to rob their reclusive neighbor, Jennie Merrill, at her estate. During the attempted robbery, Merrill was shot and killed. The crime drew national coverage when it came to light that Dana and Dockery, the alleged murderers, shared their huge, decaying antebellum mansion with their goats and other livestock, which prompted journalists to call the estate “Goat Castle.” Pearls was killed by an Arkansas policeman in an unrelated incident before he could face trial. However, as was all too typical in the Jim Crow South, the white community demanded “justice,” and an innocent black woman named Emily Burns was ultimately sent to prison for the murder of Merrill. Dana and Dockery not only avoided punishment but also lived to profit from the notoriety of the murder. In telling this strange, fascinating story, Karen Cox highlights the larger ideas that made the tale so irresistible to the popular press and provides a unique lens through which to view the transformation of the plantation South into the fallen, gothic South.
Everything Is Better With Dragons 