Category Archives: Book Reviews

TBR Pile Review: “You Just Need To Lose Weight” and 19 other myths about fat people, by Aubrey Gordon

Format: 224 pages, Paperback

Published: January 10, 2023 by Beacon Press

ISBN: 9780807006474 (ISBN10: 0807006475)

Language: English

Blurb

The co-host of the Maintenance Phase podcast and creator of Your Fat Friend equips you with the facts to debunk common anti-fat myths and with tools to take action for fat justice

The pushback that shows up in conversations about fat justice takes exceedingly predicable form. Losing weight is easy—calories in, calories out. Fat people are unhealthy. We’re in the midst of an obesity epidemic. Fat acceptance “glorifies obesity.” The BMI is an objective measure of size and health. Yet, these myths are as readily debunked as they are pervasive.

In “You Just Need to Lose Weight,” Aubrey Gordon equips readers with the facts and figures to reframe myths about fatness in order to dismantle the anti-fat bias ingrained in how we think about and treat fat people. Bringing her dozen years of community organizing and training to bear, Gordon shares the rhetorical approaches she and other organizers employ to not only counter these pernicious myths, but to dismantle the anti-fat bias that so often underpin them.

As conversations about fat acceptance and fat justice continue to grow, “You Just Need to Lose Weight” will be essential to ensure that those conversations are informed, effective, and grounded in both research and history.

Continue reading “TBR Pile Review: “You Just Need To Lose Weight” and 19 other myths about fat people, by Aubrey Gordon”

Review: Different, Not Less, by Chloe Hayden

Title Details
ISBN: 9781922616180 | Murdoch Books
Paperback | Embargo 5th January 2023
RRP £14.99

An empowering guide to celebrating and supporting neurodivergence from Netflix’s Heartbreak High star and disability advocate, Chloé Hayden.
Growing up, Chloé Hayden felt like she’d crash-landed on an alien planet where nothing made sense. Eye contact? Small talk? And why are you people so touch oriented? None of it made sense.

Chloé desperately wished to be part of the fairy tales she so dearly loved. A world in which the lead is considered a hero because of their differences, rather than excluded and pushed aside for them.

She moved between 10 schools in 8 years, struggling to become a person she believed society would accept. After years of being ‘weird, quirky, Chloé’ she was eventually diagnosed with autism and ADHD. It was only after a life-changing group of allies showed her that different did not mean less that she learned to celebrate her true voice and find her happily ever after.

Different, Not Less is a moving, at times funny story of how it feels to be
neurodivergent as well as a practical guide, with insights on how autism and ADHD present differently in females, advice for living with meltdowns and shutdowns, tips for finding supportive relationships, communities and workplaces and much more.

Whether you’re neurodivergent or supporting those who are, Different, Not Less will inspire you to create a more inclusive world where everyone feels like they belong.

Continue reading “Review: Different, Not Less, by Chloe Hayden”

Review: Kindness for Koalas, by Zanna Davidson, Illustrated by Ged Adamson

When Mala the Koala stomps into the forest, feeling very crummy, a little mouse suggests Mala will soon feel better if she starts to be kind. But how? wonders Mala. Soon she’s sharing her lunch with some emu chicks, helping a baby bat and comforting her friend, Wombat – discovering, on her way, that kindness really is what makes the world go round. This easy-to-read rhyming story, with gentle humour and gorgeous artwork, is a perfect introduction to kindness.

  • Extent: 32 pages
  • Dimensions: 250 x 224mm
  • Hardback
  • ISBN: 9781474998574
  • Key Stage: EYFS, KS1
  • Publication Date: January 2023
Continue reading “Review: Kindness for Koalas, by Zanna Davidson, Illustrated by Ged Adamson”

Review: 21% Monster – Ice Giant, by P.J. Canning

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Usborne Publishing Ltd (5 Jan. 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1474984428
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1474984423
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 10 – 13 years

Genetically-modified teens try to bring down the organisation that made them, in this second action-packed installment in the 21% Monster series. The girl put her hands on her hips, cocked her head and answered: ‘My name is Aurora María Ash-Valero and I’m here to kick your butt!” Since Darren Devlin and Marek Masters joined forces, there has only been one thing on their minds – taking down XSP, the secret organisation that transformed them into genetically-modified superhumans. Even with 21% monster Darren’s incredible strength, and 19% alien Marek’s super intelligence, XSP is more than a match for them. But what if there was another survivor of XSP’s experiments? A tall, tough, athletic teen girl able to withstand sub-zero temperatures and track potential predators? A girl who’s 17% sabre-tooth polar bear, and out for revenge. Two’s company, but Three IS UNSTOPPABLE in this high-octane adventure, 21% Monster: Ice Giant.

Continue reading “Review: 21% Monster – Ice Giant, by P.J. Canning”

Rosemarie’s Best Books of 2022

Not necessarily published in 2022, but read in 2022. I have a large TBR pile.

Blog tour books – Fiction

Blog Tour Books – Non-Fiction

Blog Tour Books – Children’s Books

TBR Pile Books – Fiction

TBR Pile – Non-Fiction

TBR Review: All I Want For Christmas Is Yarn, by indsey Newns

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins (27 Oct. 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 128 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0008558639
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0008558635

Crochet yourself into the Christmas spirit with these 30 gorgeous patterns for decorations, festive outerwear and personal gifts. 

Deck the halls with boughs made of yarn! Just grab your hook and get cracking, and you’ll have Christmas decorations and gifts sorted for many years to come.
Patterns include:


• A super chunky wreath
• Tasselled baubles
• Boho stocking
• Reusable crackers
• Festive amigurumi
• FA LA LA bunting


And many, many more…

My Review

If you order from Lottie & Albert, Lindsey Newns signs the books, but they’re sold out at the moment. If you order from Amazon it’s a couple of quid cheaper. I think my sister got my copy from Amazon.

I got this book for Christmas and sat and read it in an hour or so. There are a couple of projects I recognise. The reindeer amigurumi was November’s Curate Crochet Box. He’s hanging on my Christmas tree right now. Having made one of the projects, I can say that the instructions are easy to follow, with the stitches explained in a clear glossary.

The photography of the finished projects is lovely. It’s a lovely little pattern book and I recommend it for crocheters, even if you’re relatively new to the craft.

TBR Review: The Unadulterated Cat – The Amazing Maurice Edition, by Terry Pratchett

Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
ISBN: 9781399608688

From the cat-fanatical literary phenomenon Sir Terry Pratchett, via the unquestionable wisdom of his fictional feline creation Maurice, herein is contained everything you’ll ever need to know to identify the real, unadulterated cat! Rediscover Sir Terry’s 1989 guide to separating Real Cats from the riff raff – now featuring artwork from the creative minds behind the Amazing Maurice film and a new intro by Rhianna Pratchett!

As more and more of us settle for those boring mass-produced cats the Ad Men and influencers sell us – the filtered felines that purr into their gold-plated food bowls with unruffled fur and without a ‘blep’ in sight – the Campaign for Real Cats sets out to help us to recognise a true, unadulterated cat when we see one!

For example: real cats have ears that look like they’ve been trimmed with pinking shears; real cats never wear flea collars…or appear on Christmas cards… or chase anything with a bell in it; real cats do eat quiche. And giblets. And butter. And anything else left on the table, if they think they can get away with it. Real cats can hear a fridge door opening two rooms away…

Featuring fifty illustrations and artwork from the creative minds behind the Amazing Maurice film, plus introduction by Rhianna Pratchett rediscover Sir Terry’s wit and wisdom from the original edition and re-educate yourself on how to separate Real Cats from the riff raff!

Buy here or here.

My Review

This is not a Discworld book. Terry Pratchett was a cat collector, or he was collected by a lot of cats. He clearly had strong opinions on what made a ‘real cat’ and he’s bloody hilarious doing it. There are anecdotes about Houdini cats who get into and out of locked bungalows, where cats can come from, and the Schrodinger travelling cat hypothesis. That last one does make sense. Where do all the random cats come from?

This edition has illustrations from the new Amazing Maurice animated film, rather than the original illustrations. They’re not bad. I haven’t seen the film or the original illustrations so I can’t make comparisons. I loved Rhianna Pratchett’s introduction, it is full of love for her father and their clowder of cats over the years. Some of the names they had are hilarious.

If you love STPs work, then you might want to pick up this book.

TBR Review: Into the Riverlands, by Nghi Vo

  • Hardcover, 100 pages
  • Published October 25th 2022 by Tordotcom
  • ISBN: 1250851424 (ISBN13: 9781250851420)
  • Edition Language: English
  • Series: The Singing Hills Cycle #3

Wandering cleric Chih of the Singing Hills travels to the riverlands to record tales of the notorious near-immortal martial artists who haunt the region. On the road to Betony Docks, they fall in with a pair of young women far from home, and an older couple who are more than they seem. As Chih runs headlong into an ancient feud, they find themselves far more entangled in the history of the riverlands than they ever expected to be.

Accompanied by Almost Brilliant, a talking bird with an indelible memory, Chih confronts old legends and new dangers alike as they learn that every story—beautiful, ugly, kind, or cruel—bears more than one face.

The Singing Hills Cycle

The Empress of Salt and Fortune
When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain
Into the Riverlands

The novellas of The Singing Hills Cycle are linked by the cleric Chih, but may be read in any order, with each story serving as an entry point. 

My Review

I’ve been waiting for this book to come out. It’s Chih’s next adventure and I wanted to know what they would get up to. I adore Almost Brilliant, they’re funny and sharp. In this novella, Chih and Almost Brilliant fall in with a couple of young women on the road and a middle aged couple. They are legends and legends in the making, and it is Chih’s job to write down their stories.

Vo’s novellas are always a joy to read, as we explore the world they’ve built around Chih and their adventures, through multiple eyes with the mediation of Chih and Almost Brilliant. This book is short but immersive. It takes you into a world of magic, legends and mammoths, based on a version of Chinese history, into a world where heroes from the stories live and breathe, fight and love.

Review: 21% Monster, by P.J. Canning

  • Paperback
  • £7.99
  • Age 10+
  • ISBN: 9781474984416
  • Publication Date: July 2022

Genetically-modified teens try to bring down the organisation that made them.

Fun, fast-paced, high-octane action adventure, 21% Monster is a perfect page-turning new series for fans of Alex Rider, Percy Jackson and the MCU generation. When Darren Devlin is arrested for destroying his school with his bare hands, it’s not just the police who are after him. Enter Marek Masters, 14 years old, 19% alien, and the most intelligent, most wanted “almost human” alive. Marek is here to tell Darren the truth – he is 21% monster, and together they must take down the secret organisation that created them. Darren and Marek are wanted, powerful and dangerous. And now it’s payback time. 

Continue reading “Review: 21% Monster, by P.J. Canning”

TBR Pile Audiobook Review: Children of Memory, by Adrian Tchaikovsky

The unmissable follow-up to the highly acclaimed Children of Time and Children of Ruin.

When Earth failed, it sent out arkships to establish new outposts. So the spaceship Enkidu and its captain, Heorest Holt, carried its precious human cargo to a potential new paradise. Generations later, this fragile colony has managed to survive on Imir, eking out a hardy existence. Yet life is tough, and much technological knowledge has been lost.

Then strangers appear, on a world where everyone knows their neighbour. They possess unparalleled knowledge and thrilling new technology – for they have come from the stars, to help humanity’s lost colonies. But not all is as it seems on Imir.

As the visitors lose track of time and memories, they discover the colonists fear unknown enemies and Imir’s own murky history. Neighbour turns against neighbour, as society fractures in the face of this terrifying foe. Perhaps some other intelligence is at work, toying with colonists and space-faring scientists alike? But not all questions are so easily answered – and the price may be the colony itself.

Children of Memory by Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning author Adrian Tchaikovsky is a far-reaching space opera spanning generations, species and galaxies.

  • Format: 16 pages, Audible Audio
  • Published: November 24, 2022 by Tor
  • Language: English

My Review

I have copies of all of the books in this series and have listened to them all as audiobooks.

I found this one really confusing. On the surface it’s simple, a team of Humans, portids, uplifted octopuses, the aggregate lifeform from Nod, and a pair of corvids, visit a new planet, called Imir. Something strange is going on there though. The people are afraid of something outside of their small colony and they don’t know what it is. Things keep going strangely wrong. They keep happening over and over again, in slightly different ways. Miranda, the person who embodies the aggregate lifeform from Nod, is deeply invested in the events and can’t escape from Imir.

The simulation hypothesis is explored in this novel; are we living in a simulation? What is sentience? The ideas are explored through the characters of Gethi and Gothi, a pair of Corvids who need to be together to explore and draw conclusions.

I really liked Gethi and Gothi, they’re funny and drive the plot forward. I love the way they talk back to Avrana Kern and their discussions about sentience, and their conclusion that they aren’t sentient, and also that either everyone is or no one is.

If you enjoyed the first two books in the series I highly recommend this third book. I think this is the final book in the series, which would be a shame, as I want to know where else the sentient species go and who they meet.