Review – Page 19 – Everything Is Better With Dragons

Review: ‘Don’t Pack The Stress’, by Peter Black

Published By: Independently published
Publication Date: 28th December 2018
I.S.B.N.: 978-1792843594
Format: Paperback
Price: £6.99
Purchase Link

Blurb

Are you considering moving home? Are you starting to worry that the stress of a move is going to push you over the edge, or that you’ll make bad decisions? You are not alone. It is a fact that many people worry about the prospect of a move and whether it is right for them or their families. Many people also worry about the stress that might be cause by moving home. Which is where Don’t Pack the Stress comes in. This book is packed full of techniques and methods that take you through a step by step approach to moving home, in a concise and easy to read manner. This is not a 300 page technical manual, but it is a set of practical methods which help you to navigate the process of moving, from deciding whether to move, to picking up the keys to your new home. This book will almost certainly make the moving process less stressful and leave you feeling more confident about your choices. In this guide you’ll learn how to:
•Decide whether this is the right time for you to move
•Identify clear goals and expectations about your next home
•Get the best out of professionals helping you with your move
•Plan a calm, serene and productive move
•Avoid unnecessary stress, and feel content with your choices.
What are you waiting for? Read this book, apply the methods inside, and begin to plan and enjoy your calm home move today.

Review: ‘Cool That Volcano’, by Peter Black

Published By: CreateSpace Independent Publishing
Publication Date: 27th February 2018
Format: Paperback
I.S.B.N.: 9781986036115
Price: £6.99

Blurb
Are your children difficult to control? Are you starting to worry that their constant temper tantrums and explosive anger are getting out of hand? You’re not alone. It is a fact that many children experience difficulties in managing their emotions, and can express anger in a damaging way that causes problems for them, and others around them. Which is where Cool That Volcano comes in. This book is packed full of techniques and methods that take you through a step by step approach to teaching your children how to manage their emotions, in a concise and easy to read manner. This is not a 300 page technical manual, but it is a set of practical methods which help you to help your child stay in control of, and master their emotions. This will almost certainly improve their lives, and the lives of those who care about them. In this guide you’ll learn how to: Teach your child to recognise problematic emotions:Teach your child how to calm down and manage anger: Teach your child how to talk about their feelings: Teach your child how to achieve mastery of their emotions: Think about your own approach to emotional management. What are you waiting for? Read this book, apply the methods inside, and begin to improve your child’s life today.

Bonus Review: ‘A History of Trees’, by Simon Wills

Blurb

Have you ever wondered how trees got their names? What did our ancestors think about trees, and how were they used in the past? This fascinating book will answer many of your questions, but also reveal interesting stories that are not widely known. For example, the nut from which tree was predicted to pay off the UK’s national debt? Or why is Europe’s most popular pear called the ‘conference’? Simon Wills tells the history of twenty-eight common trees in an engaging and entertaining way, and every chapter is illustrated with his photographs.

Find out why the London plane tree is so frequently planted in our cities, and how our forebears were in awe of the magical properties of hawthorn. Where is Britain’s largest conker tree? Which tree was believed to protect you against both lightning and witchcraft?

The use of bay tree leaves as a sign of victory by athletes in ancient Greece led to them being subsequently adopted by many others – from Roman emperors to the Royal Marines. But why were willow trees associated with Alexander Pope, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Samuel Johnson? Why did Queen Anne pay a large sum for a cutting from a walnut tree in Somerset? Discover the answers to these and many other intriguing tales within the pages of this highly engrossing book.

Review: ‘The 13th Witch’, by Mark Hayden

Publisher: Paw Press
Publication Date: 25th August 2018
ISBN-13: 978-1999821210
*Format: Paperback*
*Price: £5.99*
*Purchase Link:*
**https://www.amazon.co.uk/13th-Witch-Kings-Watch-Book/dp/1999821211/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1544458871&sr=1-1**

Blurb
Did you know that the gods can use mobile phones?
They can, and Odin has a message for Conrad…Conrad Clarke, former RAF pilot and alleged gangster gets a text – and a visit – from The Allfather. Odin has a challenge for Conrad:sign up to protect England from wild magick and get a commission in the King’sWatch. All he has to do is find a missing witch. Simple. Conrad never could resist a challenge. Before you can say “Ragnarok”, he’s plunged into a world of gods, mages, witches, dwarves and one very aggressive giant mole. But the witch doesn’t want to be found, and powerful mages will kill to keep her hidden. Going back isn’t an option. Going forward looks a lot like death. Armed with nothing but a sense of humour and a willingness to cheat, Conrad has to find the Witch and save his life.
Treat yourself to a copy now and experience a whole new universe of magick. And moles…

Bonus Review #4:’The Murder of Prime Minister Spencer Percevel: A Portrait of the Assassin’, by Martin Connolly

Published By: Pen & Sword
Publication Date: 4th October 2018
Format: Hardback
I.S.B.N.: 9781526731241
Price: £1999

Blurb
England entered the nineteenth century having lost the American states and was at war with France. The slave trade had been halted and the country was in torment, with industrialisation throwing men and women out of work as poverty haunted their lives. As the merchants of England and America saw their businesses stagnate and profits plummet, everyone blamed the government and its policies. Those in charge were alarmed and businessmen, who were believed to be exploiting the poor, were murdered. Assassination indeed stalked the streets.

The man at the centre of the storm was Prime Minister Spencer Perceval. From the higher reaches of society to the beggar looking for bread, many wanted him dead, due to policies brought about by his inflexible religious convictions and his belief that he was appointed by God. In May 1812 he entered the Lobby of the Houses of Parliament when a man stepped forward and fired a pistol at him. The lead ball entered into his heart. Within minutes he was dead.

Using freshly-discovered archive material, this book explores the assassin’s thoughts and actions through his own writings. Using his background in psychology, the author explores the question of the killer’s sanity and the fairness of his subsequent trial.

Within its pages the reader will find an account of the murder of Spencer Perceval and a well-developed portrait of his assassin.

Bonus Review #3: ‘Beardies’ World’, by Joyce Ives

41951035 — Published By: Clink Street Publishing
Publication Date: 18th September 2018
I.S.B.N.: 9781912562275
Format: Paperback
Price: £12.99
Purchase Link

Blurb
This book is Joyce Ives’ narrative to the twenty-six years she and husband John owned, cared for and loved their four Bearded Collies.

The memories shared by Joyce in this book are likely to touch the heart of anyone who has had any experience of growing up and growing old with dogs.

In her narrative Joyce has been able to capture beautifully how our special bond with our canine friends often becomes so significant in our life’s journey; our experiences of joy and laughter and at times our sadness and loss.

Bonus Review #2: ‘The Suffering Of Women Who Didn’t Fit: ‘Madness’ in Britain 1450 – 1950′, by David J. Vaughan

Blurb

For over 500 years, women have suffered claims of mental decay solely on account of their gender. Frigid, insane, not quite there, a witch in sheep’s clothing, labels that have cast her as the fragile species and destroyer of Man.

This book reveals attitudes, ideas and responses on what was to be done with ‘mad women’ in Britain.

Journey back into the unenlightened Middle Ages to find demonic possession, turbulent humours and the wandering womb. In the Puritan Age, when the mad were called witches and scolds ducked for their nagging. The age of Austen and a sense and sensibility created from her fragile nerves. Then descend into Victorian horrors of wrongful confinement and merciless surgeons, before arriving, just half a century past, to the Viennese couch and an obligation to talk.

At the heart of her suffering lay her gynaecological make-up, driving her mad every month and at every stage of her life. Terms such as menstrual madness, puerperal insanity and ‘Old Maid’s Insanity’ poison history’s pages.

An inescapable truth is now shared: that so much, if not all, was a male creation. Though not every medic was male, nor every male a fiend, misogynist thought shaped our understanding of women, set down expectations and ‘corrected’ the flawed.

The book exposes the agonies of life for the ‘second class’ gender; from misdiagnosis to brutal oppression, seen as in league with the Devil or the volatile wretch. Touching no less than six centuries, it recalls how, for a woman, being labelled as mad was much less a risk, more her inevitable burden.

Review: ‘The Convalescent Corpse’, by Nicola Slade

The Convalescent Corpse by [Slade, Nicola] — Published By: Crooked Cat
Publication Date: 20th November 2018
Format: Kindle
Price: £1.99

Blurb

A story of Family, Rationing and Inconvenient Corpses.
Life in 1918 has brought loss and grief and hardship to the three Fyttleton sisters. Helped only by their grandmother (a failed society belle and expert poacher) and hindered by a difficult suffragette mother, as well as an unruly chicken-stealing dog and a house full of paying-guests, they now have to deal with the worrying news that their late – and unlamented – father may not be dead after all. And on top of that, there’s a body in the ha-ha.

Keep reading for the review, a bit about the author and a chance to win another of Nicola Slade’s books.

Bonus Review #1: ‘Aunt Branwell and The Bronte Legacy’, by Nick Holland

Aunt Branwell and the BrontÃ« Legacy — *Published By: Pen & Sword*
Publication Date: 11th September 2018
Format: Hardback
I.S.B.N.: 9781526722232
Price: £12.99

Blurb

Elizabeth Branwell was born in Penzance in 1770, a member of a large and influential Cornish family of merchants and property owners. In 1821 her life changed forever when her sister Maria fell dangerously ill. Leaving her comfortable life behind, Elizabeth made the long journey north to a remote moorland village in Yorkshire to nurse her sister. After the death of Maria, Elizabeth assumed the role of second mother to her nephew and five nieces. She would never see Cornwall again, but instead dedicated her life to her new family: the Brontës of Haworth, to whom she was known as Aunt Branwell.

In this first ever biography of Elizabeth Branwell, we see at last the huge impact she had on Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë, as well as on her nephew Branwell Brontë who spiralled out of control away from her calming influence. It was a legacy in Aunt Branwell’s will that led directly to the Brontë books we love today, but her influence on their lives and characters was equally important. As opposed to the stern aunt portrayed by Mrs. Gaskell in her biography of Charlotte Brontë, we find a kind hearted woman who sacrificed everything for the children she came to love. This revealing book also looks at the Branwell family, and how their misfortunes mirrored that of the Brontës, and we find out what happened to the Brontë cousin who emigrated to America, and in doing so uncover the closest living relatives to the Brontë sisters today.

Review: ‘Lady of the House’, by Charlotte Furness

Blurb

This book tells the true stories of three genteel women who were born, raised, lived and died within the world of England’s Country Houses. This is not the story of ‘seen and not heard’ women, these are incredible women who endured tremendous tragedy and worked alongside their husbands to create a legacy that we are still benefitting from today.

Harriet Leveson-Gower, Countess Granville was the second born child of the infamous Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire who married her aunt’s lover, raised his illegitimate children and reigned supreme as Ambassadress over the Parisian elite.

Lady Mary Isham lived at Lamport Hall in Northamptonshire with her family where, despite great tragedy, she was responsible for developing a house and estate whilst her husband remained ‘the silent Baronet’.

Elizabeth Manners, Duchess of Rutland hailed from Castle Howard and used her upbringing to design and build a Castle and gardens at Belvoir suitable for a Duke and Duchess that inspired a generation of country house interiors.

These women were expected simply to produce children, to be active members of society, to give handsomely to charity and to look the part. What these three remarkable women did instead is develop vast estates, oversee architectural changes, succeed in business, take a keen role in politics as well as successfully managing all the expectations of an aristocratic lady.