Tag: non-fiction

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Hungry Heart – Clare Finney

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Award-winning food writer Clare Finney presents a moving, heartfelt exploration of the intertwining influences of food and love
 
From family feasts to comfort foods, first dates to office cake; how does what we eat define us, and the relationships we have with others?
 
Award-winning food writer Clare Finney delves into these questions with a rare and insightful sensitivity, telling a powerful story of life and love whilst uncovering the manifold ways in which food touches all relationships: from perfect strangers to partners, parents and friends.
 
Beginning with a childhood spent in her grandmother’s hotel kitchen and ending at her grandfather’s bedside, she charts a course through the meals and recipes which have shaped the person she is today.
 
Finney also investigates the role food plays in a modern society which can often feel isolating, exploring how eating unites us in varied ways throughout our lives. From the dance of culinary courtship entailed in dating to the funeral foods that remind us of the connections between life and death, Finney examines the power of food and drink to attract, bind and define us – and of course, its power to divide and repel.
 
At a time when our relationship towards what, when and where we eat has become increasingly complicated, Hungry Heart is a feast; an honest, heart-warming account of humans breaking bread together and what that really means.

Clare Finney is a food journalist, Londoner and cheese lover. In 2019 she won the Fortnum & Mason Food Writing Award for her work with Foodism and Market Life, Borough Market’s magazine.

My thoughts: exploring her life and emotions through recipes and the meals that made them, the author (who grew up in the same town as me – some of the places she mentions have resonance for me too) charts her childhood trips to her grandparents’ hotel, her parents’ divorce, her teenage eating disorder and her university years.

As a food writer she has written extensively on the things we eat, but here she explores our emotional connection to food, her own and her friends and colleagues. Each chapter ends with a recipe, dishes that have been made with love and are imbued with memory and in many cases comfort.

It was a really interesting book to read and one I will come back to as a lot of the things discussed in the chapters were intensely thought provoking.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Little Book of Extraordinary Cats – Anita Kelsey

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Discover the captivating world of fabulous felines in The Little Book Of Extraordinary Cats.

Join Anita Kelsey on a journey through fifteen remarkable tales celebrating the courage, resilience, and affection of our beloved feline companions, from pioneering space traveller Félicette to therapy cat London Meow. Whether you’re a cat lover or seeking heart-warming stories of human-animal connections, this book is a must-read.

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Anita Kelsey holds a first class honours degree in Feline Behaviour and Psychology
(work based BA Hons) and runs a vet referral service dedicated strictly to the diagnosis and treatment of behaviour problems in cats. She is also a qualified cat groomer and specialises in grooming challenging or phobic cats.

Anita, a strong advocate of a vegan lifestyle, is based in East Sussex but consults all over the UK as well as international requests. She lives with her husband, a music producer, and 1 Norwegian Forest cat, Kiki.

Her first book ‘Claws. Confessions Of A Professional Cat Groomer’ was published by John Blake in 2017 with her second book, Let’s Talk About Cats self published via Amazon worldwide in 2020. The Little Book Of Extraordinary Cats is Anita’s third book.
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My thoughts: this charming collection of real life felines is perfect for the animal lover in your life (especially if that’s you)  illustrated with portraits of each cat, the chapters capture not just the thing that makes each one unique and worthy of celebration but the impact of their life on their human friends.

My cat Ted had a good sniff of this book – it’s what he does, and declared it acceptable.

We often think of cats as being aloof and disinterested (as they can be) but this collection shows that they’re also clever, funny, companionable and a boon to humanity – especially those who save lives and offer joy and comfort to the humans they know and meet.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Ghosts of the British Museum – Noah Angell

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When artist and writer Noah Angell first heard murmurs of ghostly sightings at the British Museum he had to find out more. What started as a trickle soon became a deluge as staff old and new – from overnight security to respected curators – brought him testimonies of their supernatural encounters.

It became clear that the source of the disturbances was related to the Museum’s contents – unquiet objects, holy plunder, and restless human remains protesting their enforced stay within the colonial collection’s cabinets and deep underground vaults. According to those who have worked there, the institution is heaving with profound spectral disorder.

Ghosts of the British Museum fuses storytelling, folklore and history, digs deep into our imperial past and unmasks the world’s oldest national museum as a site of ongoing conflict, where restless objects are held against their will.

It now appears that the objects are fighting back.

My thoughts: this was a really interesting, thought provoking read. I have been many times to the British Museum, it’s collections often coinciding with something I was studying at school – Egyptians, Romans, Greeks. I can remember my sister, aged 5, being absolutely captivated by a pair of huge vases on the stairs, she could probably have fitted in one, and being deeply unnerved by the Egyptian mummies on display.

The main thing haunting the museum it seems are not just those who died in its buildings (there seem to be a very large number of suicides by staff over the years – someone should probably look into that) or the ones attached to the various artifacts, but colonialism.

I was genuinely horrified by some of the things Noah learnt in his meetings with museum employees past and present. The most infamous stories I knew – the theft of the Parthenon marbles by Lord Elgin, the Benin Bronzes the museum just won’t return (give them back already!) But there were so many truly awful stories, of theft, murder and outrageous behaviour. Some of the items are never intended to be displayed – so why does the museum have them?

The number of people who told Noah they’d had creepy experiences around specific items had Mike Wachowski from Monsters Inc singing “put that thing back where it came from…” in my head while I was reading. Cursed objects are cursed for a reason, do not mess with them.

I don’t really believe in ghosts, but I do agree that things can hold onto strange energies. The house I grew up in apparently came with a presence – according to my mum – it’s an old building and she felt the previous owner was a bit worried about how we would treat her home. It sounds a bit woo woo, but the otherwise fairly sensible people who had these interactions in the museum (and my mum, a nurse with a scientific brain) suggest there might be something to it. I was much more sceptical of the psychics and mediums Noah took into the museum – if you’re predisposed to “see” things, funny enough you often do.

I am very much of the return things to their homeland, put the thousands of human remains back where they came from school. We can use replicas, photos, video links to the museums in the items homelands (how much more stunning would the Parthenon look in the Athenian sunlight, finally reunited?) and the internet to study these incredible items, in context, surrounded by their home, instead of in cold and sterile rooms in Bloomsbury. And the British Museum could have a go at being an actual museum of Britain – I really enjoyed the exhibition they did a few years ago on my ancestors, the Celts. It might be nice to have a museum of Britain, though no human remains please, leave the dead to their rest.

Noah’s book is very timely, and made me quite sad to think of so many precious and important things being left to time in Storage, never displayed,yet not returned home to their people and their place, forgotten and neglected. It’s an important and powerful read and I hope more people pick it up and realise that perhaps these artifacts don’t belong there, but to the descendants of the people who created them.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Jesus and Women – Niamh M Middleton

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In Jesus and Women, Niamh Middleton combines insights from evolutionary biology, feminism and the #MeToo movement to highlight the revolutionary attitude of Jesus towards women. Her careful exegesis, comparing the treatment and depiction of women in the Old and New Testaments, illuminates the way forward for the treatment of women by Church and society. More importantly, however, it holds the potential to greatly enrich our understanding of Jesus’ divinity.

Middleton’s bold approach encourages Christian women to reclaim their religion as a tool for empowerment, correcting the regressive course that Christianity has taken in this regard since Roman times. She also cites the remarkable life and untimely death of Western heroine Diana, Princess of Wales as an archetypal example of why Christianity must be reclaimed by its female members. Above all, she powerfully argues that while political feminism can tackle the symptoms of the perennial ‘battle of the sexes’, only a revolution of grace can bring about a full restoration of the harmony between the sexes described in Genesis.

 

Praise for Jesus and Women

“As the global #MeToo movement has clearly demonstrated, women are no longer willing to accept being treated as the ‘second sex’, both inside and outside of the Church. Jesus and Women is an inspirational call-to-action for all women, making it clear that they are every bit the equal of men in God’s eyes and that it is time to make their voices heard to bring about the fair and impartial world that is their inheritance and due. A must read.” Richard Moriarty, The Sun 

 

“Jesus and Women: Beyond Feminism by feminist theologian Dr Niamh M. Middleton provides a long-overdue dissection of institutional sexism within the Church, and how women must lead the way in restoring gender equality. This is an essential read for all Christians, and anyone concerned with the question of gender equality.”

Timothy Arden, The Scotsman

Dr Niamh M. Middleton lectured in Theology and Philosophy at Dublin City University from 2005 until 2020, when she decided to take early retirement in order to focus on writing  Jesus and Women: Beyond Feminism, published through The Lutterworth Press. She previously studied at Mater Dei, Dublin and the Pontifical University, Maynooth. Her main area of research concerns the implications of evolutionary theory for Christianity and the relationship between religion and science overall. Her previous publications include Homo Lapsus: Sin, Evolution and the God who is Love (2019). Visit www.niamhmiddletonauthor.com.

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My thoughts: I was raised going to church and as a feminist, so this book intersected with my personal interests quite nicely.

It is very interesting, exploring the women of the Bible – in the Old Testament, and then in more detail and with relation to Jesus, the women of the New Testament – particularly Mary, his mother, Mary Magdalene, and Martha and Mary, sisters of Lazarus.

I didn’t agree with everything that was said and there were bits I did really like too. Which is the right balance I think with an academic text. I’m passing my copy onto my mum to get her take – she’s a practicing Christian and feminist, so it will be interesting to see how she approaches it.

I think this book is certainly useful for women’s groups at churches, as a starting point for discussion and in the way it aims to bring the discussion about the role of women in the Bible and in the church up to date. Dr Middleton is very knowledgeable and writes in an engaging, relatable way that made it easy to follow and connect with.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: The Quality of Love – Ariane Banks 

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When her mother Celia Paget died, Ariane Bankes inherited a battered trunk stuffed with letters and diaries belonging to Celia and her twin Mamaine. This correspondence charted the remarkable lives of the Paget sisters and their friends and lovers, including Arthur Koestler, Albert Camus, Sartre and de Beauvoir, and George Orwell. 

Out of this rich archive, The Quality of Love weaves the story of these captivating and unusually beautiful identical twins who overcame a meagre education to take 1930s London society by storm and move among Europe’s foremost intellectuals during the twentieth century’s most dramatic decades. Above all, it is a sparkling portrait of the deep connection between two spirited sisters.

Ariane Bankes had a long career in publishing, including at John Murray and V&A Publishing, before becoming a writer, critic and curator. Her writing has appeared in the Spectator, TLS, Financial Times, Country Life and Slightly Foxed. She is Honorary President of Koestler Arts, and runs the Hatchards & Biographers’ Club First Biography Prize and the Elizabeth Buccleuch Prize.

My thoughts: I found this book, a biography of the author’s mother and aunt, utterly captivating. They lived through some of the most tumultuous years of the twentieth century, loved and were loved by some of the most extraordinary characters and lived an incredible life.

The Paget twins were beautiful, clever (but not exactly educated  – school wasn’t really a priority) and well connected. They were feted by society magazines and fashion pages alike.

They had many long and complicated love affairs and counted people like George Orwell (who proposed to Celia) and Albert Camus (who had a long affair with Mamaine) among their closest friends and admirers. At times it reads a little like a Who’s Who of the mid twentieth century, which I found delightful, seeing as so many of the writers and figures are ones I’m interested in.

Orphaned young, they had a strange childhood, and despite being very bright, little formal education – something I don’t think you’d be able to do now. They were presented at court (twice!) and lived the sort of life that doesn’t sound entirely real, moving around Europe, lunching with the literary elite of London, Paris and beyond.

But they both suffered terrible health problems – related to chronic asthma and possibly as a result of the trauma of their parents’ deaths. In and out of hospitals and sanatoriums in places like Switzerland, for the air. It’s amazing they managed to fit so much living in. Mamaine sadly died quite young, but Celia went on to marry and have two children – the author and her brother, settling into domesticity after all her adventures.

Using her mother’s archive of letters, photos and other documents, as well as the stories she was told growing up, Ariane Bankes has created a beautiful snapshot of a period of time lost to us now but also a love letter to the bond between two extraordinary sisters. It’s really moving and tender at times, as the letters travel back and forth between sisters separated by geography, love affairs and health worries.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Book Review: Will I Ever Have Sex Again? – Sofie Hagen

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Comedian Sofie Hagen has not had sex in 3,000 days (and counting). And it turns out, she’s not the only one . . .

In an attempt to find out why we’re not having the sex we want, Sofie asks the questions: can we blame a lacking sex education? Is it all just sexual trauma? Where’s the radical sexual liberation we were promised? What are we going to do about this? Should she have slept with that guy in that bush that one time? How do you overcome being a 35-year-old virgin (when it comes to queer sex, that is)? How do the socially awkward and the neurodiverse have sex?

In Will I Ever Have Sex Again?, Sofie Hagen explores the quirks and difficulties of being an ‘involuntary celibate’ (but one of the feminist, progressive ones). With a blend of memoir and conversations with experts, therapists, sex workers, porn stars, comedians and public figures, this is a humorous and bold undertaking to gain a better understanding of how we can think, talk and feel about sex.

My thoughts: this was a really interesting read, bits of it were very funny, because Sofie Hagen is a funny person, and bits of I were very insightful too.

I found Sofie’s exploration of sex, sexuality, gender identity, and the body intelligent and thought provoking. At no point was any of the discussion gratuitous or rude, and the range of people quoted, from academics to porn performers and drag kings, added to the discussion in new and interesting ways.

While exploring their own gender and sexuality, Sofie also shared a sample of different stories, some anonymously from the 1,800 responses to their survey and others from friends and experts. I liked the differing experiences and perspectives on the questions being raised. It felt like a collaborative exploration of the themes and showed that we all experience sex, love, sexuality and gender differently. I actually filled out the questionnaire, which was very insightful and made me think a lot about my own experiences and feelings. 

Despite Sofie’s stated plan to end with an orgy, there isn’t really an overarching narrative, it’s more a collection of thoughts and experiences as Sofie gets to know themselves better and understand how others see the same things with their own perspective. We are all a collection of our thoughts, feelings and experiences after all.

The book felt like a great jumping off point to asking yourself about how you truly feel about sex, relationships, sexuality, gender identity and your own past, present and future, whether you’re currently having sex with another person or not. It has certainly raised questions in my mind that I need to work through.

I’ve seen Sofie perform before and am planning to go and see them again later this year, while this book didn’t make me more or less interested in them, I did think they gave a large insight into themselves, and opening yourself up to scrutiny like this is incredibly powerful. I know there will be negative responses, but I personally feel more positively towards Sofie, like I know them better and understand them more.

Because of the feelings the book might raise, I wouldn’t say it’s the easiest of reading and it may well ring bells within you, especially in the chapter about sexual assault and rape. So save this for when you feel safe and able to evaluate yourself. I wouldn’t say it’s one for reading on the bus to work for example, definitely more for at home on your own. But it is definitely worth reading.

*I was kindly gifted an advanced copy of this book, which will be published in May, but all opinions remain my own.

blog tour, books, reviews

Blog Tour: Kookaburras, Cuppas and Kangaroos – S. Bavey

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Fueled by her spirit for adventure and with her £10.00 ticket in hand, Elizabeth Isle leaves 1960s England, determined to see it all, not just Australia and New Zealand, but as much as she can on the
way, too. She surrenders her passport to the Australian government and must find work to support herself on the other side of the world from her family and friends. There can be no going back for two years.

Join this intrepid young woman on the adventure of her lifetime. Share her amazing experiences, discover what exotic animals await, get travel tips and meet her new friends through her letters home and over plenty of cups of tea. Beware – the travel bug might prove infectious!

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Sue Bavey (writing as S. Bavey) a British mother of two teenagers, now living in Franklin, Massachusetts, having moved to the US in 2003. Writing as S. Bavey, she won a gold award from Readers’ Favorite for her grandfather’s biography: Lucky Jack (1894 – 2000), which she wrote during
COVID lockdown. She also has a number of non-fiction stories published in various anthologies.
Kookaburras, Cuppas & Kangaroos is the story of her late mother’s emigration from Yorkshire to Australia in 1960 for three years, told via airmail letters and travel diary entries.
A free prequel to Kookaburras, Cuppas & Kangaroos”, called “A Yorkshire Lass: The Early Years” is available for free download from http://www.suebavey.com.

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My thoughts: compiled from letters and diary entries her mother wrote while living and travelling in Australia as a Ten Pound Pom in the 1960s, Sue Bavey has given us a real treat. Her mother, Liz, had a wonderful time exploring Australia and New Zealand as a young woman.

She takes on various jobs to fund her trip, making friends and visiting relatives, exploring the landscape by train, boat and car, having lots of adventures and documenting it all in photos and letters home to her parents and sister.

I really enjoyed this adventurous young woman’s time Down Under, in a place I’ve never been and probably won’t go (Australia seems to want to kill you via its wildlife, weather and landscape – I don’t think we’d get on) at a time I didn’t experience (far too young).

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: Error of Judgement – Chris Mullin

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My thoughts: I wasn’t born until 1986, a year after Chris Mullin was asked to write about the Birmingham Six, but I was vaguely aware of it as a huge miscarriage of justice.

Until I read this book I didn’t know exactly how egregious the behaviour of the West Midlands police, and their Lancashire colleagues, truly was. Not only did they violently assault the six men, they fabricated confessions, threatened their lives and basically tortured them. The police falsified their own records and even the officers not directly involved turned a blind eye to the activities of their colleagues.

This led to six men spending over almost two decades in prison despite being completely innocent of all of the charges they were convicted on. All they were guilty of really was being Irish in Birmingham and locatable.

Mullin was a journalist and MP and always seems to have been supportive of the six men’s innocence and the culpability of the police and legal system that allowed the real bombers to go free – and even leave the country. He identified and interviewed the real culprits and names them in this edition of his book, they are dead, and he is not at risk of reprisals.

The book is compelling reading, like the best thriller, but not fiction at all – the lives of six men, their families, friends and the victims of the bombings in 1974 were altered forever and despite being set free eventually, there was no real justice done here.

The police officers were never convicted, the judge and lawyers never apologised for their roles, the dodgy forensic scientist might have lost his job but never admitted fault, and of course the actual bombers never saw the inside of a court room (one of them did, but he claimed to have only been involved in making the devices).

It’s a terrible tragic story and one that should really be more widely understood as the repercussions from the case reverberate in the justice system even today, and should remind us all that the system, from police to courts is not always blind or indeed just.

The book itself is a feat of investigative work and determination, Mullin is a great writer and conveys the sense of hopelessness and then the glimmer of light given as this case moves back and forth between courts, Parliament and the press. His attention to detail, critical eye and engaging style make this both an enjoyable reading experience and a jolting horror at how so many were so betrayed by the system.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

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Blog Tour: Queer Villains of Myth and Legend – Dan Jones

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Every good hero needs a villain!

Explore the hidden world of magnetic and mysterious villains, often cast aside and misunderstood in tales of mythology and folklore. Through the pages of Queer Villains of Myth and Legend, discover a diverse community of fascinating characters, ranging from seductive and cunning to powerful and awe-inspiring.

Experience the dark allure of Circe and Medusa through to David Bowie’s Jareth in Labyrinth and delve into their complex and multifaceted personalities and motivations. Take a deep dive into the intersection of queerness and villainy, re-examine some of our favourite characters, and discover why so many ‘bad’ characters are queer-coded.

From ancient mythology to contemporary pop culture, Queer Villains of Myth and Legend celebrates the fascinating stories of these often-overlooked characters.

Join Dan Jones on a journey of discovery, as he explores the hidden depths of queer villainy and sheds light on the queer identities of these compelling figures. It’s a powerful celebration of queerness through the ages in all its legendary complexity.

Dan Jones is a freelance writer and author based in Brooklyn, New York. Originally from the UK, he has previously covered men’s style and grooming as an editor for several fashion and lifestyle magazines – including the New York Times’ Wirecutter – and ecommerce brands. A big myth nerd and martini fan, Dan has published books on both legendary queer mythological characters and cocktails alongside a series of fashion titles.

My thoughts: in this book each short chapter focuses on one character from mythology or pop culture that is either overtly queer or queer coded; historically there are times when being openly gay or trans was criminalised or put you at risk, even if you were producing art rather than bring queer yourself.

While some of the chapters feel a bit rushed and lack details, others are more thorough and use examples from the tales these characters come from and retellings or scholarly work, especially the mythic figures.

Some of the names will be familiar and others less well known, unless you’re a mythology nerd like me, and some, such as the Knights Templar, don’t really have much evidence – they didn’t leave records behind, so we have to go on rumour and theory.

It’s a nice volume collecting some interesting figures from history, mythology, literature and pop culture, from Circe to Buffy’s Dark Willow.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own

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Blog Tour: The Trauma Effect – Zetta Thomelin

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The Trauma Effect reveals a family secret, a trauma, a tragedy that felled a family, the book exposes uncomfortable truths and follows the journey of recovery.

Families have secrets, hidden traumas, the skeleton in the closet. We can inherit the effects of these events without even realising it, absorbing it unconsciously, like a sponge absorbs water.

My family has such a secret. I tell you my story in this book, my story as I thought it, and then the truth of my story to help you to heal yours.

I explore how such events can affect us, both psychologically and physically and take you on the journey of recovery, how to bring a full stop to that inheritance of shame, blame and guilt, so the next generation does not have to carry the burden of it too.

We need to do something about it, shine a light on it, take the skeleton out of the closet, dust it down and bury it once and for all.

Zetta Thomelin is a therapist in private practice, involved in the governance of complementary medicine as Chair of BAThH, as Vice-Chair of UKCHO and as a Trustee of Research Council for Complementary Medicine

Prior to her career in therapy, she worked in the media at News International and Chronos Group Publishing and later in the Third Sector as CEO of Children with AIDS Charity and Vice Chair of Mama Biashara.

She is the author of two other books, The Healing Metaphor and Self-Help? Self-Hypnosis!

For further information go to http://www.zettathomelin.com email info@zettathomelin.com

My thoughts: this was a really interesting and informative read, using her own family as a case study, therapist Zetta explores how trauma can echo through the generations in a family and have an impact even if you don’t experience it firsthand.

Her grandparents and father were the ones directly affected by her aunt’s terrible death, but she was impacted by it too, through them. She looks at the different psychological theories and treatments that can be used to help someone experiencing generational trauma and what she has used in her own practice.

My own family has some experience of generational trauma and so I was interested to understand the effects of this and how it might manifest. A thoroughly intelligent and well written exploration of this condition and its impact.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.