Difference between revisions of "Newest Home and Family Reviews"

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[[Category:Home and Family|*]]
 
[[Category:Home and Family|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Home and Family]]
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[[Category:New Reviews|Home and Family]]__NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->
==Home and family==
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{{Frontpage
__NOTOC__
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|isbn=1454955546
{{newreview
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|title=Sugarless
|author=Judy Bartkowiak
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|author=Nicole M Avena
|title=NLP For Teens
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|rating=5
|rating=4
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|genre=Lifestyle
|genre=Home and Family
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|summary=''This isn't a diet book. The last thing anyone needs is another diet book.''
|summary=
 
NLP For Teens is part of the Engaging NLP series and is a follow-on from NLP for Children. Many a parent has been tempted to leave home when their children are teenagers; difficult as it is for the parents it's a traumatic time for the teens and anything which makes it a little easier is to be applauded particularly when the changes will come from the teens rather than being imposed by the parent.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907685901</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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There was a time, not that long ago, when it was thought that sugary food was better for you than food with high-fat content. Fat was the demon food which was going to elevate your cholesterol and cause heart disease.  Sugar was a carbohydrate, so good.  There's a problem, though.  Sugar is addictive and can hijack your brain in much the same way as drugs like heroin and cocaine.  Does that sound over the top?  Well, it isn't.
|author=Guy Andrews
 
|title=The Ultimate Guide to Bicycle Maintenance
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=This book seemed like the answer to my husband's prayers. I've had a beautiful Gary Fisher urban bike for about ten years, but shamefully, I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've even cleaned it. Well-used it certainly is, but I must confess to leaving all the maintenance to aforementioned husband. Having conceded that in this day and age I ought to be more independent that that, I dived into this book with great expectations for a fairer future …
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907232362</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1635866847
|author=Daniel Lezano
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|title=The Lavender Companion
|title=Getting Started in DSLR Photography
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|author=Jessica Dunham and Terry Barlin Vesci
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=The magazine-style layout of this 'magbook' (an ugly, but apt, term for the format) lends itself particularly well to the subject in hand, not least as the glossy pages beautifully illustrate the effects on the photographs that the publishers are showing. It's published by the team at 'Digital SLR Photography' magazine and it reads like a collection of the most useful articles published therein, particularly for the novice to SLR photography.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907232877</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Judy Bartkowiak and Carolyn Fitzpatrick
 
|title=Passing the 11+ with NLP: NLP Strategies for Supporting Your 11 Plus Student
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=The 11+ process is nerve-wracking for parents and children alike and many parents find it difficult to know how best to help their child.  Over-enthusiastic intervention can make a child more nervous and conscious that there's a lot at stake, whilst leaving the child to get on with it can well make the child feel that their success or failure doesn't matter to you.  It's also important that any preparation is built up in a steady way and that it leaves the child feeling confident of their success.  'Passing the 11+ with NLP' is a dual purpose book: there are the strategies for giving your child self-esteem, focus and concentration along with the other skills needed to pass and then there are details of the type of questions your child will face in the exam.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907685731</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Barbara Warmsley
 
|title=Make, Mend, Bake, Save and Shine!
 
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=A slim, slither of a book with a big title. ''Green'' is the mantra on most pages, as well as tips on how to waste less - whether it's food, clothes or water from the tap. This book has a universal message. How to waste less. There is a nice introduction by seventysomething Barbara Walmsley, aka the charity [http://www.oxfam.org.uk/ Oxfam's] ''Green Granny.'' Certainly catchy but will it catch on? When I was delving inside the first couple of pages looking for the writer's name (it's not on the front cover) I discovered the phrase ''Printed And Bound In China.'' Defeating the message?
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|summary=It's strange, the things that make you ''immediately'' feel that this is the book for you. Before I started reading ''The Lavender Companion'', I visited the author's [https://www.pinelavenderfarm.com/ website] and there's a picture of a slice of chocolate cake on the homepage. I don't eat cakes and desserts - but I wanted that cake viscerally.  (There's a recipe in the book, which I'm avoiding with some difficulty!!) Then I started reading the book and I was told to make a mess of it. Notes in the margins are sanctioned. You get to fold down the corners of pages.  You suspect that smears of butter would not be a problem.  I ''loved'' this book already.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846013674</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Patricia Nicol
 
|title=Sucking Eggs: What Your Wartime Granny Could Teach You About Diet, Thrift and Going Green
 
|rating=2.5
 
|genre=Politics and Society
 
|summary=In the current economy, lots of people are trying to make ends meet in their own ways. Not since the days of Brownie badges has the word ''thrift'' been bandied around so much, but now it's not so much about saving money as it is about surviving. Actually, maybe it always was, but the Guiding Association thought a jolly piggy bank was a more appropriate badge emblem than a depressed family collapsed in front of their Sky TV with their supermarket-own curry struggling to fill the void left by a regular take away. What we all need is a return to the good old days, when life was simpler and people happier, the days when you didn't need to clear half an hour in your diary to navigate the olive aisle of the supermarket, and when you ate what was fresh and local, not because it was cheap or you were in the mood, but because it was all they had.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099521121</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=0760381267
|author=Natasha McElhone
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|title=Verdura: Living a Garden Life
|title=After You: Letters of Love, and Loss, to a Husband and Father
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|author=Perla Sofia Curbelo-Santiago
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
|genre=Biography
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|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=What would you do if, without warning, your brilliant, loving, superman partner died from a catastrophic heart event at the untimely age of 43, leaving you with two young boys and a third on the way?  Most of us would probably reach for the Valium and book a very long course of counseling.  But Natascha McElhone couldn't because she was already stretched, juggling a busy transatlantic career as an actress as well as caring for her sparky young family.  Coping as a single parent left no spare time for self-indulgence; within months she had a new baby as well.  So she found her own way, grabbing instead at odd moments to write in her well-established diary.  These short entries … e-mails, almost … to her dead husband form the basis of 'After You'.
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|summary=''The most important part of a garden is the one who enjoys it''.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0670919098</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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I've 'gardened' in a vague, indefinite sort of way for more than half a century.  I know (most of) the basics but life has changed and I needed 'projects' rather than a general commitment to gardening''Verdura'' with its promise of projects for both indoors and outdoors of varying complexity seemed like the answer. So, how did it stack up?
|author=Joanna Simmons and Jay Curtis
 
|title=The Aargh to Zzzz of Parenting: An Alternative Guide
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary='All in all, having kids is an intense rollercoaster ride.  It plunges up and down, and there’s lots of screaming and vomiting involved.' So that pretty much sums it up.  Advertised as: 'a comprehensively unhelpful, advice-free look at life', the authors talk about Antecedents and Behaviour, without (fortunately) going too deeply into the Consequences of several dozen baby-related topics.  But this definitely isn’t the rocket science of a parenting manual, or the touchy-feely of a misery memoir, rather a blackly comic gallop round pragmatic parenthood, instantly recognizable by anyone who’s been through the mill themselves.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>022408626X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Chris Barnardo
 
|title=Dadcando: Build, Make, Do ... the Best Way to Spend Quality Time with Your Kids
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Crafts
 
|summary=The ideas in this book originated as a [http://www.dadcando.co.uk/ website] that Chris Barnardo set up for divorced and separated fathers to help them spend quality time with their children  Now he's written a book that although aimed at single fathers is equally as useful for married dads, and mums too or grandparents or carers to inspire crafty ideas of things to make with kids.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0852652011</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Tess Daly
 
|title=The Baby Diaries: Memories, Milestones and Misadventures
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=One of the many side effects of pregnancy seems to be the need to read everything you can get your hands on about pregnancy and babies.  I know that when pregnant with my daughter I trawled the library for any baby books they had, scoured the internet nightly for due date calendars, week by week guides and baby name dictionaries.  I also became an obsessive baby-watcher, interested in any celebrity baby news and willing to speak to anyone 'normal' that I met who was pregnant too or who already had childrenThis book is aiming to be a sort of catch-all for pregnancy obsessives I think, as it's a mix of pregnancy and birth advice and information alongside of Tess Daly's memories from her pregnancies with her two daughters.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0091935164</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1394159544
 +
|title=Recycling for Dummies
 +
|author=Sarah Winkler
 +
|rating=5
 +
|genre=Lifestyle
 +
|summary=''Recycling one ton of plastic can save up to 16.3 barrels of oil.''
  
{{newreview
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''Recycling one ton of paper can save 17 trees from being cut down.''
|author=Evany Thomas
 
|title=The Secret Language of Sleep: A Couple's Guide to the Thirty-nine Positions
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=This volume takes the premise that the positions in which couples sleep together are an insight into their private mind.  Therefore, with the help of the line drawings of 39 (apparently all of THE 39) positions, one might see where one is going wrong.  It’s a chicken and egg situation where you might learn you’re with the wrong bed partner, and change either them or your nocturnal habits, or in order to change yourself alter things having reflected on the contents here – with the help as they suggest of a ceiling-mounted camcorder.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1932416471</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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If you send an apple core to landfill, it will take between 6 months and 2 years to decompose. A glass bottle will take up to 1 million years.
|author=Fraser's Autographs
 
|title=Collect Autographs: An Illustrated Guide to Collecting and Investing in Autographs
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|summary=There must be many of us who have at one time had an autograph book or something of the kind as children and asked friends, relations or even celebrities to 'do something', written to celebrities in the hope of obtaining a personally signed picture, or even waited patiently at a stage door after a play or concert eagerly clutching a theatre programme, record or CD sleeve and pen in hand.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0852597525</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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As a just-post-WWII baby, I faced a dilemma: reducing, reusing and recycling is part of my DNA.  NEVER throw away anything that might ''possibly'' come in handy now or in the future.  NEVER buy anything if you can cobble together something that would serve the purpose. Almost everything can be used one more time and any purchase must pass the test of 'Is this absolutely essential?'  On the other hand, I suspected I was guilty of wishcycling: assuming that something must be recyclable (toothpaste tubes - I'm looking at you) and dropping it in the kerbside bin. Yes, I could go searching on the internet - and get conflicting advice - but what I needed was a recycling bible.s
|author=Sonali Fernando
 
|title=Soul Mates: True Stories From The World of Online Dating
 
|rating=2.5
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=Internet dating is no longer the new taboo it once was. These days, whatever type of person you are, and whatever type of person you're looking to meet, you can take your pick from any number of sites. Yes, even 'Guardian' readers can log on and look for love specifically with, erm, other 'Guardian' readers. To do so, they just have to click through to 'Guardian Soulmates', which is probably no different from 'Match.com' or 'Datingdirect', though might count a larger proportion of sandal wearing hippies among its members.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>085265202X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=0760378134
|author=Jethro Adlington
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|title=The First-Time Gardener: Container Food Gardening
|title=Online Therapy: Reading Between the Lines
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|author=Pamela Farley
|rating=4
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|rating=5
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=You can get most things online these days and even therapy is becoming more widely available on the internet.  It might seem like a simple step to take but many of the signals beyond the spoken word are not available to the online therapist.  In a face-to-face situation body language is an added form of communication and even small changes in skin tone can give clues as to state of mind.  In a situation where these clues are not available it's essential to make the most of ''all'' the clues offered by the written word.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1904312748</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Keith Hern
 
|title=Bangers and Mash
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=Keith Hern found a small lump in his neck and when the results of the tests came through he tried to put the appointment off as he had something more pressing to do, but the doctor was insistent.  He knew then that he had cancer.  The lump in his neck was, in fact, a secondary tumour with the primary being in the back of his tongue.  But for the secondary tumour the discovery of the primary might have been too late for successful treatment.  Keith takes us through the discovery of his cancer, his reactions to the diagnosis, his treatment and the titular meal of bangers and mash – the first solid food which he had attempted for some time.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1904312772</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Donna Blinston
 
|title=Make New Year's Resolutions and Keep Them Using NLP
 
|rating=2
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=It's coming up to that time of year again – you know it's the one where you make resolutions about going on a diet, getting more exercise, stopping smoking or losing weight.  If they last a week into the New Year you're probably doing well – and then you're left with a feeling of failure.  Donna Blinston offers advice on how to make your resolutions and how to keep them – and I needed this advice as much as the next couch potato.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1904312845</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Vyvyen Brendon
 
|title=Prep School Children: A Class Apart Over Two Centuries
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=''Prep School Children'' is Vyvyen Brendon's second collection (''Children of the Raj'' was the first). It explores the pupil experience, using primary sources like weekly letters home, memoirs and interviews, and less immediate material such as fiction, school magazines and headmasters' biographies. I came to the book with some questions: what was it like to be a boarder at a prep school? What difference did a prep school education make to life as an adult?  Why parents might send their children to such schools when the horrors were well-known, many of the dads presumably having survived the experience themselves.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847062873</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Tad Tuleja
 
|title=A Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases
 
|rating=3
 
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=Take a look at the cover design of this book, and you'd be mistaken for thinking this was a trivia compendium for all those foreign words that have taken part in our English language since whenever they crossed over from their original homes.  But the title is definitely honest, for this is a dictionary book first, for reference, and a browser for the trivia buff second.
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|summary=If you've ever thought how good it would be to be able to pop out into the garden and pick some fruit and vegetables for a meal – but realised that you wouldn't know where to start, this is the book you need.  It's comprehensive: you'll cover everything from why you should grow your own food, what you're going to grow, what you'll grow it in (both containers and soil), where you'll put these containers, how you'll water and fertilise them and you finish the main part of the book with a handy section on troubleshooting.  There's also a good glossary. So, is it any good?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0709089562</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1529149800
|author=Loose Women
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|title=Things You Can Do: How to Fight Climate Change and Reduce Waste
|title=Here Come the Girls
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|author=Eduardo Garcia and Sara Boccaccini Meadows
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=This is the second volume by the panelists from that nice ITV series, ''Loose Women''. Just as promised on the cover, this book is an entertaining night with the girlsIt turns out that they're just like us. The faces are already familiar and even if you don't know them yet, with nine contributors, you'll soon find a like-minded woman behind one of the celebrity faces.  The women are universally warm-hearted and supportive: there will be many a lonely woman who reads this book and feels as if she sat down with a group of friends for the evening.
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|summary=We begin with a telling story.  All the birds and animals fled when the forest fire took hold and most of them stood and watched, unable to think of anything they could do.  The tiny hummingbird flew to the river and began taking tiny amounts of water and flying back to drop them into the fire.  The animals laughed: what good was that doing.  ''I'm doing the best I can'', said the hummingbirdAnd that, really, is the only way that we will solve the problem of climate change – by each of us doing what we can, however small that might be.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444700154</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1849767009
|author=Gill Hines and Alison Baverstock
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|title=It Isn't Rude to be Nude
|title=It's Not Fair! Parenting the Bright and Challenging Child
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|author=Rosie Haine
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Home and Family
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|genre=For Sharing
|summary=I like parenting books. So, even though my sons are now young adults, I looked forward to reading a new book about raising children. I'm in touch with many parents with children of all ages, and am always interested in reading current recommendations.  
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|summary=This could have been one of those books which 'preaches to the choir': the only people who'll buy it are the people who know that nudity is OK and the ones who ''know'' that it's shameful will avoid it like they avoid the hot-and-bothered person in the supermarket who is coughing fit to bust.  But... Rosie Haines makes it into something so much more than a book about not wearing clothes. It's a celebration of bodies: bodies large and small and of every possible hue. Bodies with disabilities and markingsThey're fineIn fact, they're wonderful.
 
 
The subtitle of this book is, 'Parenting the bright and challenging child'When I saw it, I wondered if it would be similar to the American book 'Raising your Spirited Child' (by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka) which I found extremely useful when my sons were youngerSpirited children are defined as those who are intense, sensitive, perceptive, persistent and energetic.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749940468</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
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{{Frontpage
|author=Lucy Mangan
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|isbn=1504321383
|title=My Family and Other Disasters
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|title=Single, Again, and Again, and Again
|rating=4
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|author=Louisa Pateman
 +
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Autobiography
 
|genre=Autobiography
|summary=Not living in the UK means that we don't have British newspapers. Even when we lived in England, we never bought ''The Guardian'', so I had never actually heard of Lucy Mangan before being sent this book. That's probably not a bad thing, since I began the book - a collection of her Guardian columns - without any preconceptions.
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|summary=''You can't be happy and fulfilled on your own. You are not complete until you find a man''.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0852651244</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jane Brocket
 
|title=Ripping Things to Do
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Right from the very moment I opened the envelope this book was delivered in, I had the distinct feeling this would be a real gem of a book, and how right I was. Though, initially, I was reminded of the Iggulden brothers' ''Dangerous Book for Boys'' series, this book has a very different ethos, even though the subject matter overlaps somewhat unavoidably making it bear comparison.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340980966</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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This was what Louisa Pateman was brought up to believeIt wasn't unkind: it was simply the adults in her life advising her as to what they thought would be best for herIt was reinforced by all those fairy tales where the girl (she's usually fairly young) is rescued by the handsome prince who then marries her so that they can live happily ever afterFew girls are lucky enough to be brought up ''without'' the expectation that they will marry and have childrenIt was a belief and it would be many years before Louisa would conclude that ''a belief is a choice''.
|author=Maria Tatar
 
|title=Enchanted Hunters: The Power of Stories in Childhood
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=Like most avid readers, I don't remember the time before there were books.  We were brought up with booksThere are family tales of my father as a child eating his breakfast with one hand, while trying to tie his shoelaces with the other and still contriving to read at the same timeThey were a poor family, and books weren't just expensive, they were valuableThey were dear, in every sense of the wordLikewise my mother remembers her early school-years when every day ended with a chapter from one of the classics.  
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0393066010</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=Graff_Find
|author=Kate Brian
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|title=Find Another Place
|title=The Complete Guide to IVF
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|author=Ben Graff
|rating=5
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|rating=3.5
|genre=Lifestyle
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|genre=Autobiography
|summary=Each year some forty thousand cycles of IVF – in vitro fertilisation – are carried out in the UK and something like a million worldwide.  About two hundred thousand IVF babies are born annually with some twelve thousand of those in the UK according to a recent article I read on a BBC site.  Fertility expert Kate Brian has followed her [[The Complete Guide to Female Fertility by Kate Brian|Complete Guide to Female Fertility]], which we loved, with another indispensable guide – this time to IVF.
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|summary=When Ben Graff's grandfather Martin handed him a plastic folder of handwritten notes from his journal, he didn't take much notice of it. At the age of 24, Graff didn't realise the gravity of the pages he was holding.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749909706</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Ali Valenzuela
 
|title=Weighing It Up
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|summary=Although never having had an eating disorder myself, I have been interested in them since I was young. I was a competitive gymnast and that is a world where eating disorders do creep in. Now I'm a mother of three teenage daughters, I worry about the subject from a whole new angle, especially as one of them is a size 6-8 and idolises those super-skinny celebrities.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340988401</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Anna Paterson
 
|title=Anorexic
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|summary=It might seem strange and somewhat ironic that an obese woman is reviewing a book on anorexia. But it is a topic I have always found interesting. Despite my being at the opposite end of the weight scale to Anna Paterson, I could empathise with some of the things she felt.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0952921529</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=Goodland_Worth
|author=Loose Women
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|title=It's Worth a Try
|title=Girls' Night In
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|author=Nicola Goodland
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=I love watching ''Loose Women'' on TV and feel it's like sitting down for a good gossip with a load of girlfriends. Every time it's on, I get involved in the debates and they spark discussions at home with whoever is around. My teenage daughters are fans of the show too.
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|summary=This is how Nicola Goodland introduces her book, ''It's Worth a Try'':
  
So when I heard a book was coming out, I definitely wanted to read it! But would the fun and camaraderie so obvious on the telly really be able to translate to the written word?
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''I wanted to write this kind of book because when I was a young woman, ladies and gents told me that they suffered from abuse of some kind as children and only found the courage to talk about it as adults. Maybe this book can deter children from becoming future abusers and stop abuse so it goes away for good.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0340918454</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=Higashida_Fall
|author=Jeffrey Dean
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|title=Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight: A Young Man's Voice From the Silence of Autism
|title=The Fight of Your Life
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|author=Naoki Higashida and David Mitchell
|rating=4
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|rating=5
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=This book is a wake-up call. Jeffrey Dean wrote it so that parents can understand the difficult world that their teens may have to face everyday, and through this understanding, they will be motivated to help their teens to survive.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1601421109</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Mark Diacono
 
|title=Veg Patch: River Cottage Handbook No 4
 
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=At a time when the climate is changing and the economy appears to be heading south the thought of being able to produce your own vegetables is very tempting.  Forget about food miles and consider instead how few minutes there can be between harvesting your vegetables and the cooking process.  Don't worry about pesticides and residues as you'll know exactly what's been fed to your food. Mark Diacono, head gardener on the hallowed ground of River Cottage HQ, run by the sainted Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, tells you exactly how to go about it in this, the fourth of the River Cottage Handbooks.
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|summary=Naoki Higashida was only 13 years old when he wrote the international best-seller ''The Reason I Jump''. The book was popular because it gave a rare glimpse into the workings of the autistic mind, as told from the unique perspective of a teenager with non-verbal autism. Naoki communicates by using an alphabet grid, or by tracing letters on the palm of a transcriber. Despite this slow and laborious method of writing, he has published several books in his native Japan and manages to give public presentations to raise awareness of his condition. Fall Down 7 Times Get up 8 reintroduces us to Naoki as a young adult in his 20s and explains how his perspectives on life have changed since writing his first book.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0747595348</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=Bialik_Girling
|author=John Kay
+
|title=Girling Up
|title=The Long and the Short of it: A Guide to Finance and Investment for Normally Intelligent People Who Aren't in the Industry
+
|author=Mayim Bialik
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Politics and Society
 
|summary=Sometimes I wonder if authors set out to stop people reading their books, strange as this might seem.  John Kay is an excellent example.  He tells us that he expects his readers to be erudite and to be readers of popular science.  They'll never knowingly have dealt with Goldman Sachs and will pay tax at the 40% rate.  At the other end of the scale they'll not be bad credit risks and just to cut out anyone hoping for a quick buck, they'll not be tempted to make a living from Stock Market speculation.  If you don't qualify on all points there's not even a hint of a pass mark which might allow you to sneak into the checkout queue.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0954809327</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Glenn Harrold
 
|title=Look Young, Live Longer: The Secret to Changing Your Life and Slowing the Ageing Process
 
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=I was really intrigued by the title of therapist Glenn Harrold's book ''Look Young and Live Longer''. Could it be possible that a book could deliver on such a huge promise? Having been feeling more than a little jaded lately, I was willing to give it a try.
+
|summary=This book arrived on my desk to cries of ''Amy Farrah Fowler's written a book?'' or ''No, that's Blossom'' depending on your generation. Mayim Bialik is or was both, of course, but in addition to being a well-known sitcom actress, she is also a neuroscientist (and the only PhD on The Big Bang Theory, except for the characters). Aimed at teenagers, this book focuses on growing up as a girl, or ''Girling up'' if you will, and what it means to transition from school girl to grown-up, via that hideous detour of teenage years.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>075288610X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Adam Phillips and Barbara Taylor
 
|title=On Kindness
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Politics and Society
 
|summary=As a title, ''On Kindness'' doesn't pack quite the same punch as Adam Phillip's earlier: 'On Kissing, Tickling and Being Bored'. It put me in mind of an eighteenth century treatise, and, give or take a couple of centuries, that is exactly what the book provides: a thought-provoking exposition on a currently unfashionable virtue.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0241144337</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Mattinson_Puppy
|author=Olive Hickmott and Andrew Bendefy
+
|title=Choosing the Perfect Puppy
|title=Seeing Spells Achieving
+
|author=Pippa Mattinson
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=I felt an immediate empathy with Olive Hickmott when I read this book.  We're obviously of a similar age and were taught reading and spelling in a time before you were ''dyslexic''.  I found that the terms more commonly used were 'not trying hard enough' and 'lazy'.  I did master reading although I was late by today's standards but I've always struggled with spelling: certain words and letter combinations still have terrors hidden within them half a century later and until we changed the format of Bookbag I used to warn reviewers that they should check whatever I uploaded onto the site as I was unreliable when it came to spellingOlive and I have both been saved by the spellcheckerI settled happily into reading, Olive less so, but we both made careers where numbers were important.  I could read a set of accounts like a story; she found a home in engineering. We worked in areas where intuition was important.
+
|summary=If you have ever, for even a fleeting moment, thought about getting a puppy, you really ought to read this book.  Too many people are carried away in the heat of the moment and ''must'' have a particular breed and go ahead without any thought about the consequencesThey then have to live with the problems which ''might'' have been avoided for a decade or moreThe puppy and the adult dog also has to live with an owner who might not be able to accommodate his needs[[:Category:Pippa Mattinson|Pippa Mattinson]] is my go-to author on matters dog related: she talks senseShe doesn't try to talk you out of getting a particular breed or any puppy: she simply presents the facts and allows you to make your own decisions.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1904312209</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Raskin_Grow
|author=Kate Brian
+
|title=Grow: A Family Guide to Growing Fruit and Veg
|title=The Complete Guide to Female Fertility
+
|author=Ben Raskin
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=It's tempting to say that every woman over the age of puberty should have access to Kate Brian's 'The Complete Guide to Female Fertility'.  The truth is that they should all have their own copies and they should read the book until it's dog-eared and falling apart, because I really can't think of a better way to understand why some women are more fertile than others or some women have difficulty in conceiving.
+
|summary=I worried when I looked at this book: ''Grow'', it said, ''A family guide to growing fruit and veg''.  Why did it worry me?  Well, it's a mere 48 pages and the cover says that it includes ''Games, stickers and MORE!''  I have weighty tomes which don't completely cover what I need to know about growing fruit and veg, so wasn't this going to fall a little short?  Well, it doesn't - not at all.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749927925</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Mcgrath_Camping
|author=India Knight
+
|title=Camping With Kids
|title=The Thrift Book: Live Well and Spend Less
+
|author=Simon McGrath
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=A soon as I read the introduction I wondered if this was really going to be the book for me.  Despite having two books in the top ten best seller list India Knight knew the bailiffs well and was facing bankruptcy.  It wasn't that she wasn't earning money – it was simply that she had no ability to handle it. Hmm – I have a horror of debt and I can handle money. Was India Knight ''really'' going to be able to teach the person who grew up with the austerity of post-war Britain chomping at her heels anything about thrift?  Plans were already forming to move the book on, when slowly and inexorably I was won over.
+
|summary=When my daughter was young it used to be joked that if a child asked on his fifth birthday to go camping and you told him that he could in five years' time, he'd be there on his tenth birthday, all kitted up and ready to go. These days the discussions - and delaying tactics - are more likely to be about technology - and mobiles in particular. Whilst it's wonderful that children do embrace technology, it shouldn't be at the expense of getting out in the fresh air, being free of screens and having an adventure - preferably with all the family doing it ''together''.  
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905490372</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Williams_Son
|author=Michael Schmidt and Robert Maslen
+
|title=My Son's Not Rainman: One Man, One Autistic Boy, A Million Adventures
|title=The Shakespeare Handbook
+
|author=John Williams
|rating=4
+
|rating=3.5
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=William Shakespeare.  If you're a fan of the theatre, you may see him as the greatest playwright of all time.  If you're currently studying English at school, he may be the worst thing that ever happened to you.  Over the years, I've certainly held both opinions, depending on where I was at the time.
 
 
 
Part of this could have been because I, like most school pupils, never had a gentle introduction to Shakespeare.  If I'd had a book like this in the early years of my schooling, I suspect I may have come around to my love of Shakespeare a lot sooner than I did.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184724615X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Tania Glyde
 
|title=Cleaning Up: How I Gave Up Drinking And Lived
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Autobiography
 
|summary=I suspect that I'm like a lot of people who enjoy alcohol on a regular basis: there's a nagging guilt and suspicion that you might have a problem.  Equally, there's St Augustine's approach to a sin: you're determined to do something about it, but not just yet.  So, when ''Cleaning Up: How I Gave Up Drinking And Lived'' dropped through the letterbox on Saturday morning I wondered if this was a message from a higher authority.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846686555</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Mike Toms and Paul Sterry
 
|title=Garden Birds and Wildlife
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|summary=''Garden Birds & Wildlife'' has been created and published under the auspices of British Trust for Ornithology (though the actual publisher is, possibly in the spirit of penance for damage inflicted on wildlife by the motorcar, the AA). Accordingly, the main focus of the guide is, indeed, on birds. It contains a wealth of information: from birdwatching to bird biology and behaviour, including visual guides to eggs and nests; practical tips and guides to bird watching, feeding (what, how and where), creating a bird-and-wildlife- friendly garden and building nest boxes; it's all there, with copious illustrations, clear text and more interesting or practically relevant facts and tips in separate insert boxes.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749559128</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Michael Oke
 
|title=Write Your Life Story
 
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=I love writing and over the last few years, I have begun to write my autobiography. While I find this a very rewarding process, sometimes it can be hard to stay motivated. It is easy to get bogged down in wondering if it's any good, if you are going into too much detail or not enough. Sometimes you need a push in the right direction. ''Write Your Life Story'' by Michael Oke is ideal for this, as well as for anyone interested in writing their memoirs, but unsure how to start.
+
|summary=In 2012, stand-up comedian John Williams was encouraged by his work colleagues to write a show charting his experiences as the parent of an autistic boy. After registering the domain name: ''My Son's Not Rainman,'' he also decided to write a blog to share his funny anecdotes and experiences. After a shaky start (''I had a handful of followers. Three of them were my brothers''), the blog eventually went viral as it increased in popularity with parents who felt a connection with John and 'The Boy'. This book fills in some of the gaps in the story, starting with 'The Boy's' early childhood and ending, appropriately, on his thirteenth birthday when he suddenly became 'The Teen'.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845283058</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Mbaya_Brain
|author= Niall Edworthy and Petra Cramsie
+
|title=My Brain Is Out Of Control
|title=The Optimist's/pessimist's Handbook
+
|author=Patrick Mbaya
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Trivia
 
|summary=With a publication date in early November, the passing Christmas shopper is clearly the target for this book. ''The Optimist's/ Pessimist's Handbook'' isn't a self-help book, but a compendium of enlightening snippets.  Off the shelf, I think you'd know immediately which relative or friend might enjoy receiving it.  So I suggest eschewing Amazon in favour of a real-life bookshop, not least because there will be a shelf full of similar books for a surreptitious and delightful half-hour's browse before choosing.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>038561411X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jeremy Butterfield
 
|title=Damp Squid: The English Language Laid Bare
 
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=How do you pronounce the word ghoti?  Go on, say it out loud – you must recognise it, and I dare say you've eaten one enough times.  
+
|summary=Dr Patrick Mbaya was enjoying life as a consultant psychiatrist, husband and father. His career was going well and he enjoyed making ill people better. His marriage was solid and fulfilling and his two children were exploring their potential, often through the uplifting power of music. Life was good. But then...
 
 
OK, I'll help. You know gh sounds like f, like it does in rough. You know o sounds like i, just like in women. And ti is clearly the same as sh, as in notion. Yes, ghoti is pronounced fish. It's just a very blunt way of saying the rules that control the language, and how it is spelled, pronounced, used, and changes over history are all over the place.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0199239061</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Allingham_Beloved
|author=Ben Crystal
+
|title=Beloved Old Age and What to Do About it: Margery Allingham's the Relay
|title=Shakespeare on Toast
+
|author=Margery Allingham and Julia Jones
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=''Shakespeare on Toast'' claims to be for virtually everyone: those that are ''reading Shakespeare for the first time, occasionally finding him troublesome, think they know him backwards or have never set foot near one of his plays but have always wanted to''.  
+
|summary=We remember [[:Category:Margery Allingham|Margery Allingham]] as a novelist from the golden age of crime, perhaps not as famous as Agatha Christie or Dorothy L Sayers but certainly well regarded by those who appreciate good writing and excellent plotting.  Her last completed book was not a novel but ''The Relay'', a combined account of caring for three elderly relatives, (Em, Maud and Grace) between 1959 and 1961 and suggestions as to how other people might achieve a good old age for their relatives.  Margery died in 1966 and ''The Relay'' was never published in the form in which it was written.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848310161</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Rodgers_Peace
|author=Marisa Peer
+
|title=Peace of Mind: A Book of Calm for Busy Mums
|title=You Can Be Thin: The Ultimate Programme to End Dieting... Forever
+
|author=Georgina Rodgers
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=3
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=After having my baby just over two years ago, I have found it quite hard to shed the weight which seemed to be sticking around. I used to be quite thin before having him, so to suddenly go up a dress size was a bit of a shock. I'm quite a petite person so even just a few extra pounds shows unfortunately. I decided I had to get rid of the weight, and so I turned to this book sent to me by The Bookbag.
+
|summary=The promise of a book bringing me calm was too much to resist! There it is, in the title, my job description (busy mum...well, that's just one of my jobs!) and that elusive state that many mums seem to be trying to find, peace of mind. I have to say, I was looking forward to some insightful revelations into changing my life. I think the problem, however, was quickly apparent in that like a busy mum, who is trying to wear a hundred masks at the same time, and carry out a multitude of roles, this book isn't entirely sure what it's trying to be, with everything from poetry and colouring to mindfulness and recipes.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847441394</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Ehrlin_Rabbit
|author=Elise Lindsay
+
|title=The Rabbit Who Wants To Fall Asleep
|title=How to Get a Celeb's Body: Discover the Secrets of the Stars with Your Own Personal Trainer
+
|author=Carl-Johan Forssen Ehrlin
|rating=2
+
|rating=5
 
|genre=Home and Family
 
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=I do not know Elise Lindsay - neither by name or reputation. I am optimistic and therefore think she must be a great coach. A hundred plus pages with pictures show her posing very confidently in flattering sport outfits and she does seem quite fit. I am sure she can motivate her clients and make them do their best. Quite frankly though, I do not believe that should in any way have motivated anyone to write a book.
+
|summary=Roger the Rabbit wanted to fall asleep, but somehow he couldn't, no matter how hard he tried. It wasn't that he didn't do much during the day, because he did but sometimes he was so tired that he could fall asleep on the swings. One night Mummy Rabbit took Roger to see Uncle Yawn, who had a notice outside his house saying I can make anyone fall asleep and once Roger went home (it was actually quite difficult for him to get there as his eyes kept closing) he went straight to bed and fell asleep.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718153375</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
+
Move on to [[Newest Horror Reviews]]
|author=Kathleen Burk and Michael Bywater
 
|title=Is This Bottle Corked? The Secret Life of Wine
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Trivia
 
|summary=Now, I'm the first person to admit I am not a wine buff.  I know a lot more now than I did before my current relationship, but she is right to say I have a very masculine (ie dead weak) sense of smell.  Added to that a blunt sense of taste and I'm left saying I know what I like when I drink it, and that's it.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571241743</amazonuk>
 
}}
 

Latest revision as of 09:32, 12 December 2023

1454955546.jpg

Review of

Sugarless by Nicole M Avena

5star.jpg Lifestyle

This isn't a diet book. The last thing anyone needs is another diet book.

There was a time, not that long ago, when it was thought that sugary food was better for you than food with high-fat content. Fat was the demon food which was going to elevate your cholesterol and cause heart disease. Sugar was a carbohydrate, so good. There's a problem, though. Sugar is addictive and can hijack your brain in much the same way as drugs like heroin and cocaine. Does that sound over the top? Well, it isn't. Full Review

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Review of

The Lavender Companion by Jessica Dunham and Terry Barlin Vesci

4.5star.jpg Lifestyle

It's strange, the things that make you immediately feel that this is the book for you. Before I started reading The Lavender Companion, I visited the author's website and there's a picture of a slice of chocolate cake on the homepage. I don't eat cakes and desserts - but I wanted that cake viscerally. (There's a recipe in the book, which I'm avoiding with some difficulty!!) Then I started reading the book and I was told to make a mess of it. Notes in the margins are sanctioned. You get to fold down the corners of pages. You suspect that smears of butter would not be a problem. I loved this book already. Full Review

0760381267.jpg

Review of

Verdura: Living a Garden Life by Perla Sofia Curbelo-Santiago

3.5star.jpg Lifestyle

The most important part of a garden is the one who enjoys it.

I've 'gardened' in a vague, indefinite sort of way for more than half a century. I know (most of) the basics but life has changed and I needed 'projects' rather than a general commitment to gardening. Verdura with its promise of projects for both indoors and outdoors of varying complexity seemed like the answer. So, how did it stack up? Full Review

1394159544.jpg

Review of

Recycling for Dummies by Sarah Winkler

5star.jpg Lifestyle

Recycling one ton of plastic can save up to 16.3 barrels of oil.

Recycling one ton of paper can save 17 trees from being cut down.

If you send an apple core to landfill, it will take between 6 months and 2 years to decompose. A glass bottle will take up to 1 million years.

As a just-post-WWII baby, I faced a dilemma: reducing, reusing and recycling is part of my DNA. NEVER throw away anything that might possibly come in handy now or in the future. NEVER buy anything if you can cobble together something that would serve the purpose. Almost everything can be used one more time and any purchase must pass the test of 'Is this absolutely essential?' On the other hand, I suspected I was guilty of wishcycling: assuming that something must be recyclable (toothpaste tubes - I'm looking at you) and dropping it in the kerbside bin. Yes, I could go searching on the internet - and get conflicting advice - but what I needed was a recycling bible.s Full Review

0760378134.jpg

Review of

The First-Time Gardener: Container Food Gardening by Pamela Farley

5star.jpg Home and Family

If you've ever thought how good it would be to be able to pop out into the garden and pick some fruit and vegetables for a meal – but realised that you wouldn't know where to start, this is the book you need. It's comprehensive: you'll cover everything from why you should grow your own food, what you're going to grow, what you'll grow it in (both containers and soil), where you'll put these containers, how you'll water and fertilise them and you finish the main part of the book with a handy section on troubleshooting. There's also a good glossary. So, is it any good? Full Review

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Review of

Things You Can Do: How to Fight Climate Change and Reduce Waste by Eduardo Garcia and Sara Boccaccini Meadows

4star.jpg Home and Family

We begin with a telling story. All the birds and animals fled when the forest fire took hold and most of them stood and watched, unable to think of anything they could do. The tiny hummingbird flew to the river and began taking tiny amounts of water and flying back to drop them into the fire. The animals laughed: what good was that doing. I'm doing the best I can, said the hummingbird. And that, really, is the only way that we will solve the problem of climate change – by each of us doing what we can, however small that might be. Full Review

1849767009.jpg

Review of

It Isn't Rude to be Nude by Rosie Haine

5star.jpg For Sharing

This could have been one of those books which 'preaches to the choir': the only people who'll buy it are the people who know that nudity is OK and the ones who know that it's shameful will avoid it like they avoid the hot-and-bothered person in the supermarket who is coughing fit to bust. But... Rosie Haines makes it into something so much more than a book about not wearing clothes. It's a celebration of bodies: bodies large and small and of every possible hue. Bodies with disabilities and markings. They're fine. In fact, they're wonderful. Full Review

1504321383.jpg

Review of

Single, Again, and Again, and Again by Louisa Pateman

4.5star.jpg Autobiography

You can't be happy and fulfilled on your own. You are not complete until you find a man.

This was what Louisa Pateman was brought up to believe. It wasn't unkind: it was simply the adults in her life advising her as to what they thought would be best for her. It was reinforced by all those fairy tales where the girl (she's usually fairly young) is rescued by the handsome prince who then marries her so that they can live happily ever after. Few girls are lucky enough to be brought up without the expectation that they will marry and have children. It was a belief and it would be many years before Louisa would conclude that a belief is a choice. Full Review

Graff Find.jpg

Review of

Find Another Place by Ben Graff

3.5star.jpg Autobiography

When Ben Graff's grandfather Martin handed him a plastic folder of handwritten notes from his journal, he didn't take much notice of it. At the age of 24, Graff didn't realise the gravity of the pages he was holding. Full Review

Goodland Worth.jpg

Review of

It's Worth a Try by Nicola Goodland

4star.jpg Home and Family

This is how Nicola Goodland introduces her book, It's Worth a Try:

I wanted to write this kind of book because when I was a young woman, ladies and gents told me that they suffered from abuse of some kind as children and only found the courage to talk about it as adults. Maybe this book can deter children from becoming future abusers and stop abuse so it goes away for good. Full Review

Higashida Fall.jpg

Review of

Fall Down Seven Times, Get Up Eight: A Young Man's Voice From the Silence of Autism by Naoki Higashida and David Mitchell

5star.jpg Home and Family

Naoki Higashida was only 13 years old when he wrote the international best-seller The Reason I Jump. The book was popular because it gave a rare glimpse into the workings of the autistic mind, as told from the unique perspective of a teenager with non-verbal autism. Naoki communicates by using an alphabet grid, or by tracing letters on the palm of a transcriber. Despite this slow and laborious method of writing, he has published several books in his native Japan and manages to give public presentations to raise awareness of his condition. Fall Down 7 Times Get up 8 reintroduces us to Naoki as a young adult in his 20s and explains how his perspectives on life have changed since writing his first book. Full Review

Bialik Girling.jpg

Review of

Girling Up by Mayim Bialik

4.5star.jpg Home and Family

This book arrived on my desk to cries of Amy Farrah Fowler's written a book? or No, that's Blossom depending on your generation. Mayim Bialik is or was both, of course, but in addition to being a well-known sitcom actress, she is also a neuroscientist (and the only PhD on The Big Bang Theory, except for the characters). Aimed at teenagers, this book focuses on growing up as a girl, or Girling up if you will, and what it means to transition from school girl to grown-up, via that hideous detour of teenage years. Full Review

Mattinson Puppy.jpg

Review of

Choosing the Perfect Puppy by Pippa Mattinson

4.5star.jpg Home and Family

If you have ever, for even a fleeting moment, thought about getting a puppy, you really ought to read this book. Too many people are carried away in the heat of the moment and must have a particular breed and go ahead without any thought about the consequences. They then have to live with the problems which might have been avoided for a decade or more. The puppy and the adult dog also has to live with an owner who might not be able to accommodate his needs. Pippa Mattinson is my go-to author on matters dog related: she talks sense. She doesn't try to talk you out of getting a particular breed or any puppy: she simply presents the facts and allows you to make your own decisions. Full Review

Raskin Grow.jpg

Review of

Grow: A Family Guide to Growing Fruit and Veg by Ben Raskin

5star.jpg Home and Family

I worried when I looked at this book: Grow, it said, A family guide to growing fruit and veg. Why did it worry me? Well, it's a mere 48 pages and the cover says that it includes Games, stickers and MORE! I have weighty tomes which don't completely cover what I need to know about growing fruit and veg, so wasn't this going to fall a little short? Well, it doesn't - not at all. Full Review

Mcgrath Camping.jpg

Review of

Camping With Kids by Simon McGrath

4.5star.jpg Home and Family

When my daughter was young it used to be joked that if a child asked on his fifth birthday to go camping and you told him that he could in five years' time, he'd be there on his tenth birthday, all kitted up and ready to go. These days the discussions - and delaying tactics - are more likely to be about technology - and mobiles in particular. Whilst it's wonderful that children do embrace technology, it shouldn't be at the expense of getting out in the fresh air, being free of screens and having an adventure - preferably with all the family doing it together. Full Review

Williams Son.jpg

Review of

My Son's Not Rainman: One Man, One Autistic Boy, A Million Adventures by John Williams

3.5star.jpg Home and Family

In 2012, stand-up comedian John Williams was encouraged by his work colleagues to write a show charting his experiences as the parent of an autistic boy. After registering the domain name: My Son's Not Rainman, he also decided to write a blog to share his funny anecdotes and experiences. After a shaky start (I had a handful of followers. Three of them were my brothers), the blog eventually went viral as it increased in popularity with parents who felt a connection with John and 'The Boy'. This book fills in some of the gaps in the story, starting with 'The Boy's' early childhood and ending, appropriately, on his thirteenth birthday when he suddenly became 'The Teen'. Full Review

Mbaya Brain.jpg

Review of

My Brain Is Out Of Control by Patrick Mbaya

4star.jpg Home and Family

Dr Patrick Mbaya was enjoying life as a consultant psychiatrist, husband and father. His career was going well and he enjoyed making ill people better. His marriage was solid and fulfilling and his two children were exploring their potential, often through the uplifting power of music. Life was good. But then... Full Review

Allingham Beloved.jpg

Review of

Beloved Old Age and What to Do About it: Margery Allingham's the Relay by Margery Allingham and Julia Jones

4.5star.jpg Home and Family

We remember Margery Allingham as a novelist from the golden age of crime, perhaps not as famous as Agatha Christie or Dorothy L Sayers but certainly well regarded by those who appreciate good writing and excellent plotting. Her last completed book was not a novel but The Relay, a combined account of caring for three elderly relatives, (Em, Maud and Grace) between 1959 and 1961 and suggestions as to how other people might achieve a good old age for their relatives. Margery died in 1966 and The Relay was never published in the form in which it was written. Full Review

Rodgers Peace.jpg

Review of

Peace of Mind: A Book of Calm for Busy Mums by Georgina Rodgers

3star.jpg Home and Family

The promise of a book bringing me calm was too much to resist! There it is, in the title, my job description (busy mum...well, that's just one of my jobs!) and that elusive state that many mums seem to be trying to find, peace of mind. I have to say, I was looking forward to some insightful revelations into changing my life. I think the problem, however, was quickly apparent in that like a busy mum, who is trying to wear a hundred masks at the same time, and carry out a multitude of roles, this book isn't entirely sure what it's trying to be, with everything from poetry and colouring to mindfulness and recipes. Full Review

Ehrlin Rabbit.jpg

Review of

The Rabbit Who Wants To Fall Asleep by Carl-Johan Forssen Ehrlin

5star.jpg Home and Family

Roger the Rabbit wanted to fall asleep, but somehow he couldn't, no matter how hard he tried. It wasn't that he didn't do much during the day, because he did but sometimes he was so tired that he could fall asleep on the swings. One night Mummy Rabbit took Roger to see Uncle Yawn, who had a notice outside his house saying I can make anyone fall asleep and once Roger went home (it was actually quite difficult for him to get there as his eyes kept closing) he went straight to bed and fell asleep. Full Review

Move on to Newest Horror Reviews