Tag: book reviews

Review – The Animals Among Us

Posted June 16, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Review – The Animals Among Us

The Animals Among Us: The New Science of Anthrozoology

by John Bradshaw

Genres: Non-fiction, Science
Pages: 371
Rating: two-stars
Synopsis:

The bestselling author of Dog Sense and Cat Sense explains why living with animals has always been a fundamental aspect of being human

Pets have never been more popular. Over half of American households share their home with either a cat or a dog, and many contain both. This is a huge change from only a century ago, when the majority of domestic cats and dogs were working animals, keeping rodents at bay, guarding property, herding sheep. Nowadays, most are valued solely for the companionship they provide. As mankind becomes progressively more urban and detached from nature, we seem to be clinging to the animals that served us well in the past.

In The Animals Among Us, anthrozoologist John Bradshaw argues that pet-keeping is nothing less than an intrinsic part of human nature. An affinity for animals drove our evolution and now, without animals around us, we risk losing an essential part of ourselves.

I found John Bradshaw’s The Animals Among Us initially quite interesting, but ultimately there were a couple of problems: it’s very repetitive, it’s very gender essentialist, and he keeps saying things “cannot be a coincidence” when they can, anything can be a coincidence. Just saying something cannot be a coincidence does not constitute any kind of proof whatsoever that it is not, in fact, coincidence.

He’s also got a pretty cavalier attitude to a number of things, typified by the one I picked up on: he claims that it’s — and I quote — a “fable” that there’s a link between schizophrenia and toxoplasmosis. Not only is it not a fable, but there are also links between Toxoplasma gondii infection and suicide risk, bipolar disease, anxiety, ADHD and OCD. And more! Now I’m not saying all of those are well evidenced, mostly I see stuff like odds ratios and hazard ratios that are suggestive without being conclusive, and we could use more clear-cut explanations of how that’s supposed to be caused and elucidations of stuff like whether it’s infection at any time in your life or infection at a critical period or only if you have both a toxoplasmosis infection and another risk factor… But the point is, it should not be lightly dismissed as a fable.

And sure, it’s a relatively minor point, except he refers to it multiple times and he’s wrong every time. What’s going on here? Has he just decided it’s not a risk and declared that to be the case in spite of the evidence we have? Is he referring to a paper to rule all papers that has disproven all the ones before and after it? Why is he saying this?

This kind of thing always makes me a bit suspicious, and of course, I know my parasitology pretty well (I have an MSc in Infectious Diseases from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, one of the top universities for the study of infectious disease in the world — or I will after it’s been officially conferred upon me — and I studied parasitology in the course of that degree) and this jumped out at me. What was there that wasn’t jumping out at me, but is nonetheless equally wrong, dismissive, misguided, etc?

So… read with care, I suppose.

Rating: 2/5 

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Review – Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife

Posted June 15, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife

Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife: The Extraordinary Lives of Medieval Women

by Hetta Howes

Genres: History, Non-fiction
Pages: 298
Rating: two-stars
Synopsis:

What was life really like for women in the medieval period? How did they think about sex, death and God? Could they live independent lives? And how can we hear their stories?

Few women had the luxury of writing down their thoughts and feelings during medieval times. But remarkably, there are at least four extraordinary women who did. Marie de France, a poet; Julian of Norwich, a mystic and anchoress; Christine de Pizan, a widow and court writer; and Margery Kempe, a "no-good wife". In their own ways these four very different writers pushed back against the misogyny of the period. Each broke new ground in women's writing and left us incredible insights into the world of medieval life and politics.

Hetta Howes has spent her working life uncovering these women's stories to give us a valuable and unique historical biography of their lives that challenges what we think we know about medieval women in Europe. Women did earn money, they could live independent lives, and they thought, loved, fought and suffered just as we do today.

This mesmerizing book is an unforgettably lively and immersive journey into the everyday lives of medieval women through the stories of these four iconic women writers, some of which are retold here for general readers for the first time.

Hetta Howes’ Poet Mystic Widow Wife does a pretty good job at discussing the lives of medieval women in general, while reflecting specifically on Marie de France, Christine de Pizan, Margery Kempe and Julian of Norwich. If considered as intending to shed light on those lives specifically, it feels pretty disorganised and lacks detail on Marie de France and Julian of Norwich — which is in part due to lack of sources and in part due to choosing poorly (though there may not be many good choices).

Overall, it didn’t quite work for me. I think it was the general feeling of it not being super organised, for a start; each section would jump around slightly in time and place, trying to touch on the four women regularly, but not always managing to link them in to the chapter’s themes very well.

Perhaps it’s partly a matter of style; while Howes’ style is readable, I didn’t love it. Her sources are pretty sparse, and overall this might all be explained by the fact that she’s qualified in medieval literature (which probably informed her choice of sources) rather than history. Literature was my first field of study as well and one in which she’s more qualified than I am, and medieval literature in particular has an overlap with understanding medieval history… but it’s not the same. I know a lot about the role of medieval women through that same literary lense, and maybe I was hoping for something a bit more rooted in named sources. I was also hoping for more about Marie de France, whose works I studied (in translation).

In any case, if you’re looking for an accessible, chatty sort of popular history, with reimaginings about what Margery Kemp and Christine de Pizan thought and felt, this might be more up your street. If you’re here for Marie de France or Julian of Norwich, perhaps not.

Rating: 2/5

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Review – Poetry Prescription: Words for Love

Posted June 13, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Poetry Prescription: Words for Love

Poetry Prescription: Words for Love

by Deborah Alma (editor)

Genres: Poetry
Pages: 70
Series: Poetry Prescriptions
Rating: three-stars
Synopsis:

This beautiful pocket-sized hardback gift book contains carefully curated prescriptions in verse compiled by Deborah Alma, the founder of the Poetry Pharmacy. Life is lived with feeling - these poems look at all the many manifestations of love.

For All Matters of the Heart -Stimulants for Romantic Love, Panaceas for the Broken-Hearted; for the Appreciation of Fellowship, Family and for the Promotion of Tenderness.

Includes poems by W. B. Yeats, Walt Whitman, William Shakespeare, Edna St Vincent Millay, D. H. Lawrence and many more.

• No bitter pills
• No adverse reactions

The Poetry Prescription series compiled by Deborah Alma is the perfect antidote for life’s ailments. Inspired by the achingly cool Poetry Pharmacy shops in London and Shropshire - social media favourites with a clear focus on promoting wellbeing through the written and spoken word. Each of the eight themed titles offers an array of poems to inspire, heal and comfort. Whether you are looking to find solace for times of ill-health, loss and grief, cope with matters of the heart, need poetic inspiration for courage and confidence, or want to find peace and tranquillity in wild spaces, there is a collection for everyone.

Perfect for reading aloud or for quiet contemplation, these books are a much needed balm for our busy lives.

I love the idea of the “Poetry Prescription” books, selections of poems for given moods and needs which promise no bitter pills, nothing hard to swallow, just poetry suitable for the moment. I don’t know if all of them have the same editor, but Words for Love was edited by Deborah Alma, and it’s an interesting selection.

Many of them are, to me at least, expected inclusions: your Keats, Rosetti and Shakespeare. There are also poets I didn’t know, or poems I didn’t know by poets I did know, and I’d kind of hoped for more of those — but it makes for an accessible volume if you’re not a big poetry reader. I wouldn’t have picked that Duffy poem, of all her options, but at least it was from Rapture, which is my favourite of her collections.

The collection offers a small section for new love, one for grief, one for familial love, that kind of division. It’s all quite nice as a concept, and I might pick up others in the series for the introductions to different poets I might not have known.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – A Case of Mice and Murder

Posted June 12, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Review – A Case of Mice and Murder

A Case of Mice and Murder

by Sally Smith

Genres: Crime, Historical Fiction, Mystery
Pages: 352
Series: The Trials of Gabriel Ward #1
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

The first in a delightful new mystery series set in the hidden heart of London's legal world, introducing a wonderfully unwilling sleuth, perfect for fans of Richard Osman and Nita Prose.

When barrister Gabriel Ward steps out of his rooms at exactly two minutes to seven on a sunny May morning in 1901, his mind is so full of his latest case-the disputed authorship of bestselling children's book Millie the Temple Church Mouse-that he scarcely registers the body of the Lord Chief Justice of England on his doorstep.

But even he cannot fail to notice the judge's dusty bare feet, in shocking contrast to his flawless evening dress, nor the silver carving knife sticking out of his chest. In the shaded courtyards and ancient buildings of the Inner Temple, the hidden heart of London's legal world, murder has spent centuries confined firmly to the casebooks. Until now.

The police can enter the Temple only by consent, so who better to investigate this tragic breach of law and order than a man who prizes both above all things? But murder doesn't answer to logic or reasoned argument, and Gabriel soon discovers that the Temple's heavy oak doors are hiding more surprising secrets than he'd ever imagined...

When I started Sally Smith’s A Case of Mice and Murder, I was not really expecting to like Gabriel Ward. He seems at first blush like he’s going to be a persnickety old guy. But he quickly won me over with his love of routine, his little rituals, his love of books, and most especially, his kind and gentlemanly manner to everyone, of all classes, no matter his opinion of them.

The book is set in 1901, and steeped in the traditions of the Inner Temple (which is, to be clear, one of the four “Inns of Court” in London). Gabriel lives almost entirely within the Inner Temple, works there, and is deeply content and happy — until he’s confronted one day by a dead body lying on the steps of his chambers.

I guessed the resolution of both the murder and the other case Gabriel works on, but in a good way where it all made sense and hung together. There was no “oh it’ll be the most unlikely person, so the murder is XXX”; it all makes a good amount of sense. I missed a couple of minor details along the way, but figured out the main thrust of it. I don’t require a fair play mystery, but I can very much appreciate one, and this was fun.

I felt like knowing a bit about law from the Secret Barrister’s writing, and being primed for a legal mystery by Sarah Caudwell’s work, helped quite a bit with settling into the context of the mystery… But mostly it was a surprisingly warm story, and that captured my interest and my heart. There’s a deep affection for the setting and for the traditions of the Inner Temple, the rituals of lawyers, and for the justice lawyers can stand for. I can’t wait to spend more time with Gabriel, and will be getting the second book posthaste, once it’s out!

[Edited to add: And I’ve been approved for the ARC, in fact, and will be plunging straight in!]

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Lost Ark Dreaming

Posted June 12, 2025 by Nicky in Uncategorized / 2 Comments

Review – Lost Ark Dreaming

Lost Ark Dreaming

by Suyi Davies Okungbowa

Genres: Science Fiction
Pages: 178
Rating: two-stars
Synopsis:

The brutally engineered class divisions of Snowpiercer meets Rivers Solomon’s The Deep in this high-octane post-climate disaster novella written by Nommo Award-winning author Suyi Davies Okungbowa.

Off the coast of West Africa, decades after the dangerous rise of the Atlantic Ocean, the region’s survivors live inside five partially submerged, kilometers-high towers originally created as a playground for the wealthy. Now the towers’ most affluent rule from their lofty perch at the top while the rest are crammed into the dark, fetid floors below sea level.

There are also those who were left for dead in the Atlantic, only to be reawakened by an ancient power, and who seek vengeance on those who offered them up to the waves.

Three lives within the towers are pulled to the fore of this conflict: Yekini, an earnest, mid-level rookie analyst; Tuoyo, an undersea mechanic mourning a tremendous loss; and Ngozi, an egotistical bureaucrat from the highest levels of governance. They will need to work together if there is to be any hope of a future that is worth living—for everyone.

I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Suyi Davies Okungbowa’s book reminded me so much of Rivers Solomon’s The Deep after a certain point, it started to feel really weird. The setup kind of rang familiar too, or maybe “greedy rapacious billionaires set up unequal societies” is just too obvious. I did enjoy the build-up all the same, the scene-setting, and the sense of unease.

I think it’s a bit like showing the actual monster in horror, though: it fizzled a bit once we actually saw a Child, especially because the horror-ish vibes quickly fell away. I don’t want to say much and spoil the story, but… yeah.

Maybe at a novel length it might have worked better for me? A bit more setup, a bit more of the suspense first, get to know the characters… I think might’ve quite enjoyed it with that. But at novella length, I mostly just noticed the similarities and obviousness of the setup, and didn’t have time to get into the characters. Someone more driven by settings and themes while reading would probably enjoy it more!

Rating: 2/5

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Review – A Side Character’s Love Story, vol 13

Posted June 10, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – A Side Character’s Love Story, vol 13

A Side Character's Love Story

by Akane Tamura

Genres: Manga, Romance
Pages: 161
Series: A Side Character's Love Story #13
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

Nobuko and Hiroki venture to Kanazawa to celebrate their graduation, and are enjoying every minute of their trip. But as night draws closer, Nobuko struggles with nerves over the possibility that they may do more than just kiss. On top of that, it seems as though Hiroki has something he wants to tell her...

In volume 13 of Akane Tamura’s A Side Character’s Love Story, Hiroki and Nobuko finally go on their graduation trip! That’s the bulk of the volume, and it’s a delight: they spend their usual amount of effort on clear communication and sharing their feelings, and they also follow up on the previous volume’s dilemma by finally deciding that they feel comfortable enough to do more than kissing.

(It’s not explicit, by the way — we see them holding hands and kissing, and we’re told that Hiroki was very gentle, but that’s as much as we know.)

Hiroki does also tell Nobuko that he wants to marry her, and that feels surprisingly-for-them undercommunicated: he kind of springs the idea on her, and later affirms he will propose to her properly when he graduates. I guess they do swing back to it, and it’s clear it makes Nobuko happy, but she was so surprised… I don’t think they talk about it again, either.

Strange to think they’re at least two years into their relationship — the volumes have flown by!

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Planting Clues

Posted June 9, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Planting Clues

Planting Clues: How Plants Solve Crimes

by David J. Gibson

Genres: Crime, Non-fiction, Science
Pages: 240
Rating: three-stars
Synopsis:

This fascinating book takes the reader on a journey through the role of plants (including algae and fungi) in legal cases. These legal cases range from forensic applications where botanical evidence can link a suspect to a crime scene or a victim to a suspect to cases when plants themselves can be the subject of crime or misadventure. In the latter cases, plants may be poached, illegally traded and trafficked, used as poisons, or illicitly used (i.e., drugs such as cocaine). Botanical evidence has been important in bringing a number of high-profile murderers such as Ted Bundy, Ian Huntley (the 2002 Shoham Murders), and Bruno Hauptman (1932 Baby Lindbergh kidnapping) to trial. These applications of forensic botany capture the public interest; consider, for example, the fascination with Agatha Christie’s murder mysteries involving real plant poisons such as digitalis from foxgloves. The variety and value of botanical evidence including leaf fragments, woody anatomy, pollen and spores, plant toxins, and DNA, is summarized through 8 chapters. This book appeals to general readers interested in the botany underlying true crime.

At times, David J. Gibson’s Planting Clues felt just a bit too random — a string of anecdotes around forensics and botany, loosely connected at best, organised into chapters that do at least fit into coherent themes. There are some fascinating details on both botany and how botanical experts can be involved in legal cases, which at times got a bit too into the weeds for me.

The cases it discusses illustrate the points well and include some fascinating precedents, as well as discussing some big cases (like the deaths of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, though now I’m unsure whether the author actually named them or their murderer, which in retrospect feels a bit weird), it just… I don’t know, I found it difficult to keep my attention on it.

If you’re interested in the topic, though, it’s a good pick!

Rating: 3/5

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Review – A Mudlarking Year

Posted June 9, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Review – A Mudlarking Year

A Mudlarking Year: Finding Treasure In Every Season

by Lara Maiklem

Genres: History, Memoir, Non-fiction
Pages: 358
Rating: two-stars
Synopsis:

For over two decades, Lara Maiklem has been scouring the banks of the tidal Thames looking for objects - lost or discarded - that tell forgotten stories. In this charming sequel to the bestselling Mudlarking, Lara widens her search beyond the river and reflects on life lived post-pandemic, reminding us that it's possible to draw meaning in the most unlikely of places.

As she searches the foreshore through the changing seasons, she is at times aided by the gentle illumination of the falling winter sun or hindered by bright summer skies and lashing rain. Yet, by working in harmony with the unpredictable terrain, she finds solace in aligning with the elements and uncovering the treasures that are bestowed by the tide. From medieval pilgrim badges and Tudor love tokens, to Georgian wig curlers and Victorian pottery, each passing day unearths ordinary and extraordinary objects that tell the rich story of London's past and its inhabitants.

I liked Lara Maiklem’s Mudlarking quite a bit, as I recall, and I was fascinated by the bits and pieces of historical information, the unfiltered nature of it all. Those same aspects felt more irritating here in this book, though — there’s no organisation to it, just the turning of the seasons, so there’s a lot of repetition.

In the end, I think the problem is that it comes out more as autobiography than history or even a discussion of mudlarking, and thus is just generally not my thing. There are still the same fascinating snippets, albeit with some info that I’m certain is repeated from Mudlarking, but… it doesn’t feel like anything new, and I don’t like Maiklem enough as a person (on this level of acquaintance, anyway) to be spending this much time with her. I especially don’t care enough about her kids, their process of going up, and how often she’ll leave them and her wife and just go down to the foreshore because she feels like it.

She’s mostly responsible, as mudlarks go, in relation to protection of the environment and archaeology — at the very least, she’s smarter than to say in print that she breaks the rules — and critical of other mudlarks who are less responsible, but she’s also kinda… exclusive? She seems to feel that parts of the river belong to her, and she won’t tell others where she found something, and that attitude hits wrong.

So… all in all, just not for me.

Rating: 2/5

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Review – Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Posted June 7, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

by Simon Armitage

Genres: Arthuriana, Classics, Poetry
Pages: 114
Rating: five-stars
Synopsis:

Preserved on a single surviving manuscript dating from around 1400, composed by an anonymous master, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was rediscovered only two hundred years ago, and published for the first time in 1839. One of the earliest great stories of English literature after Beowulf, the poem narrates in crystalline verse the strange tale of a green knight on a green horse, who rudely interrupts the Round Table festivities one Yuletide, casting a pall of unease over the company and challenging one of their number to a wager. The virtuous Gawain accepts and decapitates the intruder with his own axe. Gushing blood, the knight reclaims his head, orders Gawain to seek him out a year hence, and departs. Next Yuletide Gawain dutifully sets forth… His quest for the Green Knight involves a winter journey, a seduction scene in a dream-like castle, a dire challenge answered — and a drama of enigmatic reward disguised as psychic undoing.

Simon Armitage’s new version is meticulously responsive to the tact and sophistication of the original — but equally succeeds in its powerfully persuasive ambition to be read as an original new poem. It is as if, six hundred years apart, two northern poets set out on a journey through the same mesmeric landscapes — acoustic, physical and metaphorical — in the course of which the Gawain poet has finally found his true and long-awaited translator.

Simon Armitage’s translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is not a straightforwardly scholarly one (though if you read his introduction, it’s clear that he’s critically engaged with the poem, its language, and the process of translation). It’s a bit like Seamus Heaney’s take on Beowulf: it’s a translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and it’s also something of its own.

It’s definitely not the version I used when studying the poem, though it is my favourite, and it’s long been the translation I would recommend for pure fun. If you want a version of Sir Gawain that doesn’t have any spin put on it, you’ll be best off leaving this aside and going to find a copy of the Middle English version with glosses, or if you can’t read Middle English, a reasonable scholarly facing-translation.

But this version is an excellent one as far as experiencing the poem goes, playing with the language, genuinely attempting the alliterative form (sometimes to mixed success, in my opinion), and making the poem feel pretty alive. Read it aloud to yourself if you can!

I love it dearly, and I’ve just snagged a copy of the audiobook read by Armitage on Libro.fm, which should also be great. This was a very good reread choice on my part.

Rating: 5/5

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Review – Cat and Mouse

Posted June 6, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Cat and Mouse

Cat and Mouse

by Christianna Brand

Genres: Crime, Mystery
Pages: 255
Series: British Library Crime Classics
Rating: one-star
Synopsis:

Girls Together magazine agony-aunt 'Mrs Friendly-wise', aka Katinka Jones, finds herself at a loose end in Swansea, and decides to pay a surprise visit to one of the magazine's regular correspondents, 'Amista'. But reaching the address a strange house perched atop a mountain which matches all of the descriptions in the letters nobody has even heard of 'Amista'. As Katinka begins to fall for the dashing master of the house, Carleon, more weird mysteries emerge and the plucky Detective Inspector Chucky joins the search for the truth in this self-consciously lurid mystery-melodrama; a rollicking cavalcade of Brand's signature twists and turns.

The first of Brand’s non-Cockrill stories to join the Crime Classics, and the sixth Brand novel in total, a series bestseller. A playful and experimental novel in which Brand sets out to combine Gothic melodrama with her signature style of mystery complete with astonishing twists and bombshell clues hiding in plain sight.

I’m not a great lover of Christianna Brand’s work, generally, and I’ve liked her books less as I’ve read more of them, somehow. So perhaps it’s not too surprising that I actively loathed the latest reissue of her work by the British Library Crime Classics series, Cat and Mouse.

As far as I can tell, it’s less intended as one of her straight-out mystery novels, and more written as a parody of dramatic gothic mysteries; it reminds me a little of Ethel Lina White’s work. And it’s excruciatingly awful to read. The main character is humiliated at every turn, and makes multiple wild accusations while acting — sorry, but this is the best word I can come up with — hysterically, there’s a romance that makes absolutely no sense… arrghhh, it just drove me nuts. I hated it.

The one good thing I can say for it is that it did genuinely feel like it was set in Wales, and evoked that perfectly.

Rating: 1/5

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