Plant Magic - Dr Greg J. Kenicer @thebotanics @lovebooksgroup #lovebookstours

Description

An informative and entertaining look at why plants have been used in magic and what that tells us about people and plants in a post-magic world.

With chapters on subjects as diverse as Witchcraft, Curses and Blessings, Divination, the Plants of Faery, Hallucinogens, Divine Plants in the Christian and Pagan traditions and a Plant Bestiary, Greg Kenicer’s book is an erudite and informative look at how and why various plants have had a role in Europe’s supernatural and magical traditions.

Individual entries look at particular plants combining botanical analysis with historical examples and anecdote to explain exactly why each plant came to be used in this way. Considerations of dangers and actual efficacy cast light on how modern science is now re-examining the uses of many of the plants and how the evolution of the plants themselves has been influenced by our use of them.

Whether Foxglove or Mandrake, Hawthorn or Aspen, Rowan or Oak, St. John’s Wort or Bird Cherry, Plant Magic  shines a bright and fascinating new light on dozens of familiar plants.

Review

The cover of this book is absolutely beautiful and there are also some lovely illustrations of plants within its pages. Although the electronic copy of the book is obviously still factual, I think you miss out on the atmosphere the hardback would provide you with. A book to be dipped in and out of when you have a moment rather to sit and read through. There are so many interesting facts and things I had never heard of.

One of the sections that interested me most was the Doctrine of Signatures which dates back to the Ancient Egyptians. This is using a plant that looked like an organ or the condition that needed treating. Nature's way of guiding you to using the correct plant!

There is also referencing to literature and myths and legends in which plants feature. If you are interested in mythology you will find many links to the Gods through the plants featured providing a good cross over of knowledge. The book sets out an explanation of how it is organised and the parameters (and disclaimer) of it's contents. It's meant as an historical look at magic, not to be used as a book of modern day charms!

My thanks to Love Book Tours for the ARC of this book for review. 

Dr. Greg J Kenicer is the author of Plant Magic.  He is also a botanist and a lecturer at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. He is an expert in the evolution and diversity of peas and beans but the fantastical relationship between plants and people is where his heart really lies.

Buy Link 

rbgeshop.org

Come Again - Robert Webb

 

Description

Can you fall in love for the first time twice? A recently widowed women is about to find out when she wakes up and finds herself eighteen again in this "compelling" story of second chances (Mail On Sunday).

Kate’s husband Luke – the man she loved from the moment she met him twenty-eight years ago – died suddenly. Since then she has pushed away her friends, lost her job and everything is starting to fall apart.

One day, she wakes up in the wrong room and in the wrong body. She is eighteen again but remembers everything. This is her college room in 1992. This is the first day of Freshers' Week. And this was the day she first met Luke.

But he is not the man that she lost: he’s still a boy – the annoying nineteen-year-old English student she first met. Kate knows how he died and that he’s already ill. If they can fall in love again she might just be able to save him. She’s going to try to do everything exactly the same…

Review

I wasn't sure I was reading the right book when I began this story. It takes a while to get to the premise that is outlined in the description of the book. I stuck with it because it's a little like time travel, which I love the idea of.

When I got to the part where Kate is in 1992 I didn't really like it, something about it just didn't read right and I am not sure what. At this point in the book I actually wanted to get back to how the story had started out which was more of an espionage/IT plot.

Once we got back to the present day things at first didn't really improve, until there was a great scene as part of the espionage angle. I did really like this part as it was an unusual concept, just didn't seem to fit with the rest of the book.

I'm giving this book 2 out of 5 stars. My thanks to my local library and borrowbox for a copy to read.

Cows Can't Jump - Philip Bowne

I'm so pleased to be on the Blog Tour today for this book.

Description

17-year-old Billy has just left school with no A levels and he's desperate to escape middle England. As a grave-digger, he’s working the ultimate dead-end job. Billy’s home life isn’t any better. In the evenings, he observes his dysfunctional family: his Grandad’s engaged to a woman half his age, his xenophobic Dad’s become obsessed with boxing, and he suspects his deeply religious Mum is having an affair. 

All the while, celebrities are dropping like flies and Britain is waiting for the EU referendum. Everything is changing, and Billy hates it.

Meeting Eva, though, changes everything. She’s Swiss, passionate about Russian literature, Gary Numan, windfarms and chai tea, and Billy gambles everything for a chance to be with her.

When things start to go wrong, Billy’s journey across Europe involves hitch-hiking with truckers, walking with refugees, and an encounter with suicidal cows. But the further he goes, the harder it is to be sure what he’s chasing – and what he’s running from.

Review

I've really enjoyed reading this book, it certainly kept me entertained and wondering what on earth would happen next.

We meet Billy as he is wondering what to do now he's left school. His Mum finds him a job through the Church and she sends him off to the local cemetery. Where it turns out he's going to be a grave digger! It's here we learn how naïve and unworldly Billy really is and this led me to I fear for him from this point on and throughout the whole book. 

Billy gets another job and meets Eva. They have a whirlwind romance and eventually she returns home to Switzerland. As can happen with long distance relationships it's not going too well and Billy wants to join her in Switzerland. With no money and no job that's not going to be easy though.

Whilst Billy is naïve (he borrows and looses 3k!) he's very resourceful and through one means or another he scrapes enough together to set out for Switzerland. Although when he gets there the lovely Eva (not so sure she is that lovely in my eyes) has gone to Slovenia and asks him to meet her there. This is when Billy's education (and mine) really begins as he makes his way across Europe. 

It's this part of the book that had me gripped. Who was he going to meet next, what was going to become of him? It all reads so true to life, that I wonder if the author hasn't experienced at least some of these same life events. Meanwhile back at home his Grandad is engaged to a woman half his age, his Father is obsessed with boxing and his Mum is having an affair!

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. Brilliantly written with fantastic humour. I feel like I've been on a journey (in more ways than one) with Billy and it was great one too. My thanks to the author and Random Tours for a copy of the book for review.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Instagram @ philipbowne Twitter @chumpybloke https://philipbowne.com/

Philip Bowne lives in London and works as a writer for The Wombles, a children’s entertainment brand.  Like his protagonist, Billy, Phil attended a failing and severely under-resourced school in Bicester, Oxfordshire. However, unlike Billy, Phil ended up studying English Literature and Creative Writing at university. While studying, Phil published short stories in literary magazines and anthologies in the UK, US, Canada and Germany. After graduating, Phil spent time in Europe and the US, working and volunteering in various roles and settings: repairing boats at Lake Como, housekeeping at a mountain lodge in California and working with charity Care4Calais in the former Calais ‘jungle’ refugee camp. Cows Can’t Jump is Phil’s debut novel, which he worked on while managing a bar in London. As well as a writer for The Wombles, Phil also works on a number of independent writing projects, including a musical set in 1970’s Soho and a sitcom set in a failing leisure centre.

So You Had to Build A Time Machine - Jason Offutt Narrated by Emily O'Brien

 

Description

Skid doesn’t believe in ghosts or time travel or any of that nonsense. A circus runaway-turned-bouncer, she believes in hard work, self-defense, and good, strong coffee. Then, one day, an annoying theoretical physicist named Dave pops into the seat next to her at her least favorite Kansas City bar and disappears into thin air when she punches him (he totally deserved it).

Now, street names are changing, Skid’s favorite muffins are swapping frosting flavors, and Dave keeps reappearing in odd places like the old Sanderson murder house.

And that’s only the start of her problems. Something in the world has gone wrong. Terribly wrong. Absolutely f--ked up.

Someone has the nastiest versions of every conceivable reality at their fingertips, and they're not afraid to smash them together. With the help of a smooth-talking haunted-house owner and a linebacker-sized Dungeons and Dragons-loving baker, Skid and Dave set out to save the world from whatever scientific experiment has sent them all dimension-hopping against their will.

Review

I love time travel novels and I am currently really into listening into audio books so this appealed to me straightaway. I did listen to a preview first just to make sure I was going to like the narrator - and I did on the short sound burst. Seven hours or so later I felt a little worn out by this fast talking Americian narrator, it can be a little harsh for UK ears.

This is certainly a different approach to time travel. Usually nothing bad really happens in a time travel novel and you wonder how people get to fit into an alternate reality - what about their clothes, money etc. Well in this time travel world sh*t really hits the fan big time. Sort of how it would really happen if you could time travel. When people appear in a different time line it fits perfectly into the ghost tours at the old Sanderson murder house - a genius plot device.

There was a lot of humour and it made me laugh out loud it was so good. As I was listening to the audio and multi tasking there were times I got a little confused about what was happening and in which time period. If I had been reading the book I would probably have referred back, but I just carried on listening and really as it was so off the wall it was easier to just go with it and eventually all became clear again.

I enjoyed this audio on the whole. I couldn't listen to a lot of it at one time. I going to give it 4 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the audio book to review.

The Truants - Kate Weinberg

Description

People disappear when they most want to be seen. 

Jess Walker, middle child of a middle class family, has perfected the art of vanishing in plain sight. But when she arrives at a concrete university campus under flat, grey, East Anglian skies, her world flares with colour.

Drawn into a tightly-knit group of rule breakers – led by their maverick teacher, Lorna Clay – Jess begins to experiment with a new version of herself. But the dynamic between the friends begins to darken as they share secrets, lovers and finally a tragedy. Soon Jess is thrown up against the question she fears most: what is the true cost of an extraordinary life?

'In the vein of Agatha Christie herself. Startling'
Irish Times

Review

I think I was drawn to this book because of the Agatha Christie links. A little like a Christie novel the book darted here and there and then revealed something you could never have guessed. 

I wasn't too keen on the book. It started slow with a college life I wasn't too interested in reading about, at times it felt like it was set in 1920 rather than 2020. With privileged young things at Uni and a woman who only checked her mobile phone once a day. Once the lecturer Lorna began her Agatha Christie lectures my interest piqued and I couldn't wait to get back to the book, only to find it was a short lived interest and I began to get a little bored.

Lorna is an enigmatic character and throws out red herrings and veiled clues to her students. She's very knowledgeable about Agatha Christie and that really was the parts that kept me reading. Soon things moved on from the Uni life and Lorna becomes more than a tutor to a few of her students. But can they trust her?

At about 75% through the book there is suddenly a glimpse of a Christie type plot emerging and again I was gripped. Finally I thought - I'm glad I stayed with the book. Only for this to fizzle out and a long slow ending ensued.

I think this book could have been a lot better edited, as there were some great ideas in it. The long drawn out cat and mouse antics just got boring after a while, as did reading about the bright young things and their problems.

I'm giving this book 3 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.

Mr Loverman - Bernardine Evaristo

Description

Barrington Jedidiah Walker is seventy-four and leads a double life. Born and bred in Antigua, he's lived in Hackney since the sixties. A flamboyant, wise-cracking local character with a dapper taste in retro suits and a fondness for quoting Shakespeare, Barrington is a husband, father and grandfather - but he is also secretly homosexual, lovers with his great childhood friend, Morris.

His deeply religious and disappointed wife, Carmel, thinks he sleeps with other women. When their marriage goes into meltdown, Barrington wants to divorce Carmel and live with Morris, but after a lifetime of fear and deception, will he manage to break away?

Mr Loverman is a ground-breaking exploration of Britain's older Caribbean community, which explodes cultural myths and fallacies and shows the extent of what can happen when people fear the consequences of being true to themselves.

Review

I wanted to read this book as I enjoyed the writing in "Girl, Woman other" so much. I haven't been disappointed, this is just as well written. At times it had me actually laughing out loud. 

We meet "Barry" (74) who although he didn't go to Uni has self educated himself over the years and now can hold his own against the best of them. Except perhaps Carmel his wife, who his thumb he seems to be permanently under, whilst under her roof anyway. 

Barry has been in a secret relationship with his friend Morris since they were teenagers. After an epiphany (brought on when Carmel strikes him) he decides he's going to divorce her and finally live his own life while he still has some years left. Except Carmel is called away to Antigua to the funeral of her Father. Barry thinks it cruel to tell her he wants a divorce in the circumstances, so he will wait until she returns. Meanwhile as the "cat" is away he begins to partly live a life he's supressed all these years.

I wasn't keen at first on the chapters in which we hear from Carmel in her own voice. I was team Barry all the way. Towards the end of the book she definitely comes into her own though, and those chapters I really loved reading. I also saw the story from both sides. I did enjoy the patois and antics of Barry all through the book, he was so vividly painted. I think audio would be even better to really get the character. 

There are some equally good supporting characters in the form of his two daughters and his grandson. One of the daughters  doesn't really like him and he dotes on the other daughter. I was surprised at some of the 1970s homophobic language that came out of Barry's mouth. I can only think it was part coping mechanism and partly what he was brought up to believe.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars and my thanks to borrowbox and my local library for the loan of the book to read.

don't bother to dress up - Maly Sayle

 

Description

Lizzie was an army child. She went on to marry an army officer and believed a life or routine and order would follow. But after 34 years of, relatively, happy married life she received the bombshell that her overweight, balding husband was leaving her for a Polish woman 20 years her junior. 

Within a month Lizzie was single, penniless, about to be homeless and very, very angry. It was also becoming obvious her mother was fast heading towards full dementia. The stability and help that Lizzie had hoped to give her aging parents was heading out the window, along with her husband’s clothes and possessions. 
After the sale of her home, Lizzie moves into the spare room of her daughter Lucy’s flat. A situation somewhat complicated by Lucy, at the same time, setting up a sex party business. For the next six months Lizzie shared the room with condoms, sex toys and champagne. When life could not seem to be any stranger, Lucy then decided to sign her mother up on Times Encounters, an on-line dating service. And then the fun really began. 

It was time of chaos, laughter, tears and a lot of very interesting encounters.

Review

I've really struggled with this book. There was certainly chaos and some laughter but overall I just found it terribly depressing. 

I believe the book is partly based on the author's own real life experiences and at times that came through, as the detail was so real it had to be taken from real life. That for me was the problem, it was just too real. If you have ever met or cared for someone with dementia you may wish to read about it in a book covering the subject but not in what purports to be a laugh a minute novel.

Lizzie has been married for 34 years when her husband leaves her for a younger woman in a very harsh and brutal way. I did enjoy some of the revenge she exacted, but most of it came over as a long moan about her circumstances. Justified moans I agree, but just boring and unsettling to read about. 

Meanwhile her Mother's behaviour becomes erratic and it was obvious what her diagnosis would sadly turn out to be. Some of the events that are described made me want to cry rather than laugh out loud. Once Lizzie began online dating things got a little more comedic. 

Overall I found the writing style to be a little long winded and brusque. Almost like pages from a diary.

I'm giving this book 3 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.