Review: Jennifer Ryan – The Kitchen Front

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The Kitchen Front
Jennifer Ryan

Four women meet at a crossroads of opportunity in World War 2 Britain. All four are avid cooks/chefs, and all have their work cut out for them if they are going to win a place presenting on The Kitchen Front, a wartime BBC radio presentation. Two have a suffered as a result of romantic relationships, while two are struggling to keep their dignity and make the most of their talents in an increasingly women-dominated world.

The novel opens on Audrey, a wartime widow who is trying to make ends meet for her three young sons and literally keep a solid roof over her head. The author then pivots to her haughty sister, Gwendoline – and the reader suddenly feels berefit and unsatified (and perhaps even a little cheated). How dare Gwendoline make things hard for her sister? How dare she keep the young maid Nell on her toes from dawn past dusk? Yet as the novel progresses we start to see the side of each woman, and I honestly couldn’t decide who I wanted to win the competition!

Oh ouch. I could see that ending coming from a mile away! Who knew that you could make a Croquembouche under wartime limitations? I found each of the recipes included in the novel to be enjoyable, and quite illuminating for someone like me who hates/knows no history. If I knew where to get elderberries in Australia I’d be whipping up a batch of Nel’s elderflower essence in a heartbeat.

I couldn’t help myself and this was quite a compulsive read despite my initial reluctance to pick it up. I’ve been doing a lot of rereads recently for the comfort factor, and I wasn’t sure how this novel would pan out. I didn’t need to fear though! There are a couple of snigger points in the novel, and also just a feel-good vibe. I enjoyed it!

I don’t think this is a reread for me, but I have in mind the perfect person to give it to for Christmas. Anyone who enjoys cooking, ‘women’s fiction’ (I personally think the term is a little insulting; is there something called ‘men’s fiction’?) or just a lighthearted positive-ended novel is going to enjoy this feel-good novel. It could be the perfect gift for Mother’s Day 2022!

Pan Macmillan | 29th December 2021 | AU$32.99 | paperback

Review: Sharon Keeble – My Rescue Pet Rescued Me

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My Rescue Pet Rescued Me
Sharon Ward Keeble

“A heart-warming collection of true stories exploring the bonds formed between people and pets in times of trouble. Meet the inspirational animals who went from being rescued to becoming rescuer in these incredible true stories.”

I seem to have a lot of complicated thoughts and feelings prompted by this book! It was a spot of lighthearted reading in my day that I knocked over in a couple of hours. It’s prime time to give this book as a gift for Christmas – anyone who loves animals is going to appreciate it as a thoughtful present. In my opinion, it’s not a reread, but it is worth a read.

I am 100% behind the idea that pets can be healing. I own two conures (a small, very smart parrot) and they get me up in the morning when sometimes I can’t face the day. They need me to make their breakfast, and let them out of their sleeping cages. Its not like a dog where you have to walk them, but it works for me! My worry whenever I read stories of animals ‘curing’ their owners’ PTSD or anxiety is that the animal might be seen as the sole cure needed, when in fact recovery from thses illnesses is difficult.

I’m really sorry, but one of these people adopted/fostered/rescued something like 284 pigs! It’s facts like these that surprise me when pigs are usually seen as food animals, despite being very smart. The same with people who rescued horses from being dog meat. There is a way of life and a balance in the ecosystem, but at the same time everyone needs to be fed. Cats for example are obligate carnivors – they will die if they don’t eat animal protein. Humans could definitely eat less meat though!

What counts as a “rescue pet”? One in particular was a duckling that was saved from becoming snake food. Also, are there not enough pets within Western first world countries (see here for an explanation of first, second and third world countries) that need rescue, that people have to go overseas and import a dog at great expense?

I was also frustrated that the majority of these (very) short stories are women and their pets. Other pet rescue / awesome pet books I have read such as Extraordinary Old Dogs or Miracle Mutts have a little more variety in the lives presented. That being said, again, this book is a great, generally non-confrontational read that is a great gift for an animal lover.

Hachette | 9th November 2021| AU$22.99 | paperback

Review: Juliet Marillier – A Song of Flight

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A Song of Flight
Juliet Marillier

The Prince has gone missing, and the best candidates for the team to find him are Liobhan and Dau – but as they are romantically entangled they cannot both go on the search journey. Thus begins a novel of conflicted beliefs, truths and perspectives that culminates in the solution to the Crow Folk problem that emerged in A Dance with Fate.

I was disappointed in this novel. There were too many characters, and not enough depth for each one. I wanted to know more about Helga’s story. I wanted to know less about Galen and more about the “original three” characters of Brocc, Liobhan and Dau. Things seemed to take forever, and then I just wasn’t satisfied with the ending.

I didn’t need the Prince’s storyline. Brocc could have done it equally well. Also, why did Brocc suddenly decide to throw caution to the wind? I understand his love for Niamh clouds a lot of his judgement but is he truely so clueless as to his own powers? He seriously has no other options, and can’t walk in the Otherworld?

Liobhan, despite really being my favourate character in this trilogy, didn’t really show up. I didn’t see a completion of her character development. I definitely saw a deepening of the love she had for and of Dau, but that was mainly covered in The Harp of Kings. I also didn’t see much of a display of her warrior skills, which was something I enjoyed in earlier novels in the trilogy as it wasn’t an aspect of the first set of novels.

I will of course go back and reread these – they are Juliet Marillier afterall – but I believe that the Blackthorn and Grimm trilogy is superior to the Warrior Bard novels. 5 stars, but I was so sad about the ending 🙁 Oh! And I was generously sent two copies of this by Pan Macmillan, but neither arrived, so I bought it for myself as an early Christmas present.

Review: Carmine Gallo – Talk like TED (S)

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Talk Like TED
The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World’s Top Minds
Carmine Gallo

“In his book, Carmine Gallo has broken down hundreds of TED talks and interviewed the most popular TED presenters, as well as the top researchers in the fields of psychology, communications, and neuroscience to reveal the nine secrets of all successful TED presentations. Gallo’s step-by-step method makes it possible for anyone to deliver a presentation that is engaging, persuasive, and memorable.”

This book was actually pretty good, but I still have mixed feelings about it. I thought it would be dry and boring, but it really wasn’t. I learnt quite a few new things. It’s not endorsed by TED conferences in any way, it’s fully the author’s opinions. In saying that, it’s obviously still based on real TED talks which he refers to and analyzes comprehensively.

The contents are broken up into 3 parts; Emotional, Novel and Memorable. Under each of these 3 areas there are 3 of the public speaking secrets that you are promised from the front of the book. I felt that these were pretty obvious, like being passionate about your topic. They weren’t exactly secrets or anything different from other public speaking books.

The good thing about this book though was it gave a range of examples for each. My only issue is within each chapter you seem to get “lost” and not know which secret it was you’re learning about. There seemed to be multiple sub ideas within the one secret/chapter. They were all good though, but at the end of the chapter I’d forgotten what the author’s main point of that chapter was.

Overall it was pretty good. 3.5 – 4 stars from me. I would recommend it to anyone who is public speaking in any shape or form.

Guest Post from Jeff Evans

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A Guest Post from Jeff Evans, author of the middle-grade fantasy series ‘What Magic is Not’.

What Magic Is Not is a cheerful, quirky story about a class of young students who attend summer school in an enchanted forest with the eccentric Professor Philonius Gnut. Full of wonder, humor, and heartwarming friendships, this book is perfect for kids of all ages.

Summer school in the Enchanted Forest is just like you would imagine it: chasing frogs (that are not really frogs), making new friends (with trolls), and learning what magic is (and more importantly, what magic is not.)

Below is an interview the author, J. Evans, conducted with the elusive Professor himself.

My Interview with Professor Gnut

Evans: I’m honored today to interview Professor Philonius Gnut, who teaches magic at the legendary school in the woods, deep in the Enchanted Forest. He’s a bit of a local legend: every rumor about him is more outlandish than the last, and he rarely leaves the woods, so booking him for this interview was not easy. (I had to promise him a few months off of work before the sequel.) But here he is—Hello, Professor! Thanks for joining me.

Gnut: I’m glad to be here, although I didn’t really have much of a choice, did I?

Evans: I’m surprised to hear you say that—so much of what you teach your students in What Magic Is Not is about how many choices each of us does have, whether we realize it or not.

Gnut: Nice to know somebody pays attention to what I say.

Evans: Well, to be honest, you do have a reputation for droning on during those morning lectures by the pond—

Gnut: Droning on? Is that any way to speak to your elders? No wonder the boys and girls you write about are so disrespectful!

Evans: I wouldn’t call them disrespectful. They’re just… exuberant. What kid wouldn’t be excited to attend summer school in the Enchanted Forest? After all, it’s pretty rare to get an invitation to study with you, isn’t it? And it’s been years since your last class. If the kids get a little restless, I think it’s because they would rather skip some of the Ancient History lessons and jump right to the good stuff.

Gnut: Is that so? And how would you like it if your readers skipped right to the last chapter in order to get to the ‘good stuff?’

Evans: I’d tell them they were missing out on a great story full of humor and funny characters and heartwarming friendships, and that they wouldn’t understand or appreciate the ending if they didn’t start at the beginning and read the whole thing.

Gnut: Excellent—it appears we are on the same page, for there is far more to learning about magic than pointing your wand at something and muttering a few mystical words. If you don’t learn how to use your head before you learn to use your wand, there is a good chance your first spell will be your last—and teaching ‘exuberant’ students—no matter how well they are written—to slow down and think before they leap is not as easy as you might imagine.

Evans: I know—I tried. The truth is sometimes your characters just take on a life of their own, and all you can do is go chasing after them like a frog in the woods.

Gnut: An occupational hazard, I suppose, but as long as you don’t end up talking to the figments of your imagination, you ought to be all right in the end.

Evans: Thanks, Professor. I’ll, uh, think about that. Speaking of endings, I have one final question.

Gnut: Yes, my boy?

Evans: Everything you get involved in, whether it’s a dilemma your students are having, or some danger in the forest, or even the whole semester-long feud you have with the Dark Wizard, it seems like… how should I put this? Everything you do, or teach your students to do, it always just sort of works out in the end, like a puzzle fitting itself together. So, my question is—and I know your students have asked you this, too, but you never seem to give them a straight answer: the way it all comes together in the end, that was part of your plan all along, right?

Gnut: Plan? Who said I had a plan?

Evans: Come on, Professor—all that stuff with the dragon and your gardener and the tower and the wedding cake and the wishing well—they can’t all be coincidences!

Gnut: Who knows—maybe it was magic.

About the Author

I live in a small town in Illinois. After college, I worked (if you can call it that) as a nanny for the next eight years. When the kids got older, I stumbled into remodeling and have been working with my hands ever since. As it turns out, writing a book has a lot in common with raising kids and building houses; who knew?

What Magic Is Not is my fifth novel.

For more information on my books, artwork, to contact me, or to join my mailing list, please visit my website at: jeffevans.org . You can find Jeff’s books on Goodreads and Amazon as well.

Review: Jessica Miller – The Republic of Birds

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The Republic of Birds
Jessica Miller

Olga isn’t pretty or graceful like her sister Mira. Olga likes reading about maps and cartography and somewhat dreams of going to the unmapped blank to be the first female cartographer. Exiled from a comfortable life inthe capital, perhaps the icey wasteland holds something new for Olga.

I read this novel as a pdf on my laptop, and it’s unsurprising that I didn’t enjoy it perhaps as much as I might have. I’d received back in 2020 to review, but I just couldn’t bring myself to read it. I sped through it pretty quickly as it had very little substance and was quite predictable to boot.

I’m going to pop this book firmly into middle grade or very young teen fiction. The characters aren’t particularly nauanced, and despite getting some backstory on the parents, and an attempt at looking more into Olga’s powers, there’s not much substance to them. Far more could have been done with the magic/folk-lore side of things – I still feel uncertain what the main story was (besides the traditional gimmic that the siblings have to save oneanother).

And hey! It’s possible that you will learn something from it. For example, did you know that the side of the rocks that the moss grows on is dependent on where the sun rises? I feel like that’s something that might change with climate change.

I didn’t love the ending. It was pretty satisfying, but at the same time, it would have been pretty cool to be a yaga! Even just the tiniest hint that Olga would be able to overcome the restrictions of her gender would have been amazing. That perhaps could have pushed the book to 4 stars from me, but it wasn’t to be.

Text Publishing | March 2020 | AU$16.99 | eBook

Review: Toni Jordan – The Fragments

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The Fragments
Toni Jordan

Caddie is a placid bookseller by day, and an avid Inga Karlson fan all the time. Named for a character in Karlson’s first novel, Caddie obsesses over the second book that was never published – The Fragments. After Caddie attends a Gallery showing of The Fragments, she meets a woman who gives her another line of the novel. Caddie is thrown into the path of academia once again and maybe romance too.

I didn’t read this when it was first released because it arrived as a PDF. Thus it’s taken me two years to read it! While it was a nice enough story, and had some important implications for writing, I found myself mainly frustrated and left unfulfilled by the novel.

If Inga was so filled with the need to write a story, why didn’t she write another? A while lifetime might be enough for that. This is something that you won’t fully understand until you read the novel yourself. The twist at the end seems believeable, but it makes the flashbacks in time a little confusing – if she’s not alive, why are we able to ‘hear’ these memories? It’s intriguing, and apart from the fact that I found Caddie a complete derp, quite enjoyable to read.

Caddie, what is wrong with you? Do you have no brain in your head? How can you possibly obsess over two men like that at once? Caddie’s relationships seemed to spiral out of control very quickly, and I found it unbelievable that someone who is smart enough to do a PhD and do research could be so clueless!

I felt quite on the fence about this novel – 3 stars from me. I wouldn’t reread it, and I wouldn’t necessarily suggest it to someone to rush out and buy it.

Text Publishing | March 2020 | AU$22.99 | eBook

Review: Barry Schwartz – The Paradox of Choice (S)

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The Paradox of Choice
Barry Schwartz

“In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz explains why too much of a good thing has proven detrimental to our psychological and emotional well-being. In accessible, engaging, and anecdotal prose, Schwartz explains how a culture that thrives on the availability of constantly evolving options can also foster profound dissatisfaction and self-blame in individuals, which can lead to a paralysis in decision making and, in some cases, depression.”

I was looking for a book to read at the local library. I had heard that this author wasn’t bad except I was looking for a different book by him. All I could find was this one so I thought I’d give it a try. Unfortunately it’s not really the right book for me or in my area of interest.

I completely agree with the argument of the book, which is that less is more in making decisions.
But I didn’t need to read a whole book about it. I was sold on the argument and idea early on. But then the book keeps going on about it more and more, and simply dragging it out in a way that wasn’t necessary.

There is only a very small section of one chapter at the end with “what we can do”. That’s what I was waiting and wading through the rest of the book to read! Unfortunately it was more like a conclusion rather than an action plan. It was very repetitive and seemed like the author was just having a rant. It was also very heavily geared at Americans. Which is fine, except parts are just not relevant to me or people in other countries. For example, the private health system and even just the volume of choices at supermarkets, here it is nowhere near what’s in the book.

I would recommend it to anyone who is a complete “maximizer” as referred to in the book. But even still, you only need to read a bit of it to get the point. 2 stars.

Review: Eoin Colfer – The Wish List

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The Wish List
Eoin Colfer

Meg Finn has a single wish – to show up her step-father Franco and get on with life without her Marm. Unfortunately for Meg, she now owes Belch a favour and it could end up with her dead. But is there something worse than just being dead? Definitely if you’ve been saddled with meeting an old-man’s wish list.

This was a sneaky reread just after moving house – the book ended up at the top of a box and so it called to me to read it. Oops? But then I discovered that I hadn’t reviewed it, so I hadn’t really gotten away with anything.

Ok, so this book isn’t theologically accurate, and I’d even call it theologically challenging. It’s kinda cute that the Devil’s second in command goes by the nickname ‘Bub’. This has put a lot of readers off apparently, but if you aren’t thinking of heaven and hell in the way you were perhaps taught in Bible school, then you’re going to enjoy the ride in this book. Everything seems so simple… until it isn’t.

Eoin Colfer is probably best known for his series with the boy genius Artemis Fowl, which has since been turned into a movie. Don’t go into this novel thinking that it will be that deep or have intellectual jokes. This is an early teenage book, perhaps middle grade fiction.

Weirdly, I occasionally get Garth Nix and Eoin Colfer confused. I think it’s because they were both the early fantasy that I got into as a teenager, and that they haven’t limited themselves to a single universe or concept. I’d sort of even forgotten that this novel existed on my shelf, hidden as it was with the other novels. I’m still giving it 5 stars, even if I’m no longer in the target age group.

Review: Luke Hines – Guilt-Free Snacks

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Guilt-Free Snacks
Luke Hines

“Snacks are where many of us fall down when it comes to healthy eating. We are often too busy, too tired or just too plain uninspired to have an array of healthy options at the ready. Luke Hines comes to the rescue with Guilt-free Snacks, a delicious collection of 60 sweet and savoury snacks and simple ideas for eating well… Snack on, friends!”

Yum! I have to say that the cover image just says ‘eat me’, right? It’s Luke’s version of a Mars bar which is healthy. I haven’t made it yet, but I think I will, with a couple of substitutions.

I followed one of the ‘base’ recipes and created a delicious date/cocoa/peanutbutter ball. However, Luke makes sure to mention that you should restrain yourself while snacking… um, not possible? The food comes into my house, and then I eat it all at once. It’s just safer for me to not have it at all.

I read my way through this book, as much as can be said for a recipe book. I even was going to attempt some recipes! Unfortunately, the recipes in here contain two major components that add to the sweetness and protein content of the snack – monk fruit syrup and unflavoured collagen powder. I’d never heard about monk fruit syrup before this book! It apparently contains no sugar, but I’m not 100% sure what it does contain.

Collagen powder is much more familiar to me, as a replacement to soya protein. I’ve done my time of adding soya protein / whey powder to milkshakes for a protein boost – until I remembered that an egg does a similar role and is considerably cheaper. However, another great tip that Luke shares is that these can be made far in advance and stored, and that’s something that’s just not possible for something with raw egg.

This is the perfect gift for someone healthy if you don’t know what to buy them. They’re gluten free and can be made vegan and nut free very easily. I’ve got a Kris Kringle this year – I’m going to pair this book with some monk fruit syrup and collagen powder for the perfect <$50 gift. Go on, get out there and buy a copy – read it yourself first (make sure it’s guilt-free) and then gift to a person who you know is vegan / otherwise dietarily difficult to cater to.

Pan Macmillan | 7 December 2021 | AU$26.99 | paperback