Month: March 2021

Recent Reads: A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine (Teixcalaan 2)

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

A Desolation Called Peace is the sequel to A Memory Called Empire, and it’s a duology.  I haven’t heard of that before for books, but it makes sense.

This starts 3 months after the previous book, and Mahit has returned to the Isel station, and is feeling homesick for Teixcala, and the whirlwind week she had there, and for Three Seagrass.  

Three Seagrass is still on Teixcala, feeling out of sorts, and hasn’t written poetry for the last 3 months.

Teixcala has a new Emperor, Nineteen Adze, who is already in the middle of a war with the aliens that Mahit pointed out just before the death of the previous Emperor.  

The aliens are rampaging through Teixcalaan space, and they’ve just got a recording of the noise they make – is that a language?  Three Seagrass wants to investigate and help, and knows who she can take with her to help with barbarian languages – another barbarian.

This is a sci-fi book, full of court intrigue, with characters uncertain who they can trust, or what their real motives are.  Eight Antidote, the heir to the Emperor, and the ninety percent clone of the previous Emperor is 11 years old, and running around being a spy, which gives you insight into a lot more places than you would get with an adult.  I very much enjoyed my time in Teixcala, and enjoyed the conclusion to the story.

A Desolation Called Peace was published on 4th March, and is available to buy from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Arkady Martine on Twitter, Instagram and her website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley, to Arkady Martine and Pan MacMillan.

Recent Reads: The Cut by Chris Brookmyre

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

The Cut by Chris Brookmyre has the theme of horror films.  We have three points of view;  Millicent is being told that she needs to learn to live her life, but she’s planning a way out. 

Jerry is a university student, who feels completely like he doesn’t fit in with the other students.  He’s studying film, and has a special interest in horror films.

And the last point of view starts back in 1993, in Cannes at the film festival, where Luccio is getting the funding for a horror film together.

This was a great thriller, with rumours, and secrets coming out, and Chris Brookmyre does love to add a dash of political people into stories!

I have enjoyed every Chris Brookmyre book I’ve read, and this was no exception!  The plot was complicated enough, but not to a confusing amount, just enough to throw you off the scent.

The Cut was published on 4th March 2021, and is available on Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Chris Brookmyre on Twitter, Facebook and his website.

Recent Reads: Eat Better Forever; 7 Ways to Transform Your Diet by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

Eat Better Forever; 7 Ways to Transform Your Diet by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is a book that’s aimed at helping people to eat healthier.

In the first half of the book, there’s advice about things like eating whole foods, moving away from junk and processed foods, and there’s explanations to back up what he’s saying, including information on things like FODMAP.  I’ve heard about Low FODMAP diets, but didn’t know the background about what FODMAP is!

The second half of the book is recipes that follow the principles he’s set out.

This is going to be a good gift for anyone you know who is interested in eating better.

I’ve got the River Cottage Every Day cookbook, which I’ve loved everything I’ve made from, which is why I wanted to review this book!

Eat Better Forever; 7 Ways to Transform Your Diet by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall was published on 2nd March 2021, and is available to buy from Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on Twitter and on the River Cottage website.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Bloomsbury Publishing.

Recent Reads: GrowVeg The Beginner’s Guide to Easy Vegetable Gardening by Benedict Vanheems

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

GrowVeg The Beginner’s Guide to Easy Vegetable Gardening by Benedict Vanheems is aimed at helping you to grow vegetables, whether you are a beginner, or a bit more advanced.

It has some project ideas in it, like growing vertically or a bug hotel, with great photos and information.  This is a good book if you are interested in learning, and one that could be returned to as you learned and practiced more.

GrowVeg The Beginner’s Guide to Easy Vegetable Gardening by Benedict Vanheems was published on 2nd March 2021, and is available on Amazon.

You can follow Benedict Vanhemms on his website Instagram and Twitter.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Storey Publishing.

Recent Reads: A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine (Teixcalaan 1)

Posted on by Pam

My review:????

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine is a science fiction book, set in the Teixcalaanli Empire, where Ambassador Mahit Dzmare has the memories of the previous Ambassador from when he visited their independent mining station, (called Station) last, implanted in her memory.  She arrives at the center of the Empire, ready to take up her post.  After all, with the help of the previous ambassador, even years out of date, how hard can her job be?

Turns out, hard.  The previous Ambassador might have been murdered. The implanted memories have issues, and there’s something odd happening at court.  Oh, and no one can know about the implanted memories!

This was an enjoyable story, with lots of political machinations, not knowing who can be trusted, and hoping that Mahit can keep Station independent.

This is the first book in the Teixcalaan series, and the second book is out on 2 March 2021.

A Memory Called Empire was published in March 2019, and is available on Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

You can follow Arkady Martine on Twitter, Instagram and her website.

Recent Reads: Call Me Joe by Martin Van Es and Andrew Crofts

Posted on by Pam

My review:???

Call Me Joe by Martin Van Es and Andrew Crofts is set in the future a little, where environmentally things are worse, which has resulted in things like butterflies nearly dying out.  One day, the sun goes out, and then a man appears, who claims to be Jesus returned.  He has ideas about how humanity needs to change their ways, and a lot of people listening to him.

There’s political skewering, where you can spot various famous politicians (*cough* Trump, Putin and Jacinda Ahern *cough*), and a lot of what Joe says is about how humanity can and should improve.

I was reading this book, and had to pause to check if I had stumbled into Christianity section as this is quite a religious story, obviously, considering we have Jesus returned.

I wasn’t a huge fan.  I found it to be preaching to me, which in places is a good point, but I didn’t find the story to have many twists to it, which I feel it needed.

Call Me Joe was published on 1st March, and is available on Amazon, Waterstones and Bookshop.org.

I’m afraid I couldn’t find anywhere for you to follow Martin Van Es.

You can follow Andrew Crofts on his website and Twitter.

I was given this book in exchange for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and Red Door Press.