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Book Review: Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg
This is a book about the raw majesty of St Kilda as a place, and about the spirit, community bonds and resilience of its people. But it’s also a tragic tale about the devastation of colonialism and 19th century morality.
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Book Review: A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
Hi, my name is Nao. I am a time being. Do you know what a time being is? Well if you give me a moment, I will tell you.
A time being is someone who lives in time, and that means you, and me and every one of us who is, or ever was, or…
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Book Review: Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss
*No spoilers A book about experimental archaeology and family violence that’s brimming with glorious dread and that closes in around you like a vice. The novel’s short 160 pages are absolutely electrifying and seem far bigger. Best enjoyed during the witching hours of 11pm and 3 am. Ghost Wall opens with an ancient hair-raising scene,…
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Book Review: Medieval Bodies Life and Death in the Middle Ages by Jake Hartnell
Art Historian Jake Hartnell takes us on a macabre and enthralling journey from head to toe in the medieval human body. This is fascinating because, even though we share the same bodies as our medieval ancestors, we had wildly diverging beliefs about the inherent symbolic power of parts of our bodies and what could heal,…
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Book Review: To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey
Eowyn Ivey is a master craftswoman and her sentences are smooth and flowing like treacle. Her debut the Snow Child was one of my favourite novels. It told the magical tale of a child that emerges out of the icy Alaskan tundra and provides an ageing couple yearning for a baby, with the promise of…
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Book Review: ‘Industrial Scars’ The Beautiful Toxic Scars of the Earth
What happens when humans burn too much waste and destroy the planet? Modern Art. Photographs of the aftermath of environmental devastation aren’t normally considered art. However photographer J Henry Fair has reimagined the decaying and suffering environmental landscape in the aftermath of human abuse in his mesmerising book entitled Industrial Scars. Fair wanted to poignantly…
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Book Review: The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow
The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity” by David Graeber and David Wengrow offers an awe-inspiring, surprising and dizzyingly beautiful rethink of human history. It is an mellow ode to ancient human experimentation, creativity, fun and how before there were rules and hierarchy – people just had of a hell of a great…
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Book Review: Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
In this funny, odd-ball and deeply emotional novel by Japanese debut novelist Sayaka Murata, we follow the book’s heroine Keiko, who is in her late 30’s and is working as a sales assistant in a convenience store, while living unmarried and childless (a mortal sin in Japan).
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Book Review: How to Do Nothing by Jenny Odell
I didn’t expect much from this book and was delightfully surprised by its immense depth and foresight. ‘How to Do Nothing’ is a profound and glittering jewel about the big topics of politics, internet culture, consumerism, capitalism and consciousness. It takes well-worn assumptions about how you spend your time and the tyrannical monopoly of banal…
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Book Review: Nature’s Palette by Thames & Hudson
Do you love nature? do you love colour? If you love these two things then this book is a must-have for your collection. A traditional reference guide originally published in 1814, a beautifully bound and illustrated new version is now available.
Nature’s Palette features all of the hues and colours you can possibly imagine…
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Book Review: 2024 Lunar and Seasonal Diary by Stacey Demarco
A practical and full colour diary with regular weekly prompts for star-gazing and constellations, as well as fortuitous times of the pagan year. Designed for pagans dwelling in the southern hemisphere, with calendar timings and celebrations that we make, which are the direct opposite to the traditional Celtic/European traditions.
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Book Review: Plant Magick: The Library of Esoterica by Taschen
#BookReview: Plant Magick is a collectors item of sublime and exquisite beauty. This is a treasury of art and plant history for lovers of #nature #history, #folklore, #witchcraft, #magic. #ContentCatnip
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Book Review: The Porpoise by Mark Haddon
This is my historical fiction pick of the year. The Porpoise is an exhilarating. There are lightning quick gear changes from one time period to another and one mood to another. Yet the cohesive whole of the novel never felt confusing, forced or contrived
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Book Review – Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
A mind-bending and time-melting story by the master of surreal storytelling Haruki Murakami. The first strand is the 15 year old Kafka Tamura, a teen runaway who takes refuge in a remote town. The second strand begins with mysterious celestial phenomena in the Shikoku mountains, possibly involving a UFO and a group of kids losing…
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Book Review: The History of Magic by Chris Gosden
Chris Gosden’s engaging and vividly colourful storytelling style brings to life the history of all things occult, pagan and witchy from ancient cave art to modern day witchcraft in a way that is deeply engrossing and enjoyable. #witchcraft #mysticism #spirituality #pagan #paganism #history #archaeology #books #bookreview
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