Book Reviews
Fantasy, quirky history, non-fiction, historical fiction books & more
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Book Review: Auspicious Animals, The Art of Good Omens by Jun’ichi Uchiyama
If you have ever looked at a Japanese silk screen print or sculpture and wondered what the cranes, monkeys or bears mean…this book is for you! I found this beautiful book in an art gallery and decided that, despite the hefty price-tag, I simply had to own it! This elegant coffee table book charts theβ¦
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Book Review: The Secret Language of Animals by Janine M Benyus
An exquisite reference guide to the behaviour of animals, written without clinical distance but instead a warm, familial, empathic understanding of our sentient non-human cousins. Five stars.
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Book Review: Mystical Journey Oracle by Tennessee Charpentier
A sublimely beautiful deck of cards and book that provokes deep contemplation, meditation and clarity on one’s life path and future possibilities. Even if you don’t believe in the woo-woo of reading oracles or cards, you will still enjoy the stunning paintings by French artist Tenessee Charpetier and the deep accompanying storytelling of the book.β¦
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Book Review: Unpolished Gem by Alice Pung
Rating: ππππ Publisher: Black Inc Books Genre: Non-fiction, autobiography, Australian history, SE Asia. Review in one word: Witty This is vivid story of a family of migrants who flee from the killing fields of Cambodia to the inner west of Melbourne to find sanctuary in the early 80’s. Told from the perspective of the narratorβ¦
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Book Review: The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld
Rating: ππππ Publisher: Faber & Faber Genre: Fiction, Psychological thriller, Literary Fiction. Review in one word: Subconscious Originally published in Dutch and winning the Man Booker International Prize in 2018, Lucas Rijneveld’s debut novel captures in bloody, beastly and corporeal detail the lives of a dysfunctional farming family in the rural Netherlands, some time inβ¦
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Book Review: Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape by Cal Flynn
Rating: πππππ Publisher: William Collins Books Genre: Non-fiction, anthropology, environmental science, natural history, animal rights. What happens when humans foresake and ruin landscapes? They are never truly abandoned. Instead they are engulfed by the non-human world and they become teeming with many other foresaken wild lifeforms. The weeds, plants, insects, birds and large mammals moveβ¦
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Book Review: A Cat’s Tale: A Journey Through Feline History by Baba the Cat
Rating: πππππ Genre: Non-Fiction, History, Cats Publisher: Henry Holt Books Review in one word: Bonkers Imagine, if you will, a book that is so cheeky, so guileful and slinky that it could only have been written by a worldly feline and dictated to a lowly human author. In fact because Baba is so condescending toβ¦
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Book Review: Shinrin-Yoku The Art and Science of Forest Bathing by Dr Qing Li
Rating: πππππ Publisher: Nippon Medical School/Penguin Books. Genre: Non-Fiction, Health, Nature, Spirituality. Review in one word: Immersive This is one of the most supremely nourishing books to gift yourself or someone you love. Shinrin-Yoku is your guide to the ancient Japanese art of ‘Forest Bathing’, which is the English translation of the eponymous title. Iβ¦
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Book Review: Islands of Mercy by Rose Tremain
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction Rating: πππππ Islands of Mercy is a masterful book by the author of other historical fiction classics such as Restoration, Music and Silence and Merival. I have loved all of these books so I had a feeling (and rightfully so) that I would really enjoy this book. Set in Victorian eraβ¦
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Book Review: The Flip: Who You Really Are and Why it Matters by Jeffrey Kripal
Publisher: Penguin Genre: Non-Fiction, Psychology, Parapsychology, Spirituality, Science, Epistemiology Rating: πππππ Prepare to have your mind blown a few times in a delightful way by this book. It’s really refreshing to read something science-y that is not afraid to delve into the ‘Twilight Zone’ so to speak. It’s difficult to put this book into theβ¦
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Book Review: The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You by Dr Elaine Aron
Publisher: Penguin Genre: Non-Fiction, Psychology, Spirituality. Rating: πππππ This is the quintessential book about the trait of high sensitivity in people’s personalities. Beautifully written, engaging and informative, it has become a classic of psychology since it was first published in 1996. In case you are unaware of how this personality trait looks, here is aβ¦
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Book Review: The Body Keeps the Score: Mind, Brain and Body in the Transformation of Trauma by Bessel Van Der Kolk
Publisher: Penguin Genre: Non-Fiction, Psychology Rating: πππ This is a comprehensive guide to trauma. Unlike other guides, it places emphasis on the physical body and how past buried traumas are inextricably connected to the body, or in other words: ‘The Body Keeps the Score’. Although this book is more of a clinical guide for psychologists,β¦
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Eight βclassicβ and popular books that are unreadable…
Do you have any books that everyone else seemed to love and you absolutely hated, or that you found to be a bit mediocre? Do you disagree with my assessment on these books and want to give me a good talking to? Let me know below.
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Book Review: Ordinary Beauty: Meaningful Moments in Everyday Life by Mary McEvoy
Publisher: Hachette Books Ireland Genre: Non-Fiction, Spirituality, Wisdom, Buddhism, Paganism Rating: πππππ This is a book of wisdom, quotes and treasures is from writer Mary McEvoy. She has lived experience of depression and anxiety. So she understands intimately how to handle and manage the dark times of life. How to look at the darkness squarelyβ¦
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Book Review: A Curious History of Sex by Kate Lister
Genre: Non-fiction, sex, history, women’s history, feminism. Publisher: Unbound Rating: πππππ Be prepared to have your hair on both ends of you to blown back and rearranged into a merkin. The History of Sex is like one prolonged literary orgasm and I mean that seriously. It’s a delight and a treat, a flirtatious and salaciousβ¦
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