Book review blog site, with some entertainment material from time-to-time.
Saturday 17 December 2016
That's Christmas: May it Please You, Madam
That's Christmas: May it Please You, Madam: May it Please You, Madam, by Neil Hickman, is just the type of book that I love. It is sub-titled a little book of legal whimsy and it c...
Salvage
In Dublin author's Bernadette Quinn's new novel, Salvage, she explores a situation of marital crisis and destruction.
Based on events from real life -not those of the author- the novel tells the story of a typical Irish couple, Pam Cronin and Pat McElroy.
They meet, by chance, at a seminar. He is a youthful and ambitious architect, she is an equally youthful and equally ambitious newly qualified medical doctor.
They meet again and quickly realise that they are falling very deeply in love and quite soon they are married and have two children.
However, their married life takes a change for the worse when Pam wishes to return to work as a doctor. Perhaps somewhat inexplicably, Pat forbids this from happening.
In order to appease her husband, Pam acquiesces to his arguments that she should be a stay at home mother and concentrate on raising their two children.
This is, however, the start of what eventually become serious problems within their marriage.
With the passage of time their relationship deteriorates more and more. Pam attempts to raise these important issues with her husband but he dismisses her concerns. As far as he is concerned they have the perfect marriage and any problems that Pam perceives are only within her own mind.
Perhaps in order to shock him into realising the severity of their marital disharmony, Pam suggests a trial separation, he is angry and very dismissive of the idea. But demands that if they separate, that he would seek custody of their two children.
Aware that their marriage is, in fact, dying, Pam realises that she must now make plans to create a new life for herself, a life that does not involve her husband or her children.
However, fate takes a hand when Pam is severely wounded when she attempts to save a child who is in danger of being run down by a bus.
She is alone in her hospital bed and she begins to think about her life and her family. Will she be able to continue with her life as a wife and mother or could she decide to carry out her plans for a new and different life, facing the world, alone?
This is an emotionally charged and highly realistic novel and will make an excellent Christmas present for those for whom Mills and Boon is not their cup of tea.
It is published by Matador at £9.99 and can be bought here >>> https://goo.gl/AzQ0XD.
They meet, by chance, at a seminar. He is a youthful and ambitious architect, she is an equally youthful and equally ambitious newly qualified medical doctor.
They meet again and quickly realise that they are falling very deeply in love and quite soon they are married and have two children.
However, their married life takes a change for the worse when Pam wishes to return to work as a doctor. Perhaps somewhat inexplicably, Pat forbids this from happening.
In order to appease her husband, Pam acquiesces to his arguments that she should be a stay at home mother and concentrate on raising their two children.
This is, however, the start of what eventually become serious problems within their marriage.
With the passage of time their relationship deteriorates more and more. Pam attempts to raise these important issues with her husband but he dismisses her concerns. As far as he is concerned they have the perfect marriage and any problems that Pam perceives are only within her own mind.
Perhaps in order to shock him into realising the severity of their marital disharmony, Pam suggests a trial separation, he is angry and very dismissive of the idea. But demands that if they separate, that he would seek custody of their two children.
Aware that their marriage is, in fact, dying, Pam realises that she must now make plans to create a new life for herself, a life that does not involve her husband or her children.
However, fate takes a hand when Pam is severely wounded when she attempts to save a child who is in danger of being run down by a bus.
She is alone in her hospital bed and she begins to think about her life and her family. Will she be able to continue with her life as a wife and mother or could she decide to carry out her plans for a new and different life, facing the world, alone?
This is an emotionally charged and highly realistic novel and will make an excellent Christmas present for those for whom Mills and Boon is not their cup of tea.
It is published by Matador at £9.99 and can be bought here >>> https://goo.gl/AzQ0XD.
Emotions of a Book
In a way that many might feel follows on in the tradition of Six Characters in Search of an author, the important 1921 play by fellow Italian Luigi Pirandello, this arguably equally important work explores the relationships between the author and the book that the author is creating.
Does the book have a personality of its own? Is it, in fact, a living creature in its own right?
Parisi argues that this point of view can be extended to all other artistic categories, the musical, artistic, dramatic, painters, sculptors and so forth.
Written by lecturer, teacher and a professor of literature, Emotions of a Book is a work that belongs on the bookshelves of anyone with even a passing interest in the arts and the meaning of life.
Although a work that touches on a great many different, yet, in reality, related themes (the arts, history, the nature of love and friendship, truth and so on) it is written in a style that is easily accessible by anyone who cares to read it.
The ideas that flow through and from this book are important and this book will make a excellent Christmas present for anyone who loves the arts and life in general.
It is published by Matador at £10.99 andis available for purchase here >>> https://goo.gl/AzQ0XD.
Sunday 11 December 2016
Rasmus
Rasmus. Exactly who, or what, is Rasmus?
He appears to be a TV visionary, a producer of reality television shows, but he has a desire to push, pull and cajole the genre to either scale untold heights, or to plumb the lowest levels of some post-Dante vision of Hell.
Take your pick.
His programming corrupts all who participate, all who watch it and his rivals in the television industry, worldwide.
Great and terrible things happen, people will die live (if you'll pardon that expression) on TV, celebrities will be consumed, no, make that celebrities will be eaten and all for higher ratings.
All culminating in Death Hunt compared by the bouncy Alicia McVicar, where the name of the game is delete or be deleted.
Of course, nothing like this could ever happen in real life. Or Could it?
Not for the feint of heart this book is published by Matador at £8.99 and will make a superb Christmas present who like their fiction to be thrilling, satirical and just a little off the wall.
You can buy it here from our own book and gift shop which you will find here >>> https://goo.gl/m5aVoo.
That's Christmas: The Primacy of Your Eye
That's Christmas: The Primacy of Your Eye: The Primacy of Your Eye is a fascinating book by author, artist and qualified art historian Allan W. Beckett. It is a handbook that belo...
That's Christmas: The Rhyming Diary of Jason Smith
That's Christmas: The Rhyming Diary of Jason Smith: If you have a teacher or a child to buy a Christmas present for, then you really should get a copy of veteran schoolteacher Trevor Cattell...
Snake Ring at Risk & Other Stories
The stories are aimed at children and contain good, positive moral underpinnings, but children of ages 9 to 99 (and beyond) will find these stories equally enchanting.
You will reads about the Witch that wasn't, the not stupid at all boy who should not have been called Pie, a kitten who was full of mischief, the mystery of what the old lady in black was really singing and that's all in the first story!
There's the exciting new game that Sammy invented for himself, which resulted in him working to free a planet from an influx of giant snails, but it was only a dream. Or was it?
There are stories of revenge that was misplaced and erroneous, and also what happened when the Snake Ring was at risk.
The book costs £7.99 and is an essential read for everyone.
It is published in January and you can pre-order your copy here at our book and gift shop >>> https://goo.gl/m5aVoo.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)