4 out of 5 stars

I first came across Paul Farley in the brilliant Edgelands that he co-authored with Michael Symonds Roberts. I have read a couple of Symonds poetry now, but until I won a copy this I had not actually got to read one of his collections of poems.

There is no central theme to this collection, but around a quarter of the collection is about birds in one form or the other, even the title is short for Mistle Thrush and naturally, he has dedicated it to the great writer, Tim Dee. There are other poems about gadgets, poker, data miners and the ubiquitous hole in the wall.

The silence deepens. The world turns.

As with any collection, there were some poems that I liked more than others. I liked his selection of subjects and the way that he is happy to play with the rhythm and form depending on the writing. I read this in what seems like no time at all, and have since dipped back in every now and again to read some of the poems again whilst it was in the pile awaiting reviews and they have grown on me. Kind of now regret not reading some of his work before. As a small aside, the cover of this book is just beautiful, very much recommended.

Before we fell asleep while he stood guard
As the fire died and the stars formed above

Three (plus one) Favourite Poems
Life During the Great Acceleration
Goldcrest
Lark and Linnet
The Green Man

4 out of 5 stars

A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.

Robert Dean Frisbie was born in Cleveland at the end of the 19th Century and grew up as any American lad did in those days. He served with the U.S. Army during World War I, but after he was discharged the medical advice was for him to go so somewhere warm as if he stayed in the USA then the next winter would kill him. This was 1920 and he needed to get somewhere warm, and the pacific islands seemed to be a perfect combination.

He ended up in Tahiti for a while before moving the island of Puka-Puka in 1924 to set up a trading post.  This is a sun-kissed coral atoll about four miles by two in the Pacific pretty remote from anywhere else. He had only been there a few months and he had learnt the language and fallen head over heels in love with the island and the culture. The locals take to him and call him Ropati. He begins to learn its ancient ways and the self-sufficiency that they had developed to survive in the little piece of paradise.

Even though the island was visited by missionaries and there was a church that most of the population attended, they still carried on with life as they knew it, sleeping, fishing, making love and playing games. It was a life that Frisbie took to, he married one of the local ladies and had five children with her and relaxed into his little bit of paradise on earth.

The culture of the people of Puka-Puka was not advanced, but it was highly developed. Frisbie fully embraced it too, settling into the life there, catching turtles with them and partaking in the various rituals of life there. It is a fascinating book, I liked the poems from the people there that preface each chapter, some are traditional ones and others were created by an individual for a particular event, like the visit of a supply ship. Frisbie’s prose is very readable, he has a knack of portraying the way of life there in such a way that you can feel the warmth of the sun lifting of the page, hear the gentle sound of the sea lapping the beaches or share the terror of being battered by a typhoon. Highly recommended and if this part of the globe interests you then I can also recommend A Pattern of Islands by Arthur Grimble.

2.5 out of 5 stars

A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.

No one knows quite who Moshe’s parents are. Unlike most of the people around him in Jamaica, he has pale translucent skin and duo-toned hair. He was found by his adopted mother, Rachel Fisher in the reeds outside her home. He would grow up loved by his parents, but he never quite fitted into life at school and the village.

He does have one friend though, Arrienne Christie. They bond strongly and at times they are inseparable, communicating through a silent language and being the crutch that each other needs at that point in their lives. However, their friendship is fraught with things that threaten to drive them apart.

Moshe has a talent as an artist and it is a skill that takes him from the glorious weather of the Caribbean to the grim cold climate of the UK. He grows in stature as an artist, but he avoids the limelight and fame. But his home country is calling him and he knows it is time to return.

I must admit that I did struggle with this book for several reasons. Firstly the Jamaican patois takes quite a bit of getting used to and I would have to end up reading it a couple of time to get the gist of what they were asking. I found the plot overly convoluted. I think that it would have been better developing the themes of her characters not quite fitting into the societies of Jamaica and the UK in Moshe case as she writes about the racism in the late seventies. It did feel a little overwritten at times, though there were points where the prose was quite lyrical. Glad I gave it a go, but it isn’t really one for me.

3.5 out of 5 stars

A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.

Valerie Alston-Holt has lived in the neighbourhood of Oak Knoll, North Carolina for a number of years. She was widowed a long while ago and has raised her biracial son, Xaiver alone. He is musically very talented and has secured a place at college in the autumn to study music.

Her new neighbours, the Whitman’s, have moved into the newly built house next door. Brad Whitman is a well known local businessman who has made his money by offering top quality customer service from his company. He is married with two daughters and it seems like they have a perfect lifestyle and marriage.

Their relationship seems cordial to begin with, but when Valerie realises that her magnificent oak tree has been damaged by the new building work next door she decides to sue the builder and Brad Whitman for $500,000. The good relations that they had just started with, end abruptly. What none of the parents know is that their eldest children, Xavier and Juniper have started to fall in love and everything that each family had built and strived for begins to unravel.

This book had a bit of a slow start as Fowler sets the scenes in each house and the context of the predominately white neighbourhood, the book group with the barbed gossip beforehand, women who are at home as their husbands work and the monied class differentials between Valerie and all the others. She is using this book to look at some of the issues of nepotism and corruption as well as the conflict that the Americans have between class and race. However, the last quarter of the book is where the predominately white Fowler unleashes the main elements of the plot and takes this from a family saga to a high stakes thriller and it was much better than I was expecting.

5 out of 5 stars

There is a time for every child to leave home and move on with their life, for Tiffany Aching she is going to become an apprentice witch to the elderly Miss Level. She is to be taken there by her former teacher, Miss Tick. While they are waiting for the elderly witch to arrive they are attacked by an hiver, an ancient and truly horrible thing, which can’t die. They survive but are shocked by the experience.

What she doesn’t expect when she gets to Miss Level’s house is that she has two bodies and a very tidy ghost who tidies the home for them. She joins the local coven of apprentice witches, while she gets on with most of them, she struggles to get along with Annagramma, the self-appointed head of the group. She heads back to the cottage.

It is there, while she is resting, she steps away from her body one day. The shell left temporarily behind is an ideal place for other things to take over like a hermit crab and the hiver is waiting for that opportunity. Even for an experienced witch leaving your body and stepping away from it is fraught with difficulty and danger. Tiffany Aching doesn’t fully realise what has happened, but with the hiver in control, she starts causing chaos. Rob Anybody, who is one of the Nac Mac Feegles, senses that something is wrong and he sets off with his band to see if they can help in their own indomitable way and rid Tiffany of the hiver occupying her mind.

It’s still magic even if you know how it’s done

This is the second of the Tiffany Aching books and Pratchett has written another well thought through book. The characters are engaging and there are the usual laughs all the way through the book. If there was one tiny flaw, it did feel that the final scenes were a bit rushed, and I would have liked to seen a slightly larger role for the Nac Mac Feegles, as they were still hilarious, but other than that I loved it. It does feel like the interplay between Aching and Weatherwax is the beginning of a long partnership, and that her power and experience is slowly being passed to this young witch.

4 out of 5 stars

A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.

People have been inspired to create some form of art in response to their favourite landscapes. Some paint, others use it as a rich vein of stories for film and others seek the stories in amongst the rocks. For Simon Corble, the White Peak is a landscape that was once a tropical ocean, and not is the southern part of the peak district. He lives in a village on this limestone plateau and for him and many others, it is a special place.

This collection of poems and photographs follow the year, month by month. They reflect the seasonal change that happens, snow in the winter, the increasing light in the spring and the return of the migrant birds. The heady days of summer are over all too soon and as the year approaches autumn the tone of the poetry changes, the shadows in the photographs lengthen and the solstice beckons.

This time I’m wise to the faery trap
the tempting call of rainbow colours
enticing to enchant
an innocent child off the map

Not only is this book a thing of beauty, but I really liked this collection of poems and loved the black and white atmospheric photos too. The seasons are important to Corble, they determine the context that he is writing in and frame the words within each poem as he explores the deep connection to the place and landscape that he lives in. If you like books that are intimately connected to the landscape then find a copy of Stanza Stones by Simon Armitage, it is a beautiful combination of poetry and art embedded in the hills.

Three Favourite Poems
Snowman Remains
Arrivals
Immersion

5 out of 5 stars

A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.

It is only now that so many of us have lost that connection to the natural world we are starting to realise just how important it is. Time spent outdoors walking along a path, or sitting by the river recharges us in ways that we cannot comprehend, but have a deep need for.

But for some people that connection is much more vivid and real. Dara McAnulty is one of those people. He was diagnosed with Asperger’s and autism just over a decade ago and because he was so different to other children, was the victim of bullying at school. Getting out into the natural world was more than an escape from this torment, it became a life support system for him.

Lying below the oak, I can feel it surging below the ground, the roots curling around me, a restless energy feeding me strength.

It is this lifeline that he had from the world around him that gives him the energy to carry on fighting for the things he believes in. Moving home and school took him away from the places that he had grown to love, but this change became a positive one. He found new places to visit, like Murlough Beach where he could see seals, butterflies and hear the scream of gull and the song from the skylarks above the dunes. The new school is a positive too, rather than constantly being defensive and hating it, he is beginning to thrive.

Other changes were afoot too, he was becoming more involved in campaigning, heading to the UK to hand in a petition to the Prime Minister and was even asked to read a poem at the People’s Walk for Wildlife. His fury about the lack of action to protect wildlife and the natural world is starting to have an impact.

I must say that I really enjoyed this book. For someone so young, he has an amazing talent already as a writer. This diary format works real too, you sense the daily battle and the ebbs and flows he has with life in general. I think this comes from within, he is deeply passionate about this cause primarily because it sustains him. It is very evident from this book too that he has grasped from a young age the interconnectedness of all things. This is almost certainly connected to his autism, but I think that this is a strength rather than a weakness. McAnulty has a bright future in this world, troubled as it is at the moment. I think that he has the will to influence others to begin that change that the planet needs.

4 out of 5 stars

A copy of this was provided free of charge from NB Magazine in return for an honest review.

If you want to see wildlife without having to even leave your house, then one of the easiest things to do is look out the window for birds. Łubieński fell in love with birds, when his mother read Four Feather Friends to him. However, this passion had lapsed in the years after childhood, and it only resurfaced again at the end of his college years when he discovered a Polish edition of Birds of Europe. He purchased it and a new pair of binoculars and fell in love with all of the birds again.

Łubieński is fascinated by the inspiration that our avian friends have on music, films, books and dance and he explores some of them in this book. I had read about A Kestrel for a Knave before in other books, as well as the bird watchers who managed to still pursue their hobby whilst interred in a German POW camp. I wasn’t aware of the source of Ian Fleming’s well-known spy, James Bond or what President Mitterrand had for his last meal.

But there is more to this book than a few interesting cultural references, his writing is such that you feel close by where he is watching from. It can be settled in a hay bundle observing a flock of cranes gurgling and hooting the other side of a meadow or revisiting an old cottage that is just standing and seeing nature claim it once again. He muses about the creation myth of the stork and heads out to see if he can still find nests in the country.

Łubieński’s book is very different from a lot of what I have read in natural history writing. He is an enthusiastic bird watcher rather than a twitcher and this shows in the book. To start with it was refreshingly different, his writing is curious and intelligent with a deep-rooted warmth to his feathered subjects. His is fascinated in the way that the avian world has influenced our cultural landscape too. But mostly this is about the pure pleasure of seeing birds around you on a daily basis. Highly recommended.

4 out of 5 stars

A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.

If someone was to have asked me what I thought the second largest country in Europe was, I wouldn’t have picked Ukraine. Turns out it is. Up until now, I had only known it as the location of the town of Chernobyl, the location of the world worst nuclear disaster to date. This was the first of many crises that enveloped the country, ousting of former presidents and the Russian annexation of Crimea are two of the notable events that have shaped this country. There

Back in 2015, Jens Mühling decided to try and discover this enigma of a country for himself. Climbing on a bus in Poland he wanted to try to discover why this place had been subservient to a variety of powers for the past thousand years. After a minor delay at the border towns of Medyka and Shehyni, he was in. There never used to be a border there until relatively recently. The whole region used to be called Galicia and was part of Poland. But borders have a habit of moving and places come under different fiefdoms and this region was no different, even being part of Austria at one point in its history.

Travelling onto Lviv, there he meets a Pani Kristina who takes him around the local prison which was where 1000 people were slaughtered by the retreating Soviets. This was a propaganda boom for the Nazi’s at the time, who filled it once again with their own choice of dissident and committed equally appalling atrocities. He also meets a man who at one point was in the SS Galacia division. After the war, he returned to Lviv as he was a member of the OUN. He was soon caught by the Soviets and imprisoned along with thousands of others.

In the South-West of the country is the town of Dilove. The countryside he passes through is undeveloped, but beautiful farm and smallholding land that seemed to have been heading back to a pre-industrial time. It is a beguiling sight. It is dark by the time he arrives, but the view he glimpses of the mountains stands out starkly from the sky. Called Transcarpathia by people from Kiev, it originally used to belong to Hungary, then Czechoslovakia before the residents declared their own state. It lasted a day before it was invaded again. It was absorbed into the Soviet bloc before independence in 1991. It is a town that he finds fascinating, but he is made very aware of the way that the place has been marginalised over the years.

He heads to other cities in the country, visits museums where he is the sole visitor, share a bus seat with a woman holding a giant pumpkin who had never seen a foreigner before and arrives in the city of Uman as 30,000 Hasidim arrive to commemorate the passing of Rabbi Nachman. He arrives in Kiev, as the chestnuts are falling from the trees and collecting at the bottom of the hills. He even manages to get over to the Crimea which is now controversially part of Russia once again.

I thought that this was a carefully written book about a country that isn’t always visible on a global stage. His descriptions of the landscape he passes while looking out the windows of buses and trains show a country that has not really emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union. Mühling makes an effort to engage with all the people that he meets, even if he doesn’t necessarily agree with their point of view. There is a lot of history in this country and he draws the stories of the country out revealing details of places that have been subservient to greater European powers whilst mostly being ignored by them.