I Read, Therefore I Blog

The Blurb On The Back:

Sally Urwin and her husband Steve own High House Farm in Northumberland, which they share with two kids, Mavis the sheepdog, one very fat pony and many, many sheep.

From lambing to harvest, in driving snow and on hot summer days, Sally reveals the highs, lows and hard, hard work involved in making a living from the land. Filled with grit and humour, eccentric animals and local characters, this is the perfect book for anyone who has ever wondered what it’s like on the other side of the fence.

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The Verdict:

Sally Urwin is a 4’ 10” former corporate marketer who became a farmer’s wife when she married Steve a sheep farmer based in Northumberland) and started writing a blog recounting her experiences. This entertaining book that reinforces how difficult farming is both physically and emotionally (made worse by the perilous economics within the industry) is based on some of Urwin’s blog entries and tracks a year of living on the farm.

The Blurb On The Back:

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning, best-selling author and prominent investigative journalist of our time, a heartfelt, hugely revealing memoir of a career breaking some of the most significant stories of the last half-century.

Seymour Hersh’s fearless reporting has earned him fame, front-page bylines in virtually every major newspaper in the English-speaking world, honours galore, and no small amount of controversy. In this memoir he describes what drove him and how, even when working for some of the US’s most prestigious publications, he worked as an independent outsider. Here, he tels the stories behind his own groundbreaking stories as he chases leads, cultivates sources, and grapples with the weight of what he uncovers, daring to challenge official narratives handed down from the powers that be. In telling these stories, Hersh divulges previously unreported information about some of his biggest scoops, including the My Lai massacre and the horror of Abu Grahib. This is essential reading on the power of the printed word at a time when good journalism is under fire as never before.

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The Verdict:

Seymour Hersh is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist known for his work uncovering the My Lai massacre, the Watergate scandal and the Abu Ghraib war crimes. This memoir focuses on his career and how he broke his biggest stories but offers nothing personal, no analysis of changes in the profession or the ways anonymous sources can be used and misused. I think the book suffers for that, leaving it an okay factual read rather than an insightful one.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Who do you think you are?

Have you ever thought about who you might be related to?

What if we told you that you were related to EXTRAORDINARY EMPERORS, GREAT KINGS and MAGNIFICENT QUEENS? Well, your majesty, you are. In fact, everyone is. And geneticist Adam Rutherford is here to tell you how.

Discover everything you need to know about human history, from EVOLUTION to the FIRST LIFE ON EARTH, from DINOSAURS to YOU. Along the way, you’ll find out just how far us humans have migrated, how we’re all related to a SUPER CHEESY MAN and why, despite us having different skin colours, living in different places or speaking different languages, we all come from the same place.

This is the epic story of where we come from, what race really is and why we’re all, ultimately, one human family.

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The Verdict:

Adam Rutherford is a geneticist, science writer and broadcaster. E. L. Norry is an experienced writer of fiction and non-fiction for children. This is a very readable guide to genetics for readers aged 9+that explains evolution, genes, race and tying it in with racism and racist myths. Adam Ming’s illustrations work perfectly with the text and I think the authors strike the right tone, getting over facts but with humour that keeps you engaged.

WHERE ARE YOU REALLY FROM? was released in the United Kingdom on 28th September 2023. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Tesla Crane, a brilliant inventor, and an heiress, is on her honeymoon on an interplanetary space liner, cruising between the Moon and Mars. She’s travelling incognito and is revealing in her anonymity. Then someone is murdered and the festering chowderheads who run security have the audacity to arrest her spouse.

Armed with banter, martinis and her small service dog, Tesla is determined to solve the crime so that the newlyweds can get back to canoodling and keep the real killer from striking again.

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The Verdict:

Mary Robinette Kowal’s SF mystery is a delightful homage to Dashiell Hammet’s THE THIN MAN, featuring a great central couple and making astute observations about fame, privilege and wealth. Although the mystery is a little thin, the side characters (especially Fantine who I adored) and their interactions carry you along and I admired how Kowal looks at what it is to live with chronic pain and loved the way everyone falls in love with Gimlet.

The Blurb On The Back:

”I want what the straight kids have. Even just for a couple of days …”

Seventeen-year-old Max might be out and proud but he’s usually too busy checking his nail polish to check his privilege.

So when he says he wishes he could have the ‘easy’ life straight kids enjoy, Max gets more than he bargained for. He wakes up to find his wish has come true - not only have his feelings for boys vanished, so has his lifelong best friend, Dean.

With his world turned upside down and relationships in tatters, can Max find his way back to the life he took for granted, and maybe even win the heart of the guy he thought could never be his …?

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The Verdict:

Callum McSwiggan’s speculative YA LGBTQ+ romance is an okay read filled with out and proud characters but Max’s confrontation of his privilege and belief that the straights have things easier is unconvincing as Max is always fairly self-obsessed character while his friendship with Dean is more tell than show. That said, the romance is sweet, I liked Dean and Alicia as side characters and the plot has a lot of pace and energy to it.

STRAIGHT EXPECTATIONS was released in the United Kingdom on 4th May 2023. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

One house. Nine guests. Endless motives for murder …

Guests assemble at Hamlet Hall for a New Year’s Eve party to remember.

They are to take part in a murder mystery game with a 1920s twist, and everyone has their own part to play.

But the evening has barely begun when one guest is found dead - killed by an injury to the head.

Someone is playing by their own rules.

And in a close-knit community, old rivalries run deep …

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The Verdict:

The ambition of Tom Hindle’s second crime novel exceeds its grasp, its characters too thinly drawn (with the younger characters being particularly unconvincing) and the mystery element too telegraphed for it to work effectively. It did hold my attention and I enjoyed the tensions between the local community members, especially as the secrets start to come out, but as a whole I think it’s flawed although I’d still check out Hindle’s next book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Can one girl succeed against the force of an empire?

Kurara and her shipmates have escaped the clutches of the princess and set a course for the Grand Stream. There they hope to find the most powerful shikigami of all: a legendary paper phoenix. It may hold the key to releasing shikigami from their eternal bonds for good - if they can reach it before the imperial powers do.

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The Verdict:

The second in Ann Sei Lin’s YA fantasy trilogy delves into the mythology of Lin’s world, especially the backstory for Kurara and Haru and includes some heart breaking scenes as Lin also explores the bond between shikigami and Crafter and what it really means. However Tomoe and Sayo are very much bit players here and while I enjoyed the character development for Himura, Tsukimi remains too broadly painted to be a credible antagonist.

REBEL FIRE was released in the United Kingdom on 6th July 2023. Thanks to Walker Books for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

November 1924

The Endeavour sets sail with 2,000 passengers - and a killer - on board …

When a man’s body is found on deck, ship’s officer Timothy Birch is ready to declare the death a tragic accident. But Scotland Yard inspector James Temple is certain there’s more to this misfortune than meets the eye.

Mounting an investigation, the pair uncover the theft of a priceless painting and encounter a string of suspects with secrets to hide.

With just days remaining until the Endeavour reaches New York, their search for the culprit is fraught with danger.

And all the while, the passengers roam the ship with a killer in their midst …

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The Verdict:

Tom Hindle’s debut historical crime novel is packed with red herrings, an emotional backstory for Birch and has a sucker punch twist at the end that genuinely left me surprised. Although this is very much a First Class passenger affair, I enjoyed the Agatha Christie vibe and the allusions to Birch’s war service but Temple is notably under-developed in comparison, which is a shame as fuller characterisation would have taken this to the next level.

The Blurb On The Back:

An award-winning classic mystery, introducing Japan’s most famous detective.

In the winter of 1937, the village of Okamura is abuzz with excitement over the forthcoming Ichiyangi wedding. But, amid the gossip, there is also a worrying rumour - it seems a sinister masked man has been asking questions around the village.

Then, on the night of the wedding, the Ichiyanagi household are woken by a terrible scream, followed by the sound of eerie music. Death has come to Okamura, leaving no trace but a bloody samurai sword, thrust into the pristine snow outside the house.

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The Verdict:

Seishi Yokomizo’s locked room crime novel (the first in a series) was published in Japan in 1946 and first translated into English in 2019 by Louise Heal Kawai, who has done a wonderful job. I thoroughly enjoyed Yokomizo’s slow reveal of the Ichiyanagi family’s secrets, while Kindaichi is a fascinating detective (almost in the Columbo mode) and the solution is ingenious such that I will check out the other translations of Yokomizo’s work.

The Blurb On The Back:

Hayden Lichfield’s life is ripped apart when he finds his father murdered in their lab, and the camera logs erased. The killer can only have been after one thing: the Sisyphus Formula the two of them developed together, which might one day reverse death itself. Hoping to lure the killer into the open, Hayden steals the research. In the process, he uncovers a recording his father made in the days before his death, and a dying wish: Avenge me …

With the lab on lockdown, Hayden is trapped with four other people - his uncle Charles, lab technician Gabriel Rasmussen, research intern Felicia Xia and their head of security, Felicia’s father Paul - one of whom must be the killer. His only sure ally is the lab’s resident artificial intelligence, Horatio, who has been his dear friend and compassion since its creation. With his world collapsing, Hayden must navigate the building’s secrets, uncover his father’s lies and push the boundaries of sanity in the pursuit of revenge.

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The Verdict:

Em X. Liu’s SF novel is a tech take on HAMLET that explores themes of mortality, fear, intimacy and revenge. Although I enjoyed how Liu updates Felicia (the Ophelia character), I wasn’t gripped by the story and the fragmented style, while true to the underlying themes of the play, further distanced me from the story. Ultimately, this is a clever and thoughtful book but not one that vibes with me, although I’d still check out Liu’s other work.

THE DEATH I GAVE HIM was released in United States on 12th September 2023 and in the United Kingdom on 14th September 2023. Thanks to Rebellion Publishing for the review copy of this book.