I Read, Therefore I Blog

The Blurb On The Back:

From the harrowing situation of migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean in rubber dinghies to the crisis on the US-Mexico border, mass migration is one of the most urgent issues facing our societies today. At the same time, viable solutions seem ever more remote, with the increasing polarisation of public attitudes and political positions.

In this book, Stephen Smith focuses on ‘young Africa’ - 40 per cent of its population are under fifteen - and a dramatic demographic shift. Today, 510 million people live inside EU borders, and 1.25 billion in Africa. In 2050, 450 million Europeans will face 2.5 billion Africans - five times their number. The demographics are implacable. The scramble for Europe will become as inexorable as the ‘scramble for Africa’ was at the end of the nineteenth century, when 275 million people lived north and only 100 million lived south of the Mediterranean. Then it was all about raw materials and national pride, now it is about young Africans seeking a better life on the Old Continent, the island of prosperity within their reach. If Africa’s migratory patterns follow the historic precedents set by other less developed parts of the world, in thirty years a quarter of Europe’s population will be Afro-Europeans. Addressing the question of how Europe can cope with an influx of this magnitude, Smith argues for a path between the two extremes of today’s debate. He advocates migratory policies of ‘good neighbourhood’ equidistant from guilt-Rudder self-denial and nativist egotism.

This sobering analysis of the migration challenges we now face will be essential reading for anyone concerns with the great social and political questions of our time.

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The Verdict:

Stephen Smith is Professor of African Studies at Duke University and spent 30 years as a journalist in Africa. His book is strong on the human geography of Africa, particularly the problems of its youthful population, the tensions with gerocentric political structures and the levers encouraging migration to Europe and America but is weak on how to address this and at times he offers up literary tangents that give colour but no facts.

THE SCRAMBLE FOR EUROPE was released in the United Kingdom on 26th April 2019. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Isadora Moon is special because she is different

Her mum is a fairy and her dad is a vampire and she is a bit of both.

It’s almost time for the vampire ball, and Isadora can’t wait! There’s just one problem: she’s got to compete in a talent show with the other vampire children.

Will Isadora be brave enough to perform …?

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The Verdict:

The 10th in Harriet Muncaster’s self-illustrated fantasy series for children aged 6+ is another charming and thoughtful affair that focuses on self-confidence and how to deal with situations that make you nervous. It’s another very girly book but I especially liked how Muncaster sets up the expectations of her dad, who is slightly too worried about what the vampires will like rather than what Isadora will enjoy, which adds to her nerves.

ISADORA MOON PUTS ON A SHOW will be released in the United Kingdom on 5th September 2019. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

The battle is on - duck for cover!

Adventure Duck’s arch nemesis, Power Pug, is back with a sickly-sweet plan for world domination. With an armadillo army under his command, the evil pug is digging up the rainforest to build a giant chocolate factory! Can a new llama sidekick help Adventure Duck win the war? Because defeat means only one thing ...

Death by chocolate!

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The Verdict:

The second in Steve Cole and Aleksei Bitskoff’s humorous illustrated series for children aged 6+ is another zany and silly tale filled with bad puns, some funny toilet jokes and a megalomaniac pug intent on world domination. I liked the switch in focus to Ziggy and AD’s friendship and Bitskoff’s illustrations add energy to the text but the story here is remarkably similar to the first book, so it did feel a little repetitive.

ADVENTURE DUCK VS THE ARMADILLO ARMY was released in the United Kingdom on 8th August 2019. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Slay your fear! Get out of your comfort zone and express yourself.

Find the lesson! Bounce back from the dumps, failures and other bummers.

Lift as you climb. Support your squad.

Speak truth: know your rights and take action

Don’t fit in? Pave new ground

Learn how to step into your power with the help of friendly big-sister figure Jamie Wilson.

How do you achieve your dreams? And what are your rights? Find out in this friendly guide, with mentoring moments by Jamia Wilson and Andrea Pippins. This book gives young girls the tools to unlock their power, be themselves, and maybe just change the world.

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The Verdict:

Jamia Wilson is a writer and feminist activist and Andrea Pippins is a writer and illustrator. In this thought-provoking, empathic and inspirational book aimed at girls aged 9+ (although there’s a lot here that boys would benefit from too) they set out 23 lessons for children to feel more powerful, from learning self-care techniques to standing up for themselves and facing down their fears, which a lot of adults would benefit from learning too.

STEP INTO YOUR POWER: 23 LESSONS ON HOW TO LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE was released in the United Kingdom on 7th March 2019. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

An extraordinary imagining of the life of one of the greatest screen comedians the world has ever known: a man who knew both adoration and humiliation; who loved, and was loved in turn; who betrayed, and was betrayed; who never sought to cause pain to others, yet left a trail of affairs and broken marriages in his wake ...

And whose life was ultimately defined by one relationship of such tenderness and devotion that only death could sever it: his partnership with the man he knew as Babe.

he is Stan Laurel.

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The Verdict:

John Connolly’s fictionalised look at the life of Stan Laurel is an absorbing and fascinating read with Connolly clearly having done his research on the man’s life. The literary conceit of never mentioning Stan by his name mostly works and he gets the rhythms of the Laurel and Hardy dialogue right together with the peculiar nature of their relationship, but Laurel the man remains a mystery as Connolly never quite gets what made him tick.

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

The Blurb On The Back:

Liberals blame the global retreat of liberal democracy on globalisation and authoritarian leaders. Only liberals, so they assume, can defend democratic rule against multinationals or populists at home and abroad. In this provocative book, Adrian Pabst contends that liberal democracy is illiberal and undemocratic - intolerant about the values of ordinary people while concentrating power and wealth in the hands of unaccountable elites.

Under the influence of contemporary liberalism, democracy is sliding into oligarchy, demagogy and anarchy. Liberals, far from defending open markets and free speech, promote monopolies such as the new tech giants that undermine competition and democratic debate. Liberal individualism has eroded the social bonds and civic duties on which democracy depends for trust and cooperation. To bank liberal democracy’s demons, Pabst proposed radical ideas for economic democracy, a politics of persuasion and a better balance of personal freedom with social solidarity.

This book’s defence of democratic politics against both liberals and populists will speak to all readers trying to understand out age of upheaval.

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The Verdict:

Adrian Pabst is a Reader in Politics at the University of Kent and a leading thinker in the ‘Blue Labour’ movement. In this disappointing polemic that relies on straw man arguments, generalisations and doesn’t define what he means by “liberal democracy”, he parrots the known arguments about the rise of populism and the disconnect between voters and politicians and offers a “solution” of return to grassroots mutualism that no one is asking for.

THE DEMONS OF LIBERAL DEMOCRACY was released in the United Kingdom on 1st March 2019. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

Her life has changed and no one’s told her the new rules.

So she’ll just have to make up her own ...

Eighteen months ago, seventeen-year-old Rose and thirteen-year-old Rudder escaped a strict religious sect with their mum.

While Rudder gorges on once-taboo Harry Potters, Rose swaps ankle skirts for Japanese-cute fairy dress and her new boyfriend, Kye. Kye, who she wants with all her being. But there’s loads of stuff that Rose has no idea how to handle - it’s normal for girls to let their boyfriends take naked pictures of them, right?

When Rudder accidentally sets a devastating chain of events in action, Rose must decide whether to sacrifice everything and go back to the life she hates, in order to save the people she loves.

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The Verdict:

Patrice Lawrence’s contemporary YA novel is a subtle look at the pressures of modern teen life that examines sexism, different means of coercion and control and the meaning of freedom. Lawrence is particularly good in her sly critique of toxic Christianity and in the double standards that women are held to in comparison to men and although the pace did drag slightly in places, I cared a great deal about the characters and what happens to them.

ROSE, INTERRUPTED was released in the United Kingdom on 25th July 2019. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

When life knocks you down, can you learn to fight back?

Told over the course of the ten rounds of his first fight, this is the story of amateur boxer Sunny. A seventeen-year-old feeling isolated and disconnected in the city he’s just moved to, Sunny joins a boxing club to learn to protect himself after a racist attack. He finds the community he’s been desperately seeking at the club, and a mentor in trainer Shobu, who helps him find his place in the world.

But racial tensions are rising in the city, and when a Far Right march through Bristol turns violent, Sunny is faced with losing his new best friend to radicalisation.

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The Verdict:

Nikesh Shukla’s contemporary YA novel is an interesting look at racism and how boxing can give a person discipline, confidence and self-respect but while it’s interesting to have a book look at white extremist radicalisation, Keir’s character and motivation is underdeveloped, as is his friendship with Sunny and I never bought into why Sunny wanted to save him, which is a shame because there’s a lot that’s good about this book and it’s worth a look.

THE BOXER was released in the United Kingdom on 27th June 2019. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Blurb On The Back:

When Maggie Laird’s disgraced ex-cop husband suddenly dies, her humdrum suburban life is turned upside down. With the bills mounting, she takes on his struggling detective agency, enlisting the help of neighbour Big Wilma. And so an unlikely partnership is born.

But the discovery of a crudely mutilated body soon raises the stakes and Maggie and Wilma are drawn into an unknown world of Aberdeen’s sink estates, clandestine childminding and dodgy dealers ...

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The Verdict:

Claire MacLeary’s crime novel (the first in a series) is a disjointed affair whose plot skips about with little tension or connection, plot strands end in an unsatisfying way while the partnership between the two women is underdeveloped. I liked MacLeary’s use of Scots dialect, which gives authenticity but the writing is technically lacking (including head-hopping between characters within scenes) such that I’m not interested in reading on.

The Blurb On The Back:

What do YOU want to change in the world?

This must-have empowering guide by inspirational Laura Croydon, leader of the incredible international campaign against tampon tax, gives you the tools to find your voice and stand up for what you believe in so that YOU can make a difference.

Channel Laura’s campaigning superpowers with her step-by-step toolkit and create your own successful campaign. Laura’s experience will give you the confidence to deal with setbacks and internet trolls, and ways to speak up about everyday situations, such as relationships, too.

YOUR VOICE MATTERS.
YOU ARE POWERFUL.
YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD.

IT’S TIME TO SPEAK UP!

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The Verdict:

Laura Coryton’s campaign against the ‘Tampon Tax’ in May 2014 resulted in a change to EU law and inspired international groups to carry out equivalent campaigns in other countries. This book seeks to inspire teenage girls to organise their own campaigns while empowering them to speak up for themselves but I found the tone too breathy and her approach to facts breezy, while also underplaying the complexities of some of the issues discussed.

SPEAK UP! WE ARE UNSTOPPABLE was released in the United Kingdom on 7th March 2019. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.