Category Educational

ThePower of Trees: How Ancient Forests Can Save Us If We Let Them by Peter Wohleben @Peterwohlleben @RandomTTours @brownlee_donald @greystonebooks #nature #climate #science #bookreview

yvonnembee 8 Comments

I am delighted to share my review of The Power of Trees: How Ancient Forests Can Save Us If We Let Them by Peter Wohleben. This is a fabulous book and one that made so much sense to me. After reading this book I immediate went and bought he previous one.

My huge thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for arranging my paperback copy of this book from the publisher Greystone Books.

In the follow up to his Sunday Times bestseller, The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben compares tree planting to battery farming.


‘In clear, vivid prose with impeccable reasoning, Peter Wohlleben makes a compelling case that almost everything we do in modern forestry management may be dead wrong. What should we do instead? Let the wisdom of the trees quell our human arrogance, heal the forest and restore our sweet, green world’


Sy Montgomery, author of How to be a Good Creature and The Soul of an Octopus
TREES CAN SURVIVE without humans, but we can’t live without trees. Even if human-caused climate change devastates our planet, trees will return—as they do, always and everywhere, even after ice ages, catastrophic fires, destructive storms, and deforestation. It would just be nice if we were around to see them flourish.

The Power of Trees is forester Peter Wohlleben’s follow-up to The Hidden Life of Trees, a Sunday Times bestseller that sold millions of copies worldwide. In his latest book, he is dismissive of token gestures in terms of tree planting. Just as he compared forest trees to ‘families’ and urban trees to ‘street urchins’ in his first book, in The Power of Trees he uses equally powerful metaphors to compare tree planting to battery farming (‘Switching to fast-growing species and breeding trees for desired traits brought results like those achieved by factory farming: individuals ready for harvest at a young age, all with a relatively uniform carcass weight.’). However, he also joyfully describes trees determination to survive, describing seedlings breaking through the earth where you least expect them, as ‘stalwart tree children’.

This latest work is as fascinating and eye-opening as it is trenchant in its critique: on the one hand, Wohlleben describes astonishing discoveries about how trees pass knowledge down to succeeding generations and their ability to survive climate change; on the other, he is unsparing in his criticism of those who wield economic and political power—who plant trees exclusively for the sake of logging and virtue signaling—even as they ruthlessly exploit nature. The Power of Trees is a love letter to the forest and a passionate argument for protecting nature’s boundless diversity, not only for the sake of trees, but also for us.

MY REVIEW

I am someone who loves being outside in my garden. It is a mix of fruit, veg and flowers and over the past 5 years, I have been planting trees to make my little plot as diverse as possible for the wildlife in my piece of Cornwall, UK. I have always been someone who likes the outside and living where I do I am close to nature as I live at the edge of a village. Surrounded by farmland, small areas of trees and also the coast. Reading The Power of Trees has opened up more ideas for me and there are little steps I can make in my own garden to do my part in helping the trees.

This is such a fantastic book to read, it is so informative. Yes, it is a bit science-based in places but not too much so. The author takes us through the evolution of trees, a slow natural process, and how this compares to how people try to manage a similar thing. Trees have adapted and changed over millions of years. There is fossilised evidence of plants and trees, so it does beg the question… how do we know more about the evolution of a species so different to ourselves. The fact that trees are the lungs of the earth makes it obvious that without them we would not survive.

The author tells how exasperated he gets when he comes across managed forests, these are planted for profit and are a single species. This means if there is a problem the whole forest can and does suffer. Rather than the diverse trees that have gradually made their homes and know how to work with the environment, managers believe they are better at doing it. they are not.

By removing the stalwarts of the older forest we are interfering and making the same mistakes over and over again. Scientists have been shouting for many years about how human progress is hindering the natural process. When you look at various documentaries, read articles online or just have a look with your own eyes, you can see that things are changing.

So why then do those in politics, who are backed by the money men prefer not to listen to what is backed up by years of research and study? It’s obvious, it’s all about the money, the profits and the financial gain.

As a gardener, I am aware of how carefully choosing the right plants to put in my garden. But it is becoming more difficult to work out what will do well in a particular growing season as the climate is so changeable. So how on earth can anyone work out what the climate will be like in 20 or 100 years times?

The author discusses many other things in this book and rather than paint a bleak picture he does offer hope. That we can change and see how beneficial the trees that have grown for hundreds of years actually know what they are doing, after all, they have been doing it for far longer. Trees are able to adapt to their surrounding, as is all plant life if it is in the right place at the right time.

The author has laid out this book in such a good way. He shows arguments from different groups, shows research and studies from people around the world and laid it down in the pages of his book. It makes sense, a couple of times I was a little lost in the science, but there really isn’t that much. It is such an informative read and one that as soon as I picked it up completely had me hooked. As soon as I finished this one I bought his previous book, The Hidden Life of Trees.

If you have any interest in nature and the environment, if you are a gardener, a person that likes being outside, or someone who likes to sit under a tree on a sunny day to have a coffee, then this is a book you might enjoy. I adored it and I have taken so much from it that I can actually use and therefore it makes it a very important book. An amazing book that I would absolutely recommend.

About the Author

PETER WOHLLEBEN is one of the world’s most notable foresters and a passionate advocate for tree conservation. Wohlleben lives in Germany, where he manages an ecologically conscious forest and runs an academy for education and advocacy. His books are bestsellers around the world. He speaks fluent English and will be In the UK 22-24 April 2023 to launch the book at the Cambridge Literary Festival and at The Linnean Society in London and available for further Interviews.

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Forgotten Women by Zing Tsjeng @misszing @RandomTTours @Octopus_Books #nonfiction #womeninhistory #TheLeaders #history #bookreview

yvonnembee 2 Comments

I am delighted to share my review today of Forgotten Women by Zing Tsjeng. This is a brilliant non-fiction book that I adored.

My huge thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for my spot on the Blog Tour and for arranging my gorgeous hardback copy of this book from Octopus Books.

Forgotten Women reaches around the world and its history to rediscover, retell and reinstate the lives of over 190 important and significant women. From Neolithic times to modernity, Zing Tsjeng has traced the women who have shaped their age and revolutionised society.


In this book lies the strength, lives and sacrifices of women who have refused to accept the hand they’ve been dealt and have changed the course of our futures accordingly.

MY REVIEW

This is a fabulous book that I have been reading over the past few weeks. The book focuses on women that have left their mark on history and have yet, to be forgotten over time. To be honest, there are a lot of people to who this has happened, but it is great to see a book that focuses on women. When history books mention great discoveries, inventions, observations, works of art, philosophy or any other sector, it does tend to focus on men. This does make sense as for so long in history women were seen as inferior, they were supposed to be humble and often not taught to the same educational level as their male counterparts. When you think of women who have made their mark and are mentioned or taught about in schools, there are very few compared to men.

This book is laid out in 7 chapters, the women mentioned have been categorised into these chapters-
Campaigners
Mavericks
Revolutionaries
Trailblazers
World Changers
Truth Tellers Visionaries.

The rogue in me automatically flicked through to the mavericks! Starting with Hatshepsut (c,1508-1485 bc) and finishing with Leticia Parente (1930-1991) takes you through centuries of history as well as around the world. Women from Egypt, Georgia, Mongolia, China, The US, India and many more countries are mentioned.

Each of the chapters is so interesting and whether you go through this book page by page or flick back and forth you will definitely find yourself becoming absorbed. I know I did! This is a book that is educational and enlightening. Great for fans of history in many subjects. Even though for many, many years women have worked and researched to enhance themselves, they were often seen as trouble makers, witches, bad mothers or wives or simply disillusioned, they still pursued their interests. Thank goodness they did as they have gradually paved the way for women today to have access to education and be able to choose and forge a career for themselves.

Some will see this as a book about feminism, but I see this as a book that shows how our world and opinions have changed. This is not the case in all countries around the world, but women have more support now to make that stand.

This is such an interesting book on an educational and historical basis. It is enlightening and I found so many people who I had never heard of before. This is very accessible and one that I have loved reading and will continue to pick up and re-read. I would definitely recommend this, it is excellent.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Crazy Busy: keeping sane in a stressful world by Thijs Launspach #selfhelp #timemanagement #bookreview

yvonnembee 3 Comments

I am delighted to share my review today of Crazy Busy by Thijs Launspach. I am not a big fan of self-help books but occasionally I do pick them up, it is good to stop and remind myself to clear my head once in a while.

Abolish stress. Rediscover joy. Replenish your energy.

In Crazy Busy acclaimed psychologist Thijs Launspach examines why we often work ourselves to the bone and what we can do to prevent this. He explains how to cope with stress and create more peace and calm in your life. He draws on the latest scientific knowledge, the methods used by experts and the stories told by those who have learned the hard way what stress can do to both body and mind. All to provide you with the answer to the question: how can you free yourself from a life of stress?

A full diary and no time to think; the feeling that you are always playing catch-up and never quite hitting the mark: our lives today are almost invariably crazy busy. Being busy is one of the hallmarks of the modern era. But the pressure is taking its toll on us.

The number of burnouts has risen dramatically over the past ten years. In fact, it has now reached epidemic proportions: approximately one in seven of all workers suffers badly from stress or has been forced to take a break from work because of stress-related complaints. And even if you don’t reach the actual burnout stage, stress can still make your life a lot less enjoyable.

Why are our lives so hectic? Have we all become workaholics? Why are we so susceptible to FOMO (the Fear Of Missing Out)? And most importantly, what can you do to cope with the stress in your life and prevent burnout?

  • Do you find yourself rushing to get things finished more than once a week?
  • Do others often offer you well-intentioned advice on ‘how to slow things down a little’.
  • Do you ever suspect that the stress you feel prevents you from being as happy as you would like to be?
  • Are you more addicted to your smartphone than you would care to admit? Is it the first thing you reach for when you wake up in the morning?
  • Do you often find yourself longing to stop and take a break from it all?

If your answer to one or more of these questions is ‘Yes’, then this is the book for you.

MY REVIEW

With lifestyles getting busier it is often overlooked how much our heads work overtime. Often forgetting to take a break from screens, TVs tablets and other electrical gadgets. Taking time to turn off and focus on ourselves is something that is essential to our well-being and helps our mental health.

This book is laid out nicely and in a non-preachy way. I like how the author gives alternatives to everyday situations. I think many of us have found ourselves scrolling through the channels looking for something to watch only to find ourselves watching an old favourite. How much time is wasted trying to find something to watch when we are inundated with so many choices?

Using this book to point out the obvious is great, sometimes we are not aware of the obvious and so using a book is oftentimes a great way of stopping and taking notice.

While reading through sections of this I found myself nodding in agreement with some of the situations that the author points out. It comes back to recognising patterns and being aware of the obvious.

I like this book and it is one that can be dipped in and out of or read cover to cover. Insightful and helpful and one I would happily recommend.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Thijs Launspach (1988) is a psychologist and author. He teaches at The School of Life Amsterdam, is a trainer and keynote speaker on stress and burnout and writes a weekly column for a national newspaper in the Netherlands.

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The Royal Art of Poison by Eleanor Herman Narrated by Joan Walker #audiobook #audible #nonfiction #history #bookreview

yvonnembee 2 Comments

I am delighted to share my review today for a brilliant audiobook. The Royal Art of Poison: Filthy Palaces, Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicine, and Murder Most Foul by Eleanor Herman and narrated by Joan Walker. This is a title that I adored, I admit it was the narrator Joan Walker that I was looking for as I had recently listened to another book narrated by her. She is a fabulous narrator and one that I will be keeping an ear and eye out for in the future.

The story of poison is the story of power. For centuries, royal families have feared the gut-roiling, vomit-inducing agony of a little something added to their food or wine by an enemy. To avoid poison, they depended on tasters, unicorn horns, and antidotes tested on condemned prisoners. Servants licked the royal family’s spoons, tried on their underpants and tested their chamber pots.

Ironically, royals terrified of poison were unknowingly poisoning themselves daily with their cosmetics, medications, and filthy living conditions. Women wore makeup made with mercury and lead. Men rubbed turds on their bald spots. Physicians prescribed mercury enemas, arsenic skin cream, drinks of lead filings, and potions of human fat and skull, fresh from the executioner. The most gorgeous palaces were little better than filthy latrines. Gazing at gorgeous portraits of centuries past, we don’t see what lies beneath the royal robes and the stench of unwashed bodies; the lice feasting on private parts; and worms nesting in the intestines.

In The Royal Art of Poison, Eleanor Herman combines her unique access to royal archives with cutting-edge forensic discoveries to tell the true story of Europe’s glittering palaces: one of medical bafflement, poisonous cosmetics, ever-present excrement, festering natural illness, and, sometimes, murder.

MY REVIEW

This has been a fabulous audiobook to listen to. I will mention the narrator first though. Joan Walker is a narrator I have only recently come across and I have to say she is brilliant. She has a very soothing voice and I am just able to relax as she tells of the poisons that the author has compiled into this book.

This is a history of poisons through the centuries. From way back when to the modern day and taking in all the varied, various and macabre ways of discovering if you have been poisoned and also the treatments over the centuries to find an antidote. After listening to this I am so glad I live in the age of today rather than a few hundred years ago.

I will say that this isn’t a book you want to listen to while you are eating your lunch! Especially if it’s the sections dealing with how royalty and noble persons would guard against poisoning, well how the medics at the time would. Using mummified human remains for example to ward off ill effects is just a very basic thing that was used.

This is so interesting to listen to and it follows a natural progression of medical discoveries and treatments over the centuries. From basic herb lore to cutting-edge laboratory discoveries this book includes a lot.

There is the obvious historical and medical interest to be found in this but also if like me, you are also a fan of crime fiction then this is also a great listen.

The author obviously knows her stuff and it does come across in the narration. I think this is where the narrator and author have been well matched as I think both enjoyed writing and reading this book as much as I did listening to it.

This is one of those books that is ideal for curious minds as well as those with a fascination for the macabre world of poisoning. It is a series of snapshots through history that documents how effective a good poison cold be. It is something that has changed monarchs, rulers and important decisions, and as we know it is still in use in today’s world.

If I had to sum this book up I would say it is fascinating and an eye-opener. It is one I would definitely recommend.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

New York Times best-seller Eleanor Herman’s new non-fiction book, The Royal Art of Poison: Filthy Palaces, Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicine, and Murder Most Foul, is set to come out in June 2018. Think royal palaces were beautiful places to live? Think again!

Herman offers a rare combination of skills for a historian – her research is intensely scholarly, yet she writes the story in a colorful, witty manner. “History is so fascinating that it never has to be presented in a boring way,” she explains. “These were flesh and blood people, just like you and me, facing war and plague, falling in love, living among splendid art and gut-wrenching poverty. Sometimes people ask me if I plan to write novels. And I say, with all the things that really happened, who needs to make stuff up?”

Eleanor, a New York Times bestseller, has also written Sex with Kings (a history of royal mistresses), Sex with the Queen (a look at queens’ love affairs), Mistress of the Vatican (a biography of an influential papal mistress), and a four-part YA fantasy series on Alexander the Great, called The Blood of Gods and Royals.

Eleanor is a frequent commentator in the media about royal scandals, and has hosted episodes for The History Channel, the National Geographic Channel, and America: Fact vs. Fiction. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Eleanor graduated with a degree in journalism from Towson University, studied languages in Europe, and for thirteen years worked for NATO’S Nations & Partners for Peace magazine. She is married and lives in McLean, VA with four very demanding cats

ABOUT THE NARRATOR

Joan Walker is a hugely experienced, extremely versatile professional voice artist. Her range extends from crisp concise technical narration, to inventing the perfect character voice for a bubble blowing elephant. It’s a voice that can be funny, friendly, sexy, warm, authoritative…or more.

As well as appearing in over 500 plays on BBC radio, Joan has voiced countless TV and radio adverts, read copious talking books some of which have won awards including the Golden Earphones from AudioFile USA plus the American Library Journal Best Audio of 2016, narrated an array of documentaries, created voices for animations and video games and is the voice of audio guides in some of the greatest art galleries and museums in the world.

Following a degree in maths and psychology Joan taught maths for 2 years to earn enough money to send herself to drama school. She did a 1 year post graduate diploma at Welsh College of Music and Drama, qualifying in July 1983 and starting her acting career immediately as part of the rep at the Dukes Theatre, Lancaster.

Her career includes theatre, television, film, lots of radio drama and poetry, much commercial voiceover work, talking books, narration for galleries and museums, and most recently a world tour of Mamma Mia! Lycra, platform boots and Abba songs for a whole year. Bliss.

Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be amazing 🙂 xx

The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to 2023 by Lia Leendertz @lialeendertz @RandomTTours @Octopus_Books @nature #almanac #nonfiction #bookreview

yvonnembee 7 Comments

I am delighted to share my review today for The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to 2023 by Lia Leendertz. This is a fabulous little book that I adored picking through and if you are a fan of nature, the natural world and planning for gardening, then this is a gorgeous book to have.

My huge thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for my spot on the Blog Tour and for arranging my Hardback copy of this book from the publisher Octopus Books

Reconnect with the seasons in Britain and Ireland with this month-by-month guide to the world around us – including key dates, tide tables and garden tasks; constellations and moon phases; sunrises, folk songs, seasonal recipes plus a ‘bun of the month’; and – because 2023 will be a good year for planet spotting – the solar system and the zodiac.

The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to 2023 gives you the tools and inspiration you need to celebrate, mark and appreciate each month of the year in your own particular way. Divided into the 12 months, a set of tables each month gives it the feel and weight of a traditional almanac, providing practical information that gives access to the outdoors and the seasons, perfect for expeditions, meteor-spotting nights and beach holidays. There are also features on each month’s unique nature, with this instalment following the swirling micro world of the garden pond through the year.

You will find yourself referring to The Almanac all year long, revisiting it again and again, and looking forward to the next edition as the year draws to a close.

This year’s edition is illustrated by artist Whooli Chen. 

MY REVIEW

This is a fabulous little pocket-sized Almanac. I love books like this and while a diary often gives you basic information, an Almanac goes into a lot more detail. This one is no exception.

After a basic introduction, this book then starts at the beginning of the year. January – there are important dates for this month followed by a wonderful page of what January represents, it is a time of reflection as the daylight hours are not as long as we would like. But the author does encourage you to look at what is happening outside, are there buds or bees starting to emerge.

Carrying on the author then takes a look at the sky, the moon phases, sunrise/set, tide times and then onto Lunar planting. Plants used to be set according to the moon phases and I really liked to see this included. There are also a couple of paragraphs about what shrubs, plants and trees are starting to flower as well as what you can harvest from your veg garden.

If you do have a veg garden or access to locally grown produce then what better than a couple of recipes? How about an orange glazed yeast bun or boiled suet and sausage pudding? Both of these sound amazing.

An Almanac also gives information about the Zodiac, here the author includes an introduction to the zodiac and gives information for Capricorn followed by a folk song. This then leads on nicely to what we can see in nature.

This is a wonderful book and has loads of detail and information. It is littered with black-lined illustrations and images that correspond perfectly to the item they accompany.

The book is easy to use as the pages have been sprayed on the corner and then gradually work down so it is easy to see at a glance roughly where you need to be. There is also a nice little ribbon that acts as a bookmark.

If you are a fan of the seasons and nature then this is a fabulous little book to have. It is great for leaving on a table for a reference book and takes no space up at all. It is a book that would make a wonderful gift for a family member or friend because I know I was delighted to receive my copy.

Educational and informative, wonderful to peruse through and one I would definitely recommend.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The Almanac 2023 by Lia Leendertz is out 1st September 2022.

Lia Leendertz’s reinvention of the traditional, rural almanac has become an annual must-have for readers keen to reconnect with the seasons, appreciate the outdoors, and discover ways to mark and celebrate each month, and the ideal stocking filler. The 2023 edition is the sixth in the series, and has a theme of the solar system and zodiac, with beautiful illustrations by artist Whooli Chen.

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On the Scent: Unlocking the Mysteries of Smell – and How Its Loss Can Change Your World by Paolo Totaro and Robert Wainwright @alisonmenziespr @eandtbooks #nonfiction #bookreview

yvonnembee 6 Comments

I am delighted to share my review today for On the Scent by Paola Totaro and Robert Wainwright. When I received an email from Alison Menzies PR at Elliott & Thompson Publishers about this book I was definitely intrigued. Having had Covid and losing my sense of smell and taste wasn’t nice. I wish I had this book while I had these symptoms, and it has made me realise how important your fifth sense is! A case of – you don’t know what you have until it is gone…

I admit that I hadn’t given the sense of smell much of a thought until I had Covid, if you are one of those lucky enough not to have lost it, then you should consider picking up this book as well. You don’t realise how it can impact your everyday life.

A fascinating exploration of how losing our sense of smell can shape our world, and how the global pandemic transformed our understanding of this mysterious sense.

Paola is on a journey to get her sense of smell back.  Before the pandemic, loss of smell was estimated to affect about 5% of adults in the UK but about 40% of Covid sufferers experience anosmia in some form, catapulting this least understood sense into the spotlight. 

Paola lost her sense of smell just days after London went into the first lockdown, 2 months before anosmia was an officially recognised symptom here. Reporting from the UK on the pandemic for the Australian press, she began to investigate whether this strange and awful symptom might be related to Covid.  

On the Scent weaves together Paola’s own story of scent loss and partial recovery, with the latest chemo-sensory research and fascinating facts about the sense we know least about, as well as practical solutions for those experiencing scent loss.  It is set against the context of how the British government delayed their acceptance of anosmia as a symptom of C-19; and how the scientific community came together in an unprecedented way to research it.  

From Scent Training as a recovery aid to why some anosmics experience radical distortions in how things smell, On the Scent, explains why we ignore the Cinderella of the Senses at our cost: it is a risk factor in depression and significant in the early detection of neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. 

MY REVIEW

This is one of those books that I wish I had when I had Covid. I was one of the many who lost the sense of taste and smell. It’s one of those things that you don’t realise how important it is to your mental well-being as well as being one of the physical senses.

This book made me realise how important the sense of smell is. Without it, things just were not the same. I never appreciated how much of my everyday life revolves around smell until it wasn’t there. I am one of the very lucky ones who only had to deal with this abandonment on a temporary basis, around two weeks before I could start to pick up aromas, perfumes and other strong smells.

The authors of this book have laid everything out in such an easy-to-understand way. Yes, obviously there are science bits, but all done in a way that this non-science-brained reader could get. The authors take the reader through the various terms, the history, and also most recently Covid. In some ways, Covid provided answers for many people who have anosmia – a loss of smell, or parosmia – a distortion of smell. From having only a few volunteers pre-pandemic, researchers had a whole world of people who were suddenly discovering that they had lost their fifth sense.

The authors bring accounts, quotes, and articles from various people around the world. Those who have never had a sense of smell, to those who have a sense of smell but one that is wrong. AS I was reading this book I realised that there is a lot more to having a sense of smell than you first realise. Have you ever smelt a flower, or a perfume and been reminded of a favourite relative or an occasion? Have you ever smelt something starting to burn, or smelt a whiffy nappy? How about your own body smell? Can you smell the rain coming so can go and get your washing in off the line?

Not having this sense for me was a shock. Food became, boring and bland. Cooking a meal felt at times pointless as I knew I would not enjoy it. This book goes through all of these moments and so many more. It makes it such an enlightening read and one that, as I have mentioned, I wish I had before I got Covid.

The treatments, diagnosis, attitudes, advice and realisation have changed since Covid. This means that it will hopefully be given greater importance. If you lost your sight you would be classed as blind, if you couldn’t hear you would be classed as deaf. In both of these cases, you would have access to aids. Now, what about the smell!

This is an educational book that comes across in a very informal way. I was surprised by how much I could identify with, and also how much I really had no idea about. I know I am very lucky to have my sense of smell back because without that my sense of taste is also gone. An interesting read and very accessible. It is one I would definitely recommend.

Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be amazing 🙂 xx

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Universe: And Our Place Within It by Andrew Newsam @alisonmenziespr @eandtbooks #science #nonfiction #bookreview

yvonnembee

I am delighted to share my review today for Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Universe: And Our Place Within It by Andrew Newsam. This is a very accessible and interesting read for those with a basic curiosity about the Universe.

My huge thanks to Alison at Elliot and Thompson for getting in touch about this book and for sending me a copy from the publisher Eliot & Thompson.

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Everything you ever wanted to know about the universe – and our place within it – in one mind-expanding and highly accessible book.
___

What happens inside black holes? Is dark matter real? Could we do anything to prevent being wiped out by an approaching asteroid? Will our explorations of our neighbouring planets reveal life or a new place to settle? What can observations of stars reveal about our origins – and our future?

Professor Andrew Newsam draws on his vast expertise to show us what’s going on beyond the limits of our planet, from our solar system to distant galaxies – and what this tells us about our own place in this vast expanse called ‘the Universe’.

From glowing nebulae to the sweeping majesty of the Milky Way, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Universe will spark your curiosity and help you make sense of the amazing discoveries and fascinating mysteries of the cosmos.

MY REVIEW

I am not a scientifically minded person, I struggle with large numbers and most of the stuff goes over my head. What I am though, is curious. It is curiosity that is the start for many/most of the advances in everything we know, build, connect and learn from. So, there is hope for me yet! Maybe 😉

This is a relatively short book and one that I found to be really informative, but most importantly for me, it was also understandable. When I say understandable, I mean that as I read it made sense as the author laid everything out in a basic way. He also made comparisons to things we know.

Anything to do with space or the universe involves some seriously mega numbers. Million is a tiny amount! Millions of millions are a bit larger, but when numbers have 10 or 20 or more zeros in them then it is mind-blowing for this mere mortal. The author put these numbers into a perspective that gave me some idea of the size, this gave the figures a meaning that before I would just go, “yeah that’s beyond me to imagine anything that large”. I think this is what makes this book so interesting and informative, the author breaks things down into manageable and understandable numbers and also terms. Whether he is referring to the difference between fusion or fission, the difference between dark matter or mass, he gives his explanations in basic terms.

This is a book that deals with the Universe from its earliest and continues over billions of years. How guesswork and theories have changed, challenged or proven as advances in observational equipment and computers. Studying the universe is something that will always throw up new questions and quests. There is also a really interesting part about the future of the Universe.

I have to say that this is a book that I found really enjoyable to read. I didn’t expect to enjoy it as such, I expected it to be informative and hopefully, I would learn something as I read. The author has an almost conversational style to his writing, it felt as if he was interacting with me personally as he led me through the mysteries, phenomena, science, discoveries and challenges.

If you are curious about where the universe started and like me have no science background then this book is a wonderful place to start. It has definitely made me more curious. Very accessible to read, understandable with explained jargon and terms, An excellent book to read and one that I would definitely recommend. 

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Twinkl – Educational Resources @twinklresources #Promotion #education #bookreview #LucyMakesAWish

yvonnembee 2 Comments

I am delighted to share a promotional post today for Twinkl. This is an educational resources site for Early Years through to 18 years old. They are an unlimited downloads and resources site that provides support to Parents, Home Educators, Child Minders and have a huge range to discover.

One of my reviews is featured along with some wonderful Book Bloggers reviews, check out the other Warm Wintery Reads HERE

ABOUT TWINKLE

We’re here to ‘help those who teach’. It’s what brings us to work every day.

We’re proud to create educational resources that can be used at each step of a child’s learning journey.

Our teacher-created resources provide entire schemes of work, lesson planning and assessments right through to online educational games, augmented reality and so much more.

We have over 525,000 resources and new content gets added every day. You’ll find we’ve normally got what you need before you even know you want it.

We’re all inspired to support teachers and learners, around the world.

Everything we do supports the global teaching community and we’re committed to transforming people’s lives through education.

We support and work with educators across the world, including primary and secondary teachers, childminders, nursery workers, home educators and parents.

All Twinkl resources are teacher-made and can be used by anyone, anywhere – making learning accessible to all.

We also tailor resources to a number of curriculums, including the UK National Curriculums. You can find a full list of those we cover right here.

Laura Millington, Contents Executive contacted me to see if I would like to have one of my reviews to be featured in their Christmas Campaign.

The book Laura wanted to include was one I had reviewed and posted on my Blog, Lucy Makes a Wish by Anne Booth, a fabulous book for children aged 6+

This review was featured on Twinkl as part of their Christmas campaign –

If you would like to read my full review CLICK HERE

Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be amazing 🙂 xx

Murder: The Biography by Kate Morgan #NetGalley #nonfiction #crime #history #bookreview

yvonnembee 4 Comments

I am delighted to share my review today for Murder: The Biography by Kate Morgan. I requested this e-book from the publisher Harper Collins, via NetGalley. It was a book I had planned to read over the summer! Better late than never.

Totally gripping and brilliantly told, Murder: The Biography is a gruesome and utterly captivating portrait of the legal history of murder.

The stories and the people involved in the history of murder are stranger, darker and more compulsive than any crime fiction.

There’s Richard Parker, the cannibalized cabin boy whose death at the hands of his hungry crewmates led the Victorian courts to decisively outlaw a defence of necessity to murder. Dr Percy Bateman, the incompetent GP whose violent disregard for his patient changed the law on manslaughter. Ruth Ellis, the last woman hanged in England in the 1950s, played a crucial role in changes to the law around provocation in murder cases. And Archibald Kinloch, the deranged Scottish aristocrat whose fratricidal frenzy paved the way for the defence of diminished responsibility. These, and many more, are the people – victims, killers, lawyers and judges, who unwittingly shaped the history of that most grisly and storied of laws.

Join lawyer and writer Kate Morgan on a dark and macabre journey as she explores the strange stories and mysterious cases that have contributed to UK murder law. The big corporate killers; the vengeful spouses; the sloppy doctors; the abused partners; the shoddy employers; each story a crime and each crime a precedent that has contributed to the law’s dark, murky and, at times, shocking standing 

MY REVIEW


This is a really interesting book to read, it documents the history of murder from when it became a recognised crime to what we see today in courts of law in the UK.

There is quite a long introduction that gives a glimpse into the research that has been brought to this book. The author, a lawyer herself, has covered many aspects and crimes to give quite a comprehensive and detailed background as to what constitutes murder. She differentiates between murder and manslaughter and how manslaughter has various differences when it comes to the courts.

This is a well laid out book, there are little stories and snippets of news from the previous centuries to add evidence. These are also really interesting in their own right and could lead you onto further reading if you were interested in learning more.

I really enjoyed this book, it is quite serious but at times there is some humour to it especially when it comes to some of the documented accounts. This is a book that will appeal to fans of history, criminal history and law in the UK.

I enjoyed this and I would happily recommend it. 

Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be amazing 🙂 xx

The Red Planet: A Natural History of Mars by Simon Morden @alisonmenziespr @eandtbooks #nonfic #bookreview

yvonnembee

I am delighted to share my review today for The Red Planet: A Natural History of Mars by Simon Morden. This is a non-fiction and is quite accessible and readable for the non-science minded among us 😉

My huge thanks to Alison at Eliot & Thompson Books for my advanced copy.

Before I get into my review I thought it would be a good idea to share a few facts.

Mars is the 4th planet from the sun, with Earth being the 3rd.

The diameter of Mars is approx. 4,222, Earths is approx. 7,926

Olympus Mons is one of the tallest volcanos found. It is 13.6miles high, Mount Everest is 5.5miles.

Earths largest volcano is Mauna Kea in Hawaii, it is 6.33miles high, although most of it is below sea level.

I did find this image of Mountains in the Solar System.

https://www.bing.com/images/

What makes Olympus Mons even more impressive is when you see a comparison between the size of Mars next to Earth…

See the source image
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mars,_Earth_size_comparison.jpg

And something that hadn’t even occurred to me until I was reading the book was that we have earthquakes, Mars, well it has marsquakes!

Now to the book…

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The history of Mars is drawn not just on its surface, but also down into its broken bedrock and up into its frigid air. Most of all, it stretches back into deep time, where the trackways of the past have been obliterated by later events, and there is no discernible trace of where they started from or how they travelled, only where they ended up.

As NASA lays it plans for a return to the moon and, from there, a manned mission to Mars, there has never been a better time to acquaint ourselves with the dramatic history and astonishing present of the red planet. Planetary geologist, geophysicist and acclaimed SF author Dr Simon Morden takes us on a vivid guided tour of Mars.

From its formation four and half billion years ago, through an era of cataclysmic meteor strikes and the millions of years during which a vast ocean spanned its entire upper hemisphere, to the long, frozen ages that saw its atmosphere steadily thinning and leaking away into space, Morden presents a tantalising vision of the next planet we will visit.

With a storyteller’s flair, piecing together the latest research and data from the Mars probes, the most up-to-date theories of planetary geology, and informed speculation as to whether there has been life on Mars, The Red Planet is as close as we can get to an eye-witness account of this incredible place. 

Purchase from Amazon UK or other independent Bookshops from Sept 2nd 2021

MY REVIEW…

What I know about the planet Mars, isn’t much and so I was quite interested when I got the chance to read an advanced copy of The Red Planet.

I do have an interest in life, the universe and planets. Natural history is something that belongs far beyond our planet. I have no science background so what I understand has to be, well, basic. When I saw this book I did a bit of a double-take when I read about the author. He is a sci-fi author who also happens to have degrees in geography and planetary geophysics, so it’s safe to say he knows what he’s on about.

I liked the way this book is laid out, a brief intro from the author and then a trip to the planet Mars. From then the author goes into how Mars was formed, what changes it went through and is still going through. The climate, geography, geology, atmosphere.

For a planet smaller than Earth, this red blob in the night sky seems to have been through it all. A planet that has had impacts leaving massive craters, with a dry dusty atmosphere, frozen areas and one of the largest volcanoes known, it makes earth’s largest volcano in Hawaii more like a peak in comparison.

Throughout this book I was aware that this was on the whole quite understandable, at least while I was reading it, it was. I understood enough to grasp what the author was explaining and for me that is a good thing. There were the odd bits that I just couldn’t grasp but part of me was expecting that as I went into this book. Unless you have more of a science background I think this is quite an approachable book. But even the scientists who have studied this planet for decades still cannot agree on some things. There are various theories surrounding how Mars came to be, what forces sculpted the planet we see, and where, how and when there was water.

If you have an interest in planets, and nature beyond our planet then this is a book that will really appeal to you. I found it fascinating and I really enjoyed reading it. I also found myself internet hopping as I read this book, looking up various items, viewing images and also looking at the most recent news. It is a book that I would happily recommend.

About the Author…

Dr. Simon Morden, B.Sc. (Hons., Sheffield) Ph.D (Newcastle) is a bona fide rocket scientist, having degrees in geology and planetary geophysics. Unfortunately, that sort of thing doesn’t exactly prepare a person for the big wide world of work: he’s been a school caretaker, admin assistant, and PA to a financial advisor. He’s now employed as a part-time teaching assistant at a Gateshead primary school, which he combines with his duties as a house-husband, attempting to keep a crumbling pile of Edwardian masonry upright, wrangling his two children and providing warm places to sleep for the family cats.

His not-so-secret identity as journeyman writer started when he sold the short story Bell, Book and Candle to an anthology, and a chaotic mix of science fiction, fantasy and horror followed. Heart came out to critical acclaim, and Another War was shortlisted for a World Fantasy Award, but with The Lost Art, things suddenly got serious. Contracts. Agents. Deadlines. Responsibility. Scary stuff. The Lost Art was subsequently a finalist for the Catalyst Award for best teen fiction.

As well as a writer, he’s been the editor of the British Science Fiction Association’s writers’ magazine Focus, a judge for the Arthur C Clarke awards, and is a regular speaker at the Greenbelt Arts Festival on matters of faith and fiction. In 2009, he was in the winning team for the Rolls Royce Science Prize.

Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be amazing 🙂 xx