reviewed by Chris Richards. Ben and the Bug is the second book in the Split Perspectivz series by Natalie Reeves-Billing with illustrations by Lisa Williams. This story artfully describes the circumstances of COVID-19 to young children without fudging the facts. There have been many child-friendly approaches doing the rounds...
Books
Book Review: My Mummy is a Monster/My Children are Monsters by Natalie Reeves-Billing
reviewed by Chris Richards. This is the first of a new, incredibly special series of children books called the Monstrous Me Collection written by Liverpool based author Natalie Reeves-Billing and illustrated by Lisa Williams. I read this with my children (5 & 8) in week 5 of the Lockdown....
Book Review: Dark Mirror: Edward Snowden and the Surveillance State by Barton Gellman
reviewed by Charlie Hislop. It was one of those moments, not unlike Wikileaks and Chelsea Manning, or the Panama Papers, when the sordid workings of the powerful are laid bare for everyone to see. In the case of Edward Snowden and the US National Security Agency, it was the...
The Children’s Isolation Book Project
EDITED: New deadline, updated to state 1st June 2020. by Chris Richards. May Day! May Day! Juliette Jones: Editorial Services are compiling a book of stories written by our children and the closing date is approaching fast! Juliette Jones is a wonderful woman with a name reminiscent of a...
Book review: Love after Love, by Ingrid Persuad
reviewed by Frances Churchward. This novel is set in Trinidad and has three protagonists; Betty, a single mother, Solo, her teenage son who grows into a young man over the course of the story, and Mr Chetan who is Betty’s long term lodger. Each character tells their story from...
Book review: The Mayflower Missing by Ed Harris
reviewed by Richard Jones. For a man who loves maritime history, I didn’t know much about the Mayflower until recently save for the basic facts. I was delighted to finally get a chance to read about this important period of history that is arguably, a household name. Picking up...
Review: Honeymoon in the Afterlife, by Matt Canning
reviewed by Will Vigar. Even a seasoned comic fan like myself can get a little disillusioned with comics from time to time. As much as I love the recent spate of Superhero movies, modern comics fans are quite likely to have never picked up an actual comic book or...
Review: Five Rules for Rebellion by Sophie Walker
reviewed by Frances Churchward. This work of non fiction is written by Sophie Walker, the feminist activist and founder of the Women’s Equality Party. Walker considers that activism is needed today perhaps more than ever, in these times of populism and austerity. Her five rules, which set out how...
Book review: Notes from an Apocalypse, by Mark O’Connell
Reviewed by Frances Churchward. Notes from an Apocalypse is a work of non-fiction from prize-winning author Mark O’Connell. It begins with O’Connell reflecting on the depression that he suffered and which had, as it root cause, his consuming apprehension of imminent catastrophe largely relating to climate change. After reading...
Book review: Watching From the Dark by Gytha Lodge
reviewed by Chris Richards. I like this book; I think if you like police procedurals, whodunnits and murder mysteries of the digestible, moreish ilk then you’ll like it too. It opens with a chilly, neurotic prologue. It reads as a fly on the wall account of the murder report....