National Poetry Day...

Well today sees a temporary departure on the blog, as it is National Poetry Day. I can't claim to know that much about poetry and how it is constructed etc. Below is a few bits I have come across that I like:

* The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
* Funeral Blues by W.H. Auden
* Digging by Seamus Heaney
* If by Rudyard Kipling
* The Tyger by William Blake

If you have any recommendations for where to start with the vast amount of poetry there is out there, I would love for you to get in touch.

Finally, bearing in mind I am no poet, I shall share with you something I wrote a few years ago.

Words Unspoken

Words unspoken they fall into a silent void, into the chasm somewhere between love and hate. They hang in the air, and cling to the trees, as if captured in time, unable to cause an impact.

Words unspoken delicate like a single flower battling to survive against a harsh wind. Words that tread a fine line, a balancing act, like a tightrope walker teetering on the edge.

Words unspoken all jumbled up, all fighting to reach the surface, competing for their turn in the glare of the spotlight.

Words unspoken waiting patiently to be heard, time stands still and yet the world still moves. Everything has changed but still remains the same.

Words unspoken silently hide in the shadows behind their radiance and their beauty, frozen in a capsule of fear, refusing to transcend.

Words unspoken that fall short, they have no meaning for their intended now. They retreat into the shadows and slowly fade to grey.

By Leah Moyse 

How To Be Brave by Louise Beech

Published in paperback on the 17th September by Orenda. It is also available as an e - book. My thanks to Karen at Orenda for my copy of the book.


All the stories died that morning ... until we found the one we’d always known. 

When nine-year-old Rose is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, Natalie must use her imagination to keep her daughter alive. They begin dreaming about and seeing a man in a brown suit who feels hauntingly familiar, a man who has something for them. Through the magic of storytelling, Natalie and Rose are transported to the Atlantic Ocean in 1943, to a lifeboat, where an ancestor survived for fifty days before being rescued. 

Poignant, beautifully written and tenderly told, How To Be Brave weaves together the contemporary story of a mother battling to save her child’s life with an extraordinary true account of bravery and a fight for survival in the Second World War. 

A simply unforgettable debut that celebrates the power of words, the redemptive energy of a mother’s love ...  and what it really means to be brave.

My Thoughts:

I will start by saying everything about this book is absolutely beautiful. Initially I was drawn in by the distinctive and quite stunning visual on the cover. I was also fascinated by the outline of the story and wondered how it was possible to merge the past with the present. Rest assured it works, it really, really works. 

This is Colin's story, it is also Natalie and Rose's story. When Rose is diagnosed with diabetes it is up to Natalie to help her young daughter through. Although not surrounded by water like Colin, the times are turbulent and choppy for them. It will take them a certain kind of strength and bravery to make it through. 

Natalie decides to use Colin's story of his time at sea as a distraction during Rose's treatment and together with Colin they find their way to land, unified and no longer afloat on a mass of emotions and anxiety. 

The writing is spectacular, the author has a real gift for storytelling, that is rare. Perhaps, because it is based on facts it seems all the more real.

For me, it was Colin's story, his bravery and time at sea, that touched me the most. The author managed to create a sense of time and place with immaculate skill. You could almost feel the salt water spray on your skin and sense the endless days drawing out. This is where the most poignancy in the story lie for me. 

I was staggered to learn that this is the Authors debut novel. It was so assured, so well written and I felt privileged to read it, as if I too had been on a journey that will stay with me.

We can all be brave when it is needed most, it takes courage and people around us to survive. The human spirit can be indomitable. 

Please read this, I defy you not to be moved in some way too.



About the Author:
Louise has always been haunted by the sea, and regularly writes travel pieces for the Hull Daily Mail, where she was a columnist for ten years. Her short fiction has won the Glass Woman Prize, the Eric Hoffer Award for Prose, and the Aesthetica Creative Works competition, as well as shortlisting twice for the Bridport Prize and being published in a variety of UK magazines. Louise lives with her husband and children on the outskirts of Hull - the UK's 2017 City of Culture. She loves her job as a Front of House Usher at Hull Truck Theatre, where her first play was performed in 2012. She is also part of the Mums' Army on Lizzie and Carl's BBC Radio Humberside Breakfast Show. This is her first book.
You can follow her on Twitter: @LouiseWriter

Waiting For Doggo by Mark B. Mills

Published by Headline Review in paperback 13th August 2015. My thanks to them and Bookbridgr for my review copy.

No-one ever called Dan a pushover. But then no-one ever called him fast-track either. He likes driving slowly, playing Sudoku on his iPhone, swapping one scruffy jumper for another. He's been with Clara for four years and he's been perfectly happy; but now she's left him, leaving nothing but a long letter filled with incriminations and a small, white, almost hairless dog, named Doggo. 

So now Dan is single, a man without any kind of partner whether working or in love. He's just one reluctant dog owner. Find a new home for him, that's the plan. Come on...everyone knows the old adage about the best laid plans and besides, Doggo is one special kind of a four legged friend...and an inspiration.

My Thoughts: 

I originally picked this book up as I love stories about dogs. Although this wasn't quite the dog story anticipated it was thoroughly entertaining nevertheless. It is actually quite short at just over 200 pages and it made me laugh a lot.

It tells the story of Doggo and Dan and the unexpected turn their lives take when Dan's girlfriend of four years up and leaves, leaving Dan and Doggo who don't really get on, to get on with their lives without her. 

From here on ensues much hilarity as Dan and Doggo try and forge a new life for themselves. Dan gets a new job in advertising and Doggo gets his own sofa in the office. Poignant in places, and equally funny. Both of their antics had me in stitches and my head in my hands.

A story of love and silliness, mistakes and getting over them and sometimes getting even. A joy to read with a warm and engaging cast of characters that had me involved from the very first page. 

If you want to read something quite light hearted and fun, I would definitely recommend this one. 

I defy you not to fall in love with Doggo and Dan too. 



About the Author:

Mark Mills graduated from Cambridge University in 1986. He has written for the screen and is the author of previous novels, The Whaleboat House and The Savage Garden. This is the first novel he has written under the name of Mark B. Mills. He lives near Oxford with his wife and children.

@WAITINGFORDOGGO
#DOGGO

Review: Death by Dangerous ~ Olly Jarvis

This book was published by Matador an imprint of Troubador Publishing Limited on 24th June 2015. My thanks to the author for offering me a copy in return for a review.


John Anderson is one of the North West's most dedicated and successful prosecution barristers. His career is going from strength to strength and he is on the verge of becoming Queen's Counsel. But the life he once knew suddenly comes crashing down following a fatal road traffic accident...Recovering from his injuries, he has no memory of the collision.

Was he responsible for the death of a child?

Who was his female passenger?

Facing charges of causing death by dangerous driving, the professional and personal life he once knew now lies in tatters. Depressed and taking refuge in alcohol, Anderson refuses, in the face of so many unanswered questions, to accept his guilt.

He becomes convinced that the gangster he was prosecuting at the time of the crash is in some way involved. The mystery deepens as his search for the truth draws him into Manchester's sordid criminal underworld. Shunned by his former colleagues, Anderson finds help from an unlikely source, enabling him to confront his prejudices and re-evaluate his past life. He embarks on a journey of self-discovery and, ultimately, the path for his own redemption...

My Thoughts: 

I jumped at the chance to read this book, when the author contacted me via twitter. The premise of the story drew me in. I knew if it was done well, that it would be a good book. What I hadn't bargained on was the sheer amount of knowledge within the pages and the superb and natural story telling ability of the Author.

It has been a long time since I have read a good courtroom drama/legal thriller. My one reservation was that I might get bogged down with the courtroom scenes, so many times I have picked up a book in this genre and you hardly ever leave the courtroom. I can gladly say that this isn't the case with this one.

I loved the pace and the grit with which the author writes, the scenes unfolding one by one. Chapter by chapter the story rattles on drawing to a conclusion that cannot be guessed. Clever hints and clues, dropped along the way. The right amount amount of Characters to keep you interested and enough intrigue to keep those adrenalin levels at a high.

I wasn't surprised to learn that the author is a Barrister. Although I have no specific knowledge of the legal system, the cross examination scenes are some of the best I have read. The author is clearly a master of his field. I really hope that there is more to come, I could definitely see some scope to develop the character of John Anderson further in the future.

This is a story about right and wrong. It is about who we can trust and who we can't. How we can be let down by those closest to us. I refuse to give anything away about the plot, so I am going to stop there. Suffice to say that I read this book in one go.

Sometimes we just have to be our own heroes. Just for tonight John Anderson is mine.

Highly Recommended.

About the Author:

Olly Jarvis is a writer and criminal defence barrister, originally from London but now working in Manchester. Drawing on his experiences, he writes both fiction and non-fiction with a particular understanding of the pressures and excitement of life in the courtroom. He wrote highly acclaimed Radio 4 drama Judgement, exploring a barrister's thought processes whilst cross-examining a rape victim. Using his knowledge of the Indonesian language, he travelled to Sumatra where he wrote and presented a BBC documentary entitled Mum Knows Best. Olly has two children and lives in Cheshire.

http://ollyjarvis.co.uk/home/4588736033