Riding the High Road, by Penny Frances: #BookReview.

Through the varied voices of Pat, a mother with a difference, her son, Gethin, and Jez, a young woman with a troubled past, we take journeys both intertwined and separate as they try to come to terms with their own lives. This is a turbulent ride where love, gender, complex relationships, drugs, and alcohol all …

Continue reading Riding the High Road, by Penny Frances: #BookReview.

Do You Remember the Barn Owl? by Barbara Lorna Hudson: #BookReview.

This collection of short stories, which vary in length and style, reflects the skill and themes of interest to the author. It’s a diverse array, well-written and constructed, and includes some stories that have been previously published in various literary journals. There is great variety here, with many subjects and themes explored, always with emotional …

Continue reading Do You Remember the Barn Owl? by Barbara Lorna Hudson: #BookReview.

#ScenicSaturday 23rd September 2023

My photos in this continuing series show our beautiful world. Maybe I can encourage viewers to help save it from human carelessness. Today’s photograph is from our trip to the Isle of Wight in September 2021, after a longish spell of lockdown due to Covid. The hotel was still recovering from that event and many …

Continue reading #ScenicSaturday 23rd September 2023

Is Amazon’s Book Search Algorithm Deliberately Rubbish?

This is an update on a post I placed on Medium called ‘Searching On Amazon’ I’d found a book on Goodreads that seemed something I might be interested in, so I used Goodreads’ buying link to take me to it on Amazon. It took me nowhere near the book I wanted.  So, I searched for …

Continue reading Is Amazon’s Book Search Algorithm Deliberately Rubbish?

#ScenicSaturday 16th September 2023

My photos in this continuing series show our beautiful world. Maybe I can encourage viewers to help save it from human carelessness. Today, brings a photograph of a lone tree standing in arid ground and giving shade for sheep on the Greek island of Rhodes. Our walk, in September 2017, took us from Pefkos to …

Continue reading #ScenicSaturday 16th September 2023

Tatty Cat and the Wonderful Whiff, by Mella May, Illustrated by George Utton: #BookReview.

74 pages, Children’s Books A riotously illustrated book for children telling a hilarious tale of mischief in rhyme that works surprisingly well.Children will love this story of the tatty cat in pursuit of a whiff of such tempting delights he’s willing to risk all sorts to get to the source and dine on it. The …

Continue reading Tatty Cat and the Wonderful Whiff, by Mella May, Illustrated by George Utton: #BookReview.

Makeover, by Barbara Lorna Hudson: #BookReview.

304 pages, Contemporary Romance. Insightful, and based on personal knowledge of the areas covered in her writing, the author explores themes of academic snobbery, domestic abuse, insecurity, and the search for love in an uncertain world. Having experience in both social care and academia, Barbara brings reality and honesty to this tale of the search …

Continue reading Makeover, by Barbara Lorna Hudson: #BookReview.

#ScenicSaturday 12th August 2023

My photos here show our beautiful world. I hope to encourage viewers to help save it from human carelessness. Today, I bring you a shot of the Yorkshire Dales, a National Park in England. This is a region where agriculture must follow certain rules to ensure the natural world is left as pristine as possible …

Continue reading #ScenicSaturday 12th August 2023

Black Harry, by Mark P. Henderson #BookReview.

Subtitled ‘Glossopdale’s Elizabethan folk hero’, this is a fascinating account of the life, actions, attitudes, courage, and determination of a man who can probably be held responsible for significantly improved changes in the relationships between landowner and tenant.The book is set during the reign of Elizabeth I at the time when she incarcerated her cousin, …

Continue reading Black Harry, by Mark P. Henderson #BookReview.

#ScenicSaturday 15th July 2023

My photos here show how beautiful is our world. I hope to encourage viewers to help save it from our carelessness. This one shows the River Wye as it flows through the Forest of Dean. The far bank, left on the picture, is actually Wales, as the river forms part of the border between the …

Continue reading #ScenicSaturday 15th July 2023

#ScenicSaturday 8th July 2023

The Greek island of Thassos My photos here show how beautiful is our world. I hope to encourage viewers to help save it from our carelessness. This one shows the eroding effect of wave power on the strong rocky cliffs of the Greek island of Thassos over eons. Imagine how much more of this island …

Continue reading #ScenicSaturday 8th July 2023

#ScenicSaturday 1st July 2023

My photos here show how beautiful is our world. I hope to encourage viewers to help save it from our carelessness.This one shows a newly created space on the right following the felling of some diseased trees in the Forest of Dean. Climate change has increased the incidence of tree infections, resulting in the cutting …

Continue reading #ScenicSaturday 1st July 2023

the little book of humanist funerals, by Andrew Copson and Alice Roberts #BookReview.

This lovely little book is all about celebrating a life that has passed, celebrating the person rather than burying them under dogma and superstition. For the many people for whom religion has been revealed as illogical and unhelpful, the words of practical advice, care, empathy, and comfort form a wonderful substitute to the usual services …

Continue reading the little book of humanist funerals, by Andrew Copson and Alice Roberts #BookReview.

#ScenicSaturday 24th June 2023

My photos here show the often-fragile beauty of our world. My hope is they will encourage viewers to act in ways that will help save it from the destruction we humans constantly cause to nature.This one shows the natural beauty of an ancient tree surrounded by newer relatives in an English forest. Trees provide a …

Continue reading #ScenicSaturday 24th June 2023

#ScenicSaturday 17th June 2023

My photos here show the often-fragile beauty of our world. My hope is they will encourage viewers to act in ways that will help save it from the destruction we humans constantly cause to nature.This one is of a calm sea under a rising moon shortly after sunset on the south coast of England. I …

Continue reading #ScenicSaturday 17th June 2023