Who Owns England? by Guy Shrubsole

 

Who Owns England? Is a fascinating exploration of land ownership in England, and occasionally Wales. You’d think the question of who owns what wouldn’t be all that difficult to answer, but no, England’s history of land ownership and land reform is likely one of the most convoluted in the world. Land ownership continues to be shrouded in secrecy, and despite its formation in 1861, HM’s Land Registry remains incomplete. This book recounts Shrubsole’s attempts to map the landowners of England as well as the history of land itself in England, which remains tied to the aristocracy and archaic traditions. 

Throughout his investigation, Shrubsole emphasises environmental protection, housing affordability and tax evasion as issues of key importance, and unsurprisingly is no fan of Margaret Thatcher. Each chapter explores a different type of land ownership such that Crown Land, farming, corporate ownership and the average homeowner are given consideration. While I had no real ideas of land reform before going in, I came out convinced that changes can and need to be made. The best part of this book is that provides viable solutions and policy changes, and it’s made me finally register for postal vote to do what I can from Australia.

Bottom line: this is a passionate and informative look into land ownership in England, and you’ll come out realising there’s far more that should and can be done for housing affordability and the environment. I gave this 5/5 stars.

I would like to thank Guy Shrubsole and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book. You can find out more from Shrubsole's website and buy the book on Amazon, Waterstones, Kobo, Bookdepository and hopefully your local bookshop!

Ivy Feckett is Looking for Love: A Birmingham Romance Review

‘Ivy Feckett is Looking for Love’ is Jay Spencer Green’s second novel, and the second that I’ve read. His first novel, ‘Breakfast at Cannibal Joe’s’, is a dystopian comedy equally entertaining and thought-provoking.  Consequently, I went into this expecting to simultaneously laugh and frown. I wasn’t disappointed. Certainly a tonal shift from Breakfast at Cannibal Joe’s, Ivy Feckett swaps dystopian for romance as we see Ivy navigate the bizarre world of academic research and Birmingham-borne cults. She also starts to fall for her boss, Ned Hartfield. 

In what I’ve discovered to be Green’s signature style, this Birmingham romance is guaranteed to elicit laughs and smiles abound. One of my favourite aspects was the quasi-biblical quotes which begin each chapter, especially once their relevance became apparent. I am highly tempted to try and harass Green into writing a full version of this bible, but that would probably be rude. 

The setting of Birmingham is clearly one which Green is highly familiar with, as we’re taken on both a tour of its geographic class divides and the bustling CBD. If the borders ever open back up I’d love to spend a day in Birmingham retracing Ivy and Sam’s steps; maybe even give geocaching a shot. Alas, Ivy Feckett will have to suffice for now. 

Ivy as a character perfectly encapsulates the female introvert. She’s smart; she knows (or thinks she knows) when she’s wanted. I felt personally attacked by some of the lines in this book, especially as she describes her reasoning for not going out or generally doing anything outside her routine. The arrival of Ned sees a change in Ivy. She starts to tackle a subject she’s long relegated to her own imagination - sex. I found her obsession with him fairly stupid but entirely realistic. And then there’s her best friend Sam. 

Sam, like Ivy, is a nerd. He loves geocaching and boardgames. Winning either in Ivy’d presence is his way of showcasing masculinity. It’s adorable. Sam accompanies Ivy throughout the book, as her colleague and bestie, he’s also witness to her burgeoning romance with Ned. Ned is manipulative and repulsive, and is part of a much larger plot Ivy doesn’t realise she’s involved in too. Don’t go into this expecting a plain old romance, the surprising mystery of this plot really shows up around half-way through. I won’t say any more on this because I think it’s more fun to discover, but I will say that it’s both an entertaining and philosophical inclusion. 

‘Ivy Feckett is Looking for Love’ is hilarious and heartwarming, and I’d highly recommend picking it up. I saw another reviewer saying it’s a romance for people who don’t like reading romances, which I’d say is pretty accurate because of how much relatability, humour and depth it brings to the table. Jay Spencer Green has fast become one of my favourite discoveries of the year and I’ll soon be looking to his third novel, Fowl Play. I gave this a deserving 5/5 stars. 

                                                        

You can purchase this book at Amazon, Kobo, and BookDepository.

Note: I would like to thank Jay Spencer Green for reaching out to me and giving me a copy of this book to review - it means the world as a reviewer.

Weird Dream Society - An anthology for the playful, dark and thoughtful

The Weird Dream Society anthology holds a host of wonderfully weird and weirdly wonderful stories. The contributing authors themselves originate from across the English speaking world, with varying notoriety and existing bodies of work. The profits from this collection are to go to RAICES, a Texas-based non-profit which provides legal and educational services to migrants which is certainly a great cause to support.

I absolutely loved the diversity of setting, from clear references to our current pandemic predicament to entirely new fantasy words somehow brought to life in just a few pages. So many of these stories left me wanting to read more in their worlds, from the scarred faces of 'Skin Like Carapace' to the floating ice whales of 'Glasswort, Ice'. I know that weird may at times be a rather intimidating moniker, but that each of the contributing authors was able to fully embrace it meant that the extraordinary became ordinary and the worlds and happenings far more unique and captivating. The short story format enabled even small ideas to be explored for their practicalities and implications. One example of this is 'The Hoof Situation', which explores how being faced with the realities of aging can affect our perception of youth through a society where old women grow hooves in place of feet.

Moreso than the worlds, many of these stories left me sitting, quiet and pensive, contemplating what on Earth had just happened (in a good way.) This is certainly not an anthology to be read in one sitting, as you will almost certainly need time to consider and imagine. The characters were overwhelmingly well developed and despite the format also often grew with the progression of the story. One thing that did annoy me was that a couple of the stories used 'they' as a singular pronoun, which for me at times made it harder to understand and didn't always feel necessary. Although this might just be a me thing. I ended up vehemently googling several of the authors following these reflection comas and will almost certainly be exploring more from A.C. Wise, Steve Toase, Emily Cantaneo, and Chip Houser; the authors of 'Crossing', 'Skin Like Carapace', 'Glasswort, Ice' and 'Meat for Skritches' respectively.

I have to give this a 5/5 stars, and though I read this as an eBook I am certainly looking to buy it in paperback when I can. You can pick it up on Amazon, Kobo, Weightless Books and for the Americans out there: B&N Nook, Barnes and Noble (Paperback), and Indiebound.org.

I would like to thank the authors of Weird Dream Society, Julie C. Day who was also the editor of the anthology, Reckoning Press and netGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Beast of Kukuyo by Kevin Jared Hosein

***

For the second time in her life, 15-year-old Rune Mathura comes face-to-face with a brutal murder when her classmate Dumpling Heera goes missing and is eventually found dead. 

Dumpling’s murder drags the small, rural village of Kukuyo into the national spotlight, revealing a darkness curdling in the town. But Rune knows that the memories of the villagers and police are short. Inspired by her love of detective television shows, she launches her own investigation. 

Yet, Rune soon learns that real life is not the same as television and neither justice nor evil appear in black and white. Her journey takes her along a bloody trail of chicken feathers, down a muddy ravine and into a grimy den where she encounters dark secrets and a terror that is very, very real. 

In this gripping new novel, Kevin Jared Hosein topples the tropes about truth and justice created in television shows and childhood detective novels like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys. Along her journey Rune learns that the road to justice can be paved with ill-intentions, and that truth is always complicated.

***

First of all I have to say that I know practically nothing about Trinidad. All I knew before going into this book was that it used to be a British slave colony and that it is in the Caribbean. And this book isn't really about Trinidad, but it is set there, so you can say that I had to Google many many things in order to understand what was going on. But that was actually one of my favourite things, as the author used Trini slang and hindu words to authenticate Rune's perspective. 

One of my favourite aspects of this book is that it is just as much character driven as it is plot driven, so it's kind of perfect for me. I loved watching Rune grow and learn and really just become who she needed to be. The other characters are also really well written and each one has their own complexities. Nothing is black and white. Nick, for example, is irresponsible and an alcoholic but as we see him through Rune's eyes it's clear that he's not all bad. 

There is only technically a romance element to this book and that's really just an awesome friendship that could lead to more at some point in the future. And I liked that. It was realistic, not all fifteen year olds have ever been in a relationship, in fact most haven't.

SPOILER! My one gripe (except it isn't really) is that we never get to find out who kills Dumpling. Rune laments that people will forget about Dumpling but along the way she stops being fueled by that death as well (in her defense she does have some crazy other shit going on).

I absolutely loved this novel and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good YA thriller.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Blouse & Skirt Books and most of all Kevin Jared Hosein for giving me the opportunity to read this awesome book. 

eBay/Amazon Aspesis Safe Disposable Ear Piercing Gun Review

Disclaimer: If you do not like body modifications such as piercings or believe that I am stupid for piercing my ears myself do not bother to leave a nasty comment. I heavily researched before doing the piercing. I am not telling anyone that this is the 'right' way to use the guns but this is the way that worked for me and the way that was recommended by the description of the item on eBay. I have not been sponsored to do this review.

 I have recently been very into piercings but only had my first lobe piercings done. I decided to look into doing my ear piercings D.I.Y. in order to save money because I knew that my parents would make me pay for it myself. In my research I discovered that using piercing guns such as the ones at Claire's Accessories are actually very bad for you especially when piercing cartilage as there is a risk of shattering it. I also came across $1 disposable piercing guns each with there own stud on eBay. I ordered six of these as I wanted to do my 2nd and 3rd lobe piercings with them and 2 extra just in case I needed them or they turned out really well.

The Catalyst by Helena Coggan (Pub April 14)

The Catalyst by Helena Coggan is a novel about Rose Elmsworth and her world filled with magic and adventure. Rose is not like the rest of the world, she isn't split between the green-eyed gifted and the Ashkind. Rose is something entirely different and much more dangerous. At the young age of fifteen Rose has become an honorary member of the Department, the law enforcement agency run purely by the gifted. Nobody is aware of Rose's or her fathers shared secret. An old enemy has returned threatening to ruin the peace that the world has now come to after a long and devastating war. Will the Department find out about her differences? Can they prevent the impending war?

The Catalyst by Helena Coggan is a fantastic novel and sure to be one of my favorites of the year. Helena Coggan has managed to create one of the best and most interesting fusions between dystopian and fantasy. I honestly do not have a bad thing to say about this book. The novel was written in third-person which was a great choice for the novel as readers are able to delve into the thoughts of multiple characters. Rose was a likeable character and didn't have any particularly cliche traits such as loving books or never crying. I personally loved the fact that she was brave and strong yet she was still able to cry and let her feelings out, it made her more realistic.


The world building in this novel was magnificent and had one of the coolest worlds I have encountered to date. Using eye colour to differentiate between levels of power and race was unique and really cool. The novel had angels and demons in it but a fight between them is certainly not what this book is about. The book is about the people in between, sure there were a couple of main characters that were demons but there were both good and bad demons represented.

This was an amazing book with little to no flaws. I rated this book a 5/5 stars and beyond. I highly recommend that you pick a copy up. I would like to thank NetGalley, Amazon Kindle, Hatchette Australia and most of all Helena Coggan for allowing me to read this book.