The Yark by Bertrand Santini is about a monster called, well, the Yark, who lives off eating children. He needs good little boys and girls though. Eating bullies and scoundrels gives the Yark a right terrible tummyache. But over the years, decades, and centuries, there are fewer and fewer good children to be found. What’s […]
Hīznobyūtī by Claude Ponti Hīznobyūtī is an ‘ugly duckling’ reweaving by French children’s author Claude Ponti. When he is hatched, Hīznobyūtī didn’t look like his family at all. He had a tiny trunk instead of a snout. They said ‘he’s no beauty’ enough times that Hīznobyūtī thought it was his name. As he grew older, he […]
Song Castle by Luke Waterson is a historical fiction novel centring on the 1176 CE events in Wales during which Prince Rhys of Deheubarth arranged a most magnificent contest of song and music to establish Wales as a place of culture, and not just of war. People came to this, the very first Eisteddfod, from […]
Sakura’s Cherry Blossoms by Robert Paul Weston & Misa Saburi Written in the sparse style of Japanese poetry, and accompanied by artwork that recalls Japanese watercolor, Sakura’s Cherry Blossoms by Robert Paul Weston is a beautifully rendered tale of love, loss, and cultural upheaval. Moving to a new country is a huge step. You leave behind […]
Seng’s Starving Season is a true story of hope, heartbreak, and survival. It is a snapshot of one life disrupted by one of the most horrific, rarely spoken of atrocities of the ‘modern age’- the genocide of native Cambodians by the Khmer Rouge through slow starvation and brutal labour. Seng entered the ‘killing fields’, the […]
Meriel’s The Unity Game is a complex story, full of philosophical and spiritual threads, that weaves through time and space. It is a story that epitomises Cicero’s quote about connectivity- First there is David, the big shot in New York, driving himself into the ground to earn the big bucks. Then there’s the Scottish lawyer, […]
Taq has come to a future Prague, where people called the Bohemians bring the city to vibrant life each day. They are entertaining the city, filling it with magic both literally and figuratively. Being Bohemian means being under the Magistrate’s dominion. As long as the person in question is part of the group, they are […]
How to be a Stoic by Massimo Pigliucci is an easy to understand introduction to Stoic philosophy. With a witty, engaging writing style, Pigliucci breaks down Stoic philosophy into its constituent parts, discussing each in turn. He makes use of anecdotes both ancient and modern. After a few chapters of overview and history, the book […]
The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder by Sarah J Harris takes a look at life through the eyes of someone quite unusual indeed. Jasper Wishart is a young autistic boy who sees things a bit different from even most autistics. Jasper has a rare gift called synesthesia, where sensory inputs are dual-wired. Jasper sees sound, […]
SINdicate is second in JT Nicholas’ New Lyons Sequence. Campbell is now living in a safe house with several synthetics that have made their way to him after fleeing captivity or being turned out of their owners’ homes. He’s there as protection, especially for the pregnant Evelyn, since the synthetics are unable to harm humans. […]