Category: Non fiction reviews

A review of 20/20 Meals by Julie Goodwin

Goodwin fans will particularly enjoy the non-pretentious and warm presentation of good home cooking. Goodwin makes it clear that you don’t need to study for years to be able to cook high quality food for your family. Anyone can, and should do it, and the recipes and tips in this book will certain encourage that.

A review of A World Elsewhere by Sigrid MacRae

At six, newly arrived in the United States from Germany, young Sigrid von Hoynigen-Huene was called a “Nazi” by a schoolmate. As a child and teenager, she blamed the father she had never known for her feelings of not belonging. Although Heinrich von Hoynigen-Huene, who died in July 1941, was an “iconic presence” when she was growing up, the “family lore” about him troubled her.

A review of The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg

There is no easy answer here but the key lies in what he calls the habit loop: a cue leading to a routine (the learned behaviour itself) in order to obtain a reward. Belief is also important: the belief that you really can change, if you put your mind to it. Belief enables you to overcome the inevitable crises and avoid relapse.

A review of Risk Savvy By Gerd Gigerenzer

The thrust of the book is that you can use such straightforward rules to cope with and take control of almost any real-world situation, from choosing how to invest your money, to picking a spouse, to deciding what to order from a restaurant menu.

A review of Faber & Faber Poetry Diary 2015

The book is a nice, pocket-book friendly hardcover, with thick, high quality pages, and an elastic to mark the week. The book has a week to a view, with enough room to record (in small writing) activities and appointments for each day (though not enough to write a poem, should you be sufficiently inspired – you’ll need another notebook for that). Each week there is a new poem, starting with Simon Armitage’s “Poetry”, and finishing with Stevie Smith’s “Not Waving Drowning”. The diary also features full colour images of book covers and a Faber poetry chronology.

A review of Unlock Your Style by Nikki Parkinson

There are a few things I really like about this book. The first is that Nikki Parkinson targets the advice in this book to real women, and uses women models who are a variety of ages, shapes and sizes. The second is the warm, down-to-earth, non-judgemental tone that is always focused on feeling good over dictates.

A review of Phoning Home: Essays by Jacob M. Appel

Subject matter for these often humorous, always provocative compositions show-case the writer’s New York City childhood, his often whimsical family, his Jewish culture, life in general and more. There is something in Phoning Home: Essays for every reader. The tales portray the writer’s inimitable voice, a merging of nostalgia and insights, mitigated through his education including degrees in ethics, law and medicine. Appel is a man who questions, learns and seeks more answers.

A review of Monday Morning Motivation by David Cottrell

Right from the dust jacket protecting the cover and continuing through the pages of the copy, David Cottrell’s Monday Morning Motivation provides the reader with much to contemplate about leadership and how to encourage optimistic energy as is found in the most effective organizations