Veronika Jordan's Blog, page 84

The Visitors by Caroline Scott 

Esme Nicholls is to spend the summer in Cornwall. Her late husband Alec, who died fighting in the war, grew up in Penzance, and she’s hoping to learn more about the man she loved and lost. While there, she will stay with Gilbert, in his rambling seaside house, where he lives with his former brothers in arms.

Esme is fascinated by this community of eccentric artists and former soldiers, and as she gets to know the men and their stories, she begins to feel this summer might be exactly what she needs.

#TheVisitors @CScottBooks @simonschusterUK #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours #blogtour

But everything is not as idyllic as it seems – a mysterious new arrival later in the summer will turn Esme’s world upside down, and make her question everything she thought she knew about her life, and the people in it.

Full of light, laughter and larger-than-life characters, The Visitors is a novel of one woman finally finding her voice and choosing her own path forwards.

My Review

This is such a beautiful book. Exquisitely written using sensitive, evocative language, we really feel we are there in Cornwall and in the trenches in France during the Great War.

It’s 1923 and Esme has been widowed for seven years. Her husband of only a few months went to war in France but after two years of regular letters, they suddenly stopped. Then one fateful day the letter she dreads arrives and she is informed that he has died.

His death turns her life upside down and she has to sell their house and take a position with Mrs Fenella Pickering, whose brother Gilbert Edgerton lives in a community of ex-servicemen in a large house in Cornwall. Sharing the property and land with him, this group of young men fought alongside him in France during the First World War and are both mentally and physically scarred by their dreadful experiences.

It’s a scorching hot summer and Mrs Pickering has asked Esme to travel down to Cornwall to check out the state of Gilbert’s house – her previous visit did not go well – before she embarks on the journey herself. The sea air will be good for her health but the previous lack of facilities will not.

Esme is welcomed by the men and soon finds herself relaxing in their company. I loved the part where she learns how to swim for the first time in her life.

Esme also has a side job – she writes a weekly article for the Huddersfield Courier called ‘Nature Diary’ and it is here that we read about the beauty of her surroundings in Cornwall.

Can Esme finally put the past behind her and find happiness again? This story will have you wrapped up in its beauty. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours and to The Pigeonhole and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read

About the Author

Caroline completed a PhD in History at the University of Durham. She developed a particular interest in the impact of the First World War on the landscape of Belgium and France, and in the experience of women during the conflict – fascinations that she was able to pursue while she spent several years working as a researcher for a Belgian company. Caroline is originally from Lancashire, but now lives in southwest France. The Photographer of the Lost was a BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick.

Songbird (Jax Diamond Mysteries#1) by Gail Meath

It’s all fun and games, until someone gets killed.
 
Meet Jax Diamond, a sharp, sophisticated, skilled, no-nonsense private detective.  Or is he?  Glued to his side is his canine partner, Ace, a fierce and unrelenting German Shepherd whose mere presence terrorises criminals into submission.  Well, maybe not.
 
But the two of them are a whole lot smarter than they look.  And they have their hands full when a playwright’s death is declared natural causes, and his new manuscript worth a million bucks is missing.

#Songbird @GailMeathAuthor @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour

 Laura Graystone, a beautiful rising Broadway star, is dragged into the heart of their investigation, and she’s none too happy about it.  Especially when danger first strikes, and she needs to rely on her own ingenuity to save their hides.
 
Join Jax, Laura and Ace on a fun yet deadly ride during the Roaring Twenties that takes twists and turns, and a race against time to find the real murderer before he/she/they stop them permanently.

My Review

I’m not sure why but initially I couldn’t help imagining Jax sounding like Columbo, with his rumpled raincoat and unassuming demeanour. I even did the voice in my head. Maybe it’s the wrinkled brown suit. But once we learn more about him, we discover that Jax is younger and much better looking!

From the Jazz Clubs of the Roaring Twenties to the Broadway musicals and the famous Coney Island funfair, Songbird is a breathtaking ride through the streets of New York. But it’s not all fun and games. It opens with the demise of musical playwright Samuel Sanders – his death slow and painful. The police think he died of natural causes, but our intrepid private detective Jax Diamond has a nose for these things – a bit like Ace the German Shepherd has a nose for tracking people. But if Sanders was murdered, what was the motive?

Beautiful singer, Laura Graystone, nicknamed Songbird, recently took over the main part in a musical after the previous lead was murdered in a random break-in that went horribly wrong. But was it random and are the two deaths linked? And is Laura in danger too?

Well that’s for Jax to find out, with the help of his furry sidekick Ace, songbird Laura herself, and police officer Tim Murphy. It’s a rollicking ride with lots of red herrings and delightful twists and turns, and the two protagonists’ blossoming romance is a joy to read, without being soppy or sentimental.

Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

Award-winning author Gail Meath writes historical romance novels that will whisk you away to another time and place in history where you will meet fascinating characters, both fictional and real, who will capture your heart and soul. Meath loves writing about little or unknown people, places and events in history, rather than relying on the typical stories and settings.

Follow her at:
Facebook: https://facebook.com/Gail-Meath-Author-121289219261348
Instagram: https://instagram.com/gailmeathauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GailMeathAuthor
Website: https://www.gailmeath.com

Buy Links
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/SONGBIRD-JAX-DIAMOND-MYSTERIES-Book-ebook/dp/B09HMRCVCL
Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/SONGBIRD-JAX-DIAMOND-MYSTERIES-Book-ebook/dp/B09HMRCVCL/

Death in The Last Reel by Paula Harmon

Does the camera ever lie?

1911: After the violent murder of three policemen in the line of duty, tensions between London constabulary and Whitechapel anarchists simmer. Meanwhile accusations and counter accusations of espionage further weaken relations between Germany and Britain. Can Margaret Demeray and Fox find out which potential enemy is behind a threat to the capital before it’s too late?

In the shadow of violence in the East End, just as Dr Margaret Demeray starts to gain recognition for her pathology work, a personal decision puts her career at the hospital under threat. Needing to explore alternative options, she tries working with another female doctor in Glassmakers Lane. But in that genteel street, a new moving-picture studio is the only thing of any interest, and Margaret’s boredom and frustration lead to an obsessive interest in the natural death of a young woman in a town far away.

#DeathInTheLastReel @Paula_S_Harmon @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour

Meanwhile intelligence agent Fox is trying to establish whether rumours of a major threat to London are linked to known anarchist gangs or someone outside Britain with a different agenda. When another mission fails and he asks Margaret to help find out who provided the false intelligence that led him in the wrong direction, she can’t wait to assist.

But enquiries in wealthy Hampstead and then assaults in poverty-stricken Whitechapel lead unexpectedly back to Glassmakers Lane. How can such a quiet place be important? And is the dead young woman Margaret a critical link or a coincidental irrelevance?

Margaret and Fox need to work together; but both of them are independent, private and stubborn, and have yet to negotiate the terms of their relationship.

How can Margaret persuade Fox to stop protecting her so that she can ask the questions he can’t? And even if she does, how can they discover is behind the threat to London when it’s not entirely clear what the threat actually is?

My Review

This was a jolly romp through pre-first world war London, a tale full of intrigue, espionage, murder and early moving pictures. There is also an uncurrent of terrorist threats from anarchists, plus references to the beginnings of the suffragette movement. The history of the movies and a series of true events is very interesting.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s different from my usual genre though I sometimes venture into historical fiction, but this had the added enticement of sharp humour and witty repartee between the two main protagonists Margaret and Fox. They are both really interesting characters. Margaret Demeray, widowed and in her mid-thirties, is a doctor. That was very rare for women at the time, but Margaret isn’t just any doctor, she’s a pathologist at St Julia’s, where she helps the police uncover suspicious causes of death.

Fox on the other hand is a spy. He is trying to find out, with the help of his friend Charles, if the major threat to London is a plot by anarchists or is it part of something much bigger, something that could mean war between Britain and Germany. Much of the time they must work undercover and Fox’s whereabouts are a secret, kept even from Margaret.

In the meantime, Margaret is inadvertently being drawn into a web of espionage. She believes that the death of a young woman which she witnessed in Paris was not natural causes, but does she realise how much danger her ‘obsession’ with the woman is putting her in.

However, my favourite plot revolves around the involvement of a new moving-picture studio opposite the doctor’s surgery where Margaret is working part-time. Here we have a cast of interesting characters who appear to be innocently making silent films, but are they all as innocent as they appear?

This is such a good story and I really couldn’t put it down.

Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

Paula Harmon was born in North London to parents of English, Scottish and Irish descent. Perhaps feeling the need to add a Welsh connection, her father relocated the family every two years from country town to country town moving slowly westwards until they settled in South Wales when Paula was eight. She later graduated from Chichester University before making her home in Gloucestershire and then Dorset where she has lived since 2005. She is a civil servant, married with two adult children. Paula has several writing projects underway and wonders where the housework fairies are, because the house is a mess and she can’t think why.

Follow her at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/paulaharmonwrites
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulasharmon/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Paula_S_Harmon
Website: https://paulaharmon.com

Buy Links
Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B09FZS54ZF
Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09FZS54ZF

A Crown of Sonnets About My Death by Cat on a Piano Productions / Theatrephonic

It’s a takeover! This week the amazing Ashley Shiers is performing two incredibly different pieces:

A Crown of Sonnets About My Death
Written by Nancy Fons – instagram: @a_daily_sonnet
and
The Tale of Ol’ Sandy Jack
Written by Ashley Shiers

I’m actually speechless. A Crown of Sonnets… was so beautiful, emotive and lyrical and the Scottish accent enhanced the listening experience.

For those who don’t know, a sonnet is a poem of fourteen lines of fixed structure (there are variations in the rhyming patterns but we won’t get that complicated). A ‘corona’ of sonnets is where the last line of one sonnet becomes the first line of the next. It reminds me of the Creative Writing part of my OU degree where we had to write poems in various structures – a sonnet, a villanelle (my personal favourite), a pantoum etc.

The following is the very last sonnet and I love it.

Whoever comes to take my soul from me,
Whether they be Jesus Christ, fae, or fate,
I’ll tell them, all filled with smiles and glee
“I’m sorry my friend, you are far too late,
For I’ve already hidden it away,
And made my own heaven here on this earth,
In a place I hope forever to stay.
Take my apologies, for what they’re worth.
You cannot take it through force, fear, or threat,
My soul is bound here, and forever safe,
So no more will it panic, fear, or fret,
Never will it leave my favourite place;
It’s peaceful, content, and safe from all harms;
Lying sweetly here in my lovers arms.

Music:
Lifting Dreams by Aakash Gandhi
Pachabelly by Huma-Huma

The Tale of Ol’ Sandy Jack  

When our intrepid hero tells the drinkers in a local pub that he’s going to camp that night, there is an audible gasp. Have you not heard the tale of ol’ Sandy Jack they ask? When the moon comes up you can hear him singing Sexy Boy – both parts. He moves like the wind and taps you on the shoulder. Don’t look him in the eye – he’ll offer you a digestive biscuit with NO chocolate, the monster, and he lulls you into a false sense of security with the theme from Jurassic Park.

‘And he steals your toes.’

This was hilarious. Absolutely brilliant.

Music:
Sexy Boy by JJ Maguire, Jimmy Hart & Shawn Michaels

Produced by Cat on a Piano Productions

The Theatrephonic Theme tune was composed by Jackson Pentland
Performed by
Jackson Pentland
Mollie Fyfe Taylor
Emmeline Braefield

Cat on a Piano Productions produce and edit feature films, sketches and radio plays.

Their latest project is called @Theatrephonic, a podcast of standalone radio plays and short stories performed by professional actors. You can catch Theatrephonic on Spotify and other platforms.

For more information about the Theatrephonic Podcast, go to catonapiano.uk/theatrephonic, Tweet or Instagram @theatrephonic, or visit their Facebook page.

And if you really enjoyed this week’s episode, listen to Theatrephonic’s other plays and short stories and consider becoming a patron by clicking here…

The Soul Catcher by Monica Bhide

Set in modern India in a dimension where time and space are fluid, Monica Bhide’s The Soul Catcher, a novel in stories, is a mosaic narrative about destiny, grief, loss, faith, love, and sisterhood. 

It takes us on a magical journey that begins with an unspeakable tragedy, and concludes with a surprising resolution. It chronicles the life of Yamini Goins — the Soul Catcher — a woman who transports souls from one body to another to keep people alive. In Yamini’s India, one set in harsh realities and far removed from tourist traps and movie cliches, anguish and death battle second opportunities and powerful prayers in an eternal dance in which magic and the impossible are mere elements of everyday life. Is death the end? What are the consequences of prolonging life by supernatural means? How does pain shape our identity? 

#TheSoulCatcher @mbhide #RandomThingsTours @annecater @RandomTTours

A violent, touching, unique narrative with a great sense of place, The Soul Catcher features a diverse cast of complex characters – pain healers and lovers, parents and broken souls – that bring life and death to the page. The Soul Catcher explores that which makes us human—the desire to live, the fear of death, the longing for love and the release that comes with the acceptance of fate. Throughout the dark overtones of the interwoven tales of this book, an electric current of transcendence echoes from every page as each character attempts to shift his or her destiny to the whims of their hearts.

My Review

This is an author who is not afraid of tragedy. The worst can happen and sometimes it does. But there is also love and joy.

The narrative goes round in a circle of short stories. We begin with Yamini – the Soul Catcher in the title. She uses her supernatural power to heal people – it is her destiny and one from which there is no escape.

Each story leads to another and another and they are all linked. We meet terminally-ill Rishi, his wife Sehar and daughter Amya on their way to board the Nirvana Train. Yamini’s sister Damini can take away people’s pain, but can never lead a normal life. The ‘nun’ at the hospital who calls herself Sister Angela is living a lie, while the nurse, Madhuja, is the Keeper of Lost Memories.

Ajit is the coconut vendor, who lives at the temple, where Dr Meera, the dentist, tries to help the poorest people look after their teeth. She is due to get married any day soon. Geeta is the cleaner at the temple, but she can see things happening in the red rain that she causes to fall. Siya escapes her cruel employers and flees to Jaipur, known as the Pink City. By this time we have come round full circle to the shelter where Yamini now lives.

This is a beautiful book and I love the way each story picks up from the last, the minor character in one becoming the main character in the next. I have never read anything quite like it. It’s also full of magic, but don’t let that put you off. Just take it all at face value and believe in the beauty.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

Monica Bhide is an award-winning writer, accomplished literary coach, gifted poet, storyteller, and educator with a lyrical voice and universal appeal. As a bestselling fiction and internationally renowned cookbook author, Monica is known for sharing food, culture, mystery, and love in her writing.

A respected writing authority, Monica appears regularly on NPR and conducts sold-out workshops on writing, food, culture, and scheduled speaking events at prestigious venues as the Smithsonian Institution, Sackler Gallery, Les Dames d’Escoffier, Georgetown University, and Yale University. She has taught all over the world including conferences in London, Dubai, US etc. She has also been the “Writing Coach in Residence” for the annual conference of the Association of Food Journalists.

Monica’s short story collection, The Devil in Us, topped the list on Kindle as a bestseller in its category of Literary Short Fiction. Her memoir, A Life of Spice, was picked by Eat Your Books as one of the top five food memoirs of 2015.

Top Chef’s Padma Lakshmi picked Bhide’s Modern Spice (Simon & Schuster, 2009), as one of the “Best Books Ever” for Newsweek in 2009.

The Chicago Tribune named Monica “one of the seven food writers to watch in 2012”.

In April 2012, Mashable.com picked her as one of “the top ten food writers” on Twitter.

Her work has garnered numerous accolades and has been included in four Best Food Writing anthologies (2005, 2009, 2010, and 2014).

As a noted international food writer, Monica has built a diverse and solid audience through her books and articles in top-tier media such as: The New York Times, The Washington Post, Ladies Home Journal, AARP-the Magazine, Parents Chicago Tribune , Christian Science Monitor, Bon Appétit, Town and Country Travel, Food and Wine, Cooking Light, Coastal Living, Health, Better Nutrition, and many others.

Monica lives in Virginia with two sons.

Website: www.monicabhide.com.
Twitter: @mbhide
Instagram: @monicasaigalbhide

The Girl Downstairs by Iain Maitland

Rosie is homeless and winter is closing in. So she can’t believe her luck when a total stranger, Mr. Adams, invites her to stay.

But Mr. Adams has a secret. He has chosen Rosie because she reminds him of someone very special from long ago. Maybe she can even help him recapture that distant happiness.

#TheGirlDownstairs @iainmaitland @inkubatorbooks @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour

Of course, she might need a little encouragement, but that’s fine…

What he doesn’t realise is that Rosie has a secret too, a secret that will have horrifying consequences for them both.

So instead of the heaven he had hoped to find, Mr. Adams finds himself fighting to escape the special kind of hell created by… the girl downstairs.

My Review

This is so unnerving and creepy. There were times when I winced at the things Mr Adams thinks and does. But then the entire book is written from his point of view. And let’s face it – he’s a bit weird. But is he a total psychopath or just a sad, lonely man who happens to be angry, antisocial and dislikes disabled people? I was never really sure. I’m still not.

There will be times when you wonder what he has actually done and there are plenty of misconceptions and misunderstandings between him and us, the reader, along the way.

For instance why is he so keen to invite Rosie to stay and what happened to the previous girls that were there? What really happened to his wife and daughter? And is Rosie just a homeless girl who has lost her way in the world, an ungrateful so-and-so about to steal his cash and belongings or is she hiding something far more sinister?

I literally didn’t have a clue most of the time. Nothing is what it seems. Except Fluffy that is, but even he has a name that belies his true identity – he’s a smooth-haired Jack Russell, but Mr Adams thinks it’s funny to call him Fluffy.

This is such a great read and it will keep you guessing right up to the end.

Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

Iain Maitland is the author of three previous psych thrillers, The Scribbler (2020), Mr Todd’s Reckoning (2019) and Sweet William (2017), all published by Contraband, an imprint of Saraband. Mr Todd’s Reckoning is coming to the big screen in 2023.

Iain is also the author of two memoirs, Dear Michael, Love Dad (Hodder, 2016), a book of letters written to his eldest son who experienced depression and anorexia, and (co-authored with Michael) Out Of The Madhouse (Jessica Kingsley, 2018).

He is also an Ambassador for Stem4, the teenage mental health charity. He talks regularly about mental health issues in schools and colleges and workplaces.

Find out more about Iain at http://www.iainmaitland.net and twitter.com/iainmaitland

Follow him at:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/iainmaitland
Website: www.iainmaitland.net

Buy Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Three Little Girls (Karen Thorpe series #2) by Jane Badrock

Three cold cases. One determined cop.

Someone’s playing tricks on Karen at home and at work.

When two cold case files about missing girls turn up on her desk, she’s fuming. When a third file arrives…she blows a fuse. 

#ThreeLittleGirls @janebadrock @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBookTours #blogtour

Her boss demands she takes holiday leave just as Karen discovers her late father was involved in one of the cases. Now she’s compelled to investigate them. 

Karen’s accompanied by sometime boyfriend John – but can she trust him or his friend and map-keeper Mr Binks? 

She has formidable detective skills but will they work in places where old-world magic is still powerful? 

Karen’s life is in serious danger… but from whom…. or what? 

My Review

What a crazy roller coaster of a ride. I just loved this book. Fantastic cast of characters – DI Karen Thorpe, tough, clever, untidy, her on-off boyfriend John Steele, head of forensics, Karen’s opposite, tidy and organised. But I especially loved ‘wee’ book shop owner and map-keeper Mr Binks. Who is he and what does he really do? Can we trust him?

Suspending disbelief doesn’t even come close to cutting it. Witches pathways, gatekeepers (are you the gatekeeper? homage to Ghostbusters?), visions, nightmares, ghosts, hallucinogens, a powerful spell book and even raising the dead – it’s all here, but what is real and what is not? Who knows. Who cares. I just couldn’t stop reading. This is the kind of stuff I love. I hope it ends up on TV.

In 1964 three little girls went missing. Three girls, three locations, many miles apart, but are they connected? No-one was charged, no-one was prosecuted, their bodies never found.

Many years later, Karen’s father re-opened one of the cases, but he died before any progress could be made. Now these files plus two more have mysteriously appeared on Karen’s desk and she feels compelled to investigate. So she and John set off round the country to Lincoln, York and Edinburgh to see what new evidence they can discover. But strange things happen which are linked to old-world magic – the type of thing that Karen is far too sensible and down-to-earth to believe in. Big mistake and one that could put her in serious danger.

I’m a huge fan of crime fiction and police procedurals, but they can often be a bit samey and formulaic. Trust me, this is like nothing I’ve read before and I couldn’t get enough of it. Brilliant!

Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

Jane writes novels, short stories and poems, usually with a good dose of humour in them. She’s probably owes it all to her late grandmother who, she’s just found out, also wrote short stories and poems. She tends to get an idea and then run with it whether it be a 100 word short story or an 80 thousand word novel. It all depends on the voices in her head at the time…

Follow her at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janebadrockauthor/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janebadrock/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/janebadrock
Amazon : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jane-Badrock/e/B07HZ2HD3Q
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18510015.Jane_Badrock

Dog About Town – Bob’s Lockdown in London by Bob

During Lockdown, when rules allowed, Bob found he had some of London’s most extraordinary landmarks all to himself…

When the UK was in lockdown, the usually heaving streets of London emptied and the city became unrecognisable.

Mini Labradoodle Bob is furry, soft, and lovable. In Dog About Town, we get to see the beauty of London from his dog’s eye view.

Follow Bob as he explores the City of London at its emptiest, from a deserted Covent Garden to an abandoned Tower Bridge. If he’s not looking regal at Buckingham Palace, he’s salivating at Smithfield market.

All captured on an iPhone, this collection of Bob’s selfies offers fascinating insight into pandemic life, served with humour and charm.

Accompanied by witty captions, this book will have any dog lover chuckling, whilst making them feel as warm and fluffy on the inside as Bob is on the outside.

The perfect Christmas present for London and dog lovers alike, Dog About Town’s lightness of touch offers a fresh perspective on lockdown and allows the reader to reflect on the past two years, with a pawsome new literary talent. Bob is a life-long London resident, with a penchant for bones, rolling in mud, snoozing and, of course, Instagram. This is his first book.

A contribution from every copy of Dog About Town will be made to the dog rescue and rehoming charity All Dogs Matter.

Click here to buy

My thoughts

I love this book. The pictures are brilliant and the captions are very clever. And of course Bob is such a sweetie.

I recently lost my beloved Jack Russell, Pancake, four weeks shy of 17 years old, so this book is for her, for me, and for everyone else who loves dogs and for those who are still missing their best friends.

The following are some examples of what you can expect in Dog About Town.

Sole trader
Leadenhall Market, Gracechurch Street, EC3

Is this my best side?
Tower Bridge, London, SE1

7000 years old – in dog years
Tower of London, Tower Hamlets, EC3

Only corgis allowed
Buckingham Palace, SW1

Sitting just to the left of centre
Westminster, SW1

Many thanks to Grace Pilkington Publicity @GracePublicity for inviting me to give an unbiased review of Dog About Town.

By the Author

Truth be told, I’m not really one for culture or history. I generally prefer chasing balls, running, swimming and mud in all its forms. However, during the pandemic, I humoured my owners by accompanying them on some walks around London. To be fair, the urban sniffing was good, we had the streets practically to ourselves, and in return for some pretty tasty treats, I agreed to pose in front of some iconic, and some less familiar, landmarks. I never thought a scruffy labradoodle like me would make it into a book, but if these images of a deserted London, with me in it, raises a smile and helps some of the less fortunate canine community, then it seems a good idea.

And in case anyone is interested, I’m now a fully qualified tour guide, with a special interest in the Houses of Pawliament.
Yours,
Bob

Click here to buy

Spirituality, Healing and Me by Ilana Estelle

Everyday life has never been more challenging and it’s easy to lose sight of who we are and who we want to be.

In Spirituality, Healing and Me, Ilana Estelle draws on her experiences of emotional, mental and physical disability, to show how tuning into our spiritual side can improve wellbeing, heal our minds, and set us firmly back on track.

#SpiritualityHealingAndMe @TheCPDiary @RedDoorBooks @Zooloo’s Book Tours @zooloo2008 #ZooloosBook Tours #blogtour

Ilana shows how focusing on values such as understanding, empathy, compassion, tolerance, kindness, creativity and acceptance can help us find our inner calm.

Packed with inspiring messages and real-life vignettes, Ilana’s book shows how spirituality can help us navigate even the roughest waters.

Ilana’s book can help to:
•Improve emotional balance and wellness
•Boost confidence and self-esteem
•Stay self-aware, grounded and patient
•Appreciate life and each other
•Accept changing circumstances
•Enhance positive emotions and personal healing
•Change the way you perceive and think about your life

My Review

Firstly and very importantly, this is not a religious book. You don’t need to follow any religion to read it. Spirituality is something quite different.

In reading this book you will learn a lot about selflessness and humility, karma (the real meaning), why integrity is so important, living a more spiritual life and mindfulness.

“Mindfulness allows us to pay attention to what’s happening in the present moment, without us passing judgement.” Ilana tells us. “It’s a technique that helps us manage our thoughts, feelings and mental health.”

Now we come to emotional stability.

“To work on emotional stability, we need to continue to find a level of acceptance and understanding on our experiences. We should work on the premise that the things we can change we will, and the things we can’t change, we should try to accept.” How important this is.

Bitterness and resentfulness are also self-damaging. “A good affirmation to remember”, we are told, “is Being positive is my choice. I shall choose to be positive.”

There is a lot of discussion about mental health. We still need talk and remove the stigma, particularly amongst men. 12.5% of men suffer from anxiety and depression and 76% of suicides are committed by men. It’s the biggest killer of men under 35. 36% of referrals to a psychologist are for men.

There is a section on how to cope with conflict and inner turmoil arising from unresolved issues. I found this part very useful.

Learning from our mistakes is pivotal to emotional and spiritual growth. We learn more from our mistakes than we do from our successes.

I have picked out a few things from this marvellous book that particularly resonated with me. For you it may be quite different. I will try and take as much on board as I can and hope it allows me to grow.

Thank you to Ilana for her wonderful writing. Do read it and take what you need from it. It doesn’t have to be everything. As she herself tells us, it’s all about small baby steps.

Many thanks to @zooloo2008 for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

Ilana was born with a disability she didn’t know she had until the age of 46, when through her medical notes she discovered she had been diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of 2.

That discovery turned out to be a unique and life-changing experience that has forced Ilana to stand back and look at her life experiences differently. On her late diagnosis, Ilana set up her website The CP Diary and uses her experiences to explore her emotional and physical health, with an inspiring message advocating resilience and change.

Ilana likes to spend her days writing and blogging about anything that contributes to her health and wellbeing. She is an animal advocate and is passionate about environmental issues. When she is not writing to tending to her blog, Ilana enjoys days out exploring the Yorkshire countryside.

Ilana lives with her husband and their much-loved cat, in Yorkshire. Her grown up son and daughter both live in London.

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Buy Links
Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spirituality-Healing-Me-spiritual-healing-ebook/dp/B09F9ZNV83
Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/Spirituality-Healing-Me-spiritual-healing-ebook/dp/B09F9ZNV83

Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult

Diana O’Toole is perfectly on track. She will be married by thirty, done having kids by thirty-five, and move out to the New York City suburbs, all while climbing the professional ladder in the cutthroat art auction world.

She’s an associate specialist at Sotheby’s now, but her boss has hinted at a promotion if she can close a deal with a high-profile client. She’s not engaged just yet, but she knows her boyfriend, Finn, a surgical resident, is about to propose on their romantic getaway to the Galapagos–days before her thirtieth birthday. Right on time.

But then a virus that felt worlds away has appeared in the city, and on the eve of their departure, Finn breaks the news: It’s all hands on deck at the hospital. He has to stay behind. You should still go, he assures her, since it would be a shame for all of their nonrefundable trip to go to waste. And so, reluctantly, she goes.

Almost immediately, Diana’s dream vacation goes awry. Her luggage is lost, the Wi-Fi is nearly nonexistent, and the hotel they’d booked is shut down due to the pandemic. In fact, the whole island is now under quarantine, and she is stranded until the borders reopen. Completely isolated, she must venture beyond her comfort zone. Slowly, she carves out a connection with a local family when a teenager with a secret opens up to Diana, despite her father’s suspicion of outsiders.

In the Galapagos Islands, where Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was formed, Diana finds herself examining her relationships, her choices, and herself–and wondering if when she goes home, she too will have evolved into someone completely different. 

My Review

Reading Jodi Picoult is not a straight path. It’s a winding road full of opposing views, some of which will resonate, some of which will anger and all will make you think.

My last foray left me upset and a bit traumatised and while I had conflicting views here, it wasn’t so dramatic for me. I’d almost managed to forget the first few months of the pandemic. The horror of the deaths and hospitalisations. The fear that we would run out of beds and ventilators and people would be left to die in hospital car parks.

We tried to care for my elderly mother-in-law in her sheltered accommodation. Between us we visited six times a day, probably breaking lockdown rules but there was no-one else. She stopped eating, lost two and a half stone. We tried to get her to eat. My husband and brother-in-law had to pick her up off the floor every day where she had fallen off the chair – she wouldn’t get into bed. She had constant UTIs and hallucinated, her leg ulcers wept in puddles on the floor. She got cellulitis and nearly died. I had to clean her and change her ‘nappy’. There was no-one else to do it.

Eventually in June, we got her into respite. Six months later you wouldn’t know she had even been ill. She can’t walk but then that’s the arthritis, but everything else is back to normal. She turned 88 in September.

So, yes, we broke the rules, but the alternative was to leave her to die alone. Many people did, in nursing homes and hospitals. My friend’s partner had Alzheimer’s. She couldn’t visit – just peering through the window made him agitated. He died and there were only five people at his funeral. She was heartbroken and still is.

But then we see Finn’s point of view and know why it had to happen. But many of us still question if it was the right decision. I don’t mean lockdown or travel restrictions. I just mean holding the hand of your dying loved one. Kissing their forehead in their last moments. Just saying goodbye.

In April I was furloughed for three months. First I heard the birds. The roads were clear. Traffic stopped. I went for a walk once a day, exercised and did yoga in the garden to music. I did my bit and shopped for disabled or vulnerable neighbours. I’ve never felt so free, like Diana in the Galapagos. Priorities changed.

I thought it would last – the peace I mean, not the pandemic – but of course it didn’t. Shops and bars opened. Traffic resumed. Hustle and bustle, pollution, noise. Schools went back, rightly so. People moaned about foreign holidays as if nothing had happened. And marriages and relationships dissolved in anger.

Nearly two years later and a new variant has just been announced as I write this review. When it’s all over, if it ever is, I’d like to travel, maybe see the tortoises in Isabela or just go to Gran Canaria and sit in the sun.

This book is so good and heart-breaking. I sympathised with both Diana and Finn. But for him it was black and white, as there was no alternative. For her it was shades of grey, like for me. But Diana and I were not at the sharp end, saving and losing lives, every day, every hour. Celebrating the successes, weeping over the failures.

I can’t say much more without spoilers, but do read it, just keep the tissues to hand and prepare to get emotional. I did.

Many thanks to The Pigeonhole and my fellow Pigeons for making this such an enjoyable read.

About the Author

Jodi Picoult is the author of numerous novels, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers Small Great Things, A Spark of Light, Leaving Time, The Storyteller, Lone Wolf, Between the Lines, Sing You Home, House Rules, Handle with Care, Change of Heart, Nineteen Minutes, and My Sister’s Keeper. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and three children.

Website: http://www.jodipicoult.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jodipicoult
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jodipicoult