As I work my way through my large virtual backlog, I have read quite a few non-fiction that have taken me on different journeys. The particular book was particularly enlightening. I did not expect the Netherlands to be at the centre of a lot of the topics discussed here, and that brought the content a little closer home (since I live here now). The author also has a very interesting style of narration. There is an upbeat, chatty nature to the way things are told without pushing it too far away from the animals being discussed or the seriousness of what changes human history has done to the an ..read more

It is a funny book to read and enjoy as an audiobook, but surprisingly, it worked. The first half better suits the format with the author talking in depth (she is the narrator as well) about the history of indoor plants and the act of cultivation – not for consumption but for other reasons. There is a lot of information to parse through, but as I mentioned, the first half is more like a story. The second half came upon me unexpectedly. I did not realise that this book will have an extensive list of houseplants in alphabetical order with their care instruction and short talking points. It is a ..read more

Narrated by Krupa Pattani I had both a digital and audio version of this book available to me, and I am glad I worked my way through the audio version. The young adult protagonist shone through the narration, and I could feel and empathize with her inner conflict as she worked things out. It took me a while to finish this book, mostly because audiobooks take longer to complete. This is the first in a series, something I did not realise until I reached the very end and realised there were things that needed resolution. Our lead protagonist is someone who belongs to a high-ranking family with m ..read more

I have read a scattered few of this series, missing one or two in between. This time around, the duo is in rural Scotland, and the author sets the scene well. The remote location and the cold and biting wind are well documented, and whatever else I thought of the mystery itself, I could imagine our characters wandering the island mentioned. This is a book that one can pick up regardless of prior knowledge of the escapades the couple have been in earlier. There are only passing references to other people who do not make an appearance here. This plot revolves around a group of people who are da ..read more

I always like giving a new series a chance. I picked this up because it is the first in another cozy mystery series with a different setup. Our leading lady works at a wine bar and an unlikeable man makes an appearance in the beginning and we know who the intended victim will be. I liked the concept of the group of businesses working in close proximity and the way everyone interacts with each other. The mystery plot itself was not for me. I figured out the culprit early on, even though it did not seem like the entire situation was worth the trouble they went into. The writing is simple, and y ..read more

I have only read one other book set in this world. It was only when I started reading this one I realised there must have been more since more couples appeared in this volume. The previous book I read did not rely too heavily on previously established couples, but this picks up the emotions of being a single friend where everyone else is paired off. Our leading lady is Paige, a math teacher who loves her subject. She does not go into any particular details about the subject, but it is often mentioned enough that it is a foundational part of her style. She and her best friend spent a lot of ti ..read more

This is a tough book to review. When I started reading it and realised that there was no real sequence to the content, I was a little disheartened. But, given the way my own brain works, jumping from topic to topic to keep things interesting, I soon got into the rhythm of the book and started to enjoy the range of information provided within it. The author is a seasoned sailor with many journeys behind him. He covers information on several topics from geography, science and history as he talks about a few of his travels. We not only get insight into the life that he leads when offshore but al ..read more

This book is almost non-fiction. When I started it, it began with the tone of a history book. Soon, however, when the author talks about the emotional reactions and thoughts of the people involved I corrected my impression. This story is not for the faint of heart. It is a story of how mobs can get out of hand with the slightest provocation. The historical notes in the end provide a context to the content, and it would have been nice for the ending to be the way the author imagined it, but history is never that nice. In a town, a spilled word meant that a group of people took umbrage and deci ..read more

This book provides exactly as much help as advertised. I got my hands on this book just around the time I delivered a baby myself, which meant I could not get around to doing all the projects in the book. I made the hats and used them for the first month or so. The time it took to follow the instructions (which are basic enough for beginners) was close to what was predicted in the section. Each section of the book comes with the approximate time it would take to make the project. Given the concept, some of the quicker projects are obviously chunkier than the latter ones. I made the mistake of ..read more

Narrated by Alexandra Dowling; Jaye Jacobs This was another book that I enjoyed because of the format of delivery. There are two narrators, one for the older timeline and one for the current. Both did a good job bringing the book to life. As I started writing the review I thought back about the reveal since I figured out the culprit while I was listening to the book at the time in guessing the author meant for us to. Surprisingly though, I had to recollect the entire process of the plot to get to the reveal! That was new for me. It basically meant that the story has its way of being prominent ..read more