Reviews and Comments

This has to be one of the most interesting books I’ve ever read…possibly one of the scariest too. Tracey Follows takes a look at emerging technologies to try and get an idea of what the future holds for us, a lot of what she covers already exists and the rest is in concept mode, meaning the basics are there, it just needs a whole load of development to exist for real. I now know how my parents felt when computers and the Internet were what the kids were playing with, it was a huge leap into the future and they had no idea how they would keep up, now with these future possibilities I am left wondering if I’ll be able to keep up, managing a digital identity where everything is virtual is one thing but keeping it safe is scary as hell, what if I get implants and then get hacked? Do I need a better password that Password1 from now on? The more I read though the more excited I became for what the future holds, could we be really close to The Matrix being a thing? Which pill did what now?

Follows does a very good job of explaining each concept in a way that made it sound so very simple, for example blockchain, I have heard this mentioned a lot and didn’t understand it, now I get it and am very impressed by how it works. I found myself taking a break between each chapter because she gets your brain whirling like crazy and you go on a google bender reading up on things discussed and checking out companies and the services they offer. One of the most interesting was a company that interviews a parent and records their voice, they then create an app and when that person has passed on you can chat to them and hold a conversation with the app, this is so cool and would allow Grandchildren to hear that voice. This technology already exists and the book covers what could be available in the future.

There is a lot to process here, ownership of data is one of the biggest things, for example if you could store memories online and then divorce who would get them? Before a huge amount of this technology exists a lot of work will have to be done to amend laws. It was also of interest to see what countries are already doing, Taiwan successfully used their digital infrastructure to give them an advantage during the Covid pandemic and because the people accepted the digital ID and followed rules they survived…meanwhile over in the UK we had protests over wearing a mask. I can see the UK being left behind, whilst the rest of the world goes online we will be on the streets still complaining about our loss of rights due to needing a vaccination passport to purchase 600 rolls of toilet paper.

This is a very good book, with tonnes of information for you to take on board, too much for a first read through, luckily there is ample info at the back of the book for further reading. Whilst the future may seem like a long way off, technology is certainly speeding it up, I’m glad I gave this book a read to prepare myself what is to come. Now where’s that red pill?

Blog review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2021/03/08/the-future-of-you-can-your-identity-survive-21st-century-technology-by-tracey-follows/

The first book I’ve read by Ursula Le Guin and what an impressive book this was. There was no reason to start with this one, I wanted to read one of her books and this was the only one at the library. If there is one thing guaranteed to give me a headache it is books about time-travel and trying to figure out how timelines can be affected, this book was just as bad. George Orr’s dreams can change reality, people can be wiped out in the blink of an eye and nobody would realise, it’s crazy, who’s to say this doesn’t happen in real life…have I always existed or have I just been created whilst reading this book? Have the 4 people who will read this review only have existed because I dreamed they’d read it? And why didn’t that dream about an endless supply of Whiskey not come true?

George Orr isn’t the best of characters he is very dull, maybe due to being sleep deprived, I found it very hard to care about him, it is obvious that he has been damaged by the stress of living with the repercussions of his dreams but I still found him too annoying to care about. His doctor is far more interesting, reading as he comes to believe in George’s ability and him throwing ethics out the window to start controlling the world was much more fun. I did find some outcomes predictable and I’m guessing that was on purpose seeing as we are relying on George’s imagination.

Overall I did enjoy the story, a few weaknesses but an original idea for a sci-fi novel, I’ll definitely be looking to reading more by Ursula and am open to recommendations.

Blog review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2021/02/24/the-lathe-of-heaven-by-ursula-k-le-guin/

This is one of those books that will stay with you for a long time, that’s if it doesn’t break you! I have read a couple of Carroll’s non fiction books and I found them very engaging, when I found out he was releasing his first novel I jumped at the chance of having a read. The first thing you spot is that incredible cover, wonderful colours and fantastic shapes, to me those swirls look like the landscape’s fingerprint. Next you check out the blurb and that gives nothing away, just how I like it, stepping into the unknown. What you find inside is one of the most incredible debut novels I have ever read, I was blown away by just how powerful the writing was and what an effect it had on me, as the big plot reveals started coming in I couldn’t help blurting out “F***!” a number of times.

The cast is very small, you have Melody Janie, a young woman, all on her own, having experienced tragedy in her life she has almost gone feral and spends her time protecting her land from outsiders, you have the stranger (so difficult not to give anything away) who comes into Melody’s life and turns it all on it’s head and you have the adorable Archie, every scene he is in brings joy to the pages. There is one more character worth a mention and that is the Cornish coastline, not really a character but it seems to come to life due to Melody’s bond with it. I reckon this is the first novel I’ve read since Wuthering Heights where the landscape is so essential to the plot, the area covered is very small but whilst reading this book it feels like that that is all there is.

The book has a lot of focus on mental health and it could easily have become overwhelming for the reader but it has been written with so much care and Melody has such a big heart it’s a book you’re guaranteed to fall in love with. You know you’ve read a great book when you have a heavy feeling in your stomach, I’ve got that right now and I’m gonna have to wait a day before I can pick up the next book. The first book of 2021 that I’ll be telling absolutely everybody to read.

Blog review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2021/02/21/the-lip-by-charlie-carroll/

Wow! This was one hell of a book, absolutely fascinating. Blencowe shares his life long obsession of extinct animals with us and takes us with him around the world as he checks out the last places these animals were seen….and has a go at trying to spot one of the animals pretending to be extinct and claim the prize money for discovering it. The big names are here, Pinta Island Tortoise, The Great Auk and of course the mighty Dodo, also included are lesser known species, The Spectacled Cormorant, the beautiful Xerces Blue butterfly and my favourite the Huia. I first heard about the Huia in the movie Hunt for the Wilderpeople and it sent me on a google trip researching the bird, it was great to see the movie get a mention here.

One thing that this book shows is the human’s appetite for killing and the lack of care of other species, I knew that the Victorians would eat anything and wiped out whole groups of animals, what I didn’t know was just how brutal they were, the treatment of the Steller’s Sea Cow was horrible, so unnecessarily cruel and wasteful. Blencowe describes how other species have been wiped due to habitat lose, some just don’t stand a chance and whilst there is some hope as people become aware of what we are losing I don’t think it is enough as the decision makers don’t seem to care, the HS2 line in the UK is a good example of so much destruction so that people can get somewhere a little bit quicker. The subject matter is very dark, it could make the reader rather depressed, I certainly felt low at some points, luckily Blencowe brings his wonderful sense of humour and childlike wonder to his writing, who hasn’t as a grownup got distracted and had an ice cream melt all down their hand, Blencowe shares this with us and you can’t help sitting there with a massive grin on your face. One last interesting bit from the book is in the conclusion, in the making of this book Blencowe has travelled the world and he comes to terms with his impact on the environment, a nice little touch.


The book is full of wonderful little illustrations by Jade They which really do bring the animals to life, these illustrations mixed with Blencowe’s writing make this a stunning little book that I have thoroughly enjoyed.

Blog Review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2021/02/26/gone-a-search-for-what-remains-of-the-worlds-extinct-creatures-by-michael-blencowe/

I have always found the many little islands in the Pacific Ocean fascinating, it’s where you could find a cannibal and it is where you could get stranded on a desert island wishing you had brought food with you instead of 10 CDs and no CD player. It is also the one place on the map of the world where it is hard to get an understanding of scale, they are always down in the bottom right of the map and it looks like the only place within a million miles is New Zealand, it is surprising just how close they are to Hawaii.

Evans has something in his blood calling to him to visit these islands, the see those beautiful beaches, to meet the locals and to experience all that he can. It’s not an easy task, finding a boat or plane to take him anywhere is a tough undertaking, timekeeping is not something that happens on the islands, a boat will arrive when it happens to turn up, it really does make planning a trip difficult. Evans ends up trying to find the true face of the islands, looking for the damage caused by British/French/American/German politics and the ever present missionaries, you’ll never get used to the damage we caused in the past. There are some shocking scenes and some people are living in heart-breaking conditions but Evans keeps a cool head, he tells the reader how it is, he doesn’t cover things up…even when he promised to do just that. He meets some wonderful people, so generous when they have so little and he doesn’t cover up anything embarrassing he does, trying to flirt with a young lady soon backfires but he is able to laugh it off.

One of the most interesting areas he visits is near the Bikini Atoll, where the nuclear bombs were tested and people were only moved slightly away, truly shocking treatment of humans by the USA. The book is worth getting just to read this section.

This book is a proper good adventure, sharing the stories of the people he meets, not shying away from any customs, every experience is included from sleeping conditions to dodgy food. He visits places you’ve probably never heard of Vanuatu and Tuvalu were only places I had heard of on the gameshow called Pointless. The writing is easy to read, reading about his personal experiences mixed in with other peoples stories and plenty of interesting history makes this a fun book. Highly recommended by me.

Blog review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2021/02/13/transit-of-venus-travels-in-the-pacific-by-julian-evans/

This is one loud and aggressive book full of violence, drinking and rude words…it is also a book with as many layers as an onion. Written from the point of view of multiple characters, who unknowingly cross paths and split across different time lines, it is much easier to read than you’d expect. It is one of those books where you know the outcome at the beginning, the book’s focus is guiding the reader to that outcome and finding out who was responsible for what.

A large part of the book is focused on Ade and Colbeck and the violence that surrounds them, they think of themselves as musketeers, going out at night defending the weak from boozed up thugs. They have a set of rules which they think keeps them on the side of what’s right but as the violence starts to escalate they start to forget these rules and it’s not long before it all gets out of control and this life starts to affect their mental wellbeing. Another character who has the biggest voice in the book is Duncan, in love and out of his depth with Ade and Colbeck he has a major role to play here, I really enjoyed his parts such a good voice and I really got into him saying “obvo” and “like” all the time. Finally you have Shaun, with some clever writing he gets two voices, before and after the main event, an angry young lad for different reasons in each time line.

I don’t think you can read this book without considering Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting, you have your Renton, the calming influence trying to get through life and caring for others and then you have a number of Begbies and it is them that makes this such an explosive book.

One thing that I was most impressed with was how it deals with the need of men to be strong and masculine, Ade gets it spot on with the trap Colbeck was stuck in, unable to express his feelings without looking weak in front of his mates and having to deal with depression on his own. It covers the idleness you are faced with when signing on each week and having no focus in your life, once stuck in that rut it is so difficult to get out of it again.

Brilliant book, even though it is just over 400 pages long it pulls you in and becomes a quick read. A very good debut, I am always impressed when a debut is this good it just means I can’t wait to see what Hollyman comes out with next. (Currently writing this review whilst listening to Jamie T’s album Trick, great soundtrack for this book)

Blog review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2021/01/31/lairies-by-steve-hollyman/

I loved every single bloody page in this book, what a beautiful journey Charlton has shared with us here, a journey not just across land but across her past and into her Mum’s soul. Charlton recently lost her Mum, their life together wasn’t the greatest, too much Mother/Daughter clashing and it’s not until the last weeks of her life that Charlton realised what she had been missing out on. Her Mum travelled to the Hebrides on a number of occasions, so Charlton decides to take on a journey from Barra to Lewis….and to make it that much tougher she is taking her Pony, Ross, with her.

I have to admit that I am a dog person, I’ve never understood the appeal of having a horse or a pony, you see them walking along a road looking glum and they stand in fields in all weathers looking depressed….and the ponies on the common where I work are real bullies and always chase me because this one time 5 years ago I had an apple with me. This book has changed my mind 100%, Ross is lovely fella and to read about the bond between Pony and Human was wonderful. That spark he has in his eyes really shows on these pages and it’s not until there is a chance of danger for Ross that you realise that you have started to bond with him, which is quite a remarkable experience. Whenever Charlton turns up Ross will lift his head to greet her….my dog on the other hand would never move an inch to greet me if he was comfy in his bed.

Charlton’s Mum loved to make jewellery and Charlton has taken some of her beads and stones to leave at memorable places on this trip, the intention is to create a very long piece of beaded jewellery, this is a fantastic idea and a wonderful homage to her mum.

The journey, landscape, wildlife and people made for interesting reading, the land can feel very cold and dark at times and now and then they are almost overwhelmed by the colour and beauty of the land. There was quite a mix of people too, some openly hostile and others incredibly generous, it takes a wonderful human to say “Yes you can crash at my place and the ponies are welcome too”. I don’t think this journey could have been done without the kindness of these people, a friendly smile did so much to raise their spirits. I got small issue with the book though…they ate tinned sardines….eeeeewwwww!!!

This truly is a great read and maybe one day I’ll be able to offload my kids and take a trip around the islands.

Blog review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2021/01/27/marram-by-leonie-charlton/

You can see why this won the FutureCycle Press Poetry Prize, it is a wonderful meshing of nature, reality and the spiritual. The book starts of with a man finding his way in life, dealing with those hard moments in life, for example hitting a deer with the car and having to deal with the ending of a life. There are some beautiful lines and Temple Cone share some wonderful memories. I loved “Wharf” remembering time spent with his father was a joy to read.

The second half of the book changes drastically as Temple is becoming a father, from poems about the baby still in the womb and seeing her on the ultrasound to the epic poem as she finally arrives in the world. Any father out there will understand holding your new-born in your arms and knowing they will never be this safe again. The last poem is quite clever, it feels like a conclusion, something you don’t usually get in a poetry book, and it is at that moment you realise you have been on a journey with the poet.

One issue I have with the collection was the religion, in the middle of the book this subject was ramped up a bit and it had a detrimental effect on the words, a poem would be flowing along nice and gentle and then Jesus gets mentioned and it just comes across as too harsh and throws the reader out of the momentum of the poem. That is the only fault I could find in this wonderful collection and is probably more down to me not being a believer.

Blog review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2021/01/24/no-loneliness-by-temple-cone/

I feel a bit bad about reviewing this book, my word knowledge just isn’t good enough to explain what this book does to the reader….but here goes my best attempt.

Lane’s debut collection would have shown anybody who picked up this book just what a good writer he was, such a unique style that will turn your world upside down, make your insides hurt and leave you desperate for more understanding of what you just read. One thought kept popping up in my head during this reading, I kept thinking this is like a pop-up book…without the pop-ups. The background comes across as very flat and grey, at times you almost forget it is there, a large amount of this is because of the characters burning so bright, but then Lane gives you one short line describing something as simple as water droplets hanging in the air around a streetlight and BANG! your eyes are suddenly opened and you see everything that is going on. It is quite disorienting, especially as Lane has filled you with despair up to that point. I doubt that makes much sense.

The standout story here was The Foggy, Foggy Dew, such a creepy story, like the other stories in the collection you will have no idea what is going on, Lane lets the reader’s imagination finish the stories. The foggy, foggy dew was next level stuff, it had me grimacing and saying out loud What The F*** is going on! One clever thing that Lane does is with character names, the stories are different but names are reused and you’re left wondering if they are the same person, a smart way of linking stories without actually linking them. Some odd violent events happen in the stories, the characters just accept them like that is the norm, and after a while the reader will start to think like that, Lane really does get in your head.

Blog review is here: felcherman.wordpress.com/2021/01/16/the-earth-wire-by-joel-lane/

I have been lucky enough to read a few of the Haus Publishing Armchair Traveller books and one thing I’ve liked best is the imaginative ways they have been written, not often you’ll find out about somebody like Dickens using structured walks around London. This book has been the most intriguing and the reason it has been left to last, Luque is given a small red book filled with photos of a man he is obsessed with, the famous Luis Borges and the time he spent in Sicily, Luque decides to visit Sicily and try and recreate those photos and to see how much those places have changed.

Luque took this trip whilst quite young and very new to this type of writing, the epilogue is quite amusing as it has been written 10 years after the book was written and he does feel embarrassed by some of what he wrote. Personally I found his writing quite refreshing, you don’t get the usual dry writing about the places and its inhabitants, what you get is a young man obsessed with finding these locations at all cost…with three friends tagging along trying to keep his obsessions under control and begging him to stop with the many many quotes. There are a lot of humourous scenes, lying to the police, a bit of breaking and entering, wedding crashing and being woken up on a beach by a big scary dog.

I think this book started out as a way to find Borges but it is soon overtaken by Sicily itself, who would have thought such a small island could have so much history and have influenced so many movies…I do recommend watching the Godfather Trilogy, Cinema Paradiso and Malena before starting this book, not only are they very good movies but are heavily featured in this book, watching them will give you a good visual on the places mentioned.

A couple of disappointments in this book was the lack of information on Borges life, the focus of the book is those moments captured in the photos, I would have liked a bit more about his life and time in Sicily. A nice addition to the book that was missing was the re-created photos, I would have loved to have seen how accurately recreated they were.

I have really enjoyed this book and I feel like this has been a taster for Sicily and for Borges, both seem to be the sort of things one could become obsessed with.

Blog review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2020/12/29/borges-in-sicily-journey-with-a-blind-guide-by-alejandro-luque/

I have read two other books by Ronald Wright and they have been about South America and the Mayan Civilisation, they can come across as rather dry due to Wright being an expert, in fact I would say his book Time Among The Maya is the go to book to learn all you can about their culture. Fiji was new to Wright and whilst thinking of an idea for his next book he got the chance to travel around Fiji with a friend and jumped at the opportunity. What we get in this book is the lighter side of Wright, his sense of humour comes through as he becomes a tourist for a while. He fully immerses himself and takes part in ceremonies, whilst trying his best to follow their very strict rules. This book is a perfect blend of Wright’s experiences and a history of this little group of islands and it’s people.

My knowledge of Fiji was absolutely rubbish…I was way off on it’s location, think I was getting confused with Tasmania…whoops. The more books like this I read the more embarrassed I am for being British, the destruction of other cultures in the name of “The Empire” never fails to shock, in Fiji though there is a bit of hope, amazing what one correct decision can do. One of the first governors of Fiji made the choice to give the locals as many rights as was possible and letting them keep ownership of their land, this allowed the Fijians to survive where other civilisations were destroyed by the British. This start allowed the Fijians time to adapt to the new rules, dodgy dealings and missionaries. Just when things feel hopeful you find out this same Governor made some awful decisions in the future which allowed the destruction of Islands and it’s people, this is covered in great deal in this book and was fascinating to read. If you are interested in cannibalism then this the cook book for you, Wright goes into a lot of detail about this gruesome bit of Fiji’s history.

I found this book very interesting, there is so much to learn here and a sure sign of how good a book is how often I annoy the wife by reading out facts. One of the best travel books I’ve ever read.

Blog Review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2020/12/21/on-fiji-islands-by-ronald-wright/

This is one of the most powerful, beautifully written books I’ve had the pleasure to read, an exploration of grief and guilt and how it becomes a part of ourselves. It’s gonna be tough to write a coherent review without putting in any spoilers but here goes!

The first things that attracted me to this book was the epic title and the eye catching cover, it really is a brilliant piece of artwork. I had no book info to know what I was getting myself into, but I could tell from the cover it was gonna be good. We follow the life of a family, Snowden expertly uses the voice of a young lad called Jim as he is playing in the garden with his brothers when they find a dead Magpie which they peg on the washing line to make it look like it has come back to life. What follows is an unbearable tragedy, a family struggling to hold it all together and a gradual revealing of past guilt. Jim is a wonderful character, you feel for him, sharing in his grief and his letters to Father Christmas will break your heart. There is one more character that needs a mention, Jenny, absolutely loved her, a real guardian angel. The book also gets bonus points for mentioning Basingstoke…woooooo!

This is a special book, the grief is so palpable, a lot of readers will be in tears. I think it does an excellent job of handling the subject matter, Snowden has used a great deal of care which comes across big time in this stunning release.

Blog Review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2020/12/13/captain-jesus-by-colette-snowden/

The Slender-billed Curlew has been on the almost extinct list for a long time now and when I picked up this book I was wondering how Clare was going to be able to write about something he hadn’t seen and is unlikely ever to see. What Clare has written is a homage to the bird through the eyes of those that have seen it and the work they have dedicated their life to in it’s honour….and as an added bonus there are plenty of trains.

Clare travels between Greece, Romania and Bulgaria to locate those bird watchers who have had confirmed sightings of this special Curlew. When he finds one he interrogates them about the time they saw it, how they got into birdwatching and about their life to date. From their words you can see their love of all birds come through and it’s not surprising that they have spent their life on conservation and have been on the frontline getting their governments to start protecting it’s wildlife and creating safe spaces for them.

I particularly enjoyed Claire’s descriptions of places and scenery as he travelled, I’ve not really read any good travel books for Romania or Bulgaria and this book gives you a good taster of what the country has to offer.

A wonderful homage to the Slender-billed Curlew and for those who care for it.

Blog Review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2020/12/12/orison-for-a-curlew-by-horatio-clare/

A lovely little book and a quick read. There are 44 pieces of work by Angie Lewin, these aren't just little sketches dotted throughout the book, these are proper pieces of artwork, some are spread across both pages. I particularly liked the linocuts, so much detail in the image, you could gaze at them for ages.

Christopher Stocks gives us a history of our love of pebbles, a lot of the focus is based on artists and collectors and how it was them spotting the beauty in the pebbles and increased their popularity. He includes how the pebbles are made, the different types and the best places to spot them...included is a warning to keep an eye out for signs stating not to remove pebbles.

When on a stony beach I am always on the lookout for a awesome looking pebble, especially looking for that elusive Hag Stone. Every now and then I've found a red pebble that is of an odd texture, softer than the standard pebble...turns out it is from an old brick, crazy eh?

Due to reading this book I've added two places to my list of days out, Chesil Beach an amazing stretch of beach to go pebble hunting and Kettle's Yard a museum with a blend of art and pebbles that would be fascinating to see.

A beautiful book giving you an introduction to the world of pebbles.

Blog Review: felcherman.wordpress.com/2020/12/09/the-book-of-pebbles-by-christopher-stocks-and-angie-lewin/