Blog Tour ~ The Spell of the Horse by Pam Billinge

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be hosting today's stop on The Spell of the Horse Blog Tour

I am delighted to introduce the author

Pam Billinge

Hi Pam and welcome to Jaffareadstoo. Tell us a little about yourself and how you came to write The Spell of the Horse?

I live and work in Wiltshire, I am a horse-led coach and psychotherapist. I am bonkers about horses, not from a sporting point of view - I don't compete. I just love being with them and riding out to explore the world in harmony with them. I follow a "natural" approach to training and managing my herd and try to fit into their world as much as I expect them to fit into mine. I love the outdoors, nature, animals, good food, dancing and reading (mostly fiction and memoir). My latest achievement is learning how to get my jam to set - although I did so well I think I could probably use it tore-tile my bathroom.

In 2013 I had to rebrand my business, I offer what I call embodied horse-led therapy and learning to companies and individuals - I will say a little more about that shortly. The consultant I took on to help me with the branding exercise interviewed me on Skype to find out about me and what I do. He started by asking me almost the same question as you have Jo, "Tell me a bit about yourself and how you came to support people with your horse-work in the way that you do?"

We initially scheduled one session of about an hour but the time passed quickly and we had barely scratched the surface. We arranged another, then another and finally a fourth conversation. I got through quite a lot of hankies during each call because I couldn't answer "how did you come to do what you do?" without pretty much telling him my life-story, and in particular the story of how I came to understand what I do about horses and their ability to heal us. And how they healed me. When we were done he said straight out "Pam, you should write a book." I laughed. I had never written anything, apart from a few short articles and blogs, although I had always loved English at school. Writing a book could really not have been further from my mind. But over the months, the seed he had sown began to grow and take shape and the following year I began to write.

Without revealing too much what can you tell us about the book?

At its core, I would say that The Spell is a homage to horses and also to the human spirit. I tell my own story of how horses helped and healed me, through some really tough times, and also stories of transformation which those who have worked with me and my herd have experienced. But really it is not about me, or them. It is about how anyone can transcend the kind of life challenges we all experience at some point or other, like loss of self-belief, rejection, grief, redundancy, trauma and go on to live with purpose, joy and love. And most of all it is about the true nature of the horse and how they guide us to be true to our spirit.

Whilst writing, The Spell of the Horse did you learn anything which surprised you either about yourself, your clients or your horses?

Oh yes! Writing The Spell was as much of a journey as the life I lived in order to be able to write it. Mostly I learned about myself, although the reflection needed to tell the stories did also bring me an even deeper appreciation of the amazing nature of horses, and of the courage shown by my clients in tackling the issues that they do.

Getting the first draft completed was an epic journey with real troughs of self-doubt, fear of failing and being judged. It took a long time before I dared show my work to anyone and I kept telling myself that I wouldn't ever publish, just to make it OK to carry on in the face of my fears. When I did find the confidence to show a couple of people that I trusted, who worked in the publishing world, I was amazed when they told me it was really good and I should carry on. What helped me to find the courage to do that was really my work with clients, which is all about helping them to believe in themselves, and live without fear. If I was going to do the same, I realised, I owed it to myself and to them to get on with it and take my book seriously.

Once I had secured a publishing deal, and fine editing began, a new world of personal learning opened up. Not just about the technical side of writing -but about what my writing revealed of myself. In particular noticing which words I had "overused" in my text. These tended to be words which I realised I also used a lot in daily speech. For example words like 'slightly’, ‘less', 'almost’, ‘just'.....perhaps I was not living or communicating with as much clarity or confidence as I liked to think....that was the one of the things I took away.

Finally the process of publishing has connected me with real feelings of vulnerability. Showing my authentic self so openly to the world. I’m learning still to trust that by becoming vulnerable in this way will bring me strength, and I hope that I will inspire others to be true to themselves in the same way.

Your style of writing is very much 'from the heart'. Did this take its toll on you emotionally, and if so, how did you overcome it?

That is a great question Jo and so insightful. Yes it took a huge toll on me even when I was in final editing stages and knew the copy back to front. Since writing my book I hold anyone who writes a memoir in total respect because I know they have gone through the same process. Because of the nature of my work, as a psychotherapist, I was fortunate to have experience already of how to look after myself emotionally - lots of quiet peaceful time in nature, good food, sleep, exercise, fresh air. Being really kind to myself. Only doing as much as I knew I could deal with on that particular day. And of course my beloved horses, being with them always brings me great peace and comfort, whatever is happening in my life. It is like they connect me into a universal power source - I always leave the herd with renewed energy and heart.

Again, without giving too much away, what do you hope readers will take away from The Spell of the Horse?

I hope that readers will see themselves differently and that they can make different choices about how they live their life, if that is what they need. I hope that they will know horses differently, in all their depth, wonder and value to the planet.

Take a look at the other blog tour stops

My thoughts about The Spell of the Horse

There's something very special about our relationship with horses. For so long we relied on them, they helped to manage our daily lives in such a way that the symbiosis between us runs deep and is forever. In The Spell of the Horse the author reiterates this message time after time and shows just how the perfect cooperation between horse and human can be used to therapeutic effect.

Anyone who has ever had contact with horses will find an immediate connection, and will completely understand the unique spell of the horses in this book. The author writes about this association with fine attention to detail, her special affinity and deep respect for horses shines through with every well written word and every emotional connection.

I think what this book also shows is that it’s not just about galloping horses across feathery fields, or kicking up surf along the water’s edge, as sometimes the most valuable healing comes from just being in close proximity to one of these magnificent creatures. Anyone who has ever stroked the soft face of a horse and looked into the quiet wisdom of its eyes will know exactly what I mean. There’s comfort to be had in standing quietly in a horse’s stall, just listening to the quiet munch of hay, or hearing the stamp of restless feet and the judder of breath.

I can easily understand how the author wanted to share her work and the value of what she does is boundless. The Spell of the Horse is not just about the value of horse led therapy, it’s also a fitting tribute by someone whose love and respect for horses shines through this book from start to finish.

You can find out more about Pam on her website

Visit on Facebook 

Follow on Twitter @pam_billinge #HorseSpell

@Blackbird_Bks

My thanks to the author for being my guest today and to Stephanie and Rosalie at Blackbird Digital for their kind invitation to be part of the tour and for providing an e-copy of 

The Spell of the Horse.

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Sunday WW1 Remembered...

I enjoy reading books set during WW1 which cover as wide a range as possible. 



In July I will share five of my favourites, some non fiction and some fiction

Where Poppies Blow

John Lewis -Stempel

W&N

2016

WHERE POPPIES BLOW is the story of the British soldiers of the Great War and their relationship with the animals and plants around them. This relationship was of profound importance, because it goes a long way to explaining why they fought, and how they found the will to go on. And in that relationship is found some of the highest, noblest aspirations of humanity in times of war.

My thoughts...

It's not all about blood and bullets and this glorious book looks at the continuance and constancy of allowing, in the midst of carnage, the therapeutic benefits of nature. And, of how, even in the midst of horror, the birds still sang, the blossom bloomed as beautiful as ever, and the tiny creatures of nature still went about their daily business.

The joy of nature brought comfort and in some cases, healing, when I am sure it seemed like the entire world had been plunged into chaos. The author very cleverly divides the content of the book into manageable chapters, each with a  foot firmly placed in what was happening in the war, whilst at the same time allowing a glimpse into a very different world.

The book begins as it should, with a beautiful poem, August, 1914 by John Masefield, who juxtaposes the beauty of the English countryside against what was happening just a few hundred miles away in the trenches of the Western Front. And just as poetry can evoke such strong emotions, so can this recounted story of a group of soldiers, from the Royal Warwickshire, who tenderly buried a dead pigeon they found in a communication trench, or the deep and abiding comradeship between an officer and his horse, or of how medics treated both wounded soldiers and animals, even to making artificial wooden legs for dogs who were thus injured in battle.

One of my favourite chapters, entitled The Bloom of Life explains how soldiers cultivated small trench gardens and regularly sent home for seeds and how grassy mounds would be transformed with nasturtiums, daffodils and hyacinths, and how billets would bloom with tiger lilies, auriculas and roses. And of course, who can forget the image of the poppy fields of Flanders.

Poppy Field Detail
Photograph by kind permission
Digital Images

So many beautifully recounted stories make up the whole of this fascinating book which is a joy to read from start to finish.

About the Author

John Lewis-Stempel was born in Herefordshire and is an author and farmer, who writes on a range of subjects including military history and the natural world. His best-selling books include Meadowland: The Private Life of an English Field (2014), winner of the Thwaites Wainwright Prize for Natural Writing. He is a columnist for Country Life and in 2016 was shortlisted for Magazine Columnist of the Year.

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Blog Tour Giveaway ~ Books for Living by Will Schwalbe

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be hosting today's stop on Publication Day

Books for Living Blog Tour

 From the cover..

In an age when we can google the answer to everything, Will Schwalbe has always believed that the answer to everything can actually be found in a book, if we just slow down enough to find out and then take the time to think about it and share with others. Books for Living is a wide ranging exploration of what books can teach us in the modern age.

Books covered include these classics :

David Copperfield 

Rebecca

Stuart Little

The Importance of Living

Giovanni’s Room

Bird by Bird

The Girl On The Train

Two Roads 12th January 2017

My thoughts about the book..

A book about books is always really fascinating for an avid reader. There is something almost voyeuristic about gaining access into the inner most thoughts of a bibliophile. Wondering just what books have influenced and encouraged others to read is a deeply satisfying process.

In Books for Living the author shares his thoughts very eloquently about the books which have influenced his thoughts and by using anecdotal stories he shares just how important reading has been to him in his life thus far. He includes an extensive and far reaching book list and more than once I found myself reaching for a pen to scribble down a note, or an idea, or even the name of an unfamiliar author. 

Of course, like many readers given a list of books, ever curious, I immediately turned at first to those stories I was familiar with just to see what the author made of some of my favourites, which include, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. I was heartened to learn that he found much in them to ponder and enjoy. But then I was equally just as fascinated by the author's inclusion of Reading Lolita in Tehran which couldn't be more different from his thoughts about Stuart Little. But then, that's the beauty of sharing a love of stories, there is something for everyone.

I think that the real joy of Books for Living is that you can open the book at any place at whim and find something precious and profound within its pages. It is a book to treasure and to keep, it's a book for a rainy afternoon, or a summer in the garden. 

There is a thought that sometimes a book comes into your life at just the right time. The author puts it much more eloquently than I ever could:

"Every now and then the universe tells you what book you need to read ; it does this by placing the name of that book and author in front of you in various contexts, until you can't help but take note. You ignore book recommendations from the universe at your peril". 

I think that Books for Living is one such book and with its engaging celebration of the love of reading, I am sure that this will appeal to readers everywhere.

Best Read With..one of those sharing buckets of fried chicken  and a side order of cola...

About the Author

Will Schwalbe has worked in publishing for many years.

He is the author of the international bestseller, The End of Your Life Book Club and co-author (with David Shipley) of Send: Why People Email So Badly and How to Do It Better.

He has also worked in digital media, and was the founder of Cookstr.com. As a journalist he wrote for the New York Times and the South China Morning Post.

He lives in New York City.

willschwalbe.com

twitter.com/willsch

My thanks to the publishers for their invitation to be part of this blog tour and for this generous giveaway opportunity

Find out more about the book by clicking here 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

** Good Luck **

My 12 in 12 in 2016...

As the end of my reading year approaches these are

my much anticipated

12 in 12

Twelve authors who were new to me:

1. Eve Chase - Black Rabbit Hall
2. David Hewson - Little Sister
3. Kate Ryder - The Forgotten Promise
4. Carys Bray - The Museum of You
5. Ariella Cohen - Sweet Breath of Memory
6. Tanya Bullock - Homecoming
7. Julie Haeberlin - Black Eyed Susans
8. Ros Rendle - Flowers of Flanders
9. Colette Dartford - Learning to speak American
10. Susie Steiner - Missing Presumed
11. Anna Mazzola - The Unseeing
12. Ada Bright and Cass Grafton - The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen

Twelve authors I have read before:

1. Susanna Kearsley - A Dangerous Fortune 
2. Lesley Pearse - Dead to Me 
3. Debbie Johnson - Summer at the Cupcake Cafe 
4. Giselle Green - Dear Dad 
5. Guy Fraser Sampson - Death in Profile 
6. Catherine Law - Map of Stars 
7. Elizabeth Harris -The Quiet Earth 
8. David Churchill - Leopards of Normandy :Duke 
9. Beatriz Williams -A Certain Age 
10. Salley Vickers - Cousins 
11. Tasmina Perry -The House on Sunset Lake 
12. Amy and Sarah Beeson - Our Country Nurse 

Twelve books from authors I know will never let me down:

1. Jan Ruth - Palomino Sky
2. Liza Perrat- Blood Rose Angel
3. Helen Hollick - On the Account
4. Susan Grossey -Worm in the Blossom
5. Kimberly Chambers -Tainted Love
6. Hannah Fielding - Legacy
7. Diana Gabaldon - Virgins
8. Hazel Gaynor - The Girl at the Savoy
9. Nora Roberts - The Obsession
10. Rosanna Ley -The Last Dance in Havana
11. M J Arlidge - Doll's House
12. Anne O'Brien - The Queen's Choice

Twelve books from debut authors:

1. Nicola Pryce - Pengelly's Daughter
2. Katy Hogan - Out of the Darkness 
3. Sara Bailey - Dark Water 
4. Holly Seddon - Try Not to Breathe 
5. Laura Wilkinson - Redemption Song 
6. GD Harper - Love's Long Road 
7. Deborah Bee - The Last Thing I Remember 
8. S E Lynes - Valentina 
9. Jacqueline Ward - Random Acts of Unkindness 
10. Learning to Fly - Jane Lambert 
11. My Sister's Bones - Nuala Ellwood 
12. Holding - Graham Norton

Twelve books that took me by the hand and led me into the past:

1. Cleopatra's Shadow - Emily Holeman 
2. Blood and Roses - Catherine Hokin 
3. The Butcher's Hook - Janet Ellis 
4. Charlatan -Kate Braithwaite 
5. Versailles -Elizabeth Massie 
6. The Constant Queen - Joanna Courtney 
7. The Plague Charmer - Karen Maitland 
8. The Shadow of the Storm - Anna Belfrage 
9. The Tudor Queens: Katherine of Aragon - Alison Weir 
10. The Sun Will Always Shine - John R. McKay 
11. 1066: What Fates Impose - GK Holloway 
12. First of the Tudors -Joanna Hickson

Twelve books that led me into the world of crime and psychological suspense:

1. Night Blind - Ragnar Jonasson 
2. Spare me the Truth- C J Carver 
3. In a Dark Dark Wood - Ruth Ware 
4. Willow Walk - S J I Holliday 
5. The Coffin Road - Peter May 
6. The Widow - Fiona Barton 
7. The Woman in Blue- Elly Griffiths 
8. The Good Mother - A L Bird 
9. Siren - Anne Marie Neary 
10. Fire Damage - Kate Medina 
11. Silent Scream - Angela Marsona 
12. After Anna - Alex Lake 

Twelve Books that surprised me.....in a good way:

1. All Things Cease to Appear - Elizabeth Brundage 
2. What a Way to Go - Julia Forster 
3. Viral - Helen Fitzgerald 
4. Sandands -Rosy Thornton 
5. Paradise Lodge-Nina Stibbe 
6. The Wonder - Emma Donoghue 
7. The Last of Us -Rob Ewing 
8. Hester and Harriet -Hilary Spiers 
9. The Chimes - Anna Smaill 
10. Girl Waits with Gun - Amy Stewart 
11. There is Always More to Say - Lynda Young Spiro 
12. Bertie's Gift - Hannah Coates

Twelve books from my Non-Fiction Shelf:

1. The Ultimate Hall of Fame - Classic Fm
2. The Ludicrous Laws of Old London -Nigel Cawthorne
3. Margaret Beaufort -Elizabeth Norton
4. Mozart - John Suchet
5. Foxes Unearthed - Lucy Jones
6. The Witches - Staci Schiff
7. The English Daughter - Maggie Wadey
8. Winter -edited Melissa Harrison
9. The Dark Side of East London - David Charnick
10. The Accidental Dictionary -Paul Anthony Jones
11. 1342 Facts to leave you flabbergasted - The QI Team
12. Oranges and Lemons - Karen Dolby

Twelve Books I borrowed from a library:

1. The Primrose Path -Rebecca Griffiths 
2. You and Me, Always - Jill Mansell 
3. The House on Belleview Gardens - Rachel Hore 
4. The Finding of Martha Lost - Caroline Wallace 
5. River of Souls -Kate Rhodes 
6. Forget Me Not - Luana Lewis 
7. The Anchoress- Robyn Cadwallader 
8. The Swimming Pool- Louise Candlish 
9. The Lie - CL Taylor 
10. Pretty Girls - Karin Slaughter 
11. Three Sisters, Three Queens -Philippa Gregory 
12. Ashes of London - Andrew Taylor

Twelve Books for Children and Young Adults:

1. The Fox and the Star - Coralie Bickford-Smith
2. Spirit of the Highway - Deborah Swift 
3. Children of the Chieftain : Banished - Michael Wills
4. The Bears Famous Invasion of Sicily - Dino Buzzati
5. The Story of the Seagull and the Cat who taught her to fly -Luis Sepúlveda
6. The Jungle Books - Rudyard Kipling
7. Belle and Sebastien - Cecile Aubrey
8. The Horror Handbook - Paul Van Loon and Axel Scheffler
9. Able SeaCat Simon - Lynne Barrett-Lee
10. The Tale of Kitty in Boots - Beatrix Potter
11. The Girl Who Saved Christmas - Matt Haig
12. What Katy Did - Susan Coolidge

Twelve books I would like to see made into a movie:

1. My Husband's Wife - Jane Corry
2. Carrying Albert Home - Homer Hickam
3. The Midnight Watch - David Dyer
4. Watching Edie - Camilla Way
5. Hope Farm - Peggy Frew
6. The Protector - Jodie Ellen Malpass
7. A Life Without You - Katie Marsh
8. Despite the Falling Snow -Shamim Sarif
9. The Missing -C L Taylor
10. Beneath the Surface -Heidi Perks
11. The Fire Child - S K Tremayne
12. The Last Continent -Midge Raymond

Twelve books already on the tbr which are to be published in 2017:

1. The House of New Beginnings - Lucy Diamond ( Macmillan)
2. The Great and The Good-Michel Deon (Gallic Books)
3. Corpus -Rory Clements (Zaffre)
4. Songs from the Violet Cafe - Fiona Kidman (Aardvark Bureau)
5. Relativity - Antonia Hayes (Corsair)
6. The Bone Field -Simon Kernick (Century)
7. The Watcher -Ross Armstrong (Harlequin Mira)
8. Deep Down Dead -Steph Broadhurst (Orenda)
9. Behind her Eyes- Sarah Pinborough (Harper)
10. The Keeper of Lost Things - Ruth Hogan (Two Roads)
11. The Witchfinder's Sister -Beth Underwood (Penguin Viking)
12. The Tudor Queens : Anne Boleyn - Alison Weir (Headline)

    

    

  

  

A MASSIVE BIG THANK YOU



 to all these talented authors for sharing the gift of their imagination with me. 


Your books have taken me on the most wonderful adventures in 2016


Come back tomorrow for my 12 favourite reads of the year ....and my 12 honourable mentions.

Close to Home ...Cath Cole

As a book reviewer I have made contact with authors from all across the globe and feel immensely privileged to be able to share some amazing work. However, there is always something rather special when a book comes to my attention which has been written by an author in my part of the North of England. So with this in mind I have great pleasure in featuring some of those authors who are literally close to my home. Over the next few Saturdays, and hopefully beyond, I will be sharing the work of a very talented bunch of Northern authors and discovering just what being a Northerner means to them both in terms of inspiration and also in their writing.

Today I'm delighted to introduce Northern Writer

Cath Cole

Home from Home by Cath Cole

The Origins of Home from Home

Depending on the individual I am talking to or the characteristics of the group I am with, readers ask a range of questions. These questions might be as varied as: Why did you write about a group of nurses in the 1960s?  Where is Farnton? Or perhaps the most interesting – Why did you write a historical novel? The latter question from a lovely lad, young enough to be my grandson, but I hasten to add, only by the narrowest of margins. We were fellow students studying for a Master’s degree in Creative Writing. He was astounded when I told him that the novel was very loosely based on my lived experience. He told me he would never have guessed I was SO very old. He emailed me recently to tell me he had bought a copy of "Home from Home" as a birthday present for his grandma.

Why did I write about a group of nurses training in the late 1960s? The three years of State Registered Nurse (SRN) training and the twenty months prior to training spent as a nursing cadet were a catalyst for me. I was utterly changed by the experiences of being both a cadet and a student nurse. I left school, at sixteen, a naïve girl from a working class background, university was never an option for me, the Infirmary was my best option for a qualification and a career. By the time I qualified as a SRN aged twenty-one I was a more sophisticated girl. The feeling of belonging and self-worth I gained through hard, sometimes gruelling work, friendships and discipline as well as the camaraderie needed to rise above the sometimes petty rules and necessary strict discipline underpinned the successful professional life I subsequently enjoyed. In addition, one of my nursing friends insisted I accompany her to a family party where she introduced me to her cousin who has been my husband for a very long time. The story of our meeting is played out in the novel.

Farnton is a corruption of Farnworth and Bolton. I was reluctant to use the actual names of the towns and names of restaurants, cafes and shops for fear of criticism that I had misrepresented reality. In my second novel I have thrown caution to the wind, actual names of villages, towns, pubs and shops abound. I was also concerned that if Bolton General Hospital and Bolton Royal Infirmary were used, readers, aware of the two hospitals, might be tempted to attribute the characters to real people. Which one of the girls are you? Is a frequently asked question. The answer is none of them, although some of the incidents reflect my experiences.

Another reason, and one I do not always admit to, is that writing about training to be a nurse in time of huge social and cultural change means I have left something behind for my grandchildren. A record of a different time, a time without sophisticated technology. A time when the social order was more clearly defined. A time of simple pleasures yet a time of revolution led by young people. A time when the old post war values were challenged and different voices began to be heard. And best of all a time of the greatest music ever.

Cath Cole

Corazon Books
2015

Home from Home: The lives and loves of five nurses in the 1960s

A touching, bold and, at times, amusing account of the lives and loves of five trainee nurses in the 1960s.

Home from Home is the true-to-life, moving story of five student nurses in the 1960s. Twice a bestseller on Amazon's medical fiction chart!

The lives of Theresa, Maggie, Jenny, Sarah and Chris are about to change forever as they start their nurse training at The School of Nursing at Farnton General.

They soon realise that they have much to learn about life, both on and off the hospital wards. A strong bond is formed as the young women face the challenges presented by families, boyfriends and their nursing responsibilities.

Friendships are tested as the young nurses experience the joys and heartbreaks of growing up. But for each of them, for different reasons, the hospital will become a home from home.

Amazon UK

Author Website click here

My thanks to Cath for sharing her thoughts about the writing of Home from Home and what it means to her.

 I trained as a nurse in the 1970s so a lot of what Cath says resonates with me.

Huge thanks also to Ian at Corazon Books for his enthusiasm for my Close to Home feature

I hope you have enjoyed this week's Featured Author

Coming next week : J Carmen Smith 

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Blog Tour ~ 1342 QI Facts To Leave You Flabbergasted

As  a huge fan of the QI programme

I am delighted to be hosting a stop on the amazing 1342 QI Facts Blog Tour

I'm really excited to share with you this Factifying Guest Post by John Mitchinson, QI’s head researcher and co-author, 1342 QI Facts to Leave you Flabbergasted

Factifying

In the early days of QI, when John Lloyd and I were asked, ‘where do you get your facts?, we used to refer people to a small shop in Cullercoats, a village on the Northumbrian coast. We were kidding, of course (at least, that’s what we tell people…)

A more direct answer is that we get our facts by asking questions. Given the co-author of this blog is feline, what kind of questions would we ask a cat? We have a shelf of books on cats in QI HQ, exploring physiology, behaviour, history and symbolic function. The internet, even the bits not filled with cute GIFS of kittens, is brimming with research and debate about their virtues and vices. Despite this, we are no closer to solving the ineffable mystery of cats than we were when we started. We know they sleep for 85% or their lives. We know only a quarter of cat ‘owners’ say they deliberately went out to acquire a cat: in 75 per cent of cases, it was the cat that acquired them. And studies have shown that many more people claim to own a cat than there are cats. The closer we look; the deeper the mystery. And are cats any help? Jaffa?

But the long process of sifting books, magazines, blogs and academic research does pay off occasionally. Here’s one cat-related question we think we’ve nailed. That unpleasant slimy thing they leave on the stairs after they’ve killed and consumed a mouse? It’s the mouse’s caecum, the enlarged section of the large intestine which is full of fermenting seeds. No one know why cat’s leave it – but the best guess is that it's a way of avoiding toxins the mouse has ingested. Knowing cats, it might just be because they don't like the taste .

A small but interesting question answered. A tiny drop of truth in an ocean of speculation. We once worked out that a minute of QI the TV show, usually has half a day of research behind it. That may seem wasteful, but the gathering of facts is its own reward. Galileo understood this: ‘Facts which at first seem improbable will, even on scant explanation, drop the cloak which has hidden them and stand forth in naked and simple beauty.’

Faber and Faber
2016

1342 QI Facts To Leave You Flabbergasted is researched and complied by:

 John Lloyd

John Mitchinson

James Harking

Anne Miller

Follow the QI Elves on Twitter @qikipedia

Here are my thoughts..

There's nothing I like better than a good list and to have an amazing 1342 facts listed in such a really easy to read format is something that really appeals to my sense of order.

Of course, this is one of those books that you can pick up and open at whim and yet, I guarantee that within a few minutes, you will be avidly scanning the pages for another interesting fact that you never knew you needed to know. I love how they all blend seamlessly and very cleverly together.

Some of the facts, it must be said  made me laugh out loud especially the word that Robert Browning inadvertently used in his poem 'Pippa Passes'...

Some of the words I intend to make good use of, particularly, Plother which it seems to do nonstop here in the North West and also Subrident which is something Jaffa makes me do every day...

But, by a cat's whisker, the favourite fact found by the orange one is this little gem....' In 2015, America’s ‘National Hero Dog Award’ was won....by a cat’


Amazon UK

Huge thanks to John for his Factifying guest post and also to Ruth and Diana at Ruth Killick Publicity for  their invitation to be part of the #qifacts Blog Tour and for all their support and help.

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Review ~ The Accidental Dictionary by Paul Anthony Jones

The remarkable twists and turns of English words

Elliot&Thompson
2016

A bit of blurb..

Our everyday language is full of surprises; its origins are stranger than you might think. Any word might be knocked and buffeted, subjected to twists and turns, expansions and contractions, happy and unhappy accidents. There are intriguing tales behind even the most familiar terms, and they can say as much about the present as they do the past.

My thoughts..

 Like all voracious readers I fell in love with the power of words once I was old enough to understand the importance of a good vocabulary. At primary school I had teachers who instilled the fundamentals of good grammar, punctuation and spelling, so that by the time I left primary school, aged eleven, my reading age was quite  advanced.

My love of words has lasted throughout the whole of my life. I enjoy reading a good list, and to have a fascinating plethora of words all contained in one sparkly volume has been a real delight. The Accidental Dictionary focuses on the etymological origins of 100 words that are in common usage but whose meanings were once very different to what we know today. If you want to flip through the book at whim, which is what I did, then a really good content list allows you to choose at random the hidden gems which nestle on every page.

Take the original meaning of Flirt, which popped into the English language around the late Middle Ages as an onomatopoeic word meaning to flicker or flit, and then by the 1500s it had evolved into an entirely different connotation, that of, to sneer scornfully. It wasn’t until the mid-1600s that flirt came to be used more romantically in a term which described the way that ladies flirted coquettishly with their elaborate fans.  However, I think my favourite evolution of the word has to come in 1755 when Samuel Johnson defined flirt in his Dictionary of English Language to mean ‘a pert young hussy’. Hence, by the mid-1800s, the term flirting had evolved into the word we are quite familiar with today.

The dictionary starts and ends with Affiliate and Zombie, with the other 98 words, in-between, being equally as absorbing.  All are presented in fascinating randomness, and in a clear and concise way their origin meaning is emphasised along with the word’s fascinating evolution.

The Accidental Dictionary is a real hidden gem of a book which will sit comfortably on my book shelf just waiting patiently until I need to know the original meaning of a word.

Did you know that the original use of oaf was elf, or to be more precise, an impish hobgoblin?

Somehow "Oaf on the shelf" doesn’t have quite the same festive connotation, does it? Or maybe it does...I'll let you ponder that one!!

Best read with…a firkin of good English ale, strong and sweet…

About the Author

Paul Anthony Jones is a writer, etymologist and language blogger. He is the author of several books on trivia and language. A piano teacher and musician , he lives in North East England.

Follow on Twitter @HaggardHawks

My thanks to Alison at Elliot & Thompson for my review copy of The Accidental Dictionary.



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Review ~ The English Daughter by Maggie Wadey

Sandstone Press
2016

A bit of blurb..

As a child I was aware of my mother being different from my father and his family, and that her difference was somehow connected with her being Irish, but I knew almost nothing of her youth and upbringing. In the year or so before she died, she did begin to talk to me about her past. The first sequence of the book is based on those childhood memories. Only after my mother’s death do I go to Tipperary and there I begin to discover another story, the life she never told me about.

My thoughts about the book..

After her mother's death, the author returns to her mother's Tipperary birthplace, and  there she learns about a life she never knew had existed. She always thought that her mother was different in upbringing from her father, but Maggie never realised just how much her mother's life had been influenced by her Irish childhood.

The author writes well and with great compassion about her mother's life and it is obvious that she is very competent in putting a story together. Part biography and part social history, The English Daughter is a compassionate study of what life was like in rural Ireland during the early part of the twentieth century and with great insight the author succeeds in bringing her mother's story alive.

It's strange, isn't it, that only when we have lost someone do we feel compelled to go back over their lives, sadly, when they are no longer in a position to recount their story for themselves. I think that Maggie Wadey has more than done justice to her mother's story and for that she should feel justifiably proud of herself. 

Best Read With ...Irish Soda bread, liberally spread with butter and a drop of Poitín..

About the Author

Maggie Wadey is a novelist and screenwriter. Her childhood was spent in England,  Egypt , Cyprus and a Sussex boarding school, After a brief time as a model she read philosophy at University College London. Amongst her screenplays are adaptations of Mansfield Park, the Buccaneers, the Yellow Wallpaper and the children's novel Stig of the Dump . She lives in East London with her husband.

My thanks to Diana at Ruth Killick Publicity for my copy of this book.

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Review ~ Winter is Coming by Carolyne Larrington

I B Tauris

2016

The Blurb...

Discover the medieval myths and legends which inspired hit book and TV series, Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones is a phenomenon. It is the subject of intense debate in the national media; by cultural commentators contesting the series’ startling portrayals of power, sex and gender, and among its millions of fans across the world who devise all sorts of theories as to the story’s progression. However no book has yet divulged how George R.R. Martin constructed his remarkable universe.

Discussing the novels and TV series alike, Larrington explores the medieval world of rivalry and warfare, love and betrayal, greed and power, epitomised in the Wars of the Roses. She also delves into sigils, giants, dragons and direwolves in medieval texts; ravens, old gods and the Weirwood in Norse myth; and a gothic, exotic orient in the eastern continent, Essos. From the White Walkers to the Red Woman, from Casterley Rock to the Shivering Sea, this is an indispensable guide to the twenty-first century’s most important fantasy creation.

My thoughts...

I'm a huge fan of Game of Thrones because it fulfils my passion for medieval adventure in a truly visual context and whilst I know that dragons and white walkers don't exist in the here and now, its great fun imagining just what would happen if it were all true. In this informative guide to the world behind Game of Thrones, the author, with impeccable research brings to life the medieval and ancient world.

Of course, George RR Martin’s Ice and Fire series is a fictional adventure which has caught the public’s imagination, but it must also be remembered that much of historical fiction has a foothold in fact, and many of the ideas and scenarios being played out on television may well, at some point in time, have a basis in history.

I think what this author does is put time and place into context and whilst the book is predominately targeted around events in the TV show, there is no doubt that even if you have no great enthusiasm for the conflict between the characters on television; you may well enjoy seeing where some of the ideas may have originated. It's fascinating to wander through Westeros and Essos and to see the parallels between the books, the TV series and the recognised history of medieval Europe and beyond.

A note of caution is that this book works better if you are up to date with the Game of Thrones series as the action is discussed in detail and there are spoilers if you haven't seen the show.

Best read with …a surfeit of mutton and flagons of mead.

About the Author

Carolyne Larrington is Fellow and Tutor in Medieval English Literature at St John's College, Oxford. Her previous books include The Women's Companion to Mythology; The Poetic Edda; King Arthur's Enchantresses: Morgan and her Sisters in Arthurian Tradition (I.B.Tauris 2006, paperback 2014); Magical Tales: Myth, Legend and Enchantment in Children's books (edited with Diane Purkiss); and The Land of the Green Man: A Journey through the Supernatural Landscapes of the British Isles (I.B.Tauris, 2015)

Amazon UK

My thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review Winter is Coming.

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Review ~ Foxes Unearthed by Lucy Jones

Elliot & Thompson
19 May 2016

I fell in love with this book from the get go just because of its cover, not that I'm biased about orange whiskery creatures, you understand.

But putting aside the glory of its cover, this book really brings home our love and loathing of this most enigmatic of predators. For some, it's a creature of magic and mystery, whilst for others its a source of constant misery as hen coops up and down the land are targeted on an almost nightly basis. And then of course, there's the altogether more contentious issue of fox hunting which I'm not going to dwell on, except to say that the book covers this hot topic with great insight.

I loved the readability of the book, combining fact with fiction, folklore and magic with cold hard facts, but always, what shines through is the author's commitment to telling it like it is, with no superfluous waffle , not overly fanciful , just a really interesting look at the role foxes have in our rural and urban environments. The detail is good, the author's opinions are clearly expressed and throughout the book are intelligent observations from specialist contributors which help to give the book an overall balanced view.

There's something rather special about this beautiful wild creature and if you've been privileged to see one really close then you get the idea of both their vulnerability and their utter strength. Some years ago, I was lucky to be able to see foxes regularly at play in the early morning and it was perfectly magical to watch the rough and tumble of fox cubs with an early sun glinting on their russet coats, which were a darker red than I expected. But to watch this fascinating wild creature relaxed and playful, delighting in the sights and scents of an early Summer morning was just stunning and it is something that I will never forget.

I enjoy reading books which teach me something new and in Foxes Unearthed, I learned an abundance of facts about Vulpes Vulpes which I didn't know, and that's where the delight of this book lies, in learning something new and precious about one of our very special wild creatures.

Best Read with...Cheese sandwiches wrapped in grease-proof and a pair of sharp binoculars...

About the author

Lucy Jones writes mainly about culture, nature, music, science, wildlife and the environment. She was Deputy Editor at NME.com and previously worked at The Daily Telegraph. She is the recipient of the Society of Authors' Roger Deakin Award for Foxes Unearthed.

Visit Lucy on her Website

Follow on Twitter @lucyjones @wildlifedaily

My thanks to Alison at Elliot & Thompson for my review copy of this fascinating book.

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Author feature ~ Mary Cavanagh

Calling All Authors

A Seriously Useful Guide to Becoming a Successful Author

by Mary Cavanagh

ISBN 978-1-78507-547-1

Mary Cavanagh

Thank you, Jo, for giving me the opportunity to write about Calling All Authors, and most especially for contributing your article, outlining the enjoyment you get from writing Jaffreadstoo. Although I’m pretty sure that most of your readers are looking for good recommended reads I wonder if any of them have ever wondered what it’s like to be an author in a very competitive publishing world; something they will probably find very interesting and revealing.

Being an author today, even with huge talent, is a terrible struggle, and even though I’ve have a modicum of success with three novels, I’ve also come up against huge disappointments and let-downs. Therefore, my aim with Calling All Authors is to produce a seriously useful guide to professional manuscript production, understanding the jungle of the book industry and selling that book!

So why did I take a year out of my life to write it? The answer is simple; as a novelist I’ve ‘walked the walk and talked the talk’ for nearly twenty years, and I’m rather fed up with similar books being produced by corporate know-alls who (although they are well connected to the publishing industry) have no idea what its actually like to burn the midnight oil whilst juggling work and family life, fighting a way through all the publishing options on offer, and throwing oneself into the hurly burly of the commercial marketing place. Thus, I’ve tried to ‘tell it like it is’ by including not only sound advice, but every caution and alert I can.

Over the last five years, with the advent of self-publishing, on-line booksales platforms (like Amazon) and social media marketing, publication is actually easier, but it’s infinitely more difficult to get a mainstream contract. Even if you do become one of the tiny minority to win that much-prized accolade, publishing houses are doing less and less to help you with marketing and publicity. A serious much-favoured option is self-publishing; a method that actually leaves you without ‘handcuffs’ and (if you are successful) a much better monetary reward. Thus, with so many octopus tentacles being offered you have to have focus, determination, and as much information as possible to survive the book industry. I hope that this is what I have provided in Calling All Authors.

I hope that this ‘in a nutshell’ article gives a flavour of what’s needed to be a published author. I aim to demystify all the necessary processes in a concise, lively, and highly readable way, with some very useful contributions from a wide range of other successful authors and book trade specialists. 

I will be really pleased to hear from anyone who would like to contact me with questions, or suggest any ideas for inclusion in further editions.

Mary Cavanagh, Oxford, 2016

Email: mary.cavanagh20@gmail.com

Website: www.marycavanagh.co.uk

Twitter @MaryCNovelist

Amazon UK




Huge thanks to Mary for taking the time to come and talk about Calling All Authors and for her kind invitation to Jaffareadstoo to feature in this informative and interesting book. I don't consider myself to be a writer, merely a recorder of my thoughts about the books I love to read. However, I found the book to be extremely useful and it really helped me to understand the writing process more and to understand all the ins and outs of the fascinating and competitive world of the both the aspiring  and published author.

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Review ~ Listellany by John Rentoul

Elliot & Thompson

Hardcover, 128 pages

Publication date: 9 Oct 2014

List price: £9.99

ISBN: 9781783960040

I find that avid readers are very methodical people who love nothing better than keeping a good list, either of the books they have read, or of books they have yet to read. So, to have a little book totally concentrating on a list of top ten interesting facts about absolutely everything, really appealed to my avid reader’s sense of order.

Every week in the Independent on Sunday, John Rentoul publishes a top ten based on suggestions from the great British public. Putting all these suggestions into a handy little reference book is an inspired idea. As contained within, are lists upon fascinating lists and answers to questions you never knew you needed an answer for; from the ten worst Beatles songs, through to the top ten of English Monarchs and from the top ten of everyday lies, to the top ten fictional villains

I really enjoyed my first read through of this book, at 128 pages it is concise enough to read in one sitting; I found myself, more than once, with a wry smile on my face. Only the British can get excited by the top ten of Best British place names and only a reader will mutter in disapproval at a list of Books people buy but don’t read!

It’s one of those precious little gems that list lovers will want to keep in a handy place so that they can peruse it time and time again. It would make a perfect gift for a methodical reader like me, or for someone who simply likes a good list.

Amazon UK

My thanks to Alison Menzies at Elliot & Thompson for my copy of this book to review

About the Author

  

John Rentoul is chief political commentator for the Independent on Sunday, and visiting fellow at Queen Mary, University of London, where he teaches contemporary history. Previously he was chief leader writer for theIndependent. He is the author of The Banned List and Questions to Which the Answer is "No!".

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