📖 Publication Day Book Review ~ Gemini Pockets : The Brontës : Charles Dickens

Gemini
28 November 2024
Thanks to the publisher for my copies of theses book 

From techniques on how to achieve Deep Sleep to an all-access pass to the record- breaking life of Ariana Grande; and from quizzes and puzzles for classic lit lovers to the original best-selling glossary of Cockney Rhyming Slang; these are enticing little gifts to pick up, prize and pocket.

With over 100 titles scheduled across Music, Fashion, Travel, Humour and more, Gemini’s Pocket series will become a mainstay across the trade, and will be supported with major marketing activity at launch and throughout 2025.

Drawing on the vivid detail in the seven completed novels of the three Brontë sisters -- Charlotte, Emily and Anne -- the ingenious quizzes and puzzles in this fun collection will test your memory. Even the illustrations, by Edmund Dulac, require you to recognise the characters they depict.

📖 My Review..

In order get the best out of this mini literary quiz book you really need to know your Brontës and whilst I thought I knew quite a lot about this trio of sisters I was challenged to get some of the answers but I have definitely had great fun trying and thankfully, there are answers at the end of the book.

Full of lovely Brontë information these pocket sized books are the perfect size to have tucked away in your bag ready to bring out when you need to pass the time. I’ve loved everything about this little book, from the gentle tones of its coloured pages, to the beautiful illustrations, and snippets of Brontë information which are scattered like little jewels throughout the whole of the book.  I have to admit to feeling rather guilty actually writing in the book, as that is something I really find difficult to do however, I got over my terror of marking pristine pages by using a soft pencil which was easily erased.

Gemini
28 November 2024

A variety of ingenious puzzles to test your knowledge of the works of Charles Dickens, creator of many of the best-known characters in fiction and widely regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. Illustrated throughout by the British caricaturist George Cruikshank, who was praised as the Hogarth of his day.

📖 My Review..

Similarly with the Brontë book this pocket quiz book contains so much about Dickens that it’s a real joy to read, even if, like me, you don’t like writing in the pages of a book there is more than enough to peruse and ponder. The illustrations make such a difference and truly make this pocket Dickens into something rather special. I’ve been reading Dickens for pleasure ever since I first picked up Oliver Twist in my teens but this feisty little book tested my knowledge and made me want to read, or listen, to these fabulous stories all over again.

In the run up to Christmas when we search for little literary gifts to tempt the readers in our lives look no further than this group of Gemini Pockets. They’re fun, fabulous and kept me entertained from start to finish.

Gemini Pockets

From little guides to soothe your soul to all-access passes to the lives of pop icons, and from quizzes and puzzles for literature lovers to books on food, nature, fashion and more, Gemini Pockets are the perfect fit for your life and interests.

Twitter / X @ geminibooksgp

📖 Book Review ~ Sorry Men by Daniel Bird

 

Signal 8 Press
1 March 2024

My thanks to Cameron Publicity for my copy of this book

A father has his daughter’s crayon drawings tattooed all over his body so he can never lose sight of them. A commuter pretends to be Russian in an attempt to avoid being robbed. After a first date, a lovesick man plays it cooler than anybody ever has. The ex-husband of a lottery winner finds optimism in the numbers she chose. Two astronauts scour the solar system for a new home for mankind whilst pining for their exes. The world of Sorry Men is one of earnestness and desperation;fate and farce; hilarity and hopelessness. It absolutely will not restore your faith in men.

📖 My Review..

I read through Sorry Men in the space of an afternoon, dipping into and out of the stories at whim. Some made me smile, others made me ponder and even one or two exasperated me but collectively this set of 35 shortish stories kept me entertained.

The author writes well and gets the gist of the story across with relatively few words something that is not always easy to do, especially in a story which sometimes lasts just a few pages. As with any collection there were definitely some stories which I enjoyed more than others but that's the simple beauty of a collection, if you don't like the story, you can just move on to the next one.

The premise of the story reads that It absolutely will not restore your faith in men which I think is fair comment as none of these stories show men in a particularly favourable way but at least you know what you are getting and it's a quirky read which may appeal to some readers more than others.

About the Author

Daniel Bird grew up in Dorset, England, where he never missed a day of his paper round. He studied Drama and Theatre Arts at Royal Holloway, University of London. His stories are usually comical, occasionally dark, and always short.

His work has appeared in Liars’ League Hong Kong; Litro; Reflex Press; Mono; Fragmented Voices, and Coffin Bell. He lives and works in Hong Kong.

His first book Sorry Men is now available in paperback and ebook.

Website

@CameronPRtweets

📖 Book Review ~ Dear Mr Pop Star by Dave Philpotts, Derek Philpotts

 

Independently Published
January 2023

178pages

My thanks to the authors for my copy of this book

Bonkers letters to Rock, Pop and Punk Legends 

with genuine hilarious replies from the actual artists

For over a decade, ‘Team Philpott’, as their followers fondly refer to them, have been on a quite bonkers crusade, writing old-fashioned letters to punk, pop and rock stars, picking up on genuine ambiguities within their lyrics or often deliberately misunderstanding them for comedic effect.

The letters are eminently publishable in their own right, but what makes this project especially deserving of attention is that it has achieved a feat never before attempted or probably even thought of. The artists quite unexpectedly started to reply, writing back in just as witty and articulate a fashion, politely pointing out exactly where the original letter went wrong...or right.

2023 sees the eagerly awaited New Edition of Dear Mr Pop Star. This revised reboot is a much leaner volume with lots of new content and is already looking to be the most popular offering yet.

A donation will be made to homeless charities from the profits of every copy sold as a thank you to the artists involved.

📖 My Thoughts..

Back in 2018 I took part in a blog tour to help promote a slightly bonkers book, the authors' words, not mine, which featured descriptions of hand written letters to famous pop stars which called into question, albeit politely, the ambiguity of their song lyrics. The book caught my imagination and made me laugh out loud, so it was with interest that I took a look  at this reissued 2023 version which has some new content alongside some old favourites.

The content is just as funny as I remember and as I became reacquainted with the author's slightly wacky sense of humour so the letters became all the more enjoyable and I found myself laughing again at the interaction which goes on between them. Coming in at just short of 180 pages, Dear Mr Pop Star is a quirky little book and I found myself dipping into and out of it at whim. I found it especially entertaining to while away the time, whilst waiting for an appointment or when just sitting having a quiet coffee. In our complicated, and often fraught world, it's nice sometimes to just sit back, relax and be entertained and that's exactly what Dear Mr Pop Star does. 😊

Twitter @DerekPhilpott

Amazon UK

The book is available via Amazon Click To Print Paperback and Kindle

Blog Tour ~ #Sonnets by Lucien Young

✨✨ Delighted to host today's stop on this Blog Tour ✨✨ 

Unbound
3 October 2019

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of this book
and also to Random Things Tours for the invitation to take part in this blog tour

#Sonnets is a collection of hilarious and inappropriate poems complete with illustrations of Elizabethan Robocop and Snoop Dog in tights . Musing on everything from Donald Trump to Tinder, comedy writer Lucien Young offers a Shakespearean take on the absurdities of modern life.

What did I think about it..

There's something really refreshing about reading Shakespeare inspired sonnets which are inspired by this crazy world we live in, and yet when you think about it the bard himself was commenting on his own life and times in his perceptive sonnets. What the author does in this clever collection is to look at all the quirky little bits of life and bring them right into contemporary consciousness with some very cleverly constructed verse. As with all iambic pentameter there is a rhythm to the rhyme and the 14 lines of verse are easy to read, delightfully mischievous and laugh out loud funny.

The wry observations about Donald Trump and Boris Johnson are particularly apt but there's so much more than political satire. There are sonnets about the Kardashians, Marge Simpson and Game of Thrones, Wikipedia and Wifi,  even the ubiquitous Bag for Life gets a mention. I raced through the book, dipping into it at whim and soon became quite mesmerised by the accuracy of observation and the way the author captures each subject to perfection.

I can remember learning great chunks of Shakespeare at school and despite the brilliance of the bard the sonnets were never as much fun as these #sonnets by this clever author.

The sonnets are accompanied by wonderful illustrations by Ollie Mann

About the Author

Lucien Young is a comedy writer who has worked on various TV programmes, including BBC Three's Siblings and Murder in Successville, as well as three humour books, Alice in Brexitland, Trump's Christmas Carol and The Secret Diary of Jeremy Corbyn. He was born in Newcastle and read English at the University of Cambridge, where he was a member of the world-famous Footlights Club.

Twitter @LucienDYoung #Sonnets

@unbounders

#RandomThingsTours