Coffee side reads

Fish Boy By  Vanita Oelschlager Pub Date 01 May 2018 ISBN:9781938164200 Fish Boy is an original beautiful children's book by Vanita Oelschlager following the tale of 'The Fish Boy' a tale passed down by a wise old Inuit. The story is set in the Arctic lands of North America following Fish Boy and his new father as their struggles against neighbouring villages teaches the reader why kindness is is always the better option to choose.  I am always excited to see books set in different cultures showing the reader a new perspective and especially in a children's book as you don't often read about the Inuit culture.  The art is beautifully drawn bringing great views to the open white planes of the Arctic and even as an adult I enjoyed reading this story which provided a nice lesson for the reader. 

Kobane Calling by Zerocalcare Paperback 288  Pages / Published:  24/10/2017 ISBN:  9781941302491   Buy it here Kobane calling documents the experience of Italian cartoonist Zerocalcare  as he visits Turkey, Iraq, Syria, to document the life of Kurdish resistance and help those in need caught between the conflict. The book reminds me of a modern day 'Maus' and has a very important subject matter which should be documented and put to the mainstream media much more. Zerocalcare looks at the victims caught up in the war, the people trying to help out those in need and the difficulty involved in trying to bring aid. I went in really excited to read this but unfortunately it left me forcing myself to finish it due to the writing style. I found that the story line struggled to hold onto one thought and bounced between internal and external narratives which distracted and put me off as I read it. I really wanted to enjoy the novel but unfortunately t...

Animal Spy - Animal Welfare Behind Enemy Lines By Terry Spamer and Gordon Thorburn ISBN 9781910198827 By the book here Terry Spamer reveals eye opening and shocking experiences through his work fighting animal crulety travelling the globe from Ghana, the UK over to Scandinavia throughout this book which leaves the reader in shock at the actions of the people exposed within his stories. As I picked up this book I was captivated from start to finish hanging on Terry's every word. He looks at Monkey smugglers, the illegal ivory trade, reindeer abuse, dog fighting rings and so much more keeping his writing interesting and educational along side pushing his message of fighting animal cruelty. One note I would advise on is that within the book Terry gives a warning at the start of a chapter saying "if you are squeamish just skip this chapter", I then went forward thinking there will be nothing that bad but I was wrong. Now if you are squeamish then take his w...

The Loney by  Andrew Michael Hurley .  " It changed with each influx and retreat, and the neap tides would reveal the skeletons of those who thought they could escape its insidious currents. No one ever went near the water. No one apart from us, that is." To buy from Watertstones The Loney is Andrew Michael Hurley's first novel fiction debut which was the winner of the 2015 costa first novel award and the 2016 British Book Awards Book of the Year.  " If it had another name, I never knew, but the locals called it the Loney - that strange nowhere between the Wyre and the Lune where Hanny and I went every Easter time with Mummer, Farther, Mr and Mrs Belderboss and Father Wilfred, the parish priest. It was impossible to truly know the place. It changed with each influx and retreat, and the neap tides would reveal the skeletons of those who thought they could escape its insidious currents. No one ever went near the water. No one apart from us, that is. ...