Book Review: Big Book of Baby Knits by Marie Claire Editions

 Big Book of Baby Knits

by

Marie Claire Editions

 

80+ Garment & Accessory Patterns

 

Publisher: Fox Chapel Publishing

Publication date: 24th August 2021-US

                      4th November 2021-AUS

Genre: Non Fiction / Craft

RRP: $22.99US

Preorder on AmazonAU: $26.19AUD

Pages: 192

Format read: eBook

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley

 

My review

 

I can't go past a knitting book and The Big Book of Baby Knits has a gorgeous cover which would immediately entice me to pick it up and have a browse.

 

In the front of the book is a section on getting started with basic stitch terms and abbreviations.

Each finished item is beautifully photographed. 

The book includes a vast array of baby items including: 

Blankets

Booties/shoes/socks 

Hooded jackets

Toys

sleeping bags

Beanies

Pants

Tops

Tunics

Overalls/rompers

 

Patterns have instruction for age ranges: newborn to 6months or 3months to 12 months.

There are only two patterns that go beyond the 12 month age. 

 

The majority of patterns are simple stocking stitch pattern with a couple of cable stitch patterns and one Intarsia pattern. 

 

I loved that this book features a modern take on classic baby knitting patterns with the colours of grey and navy used. I also liked the hoodie patterns and the long knitted baby pants. I would probably buy this book just for these patterns.

 

There are 7 patterns for toys that each match one of the clothing patterns. They are a cute addition although I don't have any interest in knitting toys. 

 

As babies have moved from booties and bonnets to shoes and beanies The Big Book of Baby Knits features lots of up to the minute patterns for the modern baby.

 

As I looked through the patterns for something to knit I found that the instructions are not fully explained leaving a lot up to the assumption that the knitter knows what to do.

I'm a lazy knitter and I just want to follow a pattern stitch for stitch and not have to work out each step.

The stitch pattern is definitely for beginners but you may want to have an experienced knitter on hand to go through some of the instructions. One pattern I simply gave up on because I had no idea what the instructions meant.

 

 The jacket I knitted

 

3 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐

 

 

 

Spotlight: Red Earth Diaries by Jason Rebello

Red Earth Diaries: A Migrant Couple's Backpacking Adventure in Australia

by

Jason Rebello

 

A one-way ticket to Australia...two months of travel...and a shoestring budget.

 

 

Publisher: Evolving Wordsmith

Publication date: 8th July 2021

Genre: Non Fiction / Travel

Pages: 214

Format available: paperback and eBook

Price: $24.19, $5.99AUD

 

About the book

 

In Red Earth Diaries we meet Jason and Ambika, a newlywed couple who migrated to Australia with the hope of a fresh start. However, unlike most migrants, they made a bold decision to postpone their settlement plans, throw caution to the wind and backpack in Australia on a shoestring budget.

Their intention was to learn about the country and its people first-hand ... a land they would someday call home.

Swimming with sharks, cuddling cute koalas, chartering private helicopters, venturing deep into ancient rainforests, and getting to know plenty of locals – the couple had incredible experiences in this stunning country.

Their travel story is interwoven with snippets of history and provides the reader with a glimpse of Australia as viewed through the eyes of newly arrived migrants.

Join Jason and Ambika on their spectacular journey of discovery.

'Red Earth Diaries' is founded on four primary pillars: a migrant’s journal, a travelogue, a glimpse into Australian history, and an inspirational tale. The central message of the book is for everyone to chase their dreams - however distant and impossible they may seem.

 

About the author

 

Jason Rebello was born in Mumbai, India, and went to sea at the early age of seventeen. He spent many years sailing across the world on modern ocean liners, eventually rising to the rank of a ship’s Captain. His sea career was interspaced with a healthy dose of backpacking and intrepid travels and as a result, he was firmly hooked on a life of adventure and uncommon living. His travel blog www.theevolvingbackpacker.com was born out of his passion for travel. He has also written several self-help books in the ‘Migrant Ninja’ series.

Jason, with his wife and two children, is now settled in Australia. 

 

Author socials:

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theevolvingbackpacker/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TheEvolvingBackpacker
Author Website - www.evolvingwordsmith.com 

Blog - www.theevolvingbackpacker.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Review: Good Indian Daughter by Ruhi Lee

Good Indian Daughter

by

Ruhi Lee 

 

How I found freedom in being a disappointment

 

Publisher: Affirm Press

Publication date: 25th May 2021

Genre: Memoir

Pages: 336

RRP: $32.99AUD

Format read: Paperback

Source: Better Reading Preview

 

About the book

 

Long before Ruhi fell pregnant, she knew she was never going to be the ‘good Indian daughter’ her parents demanded. But when the discovery that she is having a girl sends her into a slump of disappointment, it becomes clear she’s getting weighed down by emotional baggage that needs to be unpacked, quickly.

So Ruhi sets herself a mission to deal with the potholes in her past before her baby is born. Delving into her youth in suburban Melbourne, she draws a heartrending yet often hilarious picture of a family in crisis, struggling to connect across generational, cultural and personal divides.

Sifting through her own shattered self-esteem, Ruhi confronts the abuse threaded through her childhood. How can she hold on to the family and culture she has known and loved her whole life, when they are the reason for her scars?

 

My review

 

Ruhi Lee writes with candour and humour. Her memoir, written as she awaits the birth of her first child, is a journey into a life lived with an underlying guilt for not being the daughter her parents had envisaged.

Good Indian Daughter is an engaging read. with Ruhi Lee’s relaxed style of writing I found myself fully immersed in her story. Many areas of Ruhi’s story will resonate with readers, even those not of Indian descent.

Ruhi Lee is a strong voice for girls and women everywhere who are being subjugated and unheard. She speaks openly on bullying, body image problems, religion, misguided advice, depression, anxiety, racism and abuse.

Reading Ruhi’s story made me sad, angry and overwhelmed but Ruhi’s humour throughout also gave me a few laughs which lightened, although didn’t lessen, the overall feel of the book.

Good Indian Daughter is a brave and open story of shedding the guilt and living your own life. 

 4 / 5 stars    ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 

About the author 

 

Ruhi Lee's articles, poetry and book reviews have been featured in The Guardian, ABC Life, SBS Voices, South Asian Today and The Big Issue among other publications. In 2019, she was a recipient of the Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Fund and her manuscript was shortlisted for the Penguin Random House Write It Fellowship. In 2020, she was one of the commissioned writers for the Multicultural Arts Victoria's Shelter program. Good Indian Daughter is her first memoir. She lives in Victoria. 

 

 

Challenges entered:  Australian Women Writers Challenge #AWW2021

                                 Aussie Author Challenge #AussieAuthor21

                                 Non Fiction Challenge #2021ReadNonFic 

 

 

 

Book Review: The Women's Doc by Caroline De Costa

 The Women's Doc

by

Caroline De Costa

True stories from five decades delivering babies and making history

 

Publisher: Allen & Unwin

Publication date: 4th May 2021

Genre: Non Fiction / Memoir

Pages: 320

RRP: $32.99AUD

Format read: Paperback

Source: courtesy of the publisher

 

About the book

 

When Caroline first started in medicine, being an unmarried mother was frowned on, cane toads were used for pregnancy tests, and giving birth was much riskier than it is today. Her funny and poignant stories of bringing babies into the world show that, while much has changed, women still work hard and it remains a bloody business. A birth plan is no guarantee of a normal birth (whatever that is).

Men have always wanted to control women's bodies, and Caroline has been instrumental in giving Australian women of all backgrounds the opportunity to resist, and to choose when and how they have babies. Her behind-the-scenes stories reveal it's often the little things that win a campaign. 

 

My review

 

The Women's Doc consists of seventy-three short stories centred around the changing world of medicine and childbirth as experienced by Caroline De Costa.  

 

Caroline De Costa is a trailblazer in the area of women's health and giving women more rights over their own body. She has had a colourful and outstanding life studying in Dublin at an early age, becoming an unmarried mother in the late 1960's (a time when this was deeply frowned upon), running contraceptive pills over the border from England to Ireland, opening the first family planning clinic in Ireland and working in villages in PNG. Caroline De Costa has been an advocate for women worldwide.

Many life changing changes for women came about during Dr De Costa's early medical years with many of these changes pioneered by Dr De Costa herself.

 

I am not a big non fiction reader but I do enjoy short story compilations. The Women's Doc was a book I could pick up whenever I had a few spare minutes reading two or three short stories at a time.

The stories aren't in chronological order, jumping back and forward in time, and I found this a bit off putting.

The historical element of the book was very interesting with content on the introduction of anesthesia, the revelation of the need to sterilise equipment, the development of forceps for difficult births and pregnancy testing with toads.

I did find it quite dry and would have liked a bit more humour throughout the book. Most of the birth stories are quite graphic, some even alarming. I did find the historical elements of the book relating to how dangerous childbirth was for women to be fascinating and can appreciate how far we have come both knowledge and procedure wise since then.

The Women's Doc is a no holds barred look at women's health; the highs, the lows, the triumphs and the tragedies.

 

3 / 5   ⭐⭐⭐

 

About the author

 

Caroline De Costa is the first women to become a professor of obstetrics and gynaecology in Australia, and she has been a major contributor to Australian women getting the repoductive health services they need. She is a professor at James Cook University in Cairns, editor of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, author of 15 books and mother of seven children.  

Challenges entered:  Australian Women Writers Challenge #AWW2021

                                 Aussie Author Challenge #AussieAuthor21

                                 Non Fiction Reader Challenge #2021ReadNonFic 

Book Review: Gone to the Woods by Gary Paulsen

Gone to the Woods

by

Gary Paulsen

 

A TRUE STORY OF GROWING UP IN THE WILD

 

Publisher: Pan Macmillan  

Imprint: Macmillan Children's Books 

Publication date: 12th January 2021

Genre: Children's / Teenage / Memoir

Pages: 224

RRP: $16.99AUD

Format read: Paperback

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

 

About the book

 

From the author of the bestselling Hatchet comes a true story of high-stakes wilderness survival!

At the age of five Gary Paulsen escaped from a shocking Chicago upbringing to a North Woods homestead, finding a powerful respect for nature that would stay with him throughout his life. At the age of thirteen a librarian handed him his first book, and there he found a lasting love of reading. As a teenager he desperately enlisted in the Army, and there amazingly discovered his true calling as a storyteller.

A moving and enthralling story of grit and growing up, Gone to the Woods is perfect for newcomers to the voice and lifelong fans alike, from the acclaimed author at his rawest and realest.

 

My review

 

I'm finding it hard to know where to start with this story. My son, when young, was a huge Hatchet fan. He read the book over and over and talked of it often. This is how I came to know the name Gary Paulsen, so when I heard he had written a memoir of his childhood I jumped at the chance to read it.

Gary Paulsen writes with stark reality, there is no softening around the edges. He writes about life exactly as he lived it and some scenes are quite gruesome. The story contains vivid descriptions of a train load of injured soldiers and also a frenzied shark attack on the passengers of a plane crash. What I found most distressing is that these are actual real events witnessed by Paulsen as a young child.

The story is narrated in third person with Paulsen referring to himself as 'the boy', so it reads more like a fiction novel than the usual memoir with first person narration.

Paulsen takes moments from his life and weaves a story around that event introducing history and education into the narrative.

The boy, at age 5, after living a life of neglect with his mother, is sent to live with his aunt and uncle on a farm. Here he learns to work hard and to live off the land but mostly he learnt how it felt to  belong. Every sight, sound and smell the boy experiences comes alive on the page. These few years are what set him up to survive life when he was taken back by his mother. What followed  was years of neglect, poverty, bullying and hunger.

The story isn't all bleak as Paulsen interjects humour into even the bleakest events.

 

When he discovers the library and the librarian who gently encourages him to read more and more books that broaden his mind a whole new world of hope is opened up to him.

 

Paulsen's writing starts out soft and gentle when he is a young child naive and fragile, as his life moves on you can feel the writing is more jaded, edgy. Then as a teen, 16 - 17, the writing is angry, disillusioned. I find this type of character change through words and sentence structure unique and engaging.

 

Gone to the Woods is a harrowing and moving true life story of resilience, perseverance and the healing power of books. Narrated with warmth and humour it is touching and informative.

This book is being marketed as middle grade but I would recommend 12+ as there are some quite horrifying and descriptive scenes of war and a shark attack.

5/5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

About the author

Credit: Pan Macmillan

Gary Paulsen has received great acclaim and many awards for his novels written for young people. HATCHET, and its sequel, THE RETURN, are among his best-known works. He has sailed the Pacific and competed in the gruelling 1,049 mile Iditarod dog-sled race across Alaska. He lives with his family in New Mexico, USA.

 

 

 

 

 

Challenge entered: Non Fiction Readers Challenge 

#2021ReadNonFic

 

 

Wrap up of my 2020 challenges - let's see how I went!

 It's that time of year when we look back over our challenge pledges and see how we went.

You can read my 2020 sign up post HERE

 

My first one was the Book Lover Book Review Aussie Author Challenge 

 

 

 

 

I signed up for Kangaroo level:
4 x female authors, 4 x Male authors, 4 x New to me authors, 3 x genres.

But I really had my eye on attaining the Emu level:

10 x female authors, 10 x Male authors, 10 x New to me authors, 4 x genres.

 
My completed challenge was:
49 x Female authors, 16 x Male authors, 38 x New to me authors, 8 x Genres. With a total of 65 books read.

I was keen to increase my male Aussie authors this year and I managed to increase my total from 5 in 2019 to 16 in 2020.

 

You can see the full list of books HERE  

 

 ________________________________________________________

 

Next up was the Australian Women Writers Challenge.  

 

 

 

I nominated to read and review 30 books for this challenge.
My completed challenge was 49 books read and reviewed.

You can see the full list of books HERE

 

 ________________________________________________________

 

This was my second year of the Book Bingo challenge hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse.

2020 saw us with a smaller card relieving the pressure of completing a book each fortnight.

  

You can see the books I chose for this challenge HERE

______________________________________________________

 

 A new challenge for me was the Nonfiction Reader Challenge hosted by Book'd Out

 

 

Not being a big NonFiction reader a joined the challenge at Nipper level.

Read 3 books from any of the 12 categories.

 

I ended up reading 11 books which covered 8 of the categories. I am sure this challenge helped me to read more from the NonFiction genre. So a big thanks to Shellyrae.

 

You can see the books and categories I read HERE 

 

______________________________________________________

 

Another new challenge for me in 2020 was the Historical Fiction challenge hosted by Passages to the Past.

 

   

 

 

There were 6 levels and I joined Victorian Reader level

20th Century Reader - 2 books
Victorian Reader - 5 books
Renaissance Reader - 10 books
Medieval - 15 books
Ancient History - 25 books
Prehistoric - 50+ books

 

I managed to attain Renaissance reader level by reading 14 books.

 

You can see the full list of books HERE 

 

_______________________________________________

 

My last official challenge is another bingo challenge with Facebook group Books and Bites with Monique Mulligan

 

 

 This bingo challenge was quite hard and had very specific categories. I managed to read 18 of the 25 squares.

 

You can see the full list of books HERE 

 

_______________________________________________

 

A few other challenges I entered were:

Dymocks Reading Challenge 2020 in which I completed 23 of the 25 categories.

 

The Aussie Readers group on Goodreads had an A - Z character challenge which I completed all 26 letters. 

Life of a Book Addict group on Goodreads had a Motley Reading challenge with 26 categories I managed to complete 23 of the 26. 

Well that's a wrap for 2020. Some challenges I will be sticking with in 2021 and some I will be dropping but I am sure I will pick up a couple more.
Look out for my 2021 challenge sign up post coming soon!

 

#AussieAuthor2020   #AWW2020  #HistFic2020 #2020ReadNonFic #BookBingo2020  

Book Review: The Long Tail of Trauma: A Memoir

The Long Tail of Trauma: A Memoir

by

Elizabeth Wilcox

 

 

Publisher: Green Place Books

Publication date: 11th November 2020

Genre: Memoir

Pages: 268

Format read: eBook

Source: Courtesy of Stephanie Barko Publicist

 

About the book

 

The Long Tail of Trauma covers the lives of five generations of the author’s maternal ancestors from 1904-2018, through Europe and America. The long tail refers to multigenerational family trauma that begins near Liverpool before World War I and continues through Operation Pied Piper and the PTSD era in America.

The author’s journey becomes an exploration into attachment and the legacy of maternal trauma on intergenerational mental health and relationships. Through documenting her forebears’ stories, author Elizabeth Wilcox gives us a greater understanding of what a mother must overcome to erase the epigenetic stain of early childhood trauma.

 

My review

 

Elizabeth Wilcox writes a memoir that at times reads like an historical  novel it is so full of atmosphere and sentiment.

I enjoyed the combination of writing styles that brought to life the story of Anna and Violet.

 

In the Long Tail of Trauma we follow 4 generations of mothers and daughters. Elizabeth explains, through her research, how trauma can be passed down through the generations.

 

The storyline is sourced from extensive research of Elizabeth's family history and uses some creativity concerning her ancestors thoughts and conversations. 

Dispersed between chapters of her great-grandmother's and grandmother's lives are chapters on her own life growing up with a mother with PTSD.

 

Elizabeth Wilcox has given many documentations to support her claims and I found her  memoir and that of the lives of her ancestors, Germans living in England during the outbreak of WWII to be both engaging and fascinating reading.

The Long Tail of Trauma is an interesting study on childhood trauma and its impact on mental health, autoimmune disease, depression, PTSD and suicidal thoughts.

4/5  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

About the author

Photo: Goodreads

Elizabeth Wilcox has worked as a journalist in England, Hong Kong, and the US. She has extensive experience both nationally and internationally as a newspaper columnist, radio presenter, CNBC television news producer, and web producer.

Her first book The Mom Economy (Berkley, 2003) was called “one of the best career books of 2003” by syndicated columnist Joyce Lain Kennedy. Her guest appearances include community and book groups, local and national radio programs, popular podcasts, and network television. Her work has been featured in ABC7 “All About Kids”, Bloomberg Radio, The Boston Herald, Boston Globe, Marketwatch, The Chicago Tribune, CNNfn, Parenting Magazine, Redbook and others.

Elizabeth Wilcox currently consults with educational organizations that promote social and emotional learning and trauma-informed practices for youth.

She lives with her family in Vermont. 

 

 

 

 

 

Book Review: There's a Zoo in My Poo by Prof. Felice Jacka

There's a Zoo in My Poo

by

Professor Felice Jacka

Illustrated by Rob Craw

 

Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia

Publication date: 28th July 2020

Genre: Children's / Non Fiction

Pages: 64

RRP: $24.99 AUD

Format read: Hardcover

Source: Courtesy of the publisher

About the book:

There's a Zoo in your Poo!
It needs a Zookeeper
And that Keeper is YOU! 

Did you know that trillions of tiny bugs live in and on all of us? And there's a Zoo of bugs in our poo. But which are the good bugs and which are the bad? What should we eat to keep our good bugs happy and our body strong?

Get to the guts of what you need to know about you and your poo.

Professor Felice Jacka is a world expert in the field of Nutritional Psychiatry and gut health. Teacher and musician Rob Craw is a world expert at drawing bugs!

They want kids to know all about the amazing stuff going on in their bodies.

Get ready for a journey inside the most exciting of places ... YOU! 

My review: 

It’s no secret that kids love books about bodily functions. There are a plethora of books to choose from about poos and farts. These books tend to be more fun than educational emphasising the fact that poos and farts are a normal part of life.

Professor Felice Jacka goes a whole lot further with her educational and fun children’s book There’s a Zoo in My Poo to explain gut health with zany illustrations and catchy rhymes. The book tells us all about the bugs that live in our gut, both good and bad, the food that we eat and the effect it has on these bugs, what the good bugs feed on, healthy food for a healthy body and brain.

 

Six year old Dot really enjoyed the concept of being the zookeeper of her body and once I explained that the bugs inside your body aren’t like insect type bugs but tiny invisible bugs you can’t see, she was much more receptive to the idea of how they lived inside you.

 

There is quite a lot of information in this 64 page book and I found it better to concentrate on a small area of the book at a time. The catchy rhyming poems were a great feeder into the more in-depth ins and outs of the workings of the gastrointestinal tract.

 

I knew the book was having some effect when Dot was asking me if the food she was eating was feeding her good bugs or bad bugs. That’s a win!

 

There’s a Zoo in My Poo focuses on the principles of gut health with colourful microbes and entertaining prose making this complex topic easier for children, and adults, to understand. gut health is an important topic and you can never start too young to teach children about healthy eating. It is great to see a children’s book addressing the ‘why’ of healthy eating. It’s a book that can be pulled out whenever your children’s eating habits go off track.

Read together from 6+

 

Read alone from 8+

⭐⭐⭐⭐ from Dot

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐from me

About the author: 

Professor Felice Jacka is an international expert in the field of Nutritional Psychiatry and gut health and leads a research field examining how individuals' diets affect mental and brain health.

About the illustrator:

Rob Craw is a teacher, musician, and illustrator, who shares Jacka's passion for educating everyone, especially kids, about the importance of healthy eating.

 

This review is part of the Book Lover Book Review Aussie author challenge

  the Australian Women Writers challenge  and the Non Fiction reader challenge