We’re all individuals, but is this the right way to think all the time?

Publisher: Free Press (Simon & Schuster)
Pages: 228
Type: Non-Fiction
Age: Adult
ISBN: 978-1-4391-5794-7
First Published: May 2011
Date Reviewed: 25th August 2011
Rating: 4.5/5

McTaggart suggests everyone should work together in mind, body, and spirit, rather than subscribing to the Western idea of individuality. She uses evidence from experiments, research, and current ways of life, to back up her point.

The Bond is quite simply fascinating. A few days after I’d accepted it for review I wondered what I’d got myself into, seeing the similarities with self-help books, but The Bond is like no self-help book I’ve come across. It throws subject after subject at you and yet it never feels like you’re being forced to accept its purpose – which of course is actually what McTaggart is looking to do, to change your thoughts – and which is why it works well. Ironically, a few hours after finishing it, an advert on the television was telling me that there were several different shampoos to choose from a specific brand because “you’re an individual”. The timing was, to use a word being widely supported by all and their grandmother, epic.

Although we classify everything in the universe as separate and individual, individuality, at the most rudimentary level, does not exist.

McTaggart uses the following array of subjects to back up her suggestion, and here I will use a list to make it easier to read:

• Quantum Physics – all particles influence each other.
• Biology – how we react and live with everything is of more importance than our genes in determining our health.
• Astro Physics – the movement of the moon and sun affects our activity (morale, spending habits, mental stability, and so on).
• Neuroscience – how our brain uses the same part to observe as to act and how that creates a relationship between people, as we understand what we see by thinking of ourselves in that same position.
• Philosophy
• Psychology and anthropology – generosity contrasted with selfishness, the way different cultures view things differently, unfairness in life.
• Mathematics – probabilities and the results of experiments.
• Present-day work – charities, volunteers.

And she looks at Sociology, which is a blend of a few of the above – how, for example, an interdependent community will have less health issues resulting in death than a society where people are lonely and isolated. Thus Japan has a lower heart disease rate than America despite so much smoke intake, and America has a high rate because of the idea of self and the individual.

Often what McTaggart suggests are things that have always been obvious to the public at large but dismissed by the medical profession – that our environment and what we do determines our fate. Thus the fact that women who go on the pill for years are more likely to get breast cancer than if they hadn’t – information easily found on Internet forums, where the number of women questioning whether their long usage of the drug has been the cause is high. And as McTaggart says, the links found between HRT and breast cancer have caused scientists to recommend it’s end. McTaggart’s research in this and various other areas of health adds up to the fact that our genes can be altered throughout our lives by outside influence.

Sadly, there are other experiments that are the stuff of common sense (for example if you’re surrounded by happy people you’re more likely to be happy than if your happy friends live away) and it reminds you of how many such experiments are pointless, unnecessary because any member of the public could tell you it, and costly – when there are so many really worthy things in the world the money could be spent on. This is a comment on the world at large rather than McTaggart.

Something that is quite funny, when you remember all the arguments in the world between religious people and scientists, is what McTaggart says about scientists finding that life may be controlled by something that is difficult to identify and locate, an ephemeral thing. There is a great possibility that they have scientifically found God.

If we are essentially at the mercy of the slightest move of the sun and its activity, their [the scientists Chizhevsky and Halberg] work stands as a giant refutation of our misplaced belief in ourselves as masters of the universe – or even of ourselves.

But there is something that truly grates about McTaggart’s book and that is the number of experiments on animals described. It’s not that she quotes them, because everyone knows it goes on, it’s that she does it as though it’s just another part of science. It is rather difficult to read pages of an otherwise brilliant and humane book that is filled with experiments on animals – involving but not limited to giving electrical shocks to create cases of epilepsy, and holes being driven into scalps in order that electrodes be fitted to brains – without feeling some revulsion for the author’s plan. It seems rather hypocritical to be all for working together with nature while getting excited over information gleamed from torturing rats, especially as she mentions the laws against testing on humans for ethical reasons.

Yet McTaggart’s book is a treasure trove for anyone interested in the academic subjects she discusses, and, with even just a minor awareness of them and minimal interest it is easy to fly through the pages. And she provides some good life lessons and food for thought.

The Bond is recommended, wholeheartedly, because of the many benefits a person can get from it. Be ready for a hefty, but very good, read.

I received this book for review from the author thanks to Pump Up Your Book.

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Plausible, plausible, plausible, says the author who bases his book on a hunch.

Publisher: Yale University Press
Pages: 195
Type: Non-Fiction
Age: Adult
ISBN: 978-0-300-17089-4
First Published: 2010
Date Reviewed: 2nd July 2011
Rating: 2.5/5

Bernard believes that Anne Boleyn was guilty of the accusations of adultery made against her and despite the vast work done by other historians he is going to tell you why he believes he is right.

If my descriptions sound damning it is only because Bernard is absolutely self-righteous in his work. I was fully prepared to accept his opinions because, although I have read a lot of books that deal with the possibility of Anne being innocent, I recognise, as do others, that there is a chance she was not. However the way in which Bernard has written his book is intolerable.

Bernard mocks other historians a great deal, saying that they are wrong for such and such a reason, and at times not even properly referencing who he is discussing, which is very clever because it means he can escape vilification. He also repeats himself a lot at times by paraphrasing himself, and what makes this so glaringly obvious to the reader is that it comes one page after the first mention. There is very much the sense that he wants to ram his opinion down the reader’s throat.

The author, when it suits him, does not think of things in terms of human nature. For example, he says that Anne wouldn’t have hated Wolsey because of the gratitude she showed him in her letters. He doesn’t even ponder the idea that she could have been lying, which is preposterous because it is all too common for someone to pretend to a person they hate that in actual fact they like them. Anne Boleyn’s position, before Henry’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon, was unstable despite her elevation, and thus she would have had to be careful when dealing with Wolsey, whether or not Henry himself did not like the man. Of course Bernard may be correct, but he should be open to the possibilities whether they suit his story or not. Interestingly, as I will cover in more detail in a moment, he later makes the idea of lying crucial to his conviction.

The approach to the actual point of the book (which comes within 60 pages of it’s end, no less), suggests that the rest of it was pointless and that Bernard only wrote it all because it would be expected of him.

It will now be suggested that Anne and at least some of those accused with her were guilty.

That he wishes for fame via notoriety is clear.

And the source that is key to his argument is a poem – the sort of writing that is widely known to be creative and to take liberties in order to tell a good story. Bernard says that to say Anne’s proclaiming of herself as innocent meant she was innocent is a step too far – again he is discrediting the work of his peers. Surely what is actually a step too far is to accuse her of lying, especially when she was in the tower approaching her execution and crying her heart out. Again, yes, Bernard may be right, but he could have used a bit more tact and compassion. He could also do with a bit more common sense when he deals with Mark Smeaton’s confession and says that Smeaton wouldn’t have spoken of Anne’s adultery if there hadn’t been any truth in it – this despite the fact that the young man in question could have been faced with more torture the longer he proclaimed he knew nothing, and could quite possibly have been under the impression that to speak ill of others might have saved him.

Bernard ends by launching an outburst of scorn at people who make historic characters their role models. The inappropriateness and utter irrelevance of this scorn to his book is further highlighted when he adds that we shouldn’t look up to current celebrities either. And his last attempt to laugh at believers of Anne’s innocence is to mock a website devoted to Anne Boleyn – for which there is no reference in the chapter itself nor in the bibliography.

When I began this book I was sceptical because Bernard was challenging widely held beliefs of which my own opinion is a part – but I was happy to remain objective. However, if a historian is not going to be objective themselves and is instead going to make fun of what I and many others believe, and with little evidence to support it, then I am not going to welcome his opinion.

Bernard’s book has a few very interesting ideas that break with tradition and are worth considering further, but they are buried under a mass of hate and flimsy points of view. The author succeeds in doing the very thing he complains of others – basing opinion on scant information – and the fact that he ends by saying “it remains my own hunch…” is unacceptable.

I would not recommend this book to people unfamiliar with the well-known views of Anne Boleyn because Bernard simply does not provide a good enough case for his views to be listened to, and because the reader would come to the fray with only badly informed ideas. If, on the other hand, you are familiar with Anne Boleyn, then you might find it interesting if nothing else.

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A brilliant illustration of what is happening as we embrace technology and forget our dreams. Because it isn’t all about the fantastical.

Publisher: Mira Ink (Harlequin)
Pages: 355
Type: Fiction
Age: Young Adult
ISBN: 978-0-7783-0434-0
First Published: 2010
Date Reviewed: 19th July 2011
Rating: 4.5/5

Meghan has never been popular owing to her family’s relative poverty. She is also not particularly happy as her mother often neglects her, her stepfather reacts as though he genuinely forgets she exists, and her real father disappeared when she was six. But she does have a brother and her best friend, Robbie. Yet four year old Ethan says there are monsters in his wardrobe, and Meghan keeps seeing things that aren’t really there – or are they? And come to think of it she doesn’t really know who Robbie is. When Ethan is taken by the monsters that truly were in his wardrobe, Meghan finds herself on a quest to the world of the Fey to save him. Everything she’s ever known is viable to change.

The Iron King is a piece of fiction that, like many other works being published in this era, successfully blends the current trends in young adult literature with a strong lesson for life. There is a high school, there are cranky parents, but Kagawa is focused on the faery world she has created. As soon as she can get Meghan out of our own world, she does.

The initial journey through the world is very quick and definitely seems rushed but the reader shouldn’t be put off because it slows down sufficiently once Kagawa reaches the main storyline. The world is well developed and magical, if you’ll pardon the pun, the differences between the Winter Court and Summer Court, the two opposing imperial domains, making for a broad reading experience that enables the place to be utterly engrossing. And the book uses elements from different beliefs about faeries to create a diverse land. There are many different creatures, there is the idea that faeries die when humans stop believing in them, and there are fragments from classic works such as Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland and the plays of Shakespeare.

The characters are the usual fare for young adult literature – a kind of love triangle, a good guy, a bad guy – but the heroine is difficult to stereotype because she is neither weak nor strong. She has the capacity to get on your nerves at times, but you can’t say that she doesn’t try to fight, and does.

The book is at once a true fantasy and technologically futuristic. It deals with the idea that our dreams create fairies and that as our dreams change to those of technology, and logic brings an end to faith, then the creations change to suit. Thus the book holds a powerful message: although technology is good – and Kagawa never suggests we abandon it, the heroine keeps hold of her iPod throughout – the proposal is that we should not forget the magic that is nature and all the happiness it can grant us. Where nature is colourful, technology is more often monotone and where nature brings true happiness, technology helps us achieve, but we are constantly having to ask if it makes us happy. Indeed one could say that with the advent of social networking and the demise of the requirement to meet people in person in order to communicate, we are missing out on the happiness contact with others can bring.

The cautious reader should be aware that there are a few references to sex that are rather explicit and sadistic in nature owing to the darkness that the author presents the faery world to be. The romance in the book is chaste, but the fey enjoy taunting humans sexually in a way that a younger reader may find frightening simply because of the descriptions. This explicitness speaks for Kagawa’s approach overall, she is not afraid to include horrific images when appropriate and, apart from Meghan’s weak episodes, doesn’t shy away from being straight with you.

Ultimately what happens while reading is that the idea we have that there can be too much technology is re-enforced, because nobody wants a techno fairy over the sparkling beautiful things we think of now, do they? The difference between adults and children is incorporated – where children have the freedom to imagine whatever they wish and believe in what they will, there are faeries; where adults cease to believe because it is considered childish, but believe in science, there is a creativity that can be harmful if left unwatched. Forget the faeries, it’s a very important issue in our world in general.

Of course a book that deals with faeries that are under threat was never going to be more emotionally invested in the Iron fey than the original fey, and throughout the book, while the reader roots for the originals, you can’t help but remember that yes, life was okay without some of the technology (medicinal advances are very important), and that we got by without it.

But perhaps the most pressing lesson is that we should simply keep believing. Kagawa is not saying we should always believe in fairies but that maybe we should keep an open mind, or at the very least consider the possibility of other phenomena. There are plenty of supernatural things in the world that different people believe in but that science cannot prove, because it is beyond the realm of science at this time. And just because science cannot prove something does not mean that something does not exist. We know this anyway, because of life, and faith, and also because science can get it wrong. But sometimes we need reminding.

Kagawa’s book uses the usual formula but creates something different from it. In this way the book will appeal to those looking for your standard paranormal young adult literature and also those specifically interested in faeries. It succeeds in being both a good read and a verdict on how we manage our creativity. And, like all good young adult literature, it does it without preaching.

I waited many months before picking up The Iron King, although I had seen it everywhere and been intrigued by the set-up. And although it wasn’t quite as fantasy-based as I’d expected, the reality of it made its mark. Very highly recommended to fans of fantasy, history, steam punk, social issues, domestic relations, angst, and romances. The crossover value of this book is extensive.

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Should you judge this book by its bright, colourful, happy cover? Yes, you should.

Publisher: Carina Press (Harlequin)
Pages: 191
Type: Fiction
Age: Adult
ISBN: 978-1-4268-9172-4
First Published: 2011
Date Reviewed: 5th July 2011
Rating: 4.5/5

When Sean Kowalski got home from the army he thought he’d spend some time relaxing before working out what he wanted from life, but when Emma turns up at his door he doesn’t know what to think. Emma needs a boyfriend, well, she doesn’t need one in the usual sense, she’s happily single for now, but she’d told her Gran that she had a boyfriend in the hope that said Gran wouldn’t feel bad about living in Florida away from her granddaughter – the lie is as extensive as this sentence. Now Gran is coming home for a month and Emma needs to find a real person to support her story of a boyfriend. The problem is she’d already used Sean’s name and face to back up her story, so she needs the man himself to act for her. After pondering on the madness of it all, Sean reluctantly agrees. After all, it will only be for a month.

Just when I say no to contemporary romance, one comes along that rocks my world. The only way I could describe the story and give you a good idea of what it’s like was to write a long summary. I am, it must be said, very surprised to have enjoyed a contemporary romance so much. And if you are like I was at the start of my venture into romance, and want to dip your toes into the genre but are hesitant, may I be so bold as to suggest that you begin with this book?

The set-up is completely barmy but it creates a fun situation to read about and the possibilities for plot development are endless. There are a lot of descriptions in the book that fill it with life. A big focus is placed on family, and although this was necessary as the book is the third in a series on couples in the Kowalski family, it expands the narrative and brings in plenty of dialogue and characters.

And the characters are great. They are realistic, they are funny, they are quirky, and the development of the relationship between Sean and Emma is never dull. Once an element of their relationship, or non-relationship, has been covered, Stacey moves straight on to the next. What’s good is that they are solid romance characters but would work just as well in other genres.

The speed at which the storyline takes a turn to a place that was always a possibility, is rather quick, but it is what allows the story to go up a notch. And the writing is very good. One thing I have found in the romance genre is that the writing is different to other genres, but in this case that’s not true, and it confirmed my thoughts that there must be a style of writing in romance that would make for a suitable transition for people wanting to give it a go. The only thing that brings it down are the numerous spelling errors dotted about the pages, the content could have done with another look over.

“Now she had to pretend not to love the man she was pretending to love while pretending she wasn’t sleeping with him.”

The story is fantastic, it really is, Stacey develops everything in it so well throughout, that although in theory it’s a rather simple tale, there is much to savour. For example, the way Sean lets Emma know more about him by leaving impolite notes on the bathroom mirror, which of course change in tone as the story continues, and the way Emma is a particularly strong heroine whilst being allowed to feel heartache. It’s the little things that are the best, the little things that each realise about each other that come to mean so much, while the big things are important but take a backseat.

Although there are many of them from a certain point onward, the sex scenes are tasteful and there are no crude words that could alienate a cautious reader. They are sexy rather than romantic owing to placement.

The narrative does repeat itself at times, however it is difficult to say whether this is a negative aspect or not, because the fact is that in the situation the characters are in when they think things they have thought before, it is all too understandable that they would be doing so. It’s a case of a book being incredibly true to life that in reading it one can see how silly us humans can be when we get in a pickle.

The subplot of Cat’s (Gran) relationship with her potential boyfriend works when it’s part of a scene or is a way of advancing the main plot, but otherwise it can be distracting and out of place. Of course there is nothing wrong with an older couple beginning a relationship, and indeed it’s rather lovely to read about and on a par with Sean and Emma, but it would have been better in it’s own book.

When I read Jane’s review of this book at Dear Author I was torn – I loved the sound of it but at the same time I couldn’t help but think that I’d find it too stereotypical. Jane was right. Stacey has written a fantastic book that looks at different issues couples face (from the time Sean moves in) in a way that means it’s incredibly easy to relate to no matter if you can relate to one of the issues or all of them. And she does so with humour and sincerity, and a great deal of heart.

And I am going to step forward and say I really, truly, enjoyed it.

I received this book for review from Carina Press.

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Sugar and spice and everything nice, and maybe some frogs and snails, too.

Publisher: Orion Books
Pages: 310
Type: Fiction
Age: Adult
ISBN: 978-0-7528-8396-0
First Published: 2009
Date Reviewed: 1st July 2011
Rating: 3.5/5

Denton, a novelist and ex-Town Marshal from America, now living in England, has had issues with enemies before. Now, in amongst his fan mail is a letter from a man who wants a signed copy of every book he’s written, but doesn’t provide an address. And there is a letter from someone who has found a letter addressed to Denton that speaks of fear. Mary Thomason is afraid, but what of, and why was her letter to Denton not sent?

This is the second book about Denton, but although there are references to the first, The Bohemian Girl can be read as a standalone, which is just as well in this reviewer’s case. Lured by a beautiful hardback and later the reader of the paperback, she didn’t know a first book existed until she sat down to read the second.

Atkins stopped him at the front door. “Going to rain.” He held out an umbrella.
“I’m not English.”
Atkins draped a mackintosh over his left arm. “The rain will be.”

The Bohemian Girl begins with great promise and keeps it up for a good length of time. The setting is Victorian/Edwardian England (the book takes place after Victoria’s death but before the coronation of her son), gritty and full of period detail. The characters are fun to read about and because of them it’s very much a cross between Sherlock Holmes, at least the film, and Philip Pullman’s Sally Lockhart Quartet – for the good relationship between master and sidekick, and the thrill of mystery. The relationship between Denton and Atkins is complimented by fast-paced dialogue that is a lot of the reason for the humour. The female character, Mrs Striker, is one of those strong heroines who makes historical fiction so readable in our current time.

Yet the writing could be more detailed in itself. Sometimes it’s difficult to understand what Cameron is trying to say because he will leave out required words or use words that don’t quite work. His inclusion of accents doesn’t always stay true to the reality of what they actually sound like, and sometimes it seems he forgot that he gave a person an accent once upon a time.

But it’s the plot that really lets the story down. Although there is not so much intrigue and mystery for the reader (one gets the sense Cameron thought he was providing enough, and unfortunately he was wrong) the first two thirds or thereabouts are interesting and there are plenty of reasons to keep reading. But then it just stops, and the story becomes more about medicine, and there came a time when I wondered if Cameron had had a mid-book crisis and decided he wanted to write about philosophy instead. This part of the book is written in the manner of a film sequence where they show you glimpses of different days one after the other, the sort of stuff that has sorrowful music behind it as day after day a person tries to get something done. The technique doesn’t really work in a book.

The issue with there being not enough intrigue is the in the sparse details. Well, they aren’t really sparse, but there aren’t as many as in other novels of the same nature. It’s as though Denton is ready to work hard to find answers, but Cameron thinks that taking it slowly is better. It’s a case of there not being enough “get-up-and-go”. And there is little work done to create good red herrings or a good basis for the reader to decide who did the crime.

The romantic subplot is crafted well and Cameron stays true to the person he made in Mrs Striker, keeping her strong throughout.

The Bohemian Girl is a good enough book, but Cameron needs to believe in his characters more and let them guide him. He succeeds in writing about England (no exotics or the like) and has the skill to write a masterpiece. Unfortunately this particular book isn’t it, but it’s a definite step in the right direction.

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