I review everything I read, on my blog and on Goodreads. Most reviews are of a decent length but sometimes you don't have much to say about the book because of its length or you DNFed it or various other reasons. In cases like that it makes sense to write a few mini reviews in one post and clear them out your way! So lets catch up with reviews from April and May.
This is a true story. The events depicted took place during the last decade in an unnamed warzone. The names and locations have been redacted to protect the security of those involved and the practices of the British Special Forces. Out of respect for the KIA and survivors, everything else has been told as it happened…
Jason Fox served with the SBS for over a decade, thriving on the close bonds of the Special Forces brotherhood and the ‘death or glory’ nature of their missions. Battle Scars tells the story of his career as an elite operator, from the gunfights, hostage rescues, daring escapes and heroic endeavours that defined his service, to a battle of a very different kind: the psychological devastation of combat that ultimately forced him to leave the military, and the hard reality of what takes place in the mind of a man once a career of imagined invincibility has come to an end.
Unflinchingly honest, Battle Scars is a breathtaking account of Special Forces soldiering: a chronicle of operational bravery, and of superhuman courage on and off the battlefield.
I first came across Foxy in the hit TV Show SAS Who Dares Wins, where ex-SAS men train members of the public to see if any would be tough enough to pass the brutal selection process. I love the series and rushed out to buy the books by Ant and Foxy when I saw them. It starts with Foxy in a foreign warzone having a mental meltdown that puts him in real danger. His descriptions of the battle area, the confusion and shooting, the conditions and the fear he was feeling show exactly what our brave armed forces put up with on deployment and I really admire him. Foxy talks about his gradual disengagement from the job he loves after he gets home, the feelings of fear for his next mission, breakdown of personal relationships and how he was able to finally confess the mental health issues that followed. He then dealt with being ejected from the military, avoiding his colleagues through shame and struggling to find treatment that worked for him as he faced an uncertain civilian life.
The book was really interesting but be advised that the main focus of the book is the mental health side of it and the treatments that Foxy tried. There are small bits of the deployments that he went on and the training provided for him but don't go into it expecting a military memoir. I think Foxy is brave to speak out on something that the military like to sweep under the carpet and there must be better treatment and support for soldiers like him in the future.
Read April 2019
3 stars.
2) Naomi Alderman-Zombies, Run! From the creators of the bestselling app, Zombies, Run!, comes a guide to motivate even the most relucant fitness-phobic to get moving and to eat well. Stick to your new year's resolutions, achieve your fitness goals and have fun while you're doing it. The zombie apocalypse is here. We have all lost a lot, but we are surviving. Together we will overcome the outbreak but we need every man, women and child to do their bit. This is an informational guide to help you stay fit and healthy in both body and mind during the crisis. It includes:
- Indoor activities that build the strength, stamina and flexibility you need to survive contact with the zombie hordes
- Expertly-designed running, cycling and swimming programmes to build up your distance safely when venturing out for supplies
- Advice on nutritious meals when resources are sparse and treats need to be rationed
- Tips on building and maintaining a community and remaining fit of mind when humanity is pushed to the brink
This was the helpful book airdropped to survivors of the zombie apocalypse by the Ministry to give them vital tips about remaining fit and healthy, dispatching zombies safely, working towards a new community and living the best life possible under the circumstances. I've read several of these guides to apocalypses and this is one of the better ones. The chapters on indoor exercise are actually really useful for anti-social people who prefer to get fit in private rather than on display at a gym. I hope to be trying out quite a few of them! I really liked the 'real life case studies' of survivors who told often funny stories of things that worked and didn't work in the apocalypse. I could just imagine the British people sending in their stories like a reader's letters page in a newspaper!
I always thought that the app sounded like a good way to make exercise a bit more interesting rather than just pounding away on a treadmill but as I don't have a mobile phone and have no interest in getting one, I thought the book would be fun to read. I certainly did like it for entertainment and I'll find the indoor exercise guide helpful for the future!
Read May 2019
3 stars.
Full details on the battle that marked the end of the reign of Richard III and the rise of the Tudor dynasty
Bosworth Field saw the two great dynasties of the day clash on the battlefield: the reigning House of York, led by Richard III, against the rising House of Tudor, led Henry Tudor, soon to become Henry VII. On August 22, 1485, this penultimate battle in the War of the Roses was fought with the might of the Lancastrian army ranged against the Yorkists. This book describes how these two great armies came to meet on the battlefield and how the tactics employed by the Yorkists eventually led to their defeat and the death of King Richard III.
I picked this book up cheap and actually found it very interesting. It goes into the history of the War of the Roses, the commanders, who was on what sides, the types of soldiers, their weaponry, and a look at the lives of Henry Tudor and Richard III. It details the rebellions and the gradual march to war which ends with the battle itself. The author indicates where he thinks each army was lined up according to eye witness reports and how the battle progressed and ended. For anyone interested in finding out more about the War of the Roses and the start of the Tudor dynasty, it is a good introduction.
Read May 2019
3 stars.
4) Nick Lancaster-Pandemia A virus outbreak in China is quickly spread to the United States. The US Government tries to quarantine the infection but despite rigorous protocols the virus manages to infect the general population. Fortunately Mike has been preparing to survive in the event that society changed or collapsed around him. Now he and Liz must use all their resources to stay alive and try to rescue their loved ones.
The story is quite a typical prepper plot-prepper becomes aware of a threat to his family from a raging pandemic and gets safely to the remote cabin that should keep them safe. It is the type of scenario that I never get tired of reading and will always seek out. In this case Mike is our prepper hero who decides to get his wife safely to the family cabin to ride out the pandemic in what they hope is safety.
The formatting in this book is pretty dreadful-at least my copy was. There are huge gaps between every line and some pages only contain about 10 lines of writing on them. There are bad spelling and grammar issues too. I can ignore this kind of thing if the book has a fantastically written story but not in this case. The story itself is fine if you ignore the abject stupidity of the things that the characters are doing, and the anti-corporate rants but there is nothing really that new to it and it does have the cliche prepper wife who questions everything, doesn't support her husband's prepping and complains a lot. The stupidity includes talking to the rest of the family on the phone as the pandemic starts but not making an agreement to all meet at the cabin, then after the pandemic and loss of contact, leaving the refuge to try and collect those family members. A family member already infected says nothing about it on the phone causing Mike to drive for hours and risk his life, to arrive and be told 'you shouldn't have come'. Mike then decides to report the family member to FEMA and watches him being dragged away before wondering if it would've been better to let him die in his own house in peace. Yeah good one.
It is an ok story but not something I would rush out to buy or continue on with the series.
Read May 2019
2.5 stars.
In 1533 Katherine Willoughby married Charles Brandon, Henry VIII's closest friend. She would go on to serve at the court of every Tudor monarch bar Henry VII and Mary Tudor. Duchess of Suffolk at the age of fourteen, she became a powerful woman ruling over her houses at Grimsthorpe and Tattershall in Lincolnshire and wielding subtle influence through her proximity to the king. She grew to know Henry well. In 1538, only three months after Jane Seymour's death, it was reported that they had been 'masking and visiting' together, and in 1543 she became a lady-in-waiting to his sixth wife, Catherine Parr. Henry had a reputation for tiring of his wives once the excitement of the pursuit was over, and in February 1546, only six months after Charles Brandon's death, it was rumoured that Henry intended to wed Katherine Willoughby himself if he could end his present marriage. This is the remarkable story of a life of privilege, tragedy and danger, of a woman who nearly became the seventh wife of Henry VIII.
This was another book that I picked up cheap and enjoyed. The book delves into the life of Katherine as she becomes a ward and then the young wife of Charles Brandon, friend of King Henry VIII. Brandon is a character that has always fascinated me ever since I first watched The Tudors on TV, with several books praising him as a kind and generous man, while others talk of a nasty and brutal man-depending on the stance of individual authors and which Queen they loved. It was interesting to see a bit about his marriage to Katherine covered in the book, which also paints him in a favourable light.
Katherine herself is an interesting Tudor woman-independent and outspoken, becoming fanatical about the new religion and having to avoid her Catholic enemies because of it. It looks at her interactions with various monarchs like Mary and Elizabeth I, her friendship with Queen Katherine Parr and her difficulties with the wife of her son. We also see the various tragic events in her life as well as her exile in Europe. It all paints a fascinating picture of the woman. However the one thing missing was any real evidence of any romantic relationship with Henry VIII or any prospect of her being his next wife. A few vague pieces of gossip prove nothing to me really but I still liked the book.
Read May 2019
3.5 stars.
Zombies, Run! sounds like my kind of book. :D
ReplyDeleteIt was an entertaining read!
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