Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Fred Blunt GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: July 9, 2024 RATING: 5 booming woofs! ( Or should that be ‘5 snarky meows’? ) In a Nutshell: Such an adorable picture book! Funny and sweet! Perfect for all little pet lovers. Had the title just been “All You Need to Know About Dogs”, this would have been yet another truthful report confirming how dogs are so awesome. What makes a difference is the author. Not Fred Blunt - he’s only the second credited author (and illustrator.) The main author is A. Cat. *wink wink* And as we all know, cats are masters of sarcastic looks and condescending remarks. Needless to say, when “A. Cat” writes a book about dogs, the result is hilarious. Our feline author-cum-narrator declares that dogs are stupid. He voices his opinion in a style typical of cats: bored, fed up, and crotchety. Every page aims to highlight how dogs make life difficult. And of course, there is praise for cats. Just when you begin to think tha...

AUTHOR: Ethan Joella GENRE: Literary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: July 2, 2024 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: If you know Ethan Joella’s writing, you know what to expect from this. A character-oriented literary fiction with multiple emotional hues. Focusses on the interplay of relationships across family, friends, and employees. Well-written plot, balanced emotions, excellent character sketches. Recommended! Plot Preview: Fifty-two-year-old Jack Schmidt has been taking care of the family restaurant since his college years. And now he is tired. He has always put the restaurant first in his life, even at the cost of relationships and friendships. With no family around, he wonders if he should have done things differently. When the DelDine corporation approaches Jack with a takeover offer, his initial reluctance slowly gives way to consideration. But what is Jack without Schmidt’s? Can he trust a corporation to take care of his family’s legacy and his staff the way he did? The story come...

AUTHOR: LambCat GENRE: Colouring Book PUBLICATION DATE: July 9, 2024 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A good option for CPC fans who also like to colour. While we all must have used colouring books in our childhood, the last few years have seen a boom in colouring books for adults. These are supposed to relieve stress, help with anxiety, and improve focus. But I don’t see myself using colouring books. In fact, I have not touched a colouring book since my childhood ( unless you count the ones I “touched” when I handed them over to my kiddos. ) As my friends can guess, I got this mainly for the CPC characters. I have no idea how to review a colouring book! 😆 Here are just some ramblings that are hopefully helpful: 🦞 This book has 46 full-page illustrations. The coloured version is on the left and the B&W sketch outline is on the right. 🦙 The graphics cover almost all the main characters of the CPC series. The only key characters who aren’t present here are King Leland and his wi...

AUTHOR: Rebecca Serle GENRE: Short Story PUBLICATION DATE: April 27, 2023 RATING: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A short story about a mother and daughter ready to begin the next phase of their lives. Interesting from start to end, but it never feels mind-blowing. End result: meh. A one-time read. Plot Preview: Charlie’s mom Sandra is a successful magician who has been entertaining audiences for decades. Her special act is when she levitates in air, with no one able to understand how she defies gravity. After all these years in New York, Sandra has now approached Charlie with a bombshell: she is moving to Santa Fe. The timing couldn’t have been worse, as Charlie herself is expecting, and the house where she lives with her husband is still not done with renovations. The story comes to us in Charlie’s first-person perspective. This is the first standalone story in the 'Good Intentions’ series, described on Amazon as “a riveting collection of stories about the instincts, fears, and fierce ...

AUTHOR: Juli Min GENRE: Literary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: May 7, 2024 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A literary fiction structured in reverse, going from 2040 to 2014. Character-driven all the way. The structure is what will make or break your experience. I loved it, despite the few gaps in the jigsaw. A marvellous debut. And guess what, I am an outlier… on the positive side – Yippee! 🥳 Plot Preview: 2040. After dropping off his family at the airport, real estate businessman and Shanghai local Leo Yang is in the train back to the city. On the journey, he mulls over why his wife insisted on accompanying his two elder daughters to Boston, though they are grown up enough to travel independently. Leo’s family comprises his wife Eko, an artistic Japanese-French woman who is tired of Shanghai, and his three daughters, Yumi (20, self-obsessed, and has a dark secret), Yoko (18, academically inclined, and has a dark secret), and Yukiko (16, the baby of the family, and has a dark secret.) A...

AUTHOR: Sophie Escabasse GENRE: Middle-grade Graphic Novel PUBLICATION DATE: September 3, 2024 RATING: 4.5 stars In a Nutshell: A middle-grade graphic novel combining entertainment as well as value-addition. The title isn’t an exact indicator of the content, but don’t let this turn you away. Strongly recommended to the target age group. Plot Preview: When Adèle hits puberty, the last thing she expects is the arrival of a new skill: the ability to interact with ghosts. No one had told her that she comes from a long line of mediums. Her grandmother isn’t happy that Adèle has inherited the family gift, but Adèle’s elder sister Helen encourages her to explore the gift and decide for herself. The interactions seem okay at first, but soon Adèle learns that the ghosts are trying to get in touch with her for an important reason. Bookish Yays: 👻 Adèle: Constantly worries about her pimples, loves books and the library, adores her family, is courageous about doing the correct thing. A great ...

AUTHOR: Zack Bush ILLUSTRATOR: Gregorio De Laurentis GENRE: Children's Picture Book PUBLICATION DATE: March 1, 2018 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A sweet bedtime story from a father to his child. Cute graphics, great sentiments. This bedtime story is written from a dad’s perspective, addressing his little child as they prepare for bedtime. As there’s no mom in the story or illustrations, the dad is a hand-on father, doing everything for his child without hesitation. Each page contains only a two-line verse, so the look is quite clutter-free. The couplets are written in simple rhythmic prose. Most of the rhymes are well done, with only a couple of them feeling forced. However, the tenses are all over the place, with the text juggling across past, present and future randomly. There are also a couple of redundancies, such as ‘small tiny hands”. The issues I mentioned are mostly ones that only adults with notice so kiddos shouldn’t have a problem with this sweet book. I love th...

AUTHOR: Nina Schuyler GENRE: Officially, Short Story Collection. Practically, Literary Composite Novel. PUBLICATION DATE: July 2, 2024 RATING: 3.5 stars. In a Nutshell: Officially, a short story collection with interlinked stories, but I think this works better as a composite novel. Good for those who like character-oriented narratives and literary fiction. The blurb describes this book as “a sweeping, impassioned short story collection, ringing out with joy, despair, and hope for the natural world. Nine connected stories unfold, bringing together an unforgettable cast of dreamers, escapists, activists, and artists, creating a kaleidoscopic view of the climate crisis.” All the above are valid points, and almost all are true of this book. Where the description doesn’t match my experience is in the idea of this being a “short story collection.” Everyone who reads story collections/anthologies knows the structure/pattern of a short story. It is quite distinct from that of a novel, rega...

AUTHOR: LambCat GENRE: Learn to Draw Tutorial Book. PUBLICATION DATE: July 9, 2024 RATING: 5 sparkly stars as bright as Prince Jamie! In a Nutshell: The title doesn’t do this justice. It is so much more than a typical “Learn to Draw” book. Much recommended to aspiring comic artists and CPC fans. (This is a biased review because I adore the CPC series.) I used to be fond of drawing in my younger days, but have long given up on the hobby due to time constraints. However, I didn’t grab this title to reignite my passion for artwork. Rather, I pounced upon it because I am a newly-minted super fan of the ‘Cursed Princess Club’ graphic novel series, which I read earlier this year on Webtoon and consider one of the best graphic novels, ever! I thought it would take me about 10 minutes to breeze through this book. After all, how much time does it take to look at instructions on drawing? I was so wrong! In reality, it took me over an hour to complete, because the content was fascinating, and ...

AUTHOR: George Orwell GENRE: Essay PUBLICATION DATE: May 3, 1946 RATING: 3.5 stars. A witty essay by George Orwell, taking a frank look at book reviewers and their tribulations. If the above makes you think that this essay is sympathetic to book reviewers, well… not exactly. We do get some support through lines such as this one: “…the prolonged, indiscriminate reviewing of books is a quite exceptionally thankless, irritating and exhausting job. It not only involves praising trash […] but constantly INVENTING reactions towards books about which one has no spontaneous feelings whatever.” But there is also enough light thrown upon the shortcuts taken by professional reviewers when they have to review material that they have no idea about, or worse, when they have to review an unappetising book without castigating it publicly. The tone in the essay is sarcastically humorous, and strongly underlined with honesty. Orwell’s literary work profile involved book reviewing, so the frustration in ...

AUTHOR: Mary Annaïse Heglar GENRE: Climate Change Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: May 7, 2024 RATING: 3.25 stars. In a Nutshell: A dramatic OwnVoices novel dealing with some powerful contemporary and historical themes. Has its heart in the right place, but mere intent isn’t enough. Wish it had been stronger in the core plot, more focussed in its themes, and more structured in its approach. It could have been brilliant, but ended up just decent. Plot Preview: 2013. Twenty-year-old Corinne has been passionate about the environment ever since she heard, in her childhood, about the Great Flood of 1927. But her fervour has increased after her brother died aboard an oil boat a year ago. Now Corinne is determined to do all she can to save the future from those intent on destroying the planet. However, in the course of her activism and a radical act she is planning, she ends up uncovering some skeletons that her grandmother Cora had buried deep inside her heart, from the time of the Civil Rig...

AUTHOR: Angélica Lopes TRANSLATOR: Zoë Perry NARRATOR: Dominique Franceschi GENRE: Drama PUBLICATION DATE: July 1, 2024 RATING: 3.75 stars. In a Nutshell: An English translation of a Portuguese novel, focussing on a group of lace makers who lives are connected to the Flores curse. Interesting plot, powerful themes, complicated characters. Recommended to literary fiction readers. Check the triggers though. Plot Preview: 2010. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Eighteen-year-old Alice is a rebel, fighting the patriarchal society and the female oppression in Brazil. When a relative passes a family heirloom – a lace veil – over to her, she discovers some secrets sewn into it. The secrets come from seven generations ago, in 1918, when a group of women discovered lace-making, and used it to change their lives. They would gather at the Flores house and work, even though the Flores women were shunned by many townspeople for being cursed to be “always unlucky in love.” As Alice learns more about the pa...

AUTHOR: Jules Howard ILLUSTRATOR: Gosia Herba GENRE: Children's Nonfiction, Animals PUBLICATION DATE: July 4, 2024 RATING: 4.25 stars. In a Nutshell: An informative and entertaining book offering you a multitude of reasons why you should “respect the insect.” Love the structure, the illustrations and the content. A couple of minor points could have been tackled better, but on the whole, definitely recommended to entomophiles as well as entomophobes. Bugs always get a bad rap. To a great extent, I can understand why. They seem creepy, they crawl in nooks and crannies and spring out unexpectedly, they bite, they sting, they fly too fast to be caught,… But bugs are also amazing! Disagree? Here’s a book that aims to get you to respect insects. I love that word choice: “respect”. The plan isn’t to make you love insects but to make you appreciate them. And hopefully, not swat or squash them anymore. ( Except cockroaches and female mosquitoes! I permit you to go wild and attack them w...

AUTHOR: T.J. Klune GENRE: Short Story PUBLICATION DATE: June 12, 2024 RATING: 4.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A bittersweet story filled with human emotions even though the central character is an android. This short story is a precursor to Klune’s ‘In the Lives of Puppets’. Much recommended to short fiction lovers, even if you haven’t read the book. Plot Preview: After almost a decade of service in a factory, “Douglas”, an android, is given a week of mandatory vacation in the world before he has to return and be reprogrammed. What happens during this week? Nothing can match the joy of reading a well-written story, long or short. And this, my friends, is an extremely well-written short story. ‘Reduce! Reuse! Recycle!’ is the precursor to  TJ Klune’s ‘In the Lives of Puppets’ . However, the story works perfectly as a standalone, and you won’t get any spoilers about the novel if you get to this first. ( That said, if you still haven’t read the book, please do so! ) Anything I reveal ...

AUTHOR: Ruth Hogan GENRE: Contemporary Fiction. PUBLICATION DATE: June 11, 2024 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A sweet and heartwarming contemporary novel about an eclectic group of characters who learn to live and work in harmony. Great for those who enjoy found family stories with relatable and loveable characters. Only one thing was a major bugbear for me, but it might not be an irritant for all. Definitely recommended to women’s fiction readers. Plot Preview: Seventy-four-year-old Venetia Hargreaves, recently widowed after almost fifty years of marriage, now has a huge empty house, a hefty bank balance, and a newfound determination to finally live her life the way she wants, even if her son Heron is adamant that she cannot survive on her own and forces her to employ a caretaker, or a “granny nanny”, as her grandson Kite puts it. But Venetia makes sure that her new employee Liberty follows her commands and no one else’s. When a dilapidated old ballroom comes on the market, the l...

AUTHOR: Emma Steele GENRE: Romance-Drama PUBLICATION DATE: June 6, 2024 RATING: 2 stars. In a Nutshell: The blurb calls this “a captivating love story on an epic scale”, and to a certain extent, it is. But the ‘epic’ part of it takes time to get used to. Too jumpy and random for my liking. The ending saved my rating to a great extent, but I doubt that every reader will be as happy with how matters come to a close. This is an outlier review. Plot Preview: Robbie and Jenn, who were together for five years but then separated since the last eight months, have finally reconciled. But just as Jenn is about to tell Robbie something on the way back home, a truck comes hurtling towards their car. Robbie is immediately thrown into Jenn’s past, where he watches her across various ages and situations, and thus learns more about her life than she had ever told him. But why is Robbie suddenly a spectator to Jenn’s past? Can he figure out what went wrong in their relationship eight months ago? Ca...