Book Review

Book Review: “Vatican Daughter” by Joni Iraci

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Rating: 5 stars

Headline: A cat and mouse thriller, filled with lots of twists and turns that will keep you hooked until the very last page

Review:

Vatican Daughter is the new suspense thriller from American author Joni Iraci. Set predominantly in Italy, with brief nods to the cultures of New York City and Magallanes (Chile), the story follows the plight of Sophia as she searches, far and wide, for her long lost daughter Nevaeh. The twist to this tale is that the young Nevaeh is alive and well, secretly living a sheltered life behind the walls of Vatican City under the care of the Cardinal brotherhood. Unknown to Nevaeh, her true father is the pope himself, the American Papa Joseph (cue dramatic dun, dun, duuun!)

When talking about her inspiration for this 274 page novel, Iraci notes the true story of papal kidnappings of Jewish children in 1859. It is why it is also interesting to see this story to hop between different points of view, allowing readers to get close and personal to Sophia’s plight, while also following in the footsteps of Papa Joseph and the internal politics of Vatican City as senior member try to grapple with the situation. Papa Joseph cares of only one thing, stopping Sophia. The implications of either character failing their mission is clear-cut which makes Vatican Daughter very much a cat and mouse thriller, with all the twists and turns that keep readers hooked until the very last page.

The book is a great read, with well developed characters across the board. You get absorbed in the internal conflicts of many of the secondary players alongside the headline cast. Sophia represents a strong female lead who shows incredible strength and determination regardless of the setback. Scene setting also strikes a perfect balance between world building and description dumps, providing an immersive reading experience where readers can absorb all the sights, smells and tastes of the places where the characters are placed.

The fact that Iraci drops the bombshell of Nevaeh’s parentage in the opening chapter perfectly sets the tone for the rest of the book. There is no drawn out delay to the discovery, no intention of using this to boost a saggy middle. Readers learn this alongside Cardinal Roselli in the famous “Crying Room” beyond the Sistine Chapel, moments before Joseph adopts the papacy. This is a bold and clever move, hooking readers from the very first page.

A suspenseful thriller, in every sense.

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Book Review: “Chat Your Way To Startup Success” by Giovanna JC

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Rating: 5 stars

Headline: An easy and understandable guide on using ChatGPT for startup marketing success

Review:

With a strong background as a seasoned marketing director and entrepreneur, Giovanna JC brings her professional experience into print with her newest publication, Chat Your Way to Startup Success. To make the most of this guide, the only tools the reader requires, other than this book, is access to AI generated software (in this case, the popularised platform ChatGPT).

Spanning 95 pages cover to cover, JC’s mission statement is to create a guide that is simple and direct, to provide readers with all the essential information they need to use ChatGPT effectively. It is intended to be consumed within two hours and the guidance applied into the workplace immediately after that. A book of five chapters, the book’s core guidance can be distilled within the central three, “defining your stuartup’s marketing strategy”, “streamlining your marketing strategy with ChatGPT” and “implementing your marketing strategy”.

With Chat Your Way to Startup Success, JC has brought to the market a guide that is well written and very easy to understand. The tone of authorship voice throughout is highly informal and simple to understand, making it perfect for AI novices, looking for easy-to-follow tutorial guidance that avoids overly complex terminology or hours of mindless scrolling on the internet. Visual pops of colour, and infrequent questions throughout keep content engaging by gently challenging readers on their understanding of each topic, as well as frequent author provided examples to demonstrate how to effectively use AI (and how not to!)

Chat Your Way to Startup Success would serve as a great gift to audiences newer to AI, over those who are already experts in the field of ChatGPT and marketing tools in general. Excluding this proportion of the market, JC’s writing results in a great snappy read for those needing a broad introduction to the benefits of effective AI use. It is an engaging and insightful book, written in a way that makes this type of content highly accessible and non-judgemental to those who are less confident when it comes to using AI software.

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Author Website: Goodliving Publishing | Books for the Small Business Owner

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Book Review: “Bricks and Experiments” by Lindsay Whitman Drewes

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Rating: 5 stars

Headline: Bricks and Experiments – a book that is both fun and educational. What’s not to like?

Review:

Bricks and Experiments by Lindsay Whitman Drewes combines two things guaranteed to get any child excited: toy construction bricks and all things gooey, slimy and fizzy. Contained in this colourful book are ten different science experiments to get children engaging with simple chemical and physical reactions, from “the floor is lava” to “sailboat races”. For each experiment, Whitman Drewes, a former middle school science teacher, provides a detailed description of the challenge, recipes for the experiment and then a full explanation of the science underpinning it. Accompanying each challenge are a array of beautifully shot photos, which add to the fun and energy of content.

The end of the book is filled with brick challenge cards of varying levels of difficultly (e.g. “build a house” and “make a marble maze”), alongside space for scientific notes and the chance for smaller hands to create stud art (with visual examples provided for guidance).

It is hard to not enjoy this book, it sets out to achieve and more. And while the Danish brand (the one beginning with L) is not mentioned explicitly in this fun picture guide, it is clear from the title and cover art that ownership of a set of yellow plastic people and multicoloured bricks is essential to engage with the experiments. Equally, the involvement of a responsible adult is also an important feature, as close to all the experiments require the use of chemicals which could be damaging to smaller hands if not used in the appropriate way.

At a push it could be argued that the demographic age range is too broad for marketing this book (it is currently targeted as suitable for ages 4-18 on a popular online marketplace), but hopefully this is something easily rectifiable and an aspect Whitman Drewes will address when she starts marketing this book.

Bricks and Experiments is a great book, one which is both fun and educational. What’s not to like?

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Book Review: “Hallelujah” by Niko Janarek

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Rating: 2 stars

Headline: A twisted coming of age tale, packed with poetic language but lacking structural execution

Review:

*This review contains spoilers*

Hallelujah by Niko Janarek is a short story of a small disfunctional family; brothers Josh and Georgie, their mother and grandfather Bob. Tensions are present from start, particularly between Josh, a rebellious teenager who is artistically-minded and Bob, an alcoholic who would rather see his grandson peruse a career in the army. A heated spat ensues between the two generational alphas, resulting in the off-scene death of Bob, after he stumbles back to his bedroom.

Acts two and three follow closely Josh and the young Georgie, who rapidly try to conceal the body of their deceased grandfather. Appearances of the mother figure become fleeting; her sudden change in personality (including instances of extreme paranoia and denial), suggest a character undergoing severe mental trauma. Her knowledgement of her feather’s death occurs towards the end of act three, when she walks in on Josh attempting to set Bob’s body on fire. Believe it or not, things escalate further from there.

As a reviewer it hurts me to score this book two stars out of five. The writing and poetic language is deployed nicely for some of the early scene setting and during dramatic events, this could have, and shoud have, been a better book. Hallelujah‘s main problem lies in the storytelling itself. Some events happen at too slow a pace while other important areas are seemingly skipped over altogether. Given the lack of transparency around Bob’s cause of death, there is a massive plot hole in Josh’s thought process as to why his instant reaction is to conceal the body.

Other minor details include not establishing Georgie’s age (his mannerisms are that of a very young child, yet he appears capable of manoeuvring a heavy body into a shallow grave) and the heavy use of expletive language in too short space of time. Josh’s frustrations could be shown better through internal monologues and his interactions with the outside world.

Hallelujah, a twisted coming of age tale of one boy’s transition into manhood, has all the creative skill to make it a good read, if only the structural foundations were not as sandy.

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Book Review: “Mastering Classic Cocktails” by C. Townsend Brady

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Rating: 3 stars

Headline: An interesting book, although it is not entirely clear who the intended audience is

Review:

Who doesn’t love a good cocktail? I would slurp on one of these fine beverages any time, any place if I could. Only trouble is, I never seem to be blessed with knowing where to start when it comes to making the delightful things.

To use its full title, Mastering Classic Cocktails: Recipes and Techniques for the Home Bartender is, in truth, more a cocktail bible than a cocktail recipe book. C. Townsend Brady brings his experience as a home bartender with a multitude of professional accreditations and connections on the San Francisco bartender circuit) to give a low-down on cocktails for the slightly less experienced.

Covered in this colourful two hundred page guide are not only recipes for all your cocktail favourites but also finer details around the tasting notes and history of each drink, with a wrap around history on the backstory of the cocktail beverages we know and love today. Beautiful shot photography can be found on every page, further enticing readers into rolling up their sleeves and giving these drinks a go.

Mastering Classic Cocktails itself is a good enough book, although personally I feel there is a little too much content to fully enjoy the nuggets of insight. For example, the introductory “brief history of cocktails” comes in at six pages of dense copy and a number of drink recipes contain somewhat extensive information, more than is needed to get the gist of the drink. The result can be at times a bit overwhelming.

Mastering Classic Cocktails is ultimately deep dive publication for cocktail fans, with bonus recipes. It is not entirely clear who the intended audience is, cocktail novices or cocktail purists, but who those who enjoy reading extensively on the subject there is a lot to take away from Townsend Brady’s insight.

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Poetry Review: “Defining Thoughts Poetry” by Victoria Halton

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Rating: 2 stars

Headline: Poor formatting and overuse of purple prose prevent “Defining Thoughts Poetry” from being the collection it could be

Review:

Defining Thoughts Poetry is the new poetry publication by Victoria Halton. A cross between poetry and storytelling, this eighty-eight page collection aims to, as Halton presents it, transport readers to a world “where extortionary becomes reality”. The book also includes photographic shots, which add flavour and drama towards the written content.

Within this collection, most of Halton’s poems follow a conventional layout of non-rhyming three and four line stanzas and, while there is nothing explicitly linking the poems, patterns soon emerge in Halton’s enchanting descriptions of scenes and locations. The strong writing calibre serves as a strong reminder that this is not Halton’s first entry into the poetry market. The poem “Remember the Scent” was a personal favourite, in its depiction of both a relatable experience, cleverly demonstrating the intertwined link between smell and memory.

The book’s main challenges come, in many ways, within its strengths. While it is an impressive talent, Halton’s over use of purple prose damages the reading experience, leaving readers tangled in excessive flowery and ornate language that loses meaning. It makes Defining Thoughts Poetry confusing, if not impenetrable, at points.

There is also the major issue of book’s formatting. Somewhere along the line Halton and/or her team decided to put the copy of this book onto a bronze ripple effect background. Unfortunately doing this makes the book incredibly hard to read, as the varying backing colours fight against the copy overlayed on top. When the copy already demands a good deal of thought and consideration, the background serves as an additional, and unneeded, distraction. The book should have been published on a standardised white background.

Reading Defining Thoughts Poetry inspires a mixture of conflicting thoughts and feelings. While on the surface this is a book that had every potential to succeed, its failings are difficult to overlook. If Halton reigned in her use of purple prose, this could have had the bones of an exceptional read. The truth is, sometimes you just want a spade to be called a spade.

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Book Review: “The Resilient Scaleup: The CEO’s Guide to Growing a Business Sustainably” by Reginald James

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Rating: 5 stars

Headline: Next time someone has plans for world domination, I know where to send them

Review:

Having worked in digital transformation for well over half a decade, I have seen first hand the raw passion and drive of many new businesses, from those treating it as a side-gig alongside fulltime employment through to individuals who are looking to expand their operation as a means to ultimately become the next big thing.

The Resilient Scaleup: The CEO’s Guide to Growing a Business Sustainably (hereafter The Resilient Scaleup) by Reginald James is the guide that I wish I could have given to my peers in the past. It is a business management guide that is not only unafraid to not only state some of the cold realities of scaling up, but also embrace them. James’ mantra can be boiled down to simplicities, that every year thousands of small business fail and while you may aspire to be an operation with cult-like following, you’re not Apple. At least not yet.

That is what I particularly like about this guide, its no nonsense approach hits you with the truth followed swiftly by reassurance. Take one such example, where the author details how Apple could be classed as a level five firm for employee respect (where employees practically worship the product), most companies fall somewhere between a more modest level two or three. Having low employee morale is not incurable as long as CEOs work rapidly to address the fault lines and, perhaps crucially, do not see recruitment as a cure. In The Resilient Scaleup, James pitches the argument that expansion is not always the answer.

For start-up leaders determined to scaleup, James also covers off in significant detail the right (and wrong) ways to recruit and maintain incoming talent and essential CEO skills to bring existing employees on that scaleup journey. With helpful illustrative drawings peppered throughout, it is a highly consumable guide that can be returned to throughout the scaleup process.

I was a little surprised that, given the title, the content makes no mention of environmental factors (the word “sustainability” presently being synonymous with the climate debate). Despite this, the content in The Resilient Scaleup more than makes up for this oversight and remains a highly recommendable book to business entrepreneurs. Next time someone gushes over their plans for world domination, I know where to send them.

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Author Website: https://www.reginaldljames.com/

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Book Review: “What We Don’t Know About Our Friends” by L Christie

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Rating: 3 stars

Headline: A thought-provoking collection of short stories which could have been improved with better place setting

Review:

What We Don’t Know About Our Friends is a collection of three short stories by the British author L Christie. While the three stories are separate to each other, the tales contain similar underlying themes surround love, friendship and what it means to be human in an increasingly digital age.

“Meet me @” follows the story of Kieron as he comes to terms with the loss of his close friend, Sarah. When Kieron starts receiving mysterious calls from Sarah’s mobile phone, many are quick to dismiss him, but is it possible that Sarah’s spirit still lives on?

“The Dialogue Tree” features two characters across the mortal and virtual divide. After losing his life partner, Milton turns to artificial intelligence to bring back his beloved Desiree. Whether he is ready for what this version of Desiree is another thing altogether.

Set in the backstreets of 1847 Zurich, “Tia’s Inheritance” places the titled protagonist in the heart of emotional conflict, marry into money at the expense of happiness or escape, poor and isolated.

The premise of all three stories have potential, particularly “Tia’s Inheritance” which could have been expanded to become a novel or novella in its own right. The story-telling itself is weakened in the places where the author, Christie, chooses to convey a lot of information by telling the readers what is happening, unknowingly skipping over swathes of detail in the process. There is a distinct lack of place setting in all three stories, information which makes the stories feel hurried at times and disconnected from the locations which feel a bit flat.

The book’s opening has trigger warnings that, in my view, never fully come to pass. For example, it is suggested that themes of homosexual awakenings are addressed in the book, yet the one place where this is possibly alluded to is so vague it would be easy to overlook it altogether. The precursor to “Tia Inheritance”, a reader warning to not to consume poisonous berries, also feels like a statement that should not be needed in a book written for adults.

There are elements of nice storytelling in What We Don’t Know About Our Friends, a book that needed better place setting to score higher than 3 stars.

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Book Review: “Teaching Kids Good Money Habits” by Mario A. Vasquez

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Rating: 5 stars

Headline: Essential reading for any parent tackling the knotty topic of financial education

Review:

In the modern day and age it is hard to know how to best impart financial guidance on the young minds of the future, with many parents are left wondering how to best teach their children about the value of money in a society where many items are acquired with lightest of taps from a piece of coloured plastic.

In Teaching Kids Good Money Habits, author Mario A. Vasquez details the seven ways parents can support their children to become more financially literate. As well as being grounded in the author’s educational credentials, it is a guide written by a parent, for parents. In the view of Vasquez, no child is too young or too old to start receiving a financial education. There are one or two exceptions to this, including in the opening chapter on teaching the value of money, but otherwise this is a book best treated as a catch-all guide for any and all children aged four years to sixteen.

Teaching Kids Good Money Habits is a good, informative guide. As a book it broadly aims to demystify the knotty topic of financial education, helping parents bridge the gap where, through funding cuts and a restrictive timetable, state education services are not able. The tone of voice is nicely balanced so content never feels overwhelmingly tedious or too overly informal which is perfect for the intended parental audience with formatting constructed of block paragraphs. With a page length coming in at around 120 pages it feels like a manageable guide for any time-strapped parent.

Essential reading for any parent tackling the knotty topic of financial education, Teaching Kids Good Money Habits is a book I would recommend to adults; it is worthy of the reading time investment and very much worthy of a five star review.

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Poetry Review: “Cairo” by Kolton Lane

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Rating: A well-written poetry collection set across the shores of America and Egypt

Headline: 4 stars

Review:

Cairo is the new poetry collection from the author Kolton Lane. Despite the title, Cairo splits itself into two distinct geographical regions, the first half focusing itself on America and the second on Egypt. There is also a final third section which is comprised of a short story titled “Inseparable Threads”, which is set in Kansas, America.

Poems in this book follow what many would consider to be a traditionalist, conventional style of poetry, with block stanzas and rhyming couples used frequently to great effect. There is a sense of clam and ease while reading the poems, that nothing within the reader’s eye needs to be rushed. Personal favourites include the poems “Waters of the Nile” and “Dust Storms” which romanticises the arterial river which dominates the very fabric of what Egypt is and was.

The inclusion of the short story “Inseparable Threads” feels a bit out of kilter with the rest of the book. While like the rest of the book, the words are well written, by the author’s own admission, it is not a integral part of the collection. In the foreword preceding the story, Lane states, “who knows, maybe the next book may be a collection of short stories.” It is an element that probably should have been debuted elsewhere. The title of this book, Cairo, might also have benefitted from being more flattering to the boarder locations referenced, seeing as the first half the book is set in America and the second half does not limit itself to the city boarders of the Egyptian capital.

When it comes to poetry, the best collections are the ones with either a sense of urgency or a sense of place. With Cairo, Lane has successfully managed to target the latter camp to great effect. With poems that are well put together with nice deployment of visual language, reading this book will make you long for sunny days on distant shores.

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