The Book of the Bothy by Pheobe Smith

Book review: "The Book of the Bothy"" is, surprise, surprise, about bothies. But what are bothies. Well a bothy is "a  mountain hut that's completely free to use as an overnight stop", thanks to the organisation called the MBA, the Mountain Bothies Association, and they are in remote locations far from roads, so this is a book for walkers and hikers of Britain, and those who love the countryside.

Firstly upon getting the book it is full colour. The beautiful picture on the front is typical of the pictures that follow inside. And the inside contains information about 26 bothies including one on the Balmoral estate, one that was set up as a remote hostel and one that was the very first bothy. Each entry has a little history about the building and sometimes a little detail about its past residents before the building was abandoned. Then there is a map, map reference, details of the route in (by foot), an alternative, more challenging route, what facilities each has (no toilets in most), what to look out for while you're there (wildlife etc.) as well as the author's bothy book entry, the bothy book being a book found at each bothy allowing visitors to write their thoughts down for the next set of visitors to find and read and add to.

The author's bothy book entries included things like imagining what the five-year-old girl who wrote an earlier entry felt whilst she stayed in this bothy in a typically beautiful location. These entries definitely helped to break up the more factual information bits that the rest of the book brings, as do the lovely full-colour pics of course, even if common themes do pop-up in them, such as talk of the mice that also live at the bothies, and the author's frustration when she realised she would have to share with others who arrived before her (but then it turned out alright anyway).

The book is suitable for beginners and also for experts I guess, although they may want to skip the early sections on what bothies are, the etiquette involved, what to take, as they probably know these parts or may disagree slightly.

There are some bothies missing from this book as it says there are over 100 in Britain, and this book covers just 26 of them. The author's reason for excluding the other 74 plus is that she "didn't want too large a spread so that there were no new ones for you to discover yourself - that is after all the joy of bothying."

As for me I've never been in a bothy before, and may never do so in the future, but at least I am aware of them now, and should I go on a walking holiday I have a new option available to me, possibly allowing me to explore parts of the country I would never otherwise have seen.

Published on 15 August 2015

Out now on AMAZON.

World War Moo: An Apocalypse Cow Novel by Michael Logan

Book review: “World War Moo” is the second book in the Apocalypse Cow series. If you’ve read the first you know what to expect from this one, zombies, OTT characters taking the mickey out of each other and cows. 

This story begins where it left off in the previous book, the zombie outbreak that started in cows has spread to humans and taken over the whole of Britain which is now cut off from the rest of the world. To bring the virus to an end the rest of the world is considering eliminating Britain, rather than find a cure for the disease, and it is the task of a group of individuals, some zombies who have learnt to control themselves, and some humans, to stop this. 

I got this book through entering a competition for the author to put my namesake in the book. Therefore there is a Tim Roast in this story, and needless to say I was most interested in how this particular character got on. He is the (“sorry excuse for a”) government chief scientist, with a “V-neck pullover, badly knotted tie, and a pair of glasses so ginormous they made his eyes look like snooker balls.” Thankfully he doesn’t get killed so is likely to appear in the next book in the series too. (Authors, I am available for more roles in books.)

Many of the other characters, such as a band of mercenaries that are called upon to infiltrate Britain, in the book are also namesakes of people who entered this competition, and you can tell by the way the author introduces and describes them that he had a lot of fun with it. 

The book is quirky, and has good scenes in it, such as a “bar full of bearded and smirking Noels (as in Noel Edmonds) cavorting in Christmas pullovers so garish they should have carried an epilepsy risk warning, playing pranks on each other and grinning smugly.” The story took a while to get going, what with the character introductions, re-introductions of characters from the first book and where they’d ended up, plus the setting the scene bits, and there are less cows than before, but once the story got going there was plenty of action and plenty of fun. 

Published on 9 June 2015

Available now on AMAZON

My review of the first book in the series: Apocalypse Cow

Danny Dread by Ben Davis

Book Review: "Despicable Me meets Diary of  a Wimpy Kid" says the description of this book "Danny Dread". The Diary of a Wimpy Kid element is because it follows Danny Dread who is a bit of a wimpy kid, "wouldn't even hurt a fly", and the Despicable Me element because of the villainous, comical scheming that goes on through the book reminiscent of Gru attempting to steal the moon.

Danny Dread is a boy, "the latest in line of the dastardly Dread clan of super villains". The only problem is he doesn't want to be a super villain, he dreams instead of being a superhero. And so the book follows him at "Demento's Academy for Young Evil Geniuses" where bullying isn't frowned upon, it's encouraged, and where Danny fails every subject. From there his secret desire to be a superhero is revealed, but what is his superpower? To mimic voices? And so he calls his alter-ego Mynah boy (after the Mynah bird), not to be confused with Minor Boy (which it is on multiple times in the book for comic effect).

What makes the book great is the comedy. First there is the situation, Danny Dread stuck in the Dread lair with his dad trying his bestest to get his son involved in his evil schemes, when all Danny wants to do is stop them. Then there are the characters and the relationships between them. For example there is Dad Dread's Gollum-like assistant Malevolo with his attempts to out Danny whilst being devoted to his master but also having his own hidden agenda. Then there is Danny's own chum Earl, the talking lab-rat who has a human ear on his back and who is forever foiling a hungry pelican who just wants to eat him. And the Lionhearts, the superhero family who are "the only thing keeping the world from destruction" with their daughter Crystallina, Danny's secret crush.

Other comedy is derived in the ridiculous schemes and ridiculous machinery involved such as over-sized jets with massive winches ideal for picking up world leaders far below.

What's more this book isn't just a series of jokes put together into a narrative. It also has a fully-formed plot. All-in-all then this book is perfectly executed and is a blast right from beginning through to climatic ending.

Book published by Oxford University Press: www.oxfordchildrens.co.uk

Publication date: 6 August 2015

Available on AMAZON