A Poet For Every Day of the Year By Allie Esiri

Posted on October 19, 2021 by Catherine Balavage

A Poet For Every Day of the Year is an essential buy. The concept of this book is so clever: every day there is a new poet to discover. A biography of the poet and one of their poems is there to discover for every day of the year.

This book is gorgeous on the outside and just as gorgeous on the inside. Perfect for adults and children. I cannot recommend this well-researched and luscious book enough. Get your hands on a copy now.

Award-winning and bestselling poetry anthologist, ALLIE ESIRI has lit an explosion of interest in poetry, through her carefully curated anthologies and exciting live performances.

Allie’s books have sold over 250,000 copies in hardback

· Her three poetry collections, A Poem for Every Day of the Year; A Poem for Every Night of the Year and Shakespeare for Every Day of the Year have been chosen as Books of the Year by The Times, The Observer and New Statesman and they have featured in the top five poetry titles every year since 2016.

· Allie has been announced as the Chair of Judges for the CLiPPA Awards 2021, following in the footsteps of Michael Rosen and Roger McGough. She is also a judge for The Trussell Trust Food for Thought poetry competition 2021.

· A Poem for Every Night of the Year had its best sales year in 2020 – five years after publication.

· In 2020, THREE of the top ten children’s poetry titles were curated by Allie, though her books are enjoyed by all ages

Allie is the NUMBER ONE author across children’s poetry in 2021.

A Poet for Every Day of the Year, Allie’s newest anthology, is published by Macmillan Children’s Books. It introduces readers to 366 of the world’s greatest poets, juxtaposing diverse, exciting, vibrant new voices alongside the enduring giants of the form, with fascinating mini biographies of each writer.

The day-by-day format inspires readers to make poetry as much part of their daily routine as breakfast or bedtime. It encourages them to discover theinspirational, the life affirming, the provocative and the entertaining in each and every day.

“Allie Esiri’s books take you by the hand with poems to restore you and make your toes tingle, that will take you away for a little while and home again, with your spirits a little higher than before.”

Helena Bonham Carter

Allie Esiri, on her new anthology, A Poet for Every Day of the Year:

Poetry at its best has always enabled us to see different worlds, or rather, our own world differently, without ever having to leave our home. It has articulated our muddled thoughts, given a voice to the voiceless and lent an ear to the otherwise unheard. But most of the anthologies we have at our disposal seem to view poetry as an almost exclusively white, western, male craft, almost untouched by women or anyone from another background or ethnicity. I think now is the time to redress this.

In this book, you’ll not only find a great poem for every day of the year, but you’ll also learn about the life, times, and work of each poet, and discover connections between writers that transcend the established canon and chronology.

I hope readers of all ages and backgrounds will be inspired by the poets they find within this anthology. As the mother of mixed-race children, I’m especially and personally proud to present a book that represents them, and countless other diverse readers like them.

Poets featured in A Poet for Every Day of the Year include:

Maya Angelou

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Brian Bilston

Eavan Boland

Lord Byron

William Carlos Williams

Lewis Carroll

Wendy Cope

Imtiaz Dharker

Georgia Douglas Johnson

Helen Dunmore

Bob Dylan

Louise Glück

Jackie Kay

Michael Rosen

Christina Rossetti

Stevie Smith

Ocean Vuong

William Wordsworth

ALLIE ESIRI is an accomplished curator and host of live poetry events, featuring some of our best-known actors – from Helena Bonham Carter to Dominic West – at the National Theatre, the Bridge Theatre, and major literary festivals.

She lives in London with her husband and three children.

The book is available here.

Snow Country by Sebastian Faulks Book Review

Posted on September 20, 2021 by Catherine Balavage

How to review Sebastian Faulks’ new novel? That is the question. Sebastian Faulk is one of the best novelists writing today and his books are eagerly awaited. Snow County is a sublime novel. Full of poetry and intelligence. I found myself re-reading pages and paragraphs as I fell in love with the book. Snow Country is the novel that Sebastian has wanted to write for ten years and I am glad he has. It is an epic, wistful, love story, full of yearning and gorgeous atmosphere. I really felt that I was transported to 1910/20s Vienna.

Sebastian Faulk is a master storyteller and this is the perfect book to curl up with this Autumn. It is definitely one of my favourite books. Snow Country is the second book in a planned trilogy. The first was Human Traces. It can be read as a standalone novel. Get your hands on a copy now. I will definitely be reading this again.

1914: Young Anton Heideck has arrived in Vienna, eager to make his name as a journalist. While working part-time as a private tutor, he encounters Delphine, a woman who mixes startling candour with deep reserve. Entranced by the light of first love, Anton feels himself blessed. Until his country declares war on hers.

1927: For Lena, life with a drunken mother in a small town has been impoverished and cold. She is convinced she can amount to nothing until a young lawyer, Rudolf Plischke, spirits her away to Vienna. But the capital proves unforgiving. Lena leaves her metropolitan dream behind to take a menial job at the snow-bound sanatorium, the Schloss Seeblick.

1933: Still struggling to come terms with the loss of so many friends on the Eastern Front, Anton, now an established writer, is commissioned by a magazine to visit the mysterious Schloss Seeblick. In this place of healing, on the banks of a silvery lake, where the depths of human suffering and the chances of redemption are explored, two people will see each other as if for the first time.

Sweeping across Europe as it recovers from one war and hides its face from the coming of another, SNOW COUNTRY is a landmark novel of exquisite yearnings, dreams of youth and the sanctity of hope. In elegant, shimmering prose, SebastianFaulks has produced a work of timeless resonance.

Snow Country is available here.

Just Haven’t Met You Yet By Sophie Cousens Book Review

Posted on September 17, 2021 by Catherine Balavage

Sophie Cousens’s debut novel This Time Next Year was one of 2020’s standout novels. It was a well-deserved runaway success and gave Sophie Cousens her rightful place as a writer to watch. Yes, she has done it again with Just Haven’t Met You Yet. Another blinder of a novel, it tells the story of romance-obsessed Laura and her quest to meet The One. I saw one reviewer call it “rom-com perfection” and it is hard to think of a more fitting description.

Just Haven’t Met You Yet is another corker from Cousens, you will love the characters just as much as I did. I love the Jersey setting, you really get immersed in the island. I learned so much and want to go now. Just Haven’t Met You Yet is a wonderful, clever novel. You will read it with a smile on your face. Brilliant.

Tell me the story of how you two met…

Laura has built a career out of interviewing people about their epic real life love stories.

When she picks up the wrong suitcase at the airport, Laura wonders if this could be the start of something that’s written in the stars.

From piano sheet-music to a battered copy of her favourite book, Laura finds in the bag evidence of everything she could hope for in a partner.

If Laura’s job has taught her anything it’s that when it comes to love, you can’t let opportunity pass you by. Now Laura is determined to track down the owner of the suitcase, and her own happy ending.

But what if fate has other ideas?
Just Haven’t Met You Yet is available here.

A Narrow Door by Joanne Harris Book Review

Posted on August 4, 2021 by Catherine Balavage

Joanne Harris is one of our greatest novelists. It is hard for anyone to argue with this statement and A Narrow Door asserts her place once again. Such is the richness of her language, and the mastery of her skills as a storyteller, that I could not put this book down. It is such a rich story of suspense and betrayal.

You will never see the twists coming and they will take your breathe away. This is a stunning and clever book. I suggest you grab a copy as soon as you can, it is sure to be the hit of the summer. This is definitely one of my favourite books of the year.

From the Sunday Times and internationally bestselling, multi prize-winning author Joanne Harris, comes A NARROW DOOR – an explosive psychological thriller about one woman who, having carved out her own path to power, is now intent on tearing apart the elite world that tried to hold her back . . . piece by piece.

Now I’m in charge, the gates are my gates. The rules are my rules.
It’s an incendiary moment for St Oswald’s school. For the first time in its history, a headmistress is in power, the gates opening to girls.

Rebecca Buckfast has spilled blood to reach this position. Barely forty, she is just starting to reap the harvest of her ambition. As the new regime takes on the old guard, the ground shifts. And with it, the remains of a body are discovered.

But Rebecca is here to make her mark. She’ll bury the past so deep it will evade even her own memory, just like she has done before. After all…

You can’t keep a good woman down.

Available to pre-order now!

A Narrow Door is available here.

One August Night By Victoria Hislop Book Review.

Posted on July 26, 2021 by Catherine Balavage

I read One August Night By Victoria Hislop over two balmy days. I was drawn in immediately even though I have not read The Island. I was whisked away to the gorgeous island of Crete. The book is set in 1957. One August Night is a dramatic and ultimately beautiful story of love, betrayal and tragedy. It is a story with depth that compels you to carry on reading whilst completely absorbed in the story and the characters. Hislop’s books are always so well researched. This is a gorgeous book that you can sink your teeth into. I feel like I learnt a lot about redemption and the power of forgiveness from this perfectly-written book. An essential read.

25th August 1957. The island of Spinalonga closes its leper colony. And a moment of violence has devastating consequences.

When time stops dead for Maria Petrakis and her sister, Anna, two families splinter apart and, for the people of Plaka, the closure of Spinalonga is forever coloured with tragedy.

In the aftermath, the question of how to resume life looms large. Stigma and scandal need to be confronted and somehow, for those impacted, a future built from the ruins of the past.

Number one bestselling author Victoria Hislop returns to the world and characters she created in The Island – the award-winning novel that remains one of the biggest selling reading group novels of the century. It is finally time to be reunited with Anna, Maria, Manolis and Andreas in the weeks leading up to the evacuation of the island… and beyond.

One August Night By Victoria Hislop is available here.

The Devil’s Advocate By Steve Cavanagh Book Review

Posted on July 19, 2021 by Catherine Balavage

The Devil’s Advocate is the first Steve Cavanagh book that I have read. Lucky me, I have so many books to read now. I am totally hooked on Eddie Flynn and will be working my way through the series. The Devil’s Advocate is atmospheric with a smart plot that weaves a thrilling tale. The characters are brilliant and the entire book is just waiting to be made into a movie.

This book is a rip-roaring ride which cements Steve Cavanagh not as the next John Grisham, but as John Grisham on speed. I cannot imagine anyone being able to start this book and not finish it. It is impossible to put it down.

A DEADLY PROSECUTOR

They call him the King of Death Row. Randal Korn has sent more men to their deaths than any district attorney in the history of the United States.

A TWISTED RITUALISTIC KILLING

When a young woman, Skylar Edwards, is found murdered in Buckstown, Alabama, a corrupt sheriff arrests the last person to see her alive, Andy Dubois. It doesn’t seem to matter to anyone that Andy is innocent.

A SMALL TOWN BOILING WITH RAGE

Everyone in Buckstown believes Andy is guilty. He has no hope of a fair trial. And the local defense attorney assigned to represent him has disappeared.

A FORMER CON-ARTIST

Hot shot New York lawyer Eddie Flynn travels south to fight fire with fire. He plans to destroy the prosecutors case, find the real killer and save Andy from the electric chair.

But the murders are just beginning.

Is Eddie Flynn next?

The Devil’s Advocate By Steve Cavanagh is available here.

Ahead of Her Time By Judy Piatkus Book Review.

Posted on July 17, 2021 by Catherine Balavage

It is hard to think about now but female entrepreneurs used to be thin on the ground. Sure we are lucky to have Jo Malone, Anya Hindmarch, Natalie Massenet, Kelly Hoppen and Karen Brady, but before all of them came Judy Piatkus. A single mother-of-three who built a publishing empire with one hand behind her back. Well, almost.

Now Judy has written a book Ahead of Her Time; How a One-Woman Startup Became a Global Publishing Brand and it is the new bible to help other entrepreneurs and people who are interested in business. The book gives a fascinating insight for those who are interested in publishing. Judy did all of this while while taking care of her three children, one of whom is disabled.

I found this book so inspiring that it has made me drag out an old business plan I had and start work on a logo for that, and a new one for Frost. Piatkus books was built at a time when women were discriminated against. We still are, but it has got better.

I implore anyone who is interested in building a business, publishing, or even just loves a story about how someone built something amazing, despite the odds against them, to read this book. It really is brilliant. I will be handing copies out to my female friends. Judy Piatkus truly was ahead of her time.

Ahead of Her Time; How a One-Woman Startup Became a Global Publishing Brand by Judy Piatkus is an incredibly inspiring book.

Judy Piatkus did not come from a monied background and began her career as a secretary after failing to achieve a university place. By the time she founded Piatkus Books from her spare bedroom, she was married with a disabled small daughter and pregnant with her second child. Gradually she learned how to be both a publisher and a managing director and to combine that with her family life as she had become a single mother of three. A lot of mistakes were made but she also got a lot of things right. The company prospered, thanks to the risks Judy took in tackling new subjects in the marketplace and also her approach to running the company, which focused on transparency, honesty and trust and was rewarded by the loyalty of the staff, many of whom worked alongside Judy for upwards of twenty years.

In 1979, Judy Piatkus founded what would become a global publishing brand— Piatkus Books — from her spare bedroom.

A single mother, with a child with learning disabilities, at a time when being a self-made woman entrepreneur was rare, Judy defied expectations, influencing, shaping, and giving rise to a new industry of personal growth and development publishing.

Long before the bestseller charts were packed with mind/body/spirit, business, and relationship books, Judy created a platform for new, as yet unknown, voices and leading authorities and experts in their fields, including Jon Kabat-Zinn, Mary Berry, David Allen and Brian L. Weiss.

‘Ahead of her time’ goes behind-the-scenes and reveals the inner workings of book publishing. Judy details how her combination of financial risk taking, transparent approach in business, and courage to tackle new subjects in the marketplace rather than follow trends, led PiatkusBooks to become a leading global independent publisher.

Judy’s memoir is also a fascinating insight into building a company and brand identity and what enables a team and a business to succeed.

Judy details her learning experience as an entrepreneur — the triumphs and the pitfalls, what worked and what didn’t, how to reinvent through lean times, learning to be both a publisher and a managing director, and how it felt to overcame obstacles in order to build the career she wanted from the ground up, as a truly self-made woman.

‘Ahead of her time’ is published by Watkins Publishing, £14.99, and is available here and from all good bookstores.

The Orange Grove by Rosanna Ley Book Review

Posted on July 3, 2021 by Catherine Balavage

It is fair to say that few of us will be going on holiday this year- thanks Covid!- but we have Rosanna Ley so all is not lost. The Orange Grove takes us to sunny Seville in all of its glory. This is a stunning book to get your teeth stuck into. With endearing characters and a plot that makes you hungry, you will not want to put this book down. It is a wonderful, sunny read of beautiful escapism. I loved it.

An unforgettable story of past love and family secrets, set in sunny Seville.

Holly loves making marmalade. Now she has a chance to leave her stressful city job and pursue her dream – of returning to the Dorset landscape of her childhood to open Bitter Orange, a shop celebrating the fruit that first inspired her.

Holly’s mother Ella has always loved Seville. So why is she reluctant to go back there with Holly to source products for the shop? What is she frightened of – and does it have anything to do with the old Spanish recipe for Seville orange and almond cake that Ella keeps hidden from her family?

In Seville, where she was once forced to make the hardest decision of her life, Ella must finally face up to the past, while Holly meets someone who poses a threat to all her plans. Seville is a city full of sunshine and oranges. But it can also be bittersweet. Will love survive the secrets of the orange grove?

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