Author Archives: James - Page 34
Blood Faerie by India Drummond [Book Review]
Blood Faerie by India Drummond My rating: 4 of 5 stars I picked this up on kindle on a special offer, and finally got round to reading it over the summer holidays. I've enjoyed the Iron Druid stories, and it seemed to share some level of realism with those. Not exactly the same, but not a sparkly urban fantasy tale either. The faerie lore was quite different, and so were the druids. Blood Faerie is set in the real world, and magic happens without us noticing. So worth a read, especially on special offer. Blood Faerie Review I enjoyed it quite a lot. I would certainly read more in this world. The premise of the story is that there are some kinds of magic that the faeries don't tolerate. The Blood magic in the title being one of those forbidden…
Duncan Kemp 1871 – 1891 [Tragedy on the River Leven]
Exactly 125 years ago my Great, Great Uncle Duncan Kemp died in a bicycle accident. He came off his bicycle while travelling along the path at the side of the River Leven and was swept away in the current. River Leven near the site of Duncan Kemp's 1891 bicycle accident. © Copyright Lairich Rig and licensed for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence. Duncan Kemp 1871-1891 Duncan Kemp was born on the 28th of January 1871. His father James Kemp registered the birth (on 17th February) as have happened at a private residence (something Cottage) in Stewart Street, West Calder. He also recorded that the mother was his wife, Ann Kemp (maiden surname, Dewar). They married in Edinburgh in 1864 according to Duncan’s birth certificate. The 1871 census a few months later shows Duncan living with two parents (James & Ann)…
Academic Bookshelf – Bookshelves Abound = #Shelfie 05
The Bookshelves Abound series continues with the Academic Bookshelf. This one of the five bookshelves on the upstairs landing. It sits next to the window at the top of the stairs and is next to the new bookshelf, the one the new books go on until I have time to read and shelf them properly. Academic Bookshelf The thinnest upstairs bookshelf is the academic bookshelf, which has a lot of university textbooks on it The Academic Bookshelf is so titled because most of the books on it are from various university courses that I've studied. It doesn't have every single academic book that I own on it. There just wouldn't be room, even if I cleared the games from the academic bookshelf. Working from the top, here's a run down of what you can find on the academic bookshelf Games The…
Gestapo by Lucas Saul [Book Review]
Gestapo by Lucas Saul My rating: 2 of 5 stars Gestapo by Lucas Saul is a reasonable summary overview of the Gestapo, but didn't quite have enough detail for me. If you didn't know anything about the Gestapo before then it might be an OK place to start, although wikipedia would be cheaper. Gestapo by Lucas Saul Gestapo by Lucas Saul doesn't quite live up to the promise of the blurb. What I was hoping for was some analysis of how the Gestapo was formed, where its staff came from and why they joined up. Plaque on former gestapo and communist secret police building, Łódź 7 Anstadta Street (Photo credit: Wikipedia) What you get with this book is a rough chronological history of the Gestapo, and their involvement in the atrocities commited by the nazi state. You also get a series of dramatis…
Auld Lang Syne compiled by Karen Dolby [Book Review]
Auld Lang Syne: Words to Songs You Used to Know compiled by Karen Dolby My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a song book of many of the songs that you've probably heard growing up, or maybe down the pub if you frequent that sort of pub. Auld Lang Syne compiled by Karen Dolby Auld Lang Syne is a collection of songs organised by theme. They're not quite folk songs, but popular implies the wrong thing. These are songs that ordinary people sing, rather than professional musicians (although many have been recorded by the latter). Each song has its lyrics, and is followed by notes on when it was written, who has recorded it and what the tune is. There are also notes explaining the context of some of the songs. The sections are: country life thoughts of home love and…