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Book Review: A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig

By Amazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
a-boy-called-christmas-matt-haig A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig is the perfect bedtime story to read to your children in the month of December on the run-up to Christmas. It is beautifully illustrated by Chris Mould.

In A Boy Called Christmas, Nikolas and Joel (his father, the Wood Cutter) are poor. Nikolas has no brothers or sisters and Miika (a mouse) is his only friend. Throughout his life, he has only received two christmas presents: a sleigh and a turnip doll.

That is until Anders – the Hunter comes to recruit Joel on a mission for King Frederick. If Anders, Joel and some other men can prove the existence of Elves to the King, he will reward them handsomely.

This is Joel’s chance to lift Nikolas and himself out of poverty. Joel explains to Nikolas that he has accepted this mission, meaning he will be away for Christmas. But that when he returns, Nikolas and he will be rich. That Nikolas will

no longer need to look in the window of the toyshop window wistfully, but will be able to have all the toys he wants. While Joel is away, Nikolas is to be looked after by his horrible Aunt Carlotta.

Joel leaves and Nikolas waits. Nikolas waits for his father to return for a long time. When Joel still hasn’t returned Nikolas begins to worry. Eventually, Nikolas sets out with Miika to The Far North to find his father. The journey is long and treacherous.

When Nikolas arrives at The Elf Village, accompanied by Father Topo and Little Noosh, it is not at all what he imagined. Little Kip has been kidnapped by Anders, Joel and the other men, who have escaped and are heading to King Frederick. The Welcome Tower has been turned into a Prison. Nikolas is imprisoned with a naughty Truth Pixie that likes to watch people’s heads explode and unpleasant Sebastian the Troll.

Nikolas uses magic and the help of flying reindeer Blitzen to escape the prison. He sets off to find his father, Anders and the other men to put things right. The ending is well thought out, fabulous and explains how after many years Nikolas finds his purpose: being Father Christmas.

Young children will love everything about A Boy Called Christmas, including Nikolas and the other characters- all of which have depth, the pacing and the magical plot. It is a captivating read that can be enjoyed by both younger children and grown-ups together.

The only criticism I have about A Boy Called Christmas is that the release date was too close to Christmas. Haig can’t be blamed for this, but the Publisher can. Still, now that A Boy Called Christmas has been released, it can be enjoyed by the many for years and years to come.

I’ll be giving my copy of A Boy Called Christmas to my older brother, so that he can read it to my nephew on the run-up to next Christmas.

Review soon,

Antony

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Saturday 30 January 2016

A Review of Goals & New Experiences for 2015

By Books & Authors, Happiness & Joy, Health, Life, Thinking, TV, Online Streaming & FilmsNo Comments
goals-and-adventures-large Goals For Throughout The Year
Unticked Box Read & Review 30 books – managed to read 19 books and reviewed most of them.
Unticked Box Watch & Review 12 films – I only managed to review Jurassic World this year.
Tick Box Bullet Point See a show/gig – saw Ruby Wax Live, Wheatus Live and Nina Conti.
Unticked Box Give up smoking for good. Didn’t happen. Will make a goal for 2016.
Unticked Box Write, Edit and publish a Novella. Didn’t happen due to poor mental and physical health.
Tick Box Bullet Point Arrange & Have a Holiday. I had the adventure of a lifetime seeing two good friends get married in India (see My India Adventure Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 & Part 8).
Unticked Box Study Something Pagan/Druid with Chrys & Simon. Didn’t happen due to my poor health.

New Experiences for 2015 by month:

January
Tick Box Bullet Point To start Writing again – my creative writing has stopped, started slowly, stopped and then slowly started again this year due to poor health. But right now, I am writing again.
Tick Box Bullet Point To write a series of blog posts with a ‘Mental Health Focus,’ publishing one a week throughout the month. Done. See Mental Health Focus: 5 Brilliant TED Talks About Mental Health, Mental Health Focus: I’ve Been One of the 1 in 4, Mental Health Focus: A List of Common Conditions & Mental Health Focus: Treatment & Recovery.

February
Unticked Box Try Yoga. Take a Yoga class. – Ha ha, didn’t happen.

March
Tick Box Bullet Point Visit a Museum. I visited World Museum Liverpool in November.

April
Unticked Box See a Sunrise. Didn’t happen. The sun rises far to early for me.
Tick Box Bullet Point Visit a new place. A city or town that I’ve never been to. Does going to India in July count? See My India Adventure Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 & Part 8).

May
Unticked Box Celebrate my birthday. A night out to celebrate in style. Possibly in another city or town. Didn’t happen, instead I deliberately made no plans.
Unticked Box Visit a Castle or a Pagan site. Didn’t happen due to poor health.

June
Unticked Box Spend time Walking in Nature. Didn’t happen due to my poor health.
Unticked Box Take time out to celebrate Litha. Didn’t happen due to my poor health.
Tick Box Bullet Point Watch Jurassic World at the cinema.
In addition I said adios Vodafone, after a nightmare trying to upgrade and hello to Giffgaff. I also had My First Fishing Trip.

July
Tick Box Bullet Point Attend Mum’s events. Birthday, etc. I attended my mum and Ian’s wedding and mum’s birthday celebrations.
Tick Box Bullet Point Watch Minions at the cinema.
In addition I enjoyed the sunshine.

August
Unticked Box Visit Chester Zoo’s new Islands exhibit. This was something I really wanted to do this year, I just wasn’t well enough.
In addition I had a marvellous massage.

September
Unticked Box Learn to Knit. Didn’t happen.
Tick Box Bullet Point Donate to charities. I made charitable donations in November.
In addition I discovered the superb Writer Matt Haig, reading a reviewing: The Humans and Reasons to Stay Alive.

October
Unticked Box Celebrate Samhain. Didn’t happen.
I did have a magical evening at the British Musical Firework Championships in Southport.

November
Tick Box Bullet Point Take some time out to relax. I took what-I-call a Life Hiatus.

December
Unticked Box Watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the cinema. Didn’t happen.

Overall ill health has effected my ability to achieve my goals and have new experiences this year. In 2016, I hope for better health so that more of my goals can be achieved.

Blog soon,

Antony

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Tuesday 29 December 2015

Book Review: Reasons To Stay Alive by Matt Haig

By Amazon, Books & Authors, Health, Inspiration, Reviews, ThinkingNo Comments
reasons-to-stay-alive-matt-haig After reading the unique and brilliant novel The Humans by Matt Haig, I decided to Google him to learn more about this extradorinaiy Author.

I discovered that he had suffered with poor mental health in the past and was releasing Reasons To Stay Alive on the topic of mental health. So I immediately ordered Reasons To Stay Alive to see what he had to say on the subject.

In Reasons To Stay Alive, Haig shares his own experience of anxiety and depression, starting with a note to the reader explaining that these are his experiences and that other people might experience anxiety and depression in differing ways.

His book is split into five sections. His first is Falling where he writes about symptoms, suicide (including some of the reasons why men are more at risk of suicide) and the facts about depression and anxiety.

Throughout Reasons To Stay Alive there are little gems of good advice. In Falling for example, Haig writes about The Bank of Bad Days (see below). I have found having a Bank of Bad Days extremely useful.

Bank of Bad Days

WHEN YOU ARE very depressed or anxious – unable to leave the house, or the sofa, or to think of anything but the depression – it can be unbearably hard. Bad days come in degrees. They are not all equally bad. And the really bad ones, though horrible to live through, are useful for later. You store them up. A bank of bad days. The day you had to run out of the supermarket. The day you were so depressed your tongue wouldn’t move. The day you made your parents cry. The day you nearly threw yourself off a cliff. So you are having another bad day you can say, Well, this feels bad, but there have been worse. And even when you can think of no worse day – when you are living in the very worst there has ever been – you at least know the bank exists and that you have made a deposit.

(From: Reasons To Stay Alive, by Matt Haig, p. 52, 2015. Copyright © Matt Haig 2015.)

The second section is Landing where he writes a lot about some of his key experiences, as well as the warning signs of depression and anxiety.

The third section is Rising where Haig covers panic attacks, the importance of love, how to be there for someone with depression or anxiety and famous people that have suffered from depression and anxiety. This entire section aims to tell someone experiencing poor mental health that they are not alone.

Living is the fourth section of the book and focuses on recovery from depression and anxiety. This section covers the importance of slowing down, lists reasons to live, lists things that make Haig’s mental health worse and sometimes better.

Being is the last section of the book and gives forty pieces of advice that Haig feels are helpful.

The presentation of the book is good. It’s a small white hardback book, with small chapters (some only a page long), which because of his writing style as easy-to-read and engaging.

Reasons To Stay Alive is one of the better books written about poor mental health on the market. It is a quick and easy-to-read book that is well worth a read.

Reasons To Stay Alive is available to buy on Amazon or at all good bookshops.

Review soon,

Antony

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Saturday 3 October 2015

Book Review: The Humans by Matt Haig

By Amazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
the-humans-matt-haig-book-cover The Humans is a unique and brilliant novel that you have to read.

Professor Andrew Martin is a Mathematician at Cambridge University. He is about to share his prove of the Riemann hypothesis. But up in the nights sky, among the stars is a planet with an alien race watching.

The Vonnadorians think Humans are savage. They have decided that Humans are not ready for the knowledge of Martin’s work and where it will lead them. So they send a nameless Alien in the guise of Professor Andrew Martin, to destroy the knowledge and anybody that knows of its existence.

The nameless Alien tells the story from his perspective, addressing others of his species. He starts by noticing the ugly appearance of Humans and the odd social conventions that we have. As he learns these social conventions he gets himself into hilarious situations that will have the Reader laughing aloud.

Pretending to be Professor Andrew Martin the Alien gets to know Martin’s Wife Isobel, Martin’s teenage son Gulliver and the family dog Newton. He becomes emotionally attached to them. To the point where he falls in love with Isobel, becomes a father figure to Gulliver and learns to communicate with Newton. He realises he has to make a difficult choice.

But he knows what ever decision he makes, his people won’t deviate from their plan. His people are driven by pure logic and in his society Mathematics is like the only religion.

His decision leads to another being sent to complete the job. But what will the Alien do?

The writers voice is captivating throughout. The characters were well-rounded and had the appropriate level of depth. The pacing was ideal. Every time the Reader gets to the end of a chapter he/she will think: just one more chapter, before I stop.

The Humans is throughly entertaining. Towards the end of the book the Alien writes a list giving advice to Gulliver. This 97 point list was great and will make the Reader think about life.

I can’t heap enough praise on this superb story. The Humans has become one of my all-time favourite books and one that I’ll read again and again.

The Humans is available to buy on Amazon.

Review soon,

Antony

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I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


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Sunday 13 September 2015
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