Genre: History

​Jenkins provides a very top-level analysis of The Celts history and links to Britain and British/UK History.

​I had seen this book, and kept seeing this book, online and in bookshops for a little while, and I was very excited to get my hands on it and to delve deep into it. I recently got it from my local library. 

My excitement and anticipation of this book was regarding the clan structures across Britain, the development of the Celtic speaking languages and how this affected everyday/common people.

Disappointingly this book did not live up to my expectations, and I was left feeling deflated, which is very sad indeed.

This book provides a very top-level overview of the histories of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales -  and sometimes involving Cornwall - but it lacked depth, providing insights into aristocracy and politics does not go to show the impact on the people and the societal influences throughout history, and how these are linked together and influence the lives of all across history.

​Also, the author is obviously Irish and I felt, whilst reading this book that there was a strong bias towards the Irish, and this dominated the discourse throughout, which skewed the overarching intention of this book. Predominantly looking at the politics, policies and treaties of the times, rather than the people.

One thing I also noted was that a significant proportion of the book (56%) was allocated for the last 450-550 years of history, which again skewed the intention of this book, by only exploring more modern history in more detail. 

A solution to this is Jenkins could have covered each 'Celtic' country individually as a stand alone book, or if the desired intention was to show comparisons between them then have a book centred on particular periods of history, i.e. medieval, Tudor, modern, etc., either way this would allow the author to delve into much more required detail, which was missing in this book.

I generously gave this book three stars as it has provided a good top-level 'overview' of what history between the British Celtic nationalities and the part they have played in British History, however, I wanted more. I definitely think this is an opportunity lost.

Genre: Poetry

I saw Charlotte at a live spoken word event hosted by OutSpoken London, and I was captivated by her words from the outset of her performance. At the interval, I definitely had to grab myself a copy of her collection, 'Food for the Dead'.

During the interval of the show where I first met Charlotte and experienced her poetry first-hand I spoke to her as she signed my newly purchased copy of her collection and we spoke and discussed Grandmothers and family, which was just lovely.

​What initially intrigued me about this collection and the poet was her relationship and bond with her Grandmother or 'Babusya'. This reminded me of my relationship with my own Grandma, and how integral this was for me growing up, which led me to write my latest collection, 'Roots'.

The link with war, food and childhood memories was very similar to my own, so when reading I was also visualise these memories as well as seeing Charlotte's own recollections being shown.

Throughout the collection the poet does not use punctuation or capital letters, which at first was a little odd and required a little adjusting, but surprisingly this worked very well for every piece, lending a style to the works of this writer - it also did not influence or effect the flow, as I would have imagined it would have.

My rationale for giving this collection five out of five stars is due to the enjoyment factor and the reminiscence and similarity with my own collection and relationship with my Grandmother. I can see why this collection has been shortlisted and won several noteworthy prizes. I cannot wait to see what Charlotte writes next - I will be watching with keen interest.

Genre: Poetry

The legend that is Dr John Cooper Clarke's latest collection 'What' is full of new rhythmic masterpieces, that instantly throw us back in time.

​Clarke's ability to draw a reader in as if they are attending a rock concert, while scanning words on a page is enthralling - his lyrical prowess knows no bounds.

​Every poem within this collection contains stories, memories and personal anecdotes that encompasses the wacky world and life of 'The Good Doctor'. 

Punk exudes from each stanza written in the book, providing an insight into what life in this community feels like. 

The only oddity within this book is that Clarke does not use punctuation, or capital letters, which at first I did do a double-take, but strangely this works for him and his style of poetry.

I gave this book five stars due to the pure enjoyment factor - from page one to the back cover I thoroughly enjoyed every word, every stanza, and every rhythmic verse.

​I was also fortunate enough to see Dr Clarke perform these poems on his book tour of this book at The Stables in Milton Keynes, which was extremely captivating from the opening verbiage.