Matt McAvoy Book Review

I review plenty of these self-actualization type of self-help books, and am surprisingly something of a fan.  They are usually pretty well written and presented, and generally they work.  Whether that’s a placebo effect or not I don’t think matters; the whole point is that positive mental attitude can have a material and physical effect on you in the real world.  This book is another of the same – maybe not the best I’ve read, but like all of them it means well, and the author truly b...

The second instalment in Irene Edwards’s Magic Islands series of books for 8-12-year-old children, and I have to say that, in my opinion, this is something of an altogether slightly darker offering – not so much in its content, but rather the environmental message.  In the first book, the message was clear: we should care for and respect our oceans; but in Chaos in the Cosmos, the world is literally burned by those mean Purple Wizards, who have accelerated global warming in revenge for th...

This is the first in the Magic Islands series of books from Welsh author Irene Edwards, and it is something of a treat.  These are charming books for younger kids, I’d say from the eight to twelve age range, and the series gets off to a promising start with this exciting tale combining light-hearted magical fantasy with an important environmental message.  There may be some people who say why does this always have to be the case; why can’t we just allow kids to be kids without always tell...

On the surface, this is your usual, run-of-the-mill biography of an undeniably quite amazing career air-force soldier.  But when reading you find it is actually more than that – far more.  In fact, the life story of World War Two bomber pilot Colonel Harold McNeese, known to all as Mac, is a relatively very small part of this book, which rather seems to deliver two narratives simultaneously.  Whilst the opening chapters and the final third delves more intimately into Mac’s life, the large...

Something of a surprise, this wholesome and kind-hearted parable, about a family who are heavy on love, but light on shared goal or direction.  Written by husband-and-wife team of writers and spiritual family therapists, Derek and Amy Weichel, I would guess it was probably composed as a sidenote accompaniment to their day-to-day work.  For those readers of a Christian faith who, like the (semi?) fictional Richardson family in this book, feel their family has lost its way a little, it is somet...

This is a quirky little novella, which amounts to really only an hour or two of reading time, but it is a fun way to fill a couple of lunch breaks, a quiet evening or a day or two’s commute – though, if the latter, then you might want to practice a little discretion, and make sure nobody is sneaking a peek over your shoulder, as some of it is quite explicit, with some pretty graphic descriptions of the more adventurous of sexual tastes.  But don’t think this book is about pure titillati...

I’m a big fan of art in all its forms, and this book is indeed what one would call modern art.  Metaphorical and subliminal throughout, Helen Cova doesn’t so much write, she purges.  There are many hidden messages in these short narratives, none less than the recurrent metaphor itself, and you wonder how much of the content in this book is therapy for its author.  Indeed, Helen says as much in her book’s preface, that the somewhat bizarrely chosen title – Autosarcophagy: To Eat Onesel...

Slow-burning, cerebral drama isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I have to say that author Karen Jewell really lives up to her name with this sublimely atmospheric piece; it’s a gem.  Set in the southern states of depression-era America, it is appropriately melancholy, and so it should be, with its grim subject matter of a rural farming couple watching their marriage fall apart following the death of their son in the first world war.  Bleak and moody, you wouldn’t think there was a great...

This is a superb book, and Lance Wilkins is an exceptional writer.  He has a use of syntax and a writing style which are utterly engaging and wonderfully endearing, and I found myself gripped from start to finish.  Caught in the Crossfire is, in some ways, a very simple tale of a rescue mission, though it is not really the story itself which is the real point of this book; that is simply a three-act mechanism to craft this world Lance brings us into – which he does flawlessly; you feel ever...

The “indelibles” referred to in this book title are ten people who have left an indelible impression on the author.  Each chapter in this book is dedicated to summarizing the story of one of these people, what they are well-known for (or some not so well known), and how their story has affected Philip, to the extent that they will always be remembered as remarkably important in his life and development.  Most of us will probably have a similar list of people we can point to and thank (or ...

I liked this book by Brock Rivers – I liked it quite a lot in fact, but to a point.  The truth is that I thought it might go much more epic than it did.  That said, it is fun, enjoyable, and very pleasingly crosses the genres of sci-fi, action and historical adventure.  With an interwoven dual-timeline narrative, there are two tales being simultaneously told five hundred years apart, though the focus is very much on the “present day” one – “present day” in this case actually being...

I’ve read many from my namesake Gary McAvoy, and generally always know what to expect from his work: excellent action fiction with a theological historical angle, incredible research and in-depth procedural detail.  Of course, this is more of the same, but if I’m to be totally honest, I would have to admit this is probably not my favourite from him to date – in fact, I would go as far as to say that I actually struggled quite a bit keeping engaged with this one, and somewhere around the...

M.K. Nielsen’s book can be described in many ways, and it is likely reviewers will all have their own choice of adjectives, but one thing which is unambiguous and not in doubt, across the board, is that it is a real work of excellent quality.  Even better, it is that rare thing: a gripping fiction book in which the reader genuinely doesn’t know what is going to happen next.  The story itself, to be honest, is a very simple one; the book is perhaps more literary or metaphorical than a form...

I’ll have to be harshly frank here, but in truth I really found this book a little of a struggle.  Not that it isn’t very good and Hayden is not a tremendously experienced, talented and articulate author – he absolutely is; the problem for me was that I just didn’t quite get into it from the outset, and was then playing catch-up for the whole duration of the book.  The story is a tangled one, with an ensemble cast, and in honest I was pretty lost throughout; the disappointing fact is ...

Whilst there is nothing new or unique about this type of trivia book, that is not to say they aren’t very good, and this one is a cracker, filled with humour and genuinely fun, interesting facts – my personal favourite is a town called Hell in Scandinavia, which literally freezes over every year (I won’t spoil any more).  These books are genuine achievements in two respects: first, the sheer amount of work that goes into them, and second, a conscious concern of the author, I’m sure, t...

A book of two halves, really, the first with a very interesting and somewhat novel premise.  When a young chemist questions why a particular additive has incidentally stopped the ageing process in his fruit juice, he decides on a whim to analyse the composition and accidentally discovers the secret to eternal life.  Whilst the formula brings him fame and incredible fortune, cue then the inevitable standard fare we come to expect as a given with any near future sci-fi: the worst case two-fold ...

A novel premise for a book, this one, and delivered with impeccable prose and timing.  A mature and very experienced anthropology student, still trying for his degree after several years of procrastination and failure, watches his life pass him by and crumble around him, as he spends more and more time with the street-workers who are the subject of his dissertation.  The real star of this book is not so much the story, which is not really its point, but the razor-sharp wit and rallying dialog...

Exceptionally well written literary fiction, with a very important, highly topical undertone, that of misogynistic, toxic masculinity.  I don’t know how much of Sara’s book is semi-biographical – the lead character of Bully is called Sarah – so I’ll tread very carefully with this review. 

This is by no means a light-hearted read – indeed, it is absolutely intense – but it is superbly gripping in a way I haven’t read for quite some time; the author has done a tremendous job.  ...

This is an excellent book, which throws one curve ball after another; I had no idea that it was going to go in the direction it did, and I defy you to predict it, too, even beyond halfway.  If I have one gripe it is that perhaps the ending is a little abrupt and something of shorn wick, but in other ways this perhaps suits the story arc, which is actually a little unsatisfying, but in a good way, because it is a true-to-life, realistic narrative.

Jan knows her subject matter very well, and t...

The real project to be admired here is Jonathan’s epic book – vast and hugely impressive, Project Neon is a fantastic achievement.  And, more to the point, it is a tremendously good book; the author should be immensely proud.  That said, I felt it wasn’t quite as polished as it absolutely should be, and warrants, which is a shame, and the reason for my decision to drop a star; it is fair to say that this is a book which should otherwise be worthy of full praise.  Whilst Jonathan is clea...

Before you start this book, there are a few things you need to be very clear about.  Firstly, it is an exercise book, so you will find pages which are created to take notes and keep records, etc.  This is not a coffee-table/bedside read.  If you invest the time and motivation required to carry out this cathartic self-healing process, you will need to approach it as a course.  So don’t expect that you will sit there and read from cover to cover, because it isn’t that type of self-help book...

This is a book which is full of surprises, and doesn’t ultimately really go in the direction I thought it might.  For the most part, it’s actually pretty fun, and overall I enjoyed it quite a bit more than I thought I would.  In other ways, though, it perhaps irritated a touch, though I would say not really enough to put me off reading the now obviously inevitable sequel.  Sorry, I don’t want to spoil, but this point does bring me quite clearly to what was by far my biggest bug-bear wit...

This is an incredible book, on many different levels, and an exceptionally important one – for the reader, for society but, more than anything, for the author.  Rebecca is a survivor in the rawest sense of the word; the sexual abuse she suffered for most of her childhood was depraved and devastating, and she gives her own account candidly and openly.  I’m sure the decision to write this book was many years in the making for her, and that the therapeutic value in doing so is a decisive nex...

A very professional and well-polished book, Anjali has spared no expense with this glossy motivational monologue which lives up to the “fun” in its title – colourful and jolly, with flawless styling and some beautifully vivid cartoon illustrations.  It presents as a self-help guide but, perhaps a touch more personal than that, it feels rather more of a prolonged affirmation by the author, as Anjali shares her advice for dealing with the highs and particularly the debilitating lows of li...

Whilst much of this book is generally quite amusing, I never really felt that there were any laugh-out-loud moments, of which I would have liked to see a few.  Rather, the comedy is more chaotic in nature than witty.  As you might expect, this tale of misadventures told from a cat’s point of view is very adult-orientated, with strong language and bawdy humour, resembling those grown-up cartoons which made the rounds in the 1980s and ‘90s.  Felix is portrayed rather more as a teenage lad o...

When you read Gary McAvoy, you are reading quality.  This incredibly conscientious fiction author clearly has a passion for theology, and every page – almost every line – seems a showcase for the sheer amount of hard work and research he has put into his writing.  I don’t know the cultural or historical accuracy of what he writes, but I am absolutely going to take his every word for it.  Whether it is geo-politics, theology, military organizations or papal administration, McAvoy present...

A very well written book, with strong, not-so-subtle social metaphors for the way humankind lives, not just now, but throughout the history of the species.  This future-fiction offering starts with the hypothetical premise, how would mankind live if we could take all the lessons learned and be reborn as a species and a society.  The answer, in this book, turns out in fact to be not all that different at all, in the grand scheme. 

Perhaps predictability, this commentary at first takes a very ...