JESS JUST READS

A BOOK REVIEW BLOG

Note to Self: The Secrets of Calm by Rebekah Ballagh

An inspirational personal development book including helpful tips and cute illustrations to aid with anxiety, overthinking and depression.

This book is jam-packed with handy tips, bite-sized wisdoms & thoughtful illustrations to help you navigate through feelings like anxiety, stress, worry, guilt & sadness.

Within these pages you will find practical tools & insights to help you tackle your day-to-day tricky emotions.

Glorious and visually delectable, Note to Self is a gorgeous illustrated companion book about how to manage your anxiety and stress. Author, illustrator and trained counsellor Rebekah Ballagh has crafted a really beautiful book that now sits proudly on my bookshelf.

The book is scattered with tips, advice, exercises and sometimes just really soothing illustrations that communicate how you might feel at a certain point in your day.

The words and the illustrations feel like they carry equal weight in relaxing the reader. Rebekah’s advice is calming and welcome to the reader but her vibrant, hand-drawn illustrations accompany each page and allow for an enjoyable and engaging reading experience.

Whilst the book is small and short, each page packs a punch.

Buy this book, read it, and then pop it next to a plant on your bookshelf. A beautiful addition to any bookshelf, and a fantastic gift for a loved one as we head into the Christmas season.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Note to Self: The Secrets of Calm
Rebekah Ballagh
November 2020
Allen & Unwin Book Publishers

Either Side of Midnight by Benjamin Stevenson

At 9.01 pm, TV presenter Sam Midford delivers the monologue for his popular current affairs show Midnight Tonight. He seems nervous and the crew are convinced he’s about to propose to his girlfriend live on air.

Instead, he pulls out a gun and shoots himself in the head.

Sam’s grief-stricken twin Harry is convinced his brother was murdered. But how can that be, when one million viewers witnessed Sam pull the trigger? Only Jack Quick, a disgraced television producer in the last days of a prison sentence, is desperate enough to take Harry’s money to investigate.

But as Jack starts digging, he finds a mystery more complex than he first assumed. And if he’s not careful, he’ll find out first-hand that there’s more than one way to kill someone . . .

Australian author Benjamin Stevenson publishes his second crime novel Either Side of Midnight, and it’s another page-turning, fast-paced, high-tension masterpiece. Either Side of Midnight wraps its claws around the reader, drawing them closer with each passing chapter. Readers will have no choice but the ride the rollercoaster of this novel.

Fans of Benjamin’s previous novel, Greenlight, will recognise disgraced TV documentarian Jack Quick as the protagonist. He’s been serving a prison sentence after the events in Greenlight, and when he’s released, he accepts the paid opportunity investigating news anchor Sam Midford’s suicide. Jack is thrust back into the world he’d left behind — another suspicious death, more deceitful suspects, and plenty more complex and complicated truths.

Either Side of Midnight explores the power of technology, and how easily words can influence others. Services aren’t yet equipped to handle criminal cases where technology is used as a weapon.

“Jack hadn’t been prepared enough to come back here. The whole building was triggering. The epileptic rotation of adverts. The rustle of the ground floor. Any of the bathrooms where, sometimes, at ten in the morning, Jack on his knees and a man snorting a line off the basin would lock eyes conspiratorially.”

Once again, we’re thrust back into Jack’s world, quickly remembering what made us like him so much the first time around. He’s flawed, but likeable. Relatable. He’s calculated and intelligent — quick to join the dots in the case. Dialogue is quick and blunt, Benjamin only using as many words as necessary to keep the pacing consistent, to keep the story moving forward.

Chapters end with revelations and unveilings, drawing the reader in and forcing them to keep reading. Benjamin is incredibly talented at dropping hints and clues without the reader feeling like they can guess the ending.

“Harry didn’t know if he slept. The night blurred past, timeless. Some moments he was counting the seconds, and others he seemed to zone out and when he zoned back… was the moon in a different spot? Time must have passed.”

Set in Sydney, an underlying theme is familial loyalty, and processing feelings of regret. Jack is still dealing with an accident from his childhood that left his brother in a permanent vegetive state and entirely reliant on care. Jack’s father has been forced to take on the burden of his son’s care while Jack has been in prison, and Jack feels deep regret.

There isn’t much I can fault with this novel. The cast of characters are three-dimensional and engrossing, the plot feels original and incredibly inviting, and Benjamin has incredible skill crafting scrumptious crime/thriller novels.

“It’s a cliche in film and television to present recent widows as brittle, frail. To have the make-up team use pale foundation, ghost-like, and smear dark circles under their eyes. Every time a widow opens a door in a film, they’ve just finished crying. The message being that, without their husband, they are barely keeping it together.”

Recommended for fans of crime and thriller. Readers don’t need to read Greenlight to understand or follow the events in this new novel — Either Side of Midnight functions as a standalone.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Either Side of Midnight
Benjamin Stevenson
September 2020
Penguin Book Publishers Australia

The Little Veggie Patch Co: An A-Z Guide to Growing Food in Small Spaces

After years of helping clients grow fruit and vegetables, the Little Veggie Patch Co. crew believe anyone can grow their own food, in most any area in Australia. And in this bestselling easy-to-use guide they show you how simple it is!

Fundamentals such as Soil, Climate, Watering, Composting, Worm Farms, Saving and Sowing Seeds, and Raised Garden Beds and Crates are all covered comprehensively – each with fully illustrated step-by-step plans that show how to create your own little veggie patch in any space.

A complete A-Z of Edible Plants gives you vital information on more than 40 vegetables (and fruit trees), including detailed planting information, ongoing maintenance advice, tips on best companions and when to harvest. And the Weekend Activities scattered throughout the book will get the kids involved too, whether they’re Making a Scarecrow, Building a Spud Tower or Growing Beans in a Bean Can.

Lots of fun, and packed full of all the knowledge you’ll need – plus recipes and some hilarious stories – this colourful guide is for anyone interested in growing their own food.

Back in April, when COVID-19 was spreading at a rapid rate and I started working from home, we built two veggie boxes in the backyard and started growing vegetables — snow peas, Brussels sprouts, carrots and onions. The Brussels sprouts got eaten by birds, twice, the snow peas are currently flourishing and providing an abundance of greens to my weekly stir fry, and the carrots and onions are still growing. With the end of Winter and the start of Spring, I’ve just planted lettuce, parsnips, eggplant, capsicum and radishes, and I’ve also built a herb box on the concrete wall next to the veggie boxes.

When I was embarking on this new hobby of mine, I watched every Youtube video by The Little Veggie Patch Co. I read every blog post. I also tried really hard to buy their earlier books, but struggled to find them in stock anywhere.

Enter their latest release, An A-Z Guide to Growing Food in Small Spaces. It’s hard to explain how excited I was to read about the upcoming publication of this book. This is a re-release of their first book, a compact guide to cooking vegetables all year round in Australia. This is the perfect book for anyone else who has been interested in growing vegetables during COVID-19, or any time in their lives really. This is for anyone who would like a companion guide on their shelf to refer to whenever embarking on a new vegetable plant.

“Capsicums are typically a late summer vegetable but in some areas can be harvested into winter. If you have trouble deadline with the glut, slow roast them, then preserve them in good olive oil — a delight to eat on a crusty loaf with a rub of garlic.”

I’ve lost track of the sections in this book that I’ve followed religiously since it arrived on my doorstep — I’ve read every chapter at least twice, studied every vegetable so I could decide what to plant next. I’ve already decided I’m going to build a spud tower in the backyard when I have a spare weekend, and I’m also working out the best spot to plant a lemon tree.

This book includes information on every major vegetable, from tomatoes and carrots to beans and corn. You’ll find out when to plant, how to plant, when to harvest, and how often to water. Scattered throughout the book are also some fun activities to involve the kids, as well as DIY tasks around the backyard to help you on your gardening journey.

Information is clear and concise, very easy to follow. You’ll read this book and then want to plant absolutely everything. The zone map is particularly helpful, as well as the section at the back on pests and insects, and how to fight them off when they’re trying to eat your food!

“If you intend on growing bulbing onions, be prepared for a lengthy growing period, as it will take 4-6 months before they’re ready for harvest. For the home vegetable garden, where space is at premium, multiple bulbing and bunching varieties are a better investment of your veggie-growing real estate.”

The only thing I feel is missing from this book is an indication of how long each vegetable takes to grow. I just planted parsnips in the backyard veggie box and then googled it, only to find out they take six months to grow! I would’ve liked to know the average time from seed to harvest without having to resort to the internet, but other than that, this book has everything.

Recommended for keen gardeners — from novice to experienced, this book will be a welcome addition to any household library.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Little Veggie Patch Co: An A-Z guide to growing food in small spaces
Mat Pember and Fabian Capomolla
September 2020
Pan Macmillan Publishers

None Shall Sleep by Ellie Marney

It’s 1982, and the innovative FBI Behavioral Science section is breaking new ground. Emma Lewis and Travis Bell, two teenagers with valuable skills, are recruited to interview convicted juvenile killers for information on cold cases.

When they’re drawn into an active case targeting teenagers, everything starts to unravel. Over Travis’s objections, Emma becomes the conduit between the FBI and an incarcerated serial killer, nineteen-year-old Simon Gutmunsson, who is a super-intelligent sociopath. And although Simon seems to be giving them the information they need to save lives, he’s also an expert manipulator playing a very long game …

Can Emma and Travis stop a serial killer on the loose – or will they fall victim themselves?

In Ellie Marney’s latest YA crime None Shall Sleep, two 18-year-olds in the US find themselves interviewing juvenile killers for the FBI — soon, they’re on the hunt for a vicious and fast-moving serial killer, who targets teenagers.

I’ve read a few of Ellie’s books and this is by far my favourite, and the strongest writing I’ve seen from Ellie. The prose is sharp and blunt; Ellie only uses words she needs to, propelling us through the story with efficiency.

The premise is a little absurd, sure, but it’s easy to put that aside and just let yourself fall into this thriller. I’m a sucker for a good crime story and Ellie kept me guessing with each chapter. All my predictions were wrong — all my guesses were misguided. Readers will find themselves engrossed in the story, desperate to turn each page.

“The inside of Behavioural Science is all low ceilings, crummy carpet, and cubicle hallways. Not as impressive as he imagined. Bell hears the sound of someone hanging up a phone farther ahead, then a muffled question, answered by an unfamiliar voice.”

Both Emma and Travis have troubled pasts that they avoid speaking about. Emma was kidnapped two and a half years earlier by a serial killer, but managed to escape. She still carries the scars — physically and mentally. Travis’ dad was murdered by a serial killer, and when that same serial killer crosses their path, Travis struggles to process the events.

Somehow, just somehow, I managed to read this entire book without realising it was set in 1982. I’d read the blurb multiple times and somehow missed it, and then I read the book and assumed it was set in the present. And to be honest? It works in the present. I mean, the premise is all a little ridiculous and unbelievable, which is probably why it’s not set in the present, but there didn’t really feel like any key descriptors or atmospheric indication that this was the 80s.

I think it’s both a good and bad thing. Good, because if it was too heavily embedded in 80s culture/landscape, teenagers today might not have enough of an interest in that to keep reading. And perhaps bad because…isn’t it a little weird you can read a whole book set in the 1980s and not realise? Ellie probably could’ve captured the setting a little stronger, without alienating her young readers.

“Kristin Gutmunsson’s resemblance to her twin is striking. She has the same gifts of good breeding, the poise and length of bone. She’s barefoot, in a simple cream linen shift that likely cost about as much as a small car. Her hair is ice-white and hands down in long tassels that remind Emma of Spanish moss — which makes her thinks of chiggers.”

It’s clear that a lot of research has gone into the writing of this book — the technicalities around the cognitive behavioural strategies, the descriptions of the killings and the crime scenes, the PTSD that Emma suffers from. Ellie has crafted a multi-layered story that sucks you deep into its clutches with each passing chapter.

Notorious serial killer Simon Gutmunsson plays a large role in this book, which I loved. He’s a fearsome character — he terrifies the reader with his quiet demeanour, his careful and considered actions. His characterisation is flawless, his dialogue chilling. He is both charming and intimidating, you can’t help but fall in love with him even though he’s a cold-blooded and remorseless killer. Readers will sympathise with his one weak spot — his love and devotion to his sister. It’s important to give antagonists something in their personality that makes them relatable, it allows the reader to understand them a bit better and perhaps like them. Simon’s connection with his twin sister Kristin makes him relatable, well-rounded, three-dimensional, and even that bit more human. It also allows for a few tender moments within the story.

“Cooper navigates the roads towards the Capitol Building, and Bell’s eyes move over the scrawl of Emma’s handwriting. She’s taken the entire interview down like dictation, and Bell finds the part he’s reading disturbing.”

As a long-time fan of Criminal Minds, I absolutely loved this book. I was genuinely shocked at how obsessed I became with this novel — how quickly I ditched plans just so I could finish this. The chapters snap at your heels, demanding you to keep reading, daring you to venture further.

Chilling and disturbing, but also really fucking entertaining. Recommended for readers of all ages.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

None Shall Sleep
Ellie Marney
September 2020
Allen & Unwin Book Publishers

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it’s not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it’s everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities.

Ten years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters’ story lines intersect?

From author Brit Bennett comes The Vanishing Half, another powerful, epic novel that weaves multiple strands and generations of one family, spanning the Deep South of the United States to California and New York, and set between the 1950s to the 1990s.

In The Vanishing Half, we meet identical twin sisters Stella and Desiree, who grow up in the small town of Mallard, Louisiana — it’s inhabited by people who strive to marry lighter. When they’re sixteen, the twins stage their runaway and settle into a new life in New Orleans. However, Stella soon disappears to lead her own life and the book documents how their lives progress over the next couple of decades.

The Vanishing Half explores identity, and the impact of decisions and choices, and how childhoods and adolescent years have a lasting influence on how a person shapes the rest of their life. While Stella and Desiree both came from the same family and the same small town, the stark contrast between their adult lives — Desiree is a single mother running from an abusive husband, and Stella is trying to pass as a white woman in an affluent, all-white LA neighbourhood — illustrate how differently they regard their origins.

“Leaving Mallard was Desiree’s idea but staying in New Orleans was Stella’s, and for years, Desiree would puzzle over why. When the twins first arrived in the city, they found work together in the mangle room at Dixie Laundry, folding sheets and pillowcases for two dollars a day.”

The writing is exquisite — poetic and lyrical, and so incredible I felt absorbed in the story from beginning to end. Brit has a way of weaving sentences together; they’re paired back and they hit the reader straight, but they also evoke incredible imagery and emotion.

The novel weaves between past and present incredibly well, inviting the reader into Desiree and Stella’s childhoods to explain why they left, where they went, and how they separated. The Vanishing Half does span decades, allowing us to meet the girls’ children. Desiree returns home to Mallard with her eight-year-old daughter Jude, and a decade later, Jude is pursuing a career as an athlete when she meets Kennedy — Stella’s daughter, an aspiring actress.

“She felt pathetic, drinking alone in the middle of the day, but what else could she do? She needed a job. Money. A plan. But those children staring at her daughter. The deputy dismissing her. Sam gripping her throat. She waved over Lorna again, wanting to forget it all.”

The Vanishing Half features a cast of characters who are all fleeing in search of a better life. There’s Desiree and Stella, and their children Jude and Kennedy. Additionally, Jude meets and falls in love with a trans man called Reese, who has run away from his unsupportive family.

Brit draws parallels between many of the characters.

Stella and Desiree’s plights are noticeably reminiscent in their children’s lives. Jude leaves Mallard to pursue bigger dreams, much like her mother, and Kennedy spends a lot of time trying to better understand her mother and her origins — Stella is incredibly closed off, and reluctant to share information on her childhood.

The Vanishing Half is a crisp examination of racism in 1950s-1980s America. Stella’s decision to “pass” as white allows her to forge a comfortable, safe existence with considerable wealth. Stella’s life improves after she casts her family aside and starts pretending to be a white woman, but Desiree — who marries a black man and gives birth to a “blueback” baby — goes through incredible torment and pain before fleeing back to Mallard to live with her mother again.

“The landlady grew silent after that, then said she had to go. A coloured man asking after a white woman — she’d already said too much. But not enough for Early, who hadn’t even found a forwarding address.”

Rich and riveting, The Vanishing Half will have you enraptured and mesmerised. Recommended for all readers, particularly fans of literary fiction and stories that sweep across generations of family.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett
June 2020
Hachette Book Publishers