Tom's treasures of fiction, poetry, literature and more...

As we draw closer to the end of April, I am hear to let you in on what I have been reading across the month... 1: Some of me Poems  (1976) by Pam Ayres. I kickstarted off my reading and reviewing in April with my first Pam Ayres book. As she has been author of the month, I picked her first collection Some of me Poems  (1976) to read and have a review that you can look at from the beginning of the month. 2: My French... I do it, I do not stop. I am continually working on my French lessons in a bid to master the language. These of course including reading tasks so I do reading often (in French and English). 3: Bus timetables. Where I live there have been a number of timetable changes and I am have browsing through all the new timetables to see what changes (again), improvements (unlikely) and reductions (as per) that there would be. I did also come across a brand new 24 hour bus route, though not for my area. It seems that Metrobus are going to be running a new 24 hour bus route...

For today's blog post I am reviewing Pam Ayres' children's book Hattie the Hare  (2024). Now it is a nice book with beautiful illustrations by Nicola O'Byrne. The colourful and intricate illustrations alone could capture the attention of children. Then we have the story itself. The story is rather special I find, offering information about hares as it goes on. But the facts are not given in a boring, factual manner. The story is fascinating with rhymes that are perfectly created. Ayres is keeping children engaged too by avoiding words too complex for them to comprehend. What makes the story even better is how she has included facts about hares at the back, which provides a learning element for children. It is good to have books that can be educational and that can children can also enjoy. Pam Ayres here has written a great book, which I believe ticks all the right boxes for a book being aimed at children. It is sweet and informative without being likely to create boredo...

Hi all, today's post was going to be a review of a book I recently read however I just found out the author recently used the word 'Woke' to describe modern feminism. I am gutted because 'woke' is normally used as an insult to those wanting justice, fairness and equality for all. This is something I thought the author would have supported but clearly I was wrong. All I can see is that I am glad the book of hers that I picked up only cost me 50p from out the front of a charity shop. The funny thing is that I finished the book off this week, ignoring all the books I wanted to read and only found out about her comments after I had finished it and after I had typed up my review. I am gutted to have found that out because there are enough people on the right brandishing others as 'woke' all too often. I do not find it an insult as such because to me it just says that I have woken up and I value equality. But I am not going to review a book when the author makes a...

Hello all. For some reason, though I thought I had posted on Monday it is nowhere to be seen! Anyway today is World Earth day! Are you going to be out and about somewhere, especially somewhere where there is nature? I think sometimes we take this planet for granted but we need the planet with all the plants, animals and bodies of water such as oceans. Think how many people travel in a boat. If we ruined our oceans, then people would get stuck. Ferry companies would suffer financially and jobs would be lost if they could not carry on providing ferry journeys for people. Then we have all the plastic that people just chuck or leave on beaches. Seagulls can access this and this can cause them harm. I know people might argue they are pests, but seriously... Is it a crime to be concerned about one type of animal suffering? If you take out an entire species because of what the human race has been doing, is doing and continues to do then that could affect the ecosystem and have an impact on ot...

Hello all... Now I know that women's rights have been at threat for a long time but when does it ever stop? Today I found out that 62 million men have accessed a r*pe "academy" site that teaches men how to drug and SA men and how to get away with it. I am horrified! I am disgusted, my stomach instantly started turning as I repulsed at the thought of that many men. Since when did one of the most heinous and violating crimes become treated as "a subject" to teach men about. It is grim that people find this acceptable... But then again, misogyny continues to rise. Look at all the number of rich and powerful men who have gotten away with committing crimes such as SA listed in the infamous files to do with the U.S.A. That country's president continues lording it over as if he is Jesus. Then we have people in this country including a certain disgraced ex-prince. There's also the people who want these sorts of disgustingly rich men to stay in power. The leader ...

Today I am reviewing another book. This time I am reviewing Pam Ayres's 2021 collection, On Animals . The collection brings together all her poems from across her work that in some way include any animals. These animals include hedgehogs as featured in her poem 'In Defence of Hedgehogs', or 'The Seagull' and even 'My Sister's Cat Does Not Like Me'; both of which indicate the animals included within those poems. As always, Ayres's poems provide her usual and unique humour.  Aside from Pam Ayres offering up her poems that come with the humour and the seriousness or the sentiment at times, she also included descriptions to add context to some of the poems. This is really liked because it gave me insight into Pam Ayres as a person not just as an author. This as well allowed for her to provide insight into things being different because attitudes around certain things have changed since she wrote some of these poems. There are poems in there that are deca...

I am back at another bookshop people. This time I am in the East Sussex seaside town of St Leonards. Found on London Road in the town, Black Gull Books lies, standing on a corner. It is a nice bookshop and one that is tidy. What I liked about this bookshop is how they have a neatness and strong clarity of book placement, which other bookshops might not necessarily have. I find with it being clear on where books are, it makes it easier to search if you want something specific. On the other hand, if you just want a random book or are not too fussed then it still makes it a little better when having a standard browse. Then we come to the staff who work in the bookshop. The staff here are very friendly and always happy to assist with any enquiries. I have been in this bookshop more than once by now and I have found them to be extremely polite and helpful when I was after something specific. I can also tell that they often build up a rapport with their customers, not just me. This is a reas...

Hello everyone... It is my second review of some of Pam Ayres's work today. For this review, I will be looking at her 1978 poetry collection, Thoughts of a Late-Night Knitter . For the second time, I find myself laughing at what I am reading. Pam Ayres is so funny and she seems to do it with ease. The poems in this collection though do differ from the last. This time I was met with an abundance of various people from the child who wanted to stay at home with their mum in 'I don't Want to go to School Mum' or the woman needing a new settee in 'A Tale of Two Settees' and person who could not stand going to the car wash in 'The Car Wash Black and Blues'. In her poetry, Pam makes her characters come alive, filling them with a vivid personality as well as keeping them funny. Then there are the poems that offer more serious topics such as 'Building Sites Bites' which I found a little hard to comprehend, considering the meaning behind it as she explaine...

Hello everyone. Last month, I celebrated my Nan with the poem I read at her funeral. Now for this month, I wanted to honour my Grandma who is still with us. I wrote the following poem in a class at university and it is entitled 'Those were the Days'. It is an abecedarian poem where each line starts with the next letter of the alphabet, starting with 'A' for the first line, then moving on to 'B' until you get to 'Z'. I hope you enjoy it! Those were the Days: A chocolate cake tastes so good   because it  has got  the rich flavour that   clings to my tongue. That is how you   do your cake – making it chocolatey   enough that it gives me another reason   for cherishing our visits. When you come and   get us from Ripon or Catterick Garrison, I   have that warming tingle   inside of me as you drive us along,   jumping up and down those Yorkshire slopes, bends and dips,   knowing that your special cake will be waiting,   longing ...

Today I just wanted to wish everyone a happy Easter on this glorious Easter Monday if you celebrate! To those of you who do then I how ever you celebrate it or if you have to work it then I hope the day goes well for you. Until next time, Thomas.

For today's blog post people I have decided to review Pam Ayres' first collection Some of me Poems  from 1976. I have to say that I was looking forwards to reading some of Pam Ayres' work. Her first collection did not disappoint. For one thing it was hilarious! I love how Pam Ayres can write a poem, perfectly executing what she wants to say while being funny and being able to rhyme well. One poem that was a strand out for me was 'Oh I Wish I'd looked after me Teeth'. This poem is an excellent example to highlight the point I was making. It is also got me thinking about my own teeth. I might not be one for eating sweets or drinking fizzy drinks but still... Going back to the rhyming, none of it is repeated or used just to used. Imagine if someone wrote something just rhyme it but the writing did not fit. The thing with Pam Ayres is that her poetry seems to flow magically with the rhyme. None of it was overpowering either. Each poem in the collection was different...

Hello all!