Tag: Criticism

Henry Firth and Ian Theasby – Bish Bash Bosh! | Review

Title: Bish Bash Bosh!

Author: Henry Firth and Ian Theasby

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 290

Rating 4.25/5

This is the second Bosh! cookbook that they’ve released, and I enjoyed the recipes in the first book so much that I asked for the second one for my birthday. I’m lucky in that I have a super awesome girlfriend, and so she bought me a signed copy – although the cynic in me suspects that she just wanted me to cook for her. But that’s okay and I’m cool with that.

In case you didn’t get the memo, Bosh is a YouTube channel that specialises in making videos about vegan food. In this cookbook, they share all kinds of awesome recipes spanning a range of different cuisines, and I picked up everything from starters and desserts to bad ass mains, and in fact I ended by making roast stuffing balls, nut roast and quick onion gravy. It was delicious.

I tend to measure my recipe books based on how many of the recipes I take away with me and put into my overall master list of recipes. This book gave me a good 20+ recipes that I took away for good, and that compares to two or three from some other books that I could (but won’t) mention. And because my copy was a limited edition, it was also signed and included six bonus recipes, two of which in particular I was a fan of.

My only criticism would be that a lot of the recipes have already appeared on their YouTube channel. There were a few in here that I already had because of that, but I can live with that. Yum yum.

Click here to buy Bish Bash Bosh!.


Terry Pratchett – A Blip of the Screen | Review

Title: A Blip of the Screen

Author: Terry Pratchett

Type: Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 322

Rating 4/5

 

 

This book is beautiful, a hardback collection of some of Terry Pratchett’s short fiction from throughout the years as it was published by newspapers, anthologies and more. The book is a beautiful artifact in and of itself, especially because of the colour illustrations that are included inside of it, but the artifact is just the beginning.

What I liked about this is that it really was a comprehensive look at Pratchett’s entire career throughout the years, featuring early versions of stories like the Nomes books. There are some Discworld stories here too, although I felt like I’d read at least one of those before. Regardless, they were a great addition to his body of work, and there wasn’t a single story that I didn’t enjoy.

I guess the main criticism that I’d level at it is that a lot of the pieces that were included were pretty much just fragments. That was counterbalanced by the fact that Pratchett wrote short introductions to each piece to give them some context, but then it led to some strange situations where the introductions were as long as the pieces themselves.

If you’re a serious Pratchett fan then this one definitely deserves a place on your bookshelves. There’s a lot to love here, and I also like the way that it makes you feel like you’re heading behind the scenes. It does a great job at showing the evolution of Pratchett’s career, and it also does a great job at showing the huge breadth of his imagination. I got my copy used and so it didn’t cost too much, making it a cracking read that didn’t cost a lot of money. So if you like Pratchett anywhere near as much as I do, I suggest you grab a copy.

 

 

Click here to buy A Blink of the Screen.