Finding Shelter | Jesse Freidin | Review

Monday, 17 April 2017

Finding Shelter | Jesse Freidin | Review

*Image and book provided by NetGalley for an honest review.

Summary:

A collection of mini-biographies, photos and short stories about people who volunteer at their local animal shelters.

Review:

This is a relatively short book that is full of love. The love people have for helping animals find homes and the love that the animals have for the humans who help them. All of the stories and photos in this book center around dogs. Some cats get mentioned, but this is completely a book for dog lovers. Still, it's such an inspiring book that I've actually looked at volunteering at local shelters myself (nearest one is, sadly, a two hour bus trip one way). But there are so many stories about how the little things you can do make a big difference to a dog's life. More often there are stories about what those same dogs can do for you.

If you are a dog lover or are in need of some heartwarming stories, I cannot recommend this book enough. This is a great book for animal lovers and it will remind you that there are good things going on in this world. 

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Taylor Swift: The Platinum Edition | Liv Spencer | Review

Wednesday, 27 November 2013

Taylor Swift: The Platinum Edition | Liv Spencer | Review

Taylor Swift: The Platinum Edition is a biography of the young star’s life and career, from authors Jen Knoch & Crissy Calhoun who together write under the name Liv Spencer. The team write books about the things that they love, and previous subjects have included Twilight, The Mortal Instruments and Pretty Little Liars. The Platinum Edition is an update of their 2010 Taylor Swift biography Every Day Is A Fairytale.

The first chapters talk about Taylor’s childhood, how she got her first record deal and of course, her rise to fame. Here we are introduced to many of the people that have helped her along the way including producers, writers, fellow musicians and of course, her family and friends. Overall Taylor’s story is inspirational and the book paints a picture of a determined and hard-working but grounded young woman who has managed to prove that dreams really can come true.

There are chapters dedicated to each of Taylor’s four albums, with a rundown of the tracks and information on the ideas behind them, something her fans regularly speculate about. This is followed up by a chapter focusing on her music videos, sharing how the concepts came about, details on the casting decisions and their commercial success.

The final section of the book is a chronological timeline of Taylor’s career from 2004 up until early 2013. As some of the points in this section had already been covered earlier in the book it did feel a little repetitive, however there was some new information interspersed as well.

Having read the biography as an ebook I have to say that I think it would have been a much better read as a physical book. The timeline in particular, with it’s bullet point layout is something I think would look neater and be easier to follow in print. In addition there is a large selection of images which again, I personally think would be best in print (I read on a Kindle Touch which has a black & white screen).

Although I’m not sure how much of the information included would be new to her die-hard fans, Taylor Swift: The Platinum Edition is a fairly informative read and would make a nice Christmas gift this year for the Taylor Swift fan in your life!

*Review copy c/o Netgalley, Image via Goodreads

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