Book Review: Cofiwch Dryweryn by Mari Emlyn

I think one of the things would surprise teenage Chris is how much of a proud Cymro I have become as I got older. I support independence, I vote Plaid Cymru and I get angry about the way my country, and its language, are routinely insulted, dismissed or ignored. And it seems I'm not alone …

Book Review: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid by Jan Harold Brunvand

Urban legends are wonderful things, not just because of the gross, macabre stories themselves but for the fact that they're constantly changing. You hear one when you're a teen and then years later there's a variation of the same story doing the rounds on Facebook. Brunvand collects retellings of various urban legends, and it's an …

Book Review: Hard Men of Rugby by Luke Upton

I got given this book for Christmas, and have thoroughly enjoyed reading it since then. Luke Upton has chosen twenty of the tough sports' tough guys and they reflect the global nature of the game, and the changes it has undergone. There are old school hard men who played in amateur era, a wild west …

Book Review: For the Exe by Stephen Reynolds

I got sent a copy of this for free because the author and I follow each other on Instagram. It came with a lovely note from the author, and having finished reading, using the note as a bookmark, I'm going to put both away safely. I've read three of Reynolds' books about his walking adventures, …

Book Review: The Best in The World…At What I Have No Idea by Chris Jericho

This is the third memoir of wrestler and rock singer Chris Jericho. I'm a big fan of Jericho and he'd definitely make my top 10 favourite wrestlers list (which I might post soon), and enjoyed his first two books which detailed his early years and time at WWE, where he became the first Undisputed champ. …

Book Review: Golf Monster by Alice Cooper (with Keith and Kent Zimmerman)

I love Alice Cooper. Way back in 2001 Alice was the first proper concert I went to, and I saw him again in 2006, and those shows mean he's still secure in my top 5 acts I've seen live. Golf, I'm less keen on. I've played the crazy/mini variety which is quite fun, and messed …

Book Review: The Pirate by Harold Schechter

I picked this up as part of Amazon's Prime Reading thing where a few books are included free with Prime. There are a series of true crime short reads, and going into a run of night shifts they sounded just the thing to help pass the time. This recounts a grizzly triple murder aboard a …

Book Review: This Van Could Be Your Life by Mishka Shubaly

I've read a few of Shubaly's short memoirs before and I'm a big fan of his writing, which is insightful, darkly comic and incredibly honest. In previous books he's recounted his time on the road as a musician, a failed attempt on reality TV, getting shipwrecked and becoming an ultra runner which helped to get …

Book Review: Beasts in My Belfry by Gerald Durrell

I'm a big fan of Durrell's writing, where his love of nature shines through with warmth and humour. This book follows his early days, where he got a job at Whipsnade Zoo in order to gain more experience of working with animals. Over the course of the year Durrell would work with a variety of …

Book Review: Monty: His Part in my Victory by Spike Milligan

Having rather enjoyed the first two volumes of Milligan's war memoirs, I decided to return to the series. The book picks up shortly after the ending of part two, with Milligan and his comrades celebrating the fall of Tunis, and covers the four month period following this until Milligan's unit is sent to Italy. The …