The Secret Life of Cows by Rosamund Young 📚 BOOK REVIEW

I read a hardback version of The Secret Life of Cows.

Genre: Nonfiction

Publisher: Faber & Faber

Originally published: 2003

Pages: 137 (hardback)

 

 

 

 

Blurb by the publisher:

Cows can love, play games, bond and form strong, life-long friendships. They can sulk, hold grudges, and they have preferences and can be vain. All these characteristics and more have been observed, documented, interpreted and retold by Rosamund Young based on her experiences looking after the family farm’s herd on Kite’s Nest Farm in Worcestershire, England. Here the cows, sheep, hens and pigs all roam free. There is no forced weaning, no separation of young from siblings or mother. They seek and are given help when they request it and supplement their own diets by browsing and nibbling leaves, shoots, flowers and herbs. Rosamund Young provides a fascinating insight into a secret world – secret because many modern farming practices leave no room for displays of natural behavior yet, ironically, a happy herd produces better quality beef and milk.

Rosamund Young

 

"A lighthearted and charming read, but I was expecting something
 completely different."

My Thoughts

When I first heard about this book, I was utterly intrigued. And since I became vegan, I’ve gotten more and more interested in the psyche of animals. I went into this one expecting something completely different, and I can’t blame anyone but myself for that. I didn’t do proper research and I jumped in blindly. Sometimes that is a positive thing, this time though, it wasn’t a perfect match.

Where I was expecting more research and facts I got a cute story about farmed cows and their personalities.

There no denying that Rosamund Young has written a charming book about animals that she clearly loves, and I really do appreciate that in this one. That being said, I could not help but feel that this book wasn’t targeted as much to me as a vegan. She writes quite a lot about how the wellbeing of the cows makes for better meat and milk, and needless to say that doesn’t really resonate much with me say.

That being said, I still think that Young and her family’s way of running a farm is a million times better than factory farming, and I applaud them for making the choice to value these wonderful cows and making sure they all live a good life filled with love and comfort.

Some of the stories told in this book are very interesting, and I definitely do have a bit of a new look on the kind of personalities cows can have. And I found the way that she explained how they communicated with humans to be the most fascinating part of the book.

So overall I would say that it was a lighthearted and charming read, but I was expecting something completely different.

Do you want to make up your own opinion about the book? Click on the Bookdepository or Amazon logo below to go and get your own copy!

IT by Stephen King – REVIEW

I read a paperback edition of IT. 

Published: September 1986

Publisher: Viking Press (now owned by Penguin Random House) 

Pages: 1104 (paperback)

Audiobook length: 44 hrs, 57 min

 

 

 

 

Synopsis by the publisher:

It’s a small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real….

They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But none of them can withstand the force that has drawn them back to Derry to face the nightmare without an end, and the evil without a name.

Stephen King

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The Writing

 Stephen King is an absolute master when it comes to setting that creepy and dark mood in the readers mind. The way he explains surroundings, events and people’s inner most scary thoughts is done so brilliantly that you feel like you’re a part of the story.

The way he hints to what is going to happen throughout the story makes reading it like watching a disaster happening in slow motion. You are mesmerized and can’t look away and you badly want the warn the characters at the same time.

And I just love how he adds references to other books of his as well as the work of authors that he admires.

The Characters

Even though King is known as the master of horror, I think that what makes him such a talented writer is the way that he shows a reader the very worst and the best that hides inside a human.

Let’s start with Pennywise (because how could I not?)! I can definitely see how so many was traumatized when it came to clowns as they read this book at quite an early age. I myself (not being that easily scared when it comes to books) wasn’t scared for life and runs away screaming whenever I see a clown after reading IT, but Pennywise definitely pops into my mind every time I see a floating balloon or look down the drain pipe in a bathroom. So I might have been somewhat affected by this creepy clown. But there was so much to this mysterious character and I was so incredibly intrigued by IT (and horribly disappointed when it came to the movie when I watched that for the first time after finishing the book! But more about that later.)

In the beginning of the book there were a whole lot of characters being introduced and I was a bit confused for a little while, but in true Stephen King style, it wrapped itself together pretty fast and then it was almost impossible to not be hooked into every single character’s story.

The Plot

I really had no idea where this story would go or end up when I started reading.

The plot twists and turns and tells so many stories in one book, and as long as it’s done as well as this is then I’m loving that concept.

I was never bored, I always had a feeling of the possibility for absolutely anything to happen and my heart was already racing at page forty-seven.

And that ending! Woah! Stories like this with endings like that is what makes me such a big fan of Stephen King’s work!

My Thoughts

IT was such an amazing ride of a story. I loved every step of the way, even though I was a little confused at times. When I finished reading, it did not feel like I had been through over 1100 pages.

Definitely a book that I want to reread again some time and one that made me respect King as a writer even more.

And (as I mentioned) I did watch the movie after finishing the book and I was so disappointed. It did not stay true to the story, it hardly explained what IT was and there were so many parts that I missed from the book when I had it so fresh in my memory.

I was really rooting for the remake of IT and was actually really sad to hear that it was put on ice for now. We need a better movie adaptation of this horrific masterpiece!

Do you want your own copy of IT? Click on the Amazon or BookDepository logo below.

Joyland by Stephen King – REVIEW

The story of Joyland is set in 1973. Devin Jones (a university student) takes a summer job at Joyland, an amusement park in North Carolina. After finishing his interview at the amusement park he has a conversation with the park’s fortuneteller. She tells him that during his time at Joyland he will meet two children. A girl with a red hat and a boy with a dog. One of them has the sight.

His summer at Joyland comes with new friends, adventures and new found talent for “wearing the fur” as they call the job of walking around in the park inside the costume of Howie the Happy Hound, Joyland’s mascot.

Devin and his friends learn that several years previous to them a working there, a young girl was murdered in The Haunted House, but the murderer was never caught. Rumors go around about the girl’s ghost being seen inside The Haunted House more than one and both Devin and his friends are intrigued and wants to see her.

Will they be able to see her? Will the murderer get caught? And where does this summer job that Devin loves so much take him?

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Joyland is (as any Stephen King novel) a story of mystery and curiosity. It had me glued from the beginning and was very entertaining. The character development of Devin Jones is amazingly well written. It was not my favorite Stephen King novel but I enjoyed very much as a fast paced and exciting read.

One of my favorite quotes from Joyland:

“When you’re twenty-one, life is a roadmap. It’s only when you get to be twenty-five or so that you begin to suspect that you’ve been looking at the map upside down, and not until you’re forty are you entirely sure. By the time you’re sixty, take it from me, you’re fucking lost.”

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See you again soon booktastic lovelies!! Have a great weekend 🙂