Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: Loss

  • The Fast 800 Keto Recipe Book

    The Fast 800 Keto Recipe Book

    Well known, award winning television personality Dr Michael Mosley’s best-selling book “Fast 800 Keto” now has a companion recipe book written by his wife, Dr Clare Bailey. This well written and research cook book offers a variety of low-carb Mediterranean-style recipes, which helps reduce appetite and hence accelerated weight loss. It promotes intermittent fasting, keto and the importance of protein, which will result in more energy, better sleep and ultimately better mental and general health.

    Readers new to the concept of ketogenic diet, whereby the body shifts from burning carbs to burning fat for fuel, will find this a most interesting and helpful guide to the Keto way of eating and safe weight loss; it’s about simple, good food, which as far as possible is cooked from scratch.

    The Fast 800 Keto Recipe Book provides the science behind this alternative approach to sustainable weight loss by providing ways to get back to eating real, non-processed food.  The recipes in this book are usually made from easy-to-find ingredients and improve protein intake while reducing the consumption of starchy carbohydrates and sugars. The Introduction contains a helpful section on which foods to avoid and the ones to embrace. By including ‘A Flexible, Three-stage Programme’ the author guides the reader through the implementation of the Keto diet.   

    Each of the 150 easy to follow nutritious recipes includes a guide to the number of calories, a ‘cook’s tip’ and how to expand it if it’s being served on a ‘Non-Fast Day’. Those new to this diet will appreciate the ‘Index of Recipes by Calories’, to assist its easy implementation.

    It’s a must for people, who want to have a healthier diet and life style. 

  • THE ART OF GRIEVING

    THE ART OF GRIEVING

    GENTLE SELF-CARE PRACTICES TO HEAL A BROKEN HEART

    At the beginning of The Art of Grieving there are two pages without introduction, just there; eloquently written the words capture in totality the sudden and devastating event called grief as it enters your life, unwanted, unannounced, but there: changing the familiar to the unfamiliar, changing you forever.

    Corinne Laan has spent a lifetime writing this book as growing up watching the effects of grief in all its many facets on her life and that of her family, eventually beginning to working with mothers and babies, women who have and are experiencing grief with the loss of a child, infertility issues, still born births and miscarriage.

    Training as a nurse she found she gravitated to this area of work and then on to further study as a traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner. Having been ‘offered the thought’ about a book such as this back in the 1970’s, the advent of the current COVID epidemic, the lock-downs which saw families grieving the loss of loved one from a distance, many losing their jobs, business and contracts, saw the idea become a reality.

    One important point made early in the chapters is that we all grieve over the course of a life journey, but in this modern day of fast paced living, the massive impact of grief is frequently understated; not given anywhere near enough understanding. Sadly, over time the ceremonies concerning death and burial have been pared down to the basics. These traditional rituals help in so many ways with the grieving process.

     Death is to be pushed to one side, as to recognise death is to admit to weakness. Strange, considering death occurs every minute of every day, but grieving is not always associated with death of a person, it can also have the same debilitating effect upon the loss of a job, career, divorce and so many more everyday aspects of life.

    How to get through the sadness, the tough times, the process if you like of grieving has been carefully set down as a self-guided process which will encourage embracing your grief, learning to understand the many levels of grieving and accepting the journey based on a 12 step process and much more.

    Each of the steps comes with a short introduction, before moving into the ritual, the aspect of self-care, which is often the first thing to be neglected. Many of the simple, uncomplicated rituals can be carried with you, such as the prayer ritual, or mantra which can be used anywhere, anytime, others are little more complex as healing and grief is not a one size fits all situation

    Beautifully presented, written with love and understanding, warmth and welcome, The Art of Grieving sets out so much we are afraid to accept, making grief more understandable, acceptable, and the art of healing, of slowly moving forward so much easier.

  • Once Burnt, Twice Shy

    Once Burnt, Twice Shy

    Sam Murphy is hot, tired and dirty, but enjoying herself back on her family’s property in the Mid North Coast of New South Wales. Having rebuilt her life after a painful divorce, she offers to come home and care for the property while her parents take a much longed for holiday in Europe.

    Her designer jeans are now smeared with mud, her carefully streaked hair bundled into a ponytail and her Dad’s old akubra jammed on her head, and she is loving it. That is except for the ‘bloody guinea fowl’, her mother pride and joy!

    Neighbour Jack Cameron decides to call in make sure Sam is managing OK, which reignites a deep hurt in both Sam and Jack that goes back to their teen years spent as a couple. Both Sam and Jack are now divorced, both have children and both have learned not to trust easily in relationships.

    As the days pass the endless dry heat of the summer draws Sam and Jack together, as does the constant worry about the fires that are burning over the other side of the ridge. Jack is in the Volunteer Fire Brigade and as the fires draw closer to Barrumba, Sam picks up the additional tasks that need to be done over at Jacks’ place while he is away fighting the fires.

    This sets their somewhat delicate relationship on a new level, with both Sam and Jack learning to trust, to both be honest about the hurt of the past and allow fresh new tendrils of a relationship to begin to form once again.

    The fierce summer heat and winds see the fires out of control, roaring across the land, heading towards their properties as well as their many neighbors; the race is on to try and save what they can against the fierce, relentless fires that are devastating the country.

    Once Burnt, Twice Shy has a ring of truth and immense poignancy to the storyline, far more so than Karly Lane’s usual well-crafted stories, as her own home was on the edges of the horrific fires that devastated the country regions of New South Wales, over the summer of 2019-20.

    The townspeople rallying around to help and support, the immense frustration of the farmers as they watch on helplessly, the exhaustion of the fire crews, has been described with first-hand knowledge, as has the emotion felt when the knowledge that there will be no stopping the forces of nature is grimly accepted.

    Well written, and bravely done, as the devastation of the massive fires that swept across Australia during one summer of horror are still very raw, in many ways maybe this is a cathartic telling. Karly Lane looks at the aspects that out of horror can come joy, fresh new beginning can be found and the power of community working to support one another in terrible calamity, stands tall.

    Once Burnt, Twice Shy is I consider, Karly Lane’s best yet, as it has a reality that is almost impossible to portray unless you have experienced the emotions first hand.

  • Love and Loss

    Love and Loss

    With the advent of the Coronavirus the world is experiencing unprecedented loss as well as many acts of astonishing love.  In ‘Love & Loss’ the fifth book in ‘The Timeless Wisdom’ series, writers relate remarkable true stories demonstrating human spirit from times gone by. Although love and loss are polar opposites, the authors in this collection demonstrate that they often merge into one.

    The editor’s mission to reflect diversity of writing has certainly been achieved. Authors come from many parts of the world, from middle class and underprivileged backgrounds, but their common link is that they have reached the ‘Age of Wisdom’ – 60 plus years. The accounts are of those who have experienced the love of a daughter and a mother/father, mother and child, man and woman; some who only discovered this love long after the death of ‘the loved’. The narratives of loss, which include juvenile cancer, forced adoption, and Alzheimers, have also been recounted from a perspective love.

    Each of the twenty-five insightful stories in this collection, is prefaced by a thought provoking quote; many from well-known writers.  The reader is encouraged to explore the link between the quote and the account which follows; some are more obvious than others. This collection emphasises the fact that although we have loved and lost, the warm memories of those intense feelings of affection, tenderness, and endearment endure forever.

    Readers will not only enjoy this anthology, but find it an antidote for the gaps in their lives as a result of ‘social isolation’.

  • Tree: A Gentle Story of Love and Loss

    Tree: A Gentle Story of Love and Loss

    In a delicately woven story of love and loss Lynne Jenkins and Kirrili Lonergan, along with their beloved friends Loppy, a LAC and Curley Calmster, help small children everywhere learn about so much in their life that is important and helps little ones understand the world around them is not always as it seems.

    In a very little village the Little Anxious Creatures, of which Loppy is one, along with his best friend Curly, a Calmster, who has the magic touch of helping Loppy understand that sometimes sad things do happen, but that good things a can and often do remain and begin, once the sad things are better understood.

    In their village lives a very, very old tree that everyone who lived their loved. It was special place that everyone could go and talk about things that made them sad, or worried. Somehow the tree always seemed to listen and make things a whole lot better.

    Once day Loopy realised Tree was looking a bit sad; the leaves were falling, changing colour and not growing back. Trees’ bark was falling off and it was the wrong time of the year. Things were not looking good for Tree, but what could they do.

    Loopy was very upset and spoke with his friend Curley about this very sad thing that had come into their lives. After much thought they came to a very interesting conclusion that would help them all say goodbye to Tree, while honouring it for having been such an important tree in the lives of all the people in their small village for so very long.

    Beautifully created Tree, A gentle story about love and loss is the perfect resource for helping little ones learn to understand and accept grief, letting go and the changes this brings about in their lives.

  • Starting From Now

    Starting From Now

    Once again, Fleur McDonald has delivered a well-crafted novel wrapped around the very real issue of animal activism in rural areas, looking at the destructive aspect of activism when it is taken too far.

    This latest compelling novel, Starting from Now is once again about endings and new beginnings, about grief and finding solace in the most unexpected of places. Set in the sleepy country town of Barker, the home of Detective Dave Burrows, Constable Jack Higgins, and other firm friends, we meet another one of the towns families, the Ellison family, long-time residents and graziers in the district.

    Zara Ellison left Barker to pursue a career as a rural journalist, becoming an award winner for her Rural reporting, building a very full life in Adelaide to that of country living. When she gets a phone call from her mother asking her to come home, it is a call she has been dreading, as it means her brother Will’s cancer has progressed far quicker than anticipated.

    She packs up her life in Adelaide, heading once again for home and dreading every kilometre of the journey drawing her ever closer to the tragic loss of her father several years before, and now the terribly final realisation about her brother and his cancer.

    Still having to earn a living she decides that one of the first things she needs to do is introduce herself to the Stock agent and the Police in Barker to ensure she is able to be in touch with the latest rural events over the coming months.

    A high-profile trial in Melbourne in relation to the death of a Voices For Animals protestor covered by Zara Ellison, was to have far reaching tendrils she discovered, once a series of rather unusual events began to occur out on her family property and friends farms with the drones flying over paddocks and a devastating farm accident occurring.

    Over the next few weeks she begins to settle into rural life, coming to know Dave and Jack better, and although she realises that she is not a farm girl at heart, there is something rather special about life in a rural town that is comforting, relaxing and refreshing, after her somewhat hectic life in the city.

    When she goes to cover another story on Animal Activist protests, she inadvertently stumbles across Jack acting completely out of character, looking like a serious tough guy who would not like to be messed with. Exactly what is going on her and what should she do about it?

    Amidst the pain of losing her brother, the heady rush of covering a story that holds far more than ever imagined and a fresh new start beginning to emerge from the sorrow of the past, Zara finds life in the country far more exciting that she ever imagined.

     

    Another wonderful, warm, engaging and very authentic novel straight from the pages of country life, dealing with the very real issues faced by many living in regional Australia.

     

     

  • The Dinner List

    The Dinner List

    What would you do if the people you most wanted to have dinner with when you were in University actually turned up at a dinner hosted for you by your still best friend on your 30th birthday?

    After the shock wore off Sabrina has to take stock; Yes that was Audrey Hepburn looking a little peeved as she was being kept waiting for dinner, her long dead father Robert is sitting there right next to Audrey, her friend Jessica is also there with the guests, very much alive and spearing choice morsels off Sabrina plate, something she has always done.

    In this reflective and wistful work, Rebecca Searle takes a long look at what really is important in a person’s life as they too grow up, adapt to change and learn to move on into tomorrow.

    Over dinner and as the wine flows she begins to realise that these people, four of whom are dead, have all had a major impact on her life and that being there at this time is not just a coincidence, it is something that has been in the planning for many years.

    Tobias her one and only  true love, dead only a short time, has not yet found peace in his new life, the same peace and acceptance as has Audrey and Robert. Her much admired University Professor of Philosophy Conrad, has designs on Audrey Hepburn and as the night slowly draws on, becomes somewhat interesting!

    But also as the night continues, Sabrina begin to realise that it really is about her learning to accept life’s realities without trying to fix them, something she has always tried to do, something that has held her back from moving on. She also realises that somewhere inside that strange, wonderful and totally quirky friend of hers, Jessica Bedi, there is a woman who truly believes in magic and considers “Anything is possible.”

    As each of the guests departs Tobias is the last to leave, the last to finally answer a question that is all important to Sabrina, ‘Why were you there that day?’

    A beautiful, poignant look at friendship, love, acceptance, family and moving on!

  • Finn’s Feather

    Finn’s Feather

    In this delicately insightful story about love, loss and forever, Rachel Noble draws on personal experience to offer a gentle pathway forward for anyone who has lost a beloved child or parent, and the process of grieving; a pathway personal to everyone.

    Finn knows his brother Hamish has gone to heaven and is very sad. He misses him every day. Everyone around him that knew Hamish is also very sad, but it is not until Finn finds a white feather on his doorstep, that he learns to accept that while Hamish may not be there anymore, Hamish is still looking down from his very own rainbow.

    The problem is Finn simply cannot understand why his Mum and his teacher are not as excited as he is about finding this perfect, beautiful, white feather. He discusses this with his friend Lucas who asks him what he is going to do with the feather and why he thinks Hamish has given it to him.

    They come to the conclusion, as little people often do, that perhaps Hamish wanted Finn to have some fun with the feather and so they set out to do exactly that, building a BIG castle, chasing the feather all over the school grounds and finally having to climb a tree, with the help of his friends, to rescue the feather.

    At the end of the day Finns heart is so much lighter and he is more accepting of the fact that while Hamish may not be there anymore, as he is an Angel, he is still a big part of his life and in his heart forever.

    A beautiful letter at the conclusion of the book offers a precious insight into acceptance, love and healing. In writing Finn’s Feather, Rachel Nobles wish is ‘for it to fly into the hands of every child who needs the story of hope.’

    Easy to read words combined with graceful artwork from Zoey Abbott completes a work which is both significant and poignant and perfect for children struggling to understand the process of death and grieving.

  • Suddenly One Summer

    Suddenly One Summer

    Life and how you view it can change in a mere second, a splinter of time, and the effects can be life changing, as was the case when Brianna Donahue’s mother disappeared from their property when she was three years old. She appeared to have vanished without a trace, her body never discovered, leaving behind a massive question unanswered and a young child to be bought up by her loving father.

    Brianna’s husband Caleb, an up and coming lawyer in Perth, who works away from their property, which Brianna and her father manage, combining his acreage and hers and Caleb’s, running two very successful establishments. Brianna lives for the land and Caleb lives for the law, even though he too is country born and bred.

     It is not until their oldest son Trent goes missing on the morning of Brianna’s birthday, and Caleb cannot return from Perth, due to a trial he is involved with to help in the search, that Brianna discovers she needs to take a serious look at their failing relationship; perhaps it is time to make some very hard and difficult decisions.

     As the day progresses the temperatures rising to scorching and the day seems to become an endless struggle to remain calm and focused. His disappearance brings back some sad and difficult memories for Brianna and her father. When Trent is finally discovered at the dam where the best yabbies are to be found, he is very dehydrated and sporting a broken leg, having crashed off his quad bike and become unconscious.

    An older neighbour of  Brianna and her father, is also facing troubled times with missing sheep and missing wool clips, which brings Detective Dave Burrows to town to see what, if anything is going one. He and his partner Jack discover the old man, Guy Woods, has early signs of dementia, but while he is a little vague and disoriented, he is very clear about his missing property.

    During the investigations Dave turns up some of Guy’s family history, the details of which appears to be buried deep within the local community, but is intriguing enough to get him taking a closer look at Guy’s family and what happened to them. How the two families’ lives become entwined is slowly and delicately unfolded in a suspenseful and intriguing manner.

    But there is also a third and fascinating string to this story, adding to the intrigue which reflects on the many layers that go to make up the human psyche.

    Fleur McDonald has once again taken secrets that lie hidden beneath the veneer of many small communities, using them to form the basis of a story which could easily be as true to life as the words she has used to craft this absolutely enjoyable read, Once again the wonderful Dave Burrows, wife Kim, his partner Jack, and all the people of the remarkable town of Merriwell Bay, located somewhere in Australia, populate this entertaining and enjoyable story,

    A great Sunday afternoon in the shade read.