My Life in France by Julia Child

 Shortly before Christmas I decided it was a good idea to try to clear some of my personal (as opposed to book review) TBR pile, especially any that could have been last year's Christmas presents. Hence the seemingly random 'My Life In France' by Julia Child. 

Despite her celebrity status in the US, I wasn't aware of Julia Child before watching the film Julie and Julia which follows a cookery blogger Julie Powell in her attempts to work her way through Child' s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, interspersed with excerpts from Child's life in France and her rise as an early TV cook.

This book is, as it says, primarily about Julia Child's years spent in France - though it follows her and her diplomat husband in the years after. 

Arriving in France in 1948 as a young woman with no culinary skills, Julia Child immersed herself in  French culture and cookery, exploring the fresh food markets, dining out on traditional French food, and enrolling at the famous Cordon Bleu cookery school. Although food was undoubtedly her passion there's more to her story than that; her relationships with friends and family, the troubles of relocating due to her husband's diplomatic career, and his growing disillusionment with it.

It's very readable; a story of enthusiasm and new experiences; full of life and, of course, food (though this isn't a recipe book).

Lost Dog: a love story by Kate Spicer

Kate Spicer is a mid-forties freelance journalist living a drug- and alcohol-fueled life which is starting to seem increasingly empty and meaningless, until she decides to adopt a dog - and it's love at first sight. Wolfy is a huge shaggy lurcher who completely transforms life for Kate. She soon comes to prefer snuggling up at home with him in the evening to late night parties, early morning walks instead of the once-perpetual hangover. Then the unthinkable happens; left overnight with Kate's brother, Wolfy runs away. Kate and her partner Charlie are desperate. They search the streets of London, set up a Facebook page, and through the internet attract a host of well-wishers and helpers (and sadly some trolls too). Their relationship is pushed to the limits but everything will be perfect if Wolfy can be found.

This autobiographical story is both a very personal tale of redemption, and a wider reflection on the relationship between humans and dogs. Most dog owners can't claim to have had their lives changed dramatically in the way that Kate's was, but we all understand the unconditional love that dogs bring into our lives, and the very special place they hold in our hearts. 

The reader follows Kate's path from 'lost woman' to one with a new love and purpose in life - a love which looks likely to disappear forever, but miraculously is found again.Being a regular chatterer on Twitter I knew of the search for Wolfy, and its happy ending, but I was still pulled in by Kate's honesty and willingness to share the good and bad in her life; when Wolfy got lost, I almost felt as devastated as she did. 

Maryom's review - 5 stars 
Publisher - Penguin (Ebury) 
Genre - non-fiction, memoir, autobiography

Glass Mother by Rosie Jackson

Review by The Mole

Rosie Jackson grew up with a drive to succeed and a love of books. This led to her teaching at the very prestigious University of East Anglia, meeting and working with many household names. Clearly she had 'made it' but was it everything she expected and desired?

This feels like a very cathartic work with honesty and detail that many will relate to at some point. There is much I could say about this work that will have you rushing away saying 'No, not for me' - in fact there are parts that would have had me saying the same but nothing put me off finishing this work.

There were parts that had me looking back at my life and perhaps understanding better some of the things in my own family. There are reminiscences where she is condemned by media people as a bad mother although they were not interested in her side of events - hopefully everyone who condemned her will take time to read this narrative and reflect on their own bigotry.

I feel this is an important work on how women are treated by partners, strangers and media alike as well as a major condemnation of mental health support services.

Read this and reflect on how you might have perceived and reacted to the biographer if you hadn't read it first.

Publisher - Unthank Books
Genre - Autobiography, memoir

You Will Not Have My Hate by Antoine Leiris

translated by Sam Taylor

review by Maryom


Just over a year ago, we were all stunned by the terrorist attack on the Bataclan nightclub in Paris. While the world was filled with rage and demands for vengeance, one man posted on his Facebook page a response to the attackers saying "You will not have my hate", pledging himself to live life to the fullest, with love and laughter, without fear and hate, despite anything such terrorists could do; it was all the more remarkable because that man's wife, mother of his seventeen-month old son, had died in the attack.

In this short book, Antoine Leiris tells of his struggle through the first few weeks after his wife's death. He doesn't enter into the horror of events inside the Bataclan. He doesn't touch on the politics or religious beliefs of the attackers. His account is a very personal one - of a husband at home that night, looking after his son, seeing his world start to fall apart as news broke on TV, and of his gradual attempt to re-build a life for himself and his son.
From the first shock of horror, and the blind panic of that night, through the quandary of explaining events to a child too young to speak properly but fully able to understand that his mother is no longer there, and the overwhelming support from both friends, with their never-ending supply of home-made meals, and strangers inspired by his Facebook post, the reader is with Leiris every step of the way. You can feel the growing dread with which he watches the news bulletins, the gradually dawning horror as his wife cannot be found, and the grief that threatens to overwhelm him when her body is.

This isn't, though, a story of a man consumed by grief. What shines through the anguish is Leiris's determination that, although they took the life of his wife, the terrorists would not have claimed his, or his son's, too. To be consumed by hatred and the desire for vengeance, to give way to fear, to distrust his fellow men, would do just that. Instead, despite the heartbreak, and inspired in part by his son's ability to still find joy in everyday things, Leiris resolves to live life as fully as possible, to refuse to be defined by this one random act, and in this small way to stand up to terrorists whatever they believe in.

This is a book which opens amidst horror but leads to the light. There are undoubtedly overwhelming moments of grief, but the overall feel of the book is a positive one of hope.



Maryom's review - 5 stars 
Publisher - Harvill Secker
Genre - adult, memoir, autobiography, 

Carrying The Fire by Michael Collins

Review by The Mole

Subtitled "an astronauts journeys" this book is an autobiographical retelling of Michael Collins' flights on Gemini 10 and Apollo 11. Yes, he is the forgotten one, the one whose vital role aboard the command module enabled the first 2 men on the moon (Armstrong and Aldrin) to return to earth after their so historic event.

As a teenager I read and watched everything I could find on the space programs (both American and Russian) - not because I wanted to be an astronaut but because I was fascinated by the engineering achievements that were being made and the leaps forward that were happening.

Collins wrote this account in 1974 at a time when the last Apollo flights had been cancelled, 3 Skylab missions had been flown, the historic rendezvous with Russian Cosmonauts was in the planning and the space shuttle was far from ready. Despite all this I missed this book the first time round and my eldest daughter bought me this for my birthday this year and wrote in a dedication of "To Dad, Love you all the way to the moon, orbit, and back" which I think is lovely but there ought to be an 's' on 'orbit'.

Collins starts the story from his moving to Edwards Air Force Flight Test Centre and hearing about the astronaut program. From here he tells his story with reflections upon his life before.  My only regret with this book is not having read it sooner - like 1974! As a teenager I was fascinated by the technology but did read a few biographies (which, outside of scifi, was the only other genre of books I really read!). Here Collins not only puts men in the rockets, something I obviously knew but didn't really think about, but he actually brings them to life.

Written without a ghost writer it is all his own words (although what editing went on I don't know) and he really can express himself. During his first EVA on Gemini 10 I was genuinely worried for him - which is stupid because we all knew he would return to fly Apollo 11 - and when it came time for his second EVA on the same flight I was hoping it was going to be cancelled! But then I am not a test pilot and would never have wanted to be one. He readily admits to not taking time to stare at the wonders of space but focusing on the mission until time slots presented themselves but when he did look around he describes the sights with hardly an adjective but somehow makes them all the more wondrous for it. At times he seems to worry, as a writer, that he has explained himself enough, for example with reference to seeing the earth from space versus seeing a photograph but he needn't worry because he really makes the point well.

Sometimes 'autobiographies', when ghost written, can make you wonder if the subject is the one you read about but autobiographies without ghosts are generally different - you can get to like the writer or even dislike the writer. I recently read a book on Chris Froome and thought the guy a genuinely nice guy - and I suspect he is - but is that just the guy that David Walsh (the ghost)  knows? I read a  book by a member of one of the shuttle crews and decided, while it was an interesting book, I didn't like the author. Here? Well here is a guy that I would genuinely like to "High Five" and that is rare for me. I don't high five anyone - normally.

I would recommend this book HIGHLY to anyone with the slightest interest in the space program.

Anyway, we try to keep these reviews not too wordy and I've said too much. If you like autobiographies or the space program then read this one - PLEASE. It was republished for its 40th anniversary.

Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux Inc
Genre: Non-Fiction, Autobiography

The Climb - Chris Froome

With David Walsh

Review by The Mole

At 430 pages this looks like a challenging read but having read it there isn't a word I'd change. Gripping, exciting and relevant to the development of his cycling career the incidents in his life are told succinctly, with respect and humour.

When we see sports stars burst onto the scene seemingly from nowhere,  we expect their story to be one of having been talent spotted and never putting a foot wrong but that's not so in "Crash" Froome's case. Starting as a youngster in Kenya his bike is anything but a proper sports machine and has to be welded together to keep it going. He has to sneak out of boarding school in South Africa (because it's cheaper than Kenya), to train and smuggle cigarettes and booze into school to raise funds for a proper bike. When eventually riding for the Kenyan national team there isn't even support or feeding stations along the road courses.

And even when he does get into professional cycling he nearly loses his contract because of his lack of performance. And how does he do it? Sceptics will be thinking.... well NO! Read his story and understand the man. Understand his love of the sport and belief in it as a purely man on man contest. Well, team on team to be fairer, although until he learned proper road craft and tactics perhaps he thought of it as wholly man on man.

His story is one of repeated failure but picking his dream up, dusting it off and going again.

There is one criticism I will make of the cover... read the front and read the back and you may expect it to include the story of the 2015 tour - it doesn't, it's a republication of a 2014 book that follows his story to his first win in 2013, and it's probably all the better for stopping there.

The back of the book does say "Inspiring and exhilarating, it will leave you ready to face your challenges in life, whatever they may be." and that may be true but if you want to break into an office job it's difficult to see it helping. As a latecomer to running I certainly find inspiration in this - but I won't be down the Olympics or doing the London marathon.

Read, enjoy, understand and pursue your dreams because they aren't yours by right - only by achievement.

Publisher - Penguin
Genre - autobigraphy, sport, cycling

The Road Beneath My Feet by Frank Turner

review by Libby Mayfield

On September 23rd 2005, Frank Turner played his last show with Million Dead. On April 13th 2012, he played Wembley with his band, The Sleeping Souls. Over the course of several EPs and albums, dozens of tours and more than a handful of transport disasters, last minute shows, and drunken nights, the singer/songwriter tells his story of playing in the back of a pub to playing to tens of thousands of people. 

With the title taken as a line from one of his own songs, The Road Beneath My Feet tells the almost unbelievable story of what can be achieved through sheer hard work and resilience, but it's not all glory and good friends. Turner speaks frankly, often brutally, about the harsh reality of a life on the road, from the predictable - long, silent drives for hundreds of miles across America or nights sleeping on floors - to the wildly unexpected - a dead deer or being totally lost in the English countryside. I'm not one to laugh out loud at books, or to be moved to tears of sadness, joy, and laughter by one, so perhaps it's the fact that every anecdote, no matter how self critical, is true that makes this an exception. 
Disregard any worries you might have that the stories will be a shoddily put together collection of scraps of half-forgotten tales; you'll be surprised by his ability to draw you into the atmosphere of his live shows and the grittiest moments of living out a suitcase.

Frank Turner is a humble man, and though he's obviously and rightfully proud of what he's achieved in the six and a half years the book takes place over, he's never one to brag about it. His passion for music is blatantly obvious and no matter how many hundreds of people he plays to, he remains down to earth. It works well as a biography, but for some people The Road Beneath My Feet could be a good guide on how to treat the chaotic music industry correctly. 

You don't need to be a fan of Frank Turner's music to be shocked and moved by some of the tales he has to tell; but if you are, you'll gain a new insight into the backdrop for some of his songs.

For any budding musician, this will be the book that decides for you if you want to pursue your dream further, and for any fan of adventure, this will be the book that shows you how many adverse situations one person can battle through.

Publisher - Headline
Genre - autobiography, music

The Temporary Bride; a memoir of love and food in Iran by Jennifer Klinec

"A relationship was a mathematical formula: the correct variables of age, beauty, morality and finances were entered and the output was a successful, peaceful marriage. It couldn't be, therefore, that their Iranian son could feel desire for someone six years his senior, someone who didn't come to him pure and untouched. I was an amusing visitor from another world and soon enough I should return to it, fading quietly into an anecdote ..."

 review by Maryom

The Temporary Bride is a cross between autobiography, cookbook, traveller's tale and romance; an account of how one Western woman went to Iran looking for traditional recipes and found love.
Jennifer Klinec was born in Canada to Hungarian-Croatian parents, moved to England, spent weekends away from her corporate job in travelling to as many exotic, out-of-the-way places as possible, then gave up that life to set up her own cookery school. Her speciality was the re-creation of unusual but authentic recipes, with nothing altered or tamed down to suit British palates: not the food served in restaurants but that consumed at home.
Eventually this culinary curiosity took Klinec to Iran, where, covered almost head-to-toe, she began to learn the art of Persian cookery in a family kitchen in the city of Vazd. This strange westerner with independent ideas at first repels the son of the household, but slowly he becomes intrigued by this woman who is so very different to the bride imagined for him .... and the couple find themselves falling in love. How can their story have a chance of a happy ending in a country where both law and custom is against them?

Now sometimes autobiographies can be a little dry and lacking in emotion - the events happened too long ago to have any real feeling attached to them or the reader is too aware of how the 'story' will end - not so here! The writing style feels almost like fiction, giving an immediacy to events, and I was lured in by the mouth-watering descriptions of food, the sights and smells of Iranian streets and kitchens, and then fear of
conducting what is essentially an illicit love affair under the watchful eyes of both family and state. Klinec builds the atmosphere with a masterly touch, making the reader feel there in the moment, whether cooking delicious sounding meals, struggling with bureaucracy for a visa extension, or stealing kisses in hidden alleys.
Mixing with families, becoming temporarily part of them, allowed Klinec to experience Iran and its customs from an unusual,intimate, angle. Whether you're interested in cookery, travel or just a plain old-fashioned love story, there's something for all here. I've only one quibble - it would be nice to have recipes for some of the simpler dishes.
 Every page held me fascinated - but did the story end happily? Read it and see.

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Virago
Genre -autobiography, travel, cookery,

Confessions of an Undercover Cop by Ash Cameron

Review by The Mole

Joining the police force in the 1970, Ash Cameron went from beat cop rookie to undercover veteran. Her career is a chequerboard of humour, sadness, injury, failure and triumph and gives an insight into what a policeman's work life is a little bit like. Unlike TV where the story focuses on long running, dynamic and exciting cases and then focuses on how the job wrecks personal lives - this book concentrates only on the job, unless it directly affected her off duty hours.

Later, when the Met was broken into smaller units and policy changed, Ash changes jobs, starts a family and the reader gets the feeling that the end is approaching - not because the pages are getting fewer (although they are) but she sounds less content in her work and more stressed.

With short snappy chapters there is no single thread that ties you down to the book and you can read each chapter almost stand-alone as a 'sketch'. I was at times left surprised at procedures, amused by incidents and infuriated by people.

A very enjoyable read that will appeal to a very broad spectrum of readers, and even some 'non-readers' if they give it a go.

Publisher - The Friday Project
Genre - Autobiography

Buy Confessions of an Undercover Cop (The Confessions Series) from Amazon

Seven Years In Tibet by Heinrich Harrer

Journey to The Roof of the World
review by Maryom

Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer finds himself caught in British India at the start of WW2 and interned along with other foreign nationals. His determination to escape increases when he is moved to a camp at Dehra Dun in northern India, within sight of the Himalayas. With such a temptation on the horizon, he and a group of fellow climbers make a bid for freedom, travelling on foot over some of the highest mountain passes in the world, heading for the neutral but forbidden country of Tibet.

This is a book I've wanted to read since I first saw the film of the same title starring Brad Pitt. Every time I watch the DVD I say 'I must track down that book' and at last (thanks yet again to the library service) I have.
It's an utterly fascinating and astonishing account of Harrer's journey to and through Tibet, catching a snapshot of a culture soon to be over-run by Chinese invasion of 1950.
The film certainly gave no feeling of the difficulties they encountered, not so much getting into Tibet, but staying there as well, putting more emphasis on Harrer's friendship with the young Dalai Lama. I certainly wasn't aware that the Tibetans tried several times to expel him, that he had run-ins with bandits as well as officials or that most of the seven years had passed before he finally reached Lhasa.
In some ways the book is less personal than the film - for example there's no mention of the wife left behind in Austria or any hint of any friction between Harrer and expedition leader Aufschnaiter as seen in the film - but the reader still gets to know Harrer and share his disappointment when he has to leave Tibet. It's main loss, though, is the stunning scenery (though I discovered the film was shot in the Andes rather than the Himalayas due to political problems) and some photographs would have been nice.

All in all a fascinating real-life adventure book.

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Genre - adult non-fiction, autobiography,

Buy Seven Years in Tibet (Paladin Books) from Amazon

Samphire Coast by Robert Greenfield

More than the book says...
Review by The Mole

"A daringly candid over-the-counter view by the owner of a unique boutique ‘staycation’.
Robert Greenfield a former British fashion designer risks everything for a ‘No Going Back’ adventure that turns his and Michael Bell’s comfy city life upside down; as a dramatic new life beckons the budding hoteliers…After an awe-inspiring renovation of a rundown ancient house, the word quickly spreads and their books are FULL to overflowing. Anecdotes abound of the dreaded hotel inspector, and eye-popping ‘Guests from Hell’ that will have you laughing and gasping at their blatant turgid audacity... A real life Boy’s Own spirited ‘derring-do…’ epic roller coaster ride that will have you crying out for a sequel with these two uber-stylish hosts, and their urbane hippy dog, Barnaby-Boo. Entertaining, and spellbinding; maybe you will be packing your bags and heading for the hauntingly scenic North Norfolk coast…"

I am not sure I agree with the "boy's own" aspect but... This book is not really what that summary says. So what is it?

Well it's like one of those evenings you sit down with friends and start chatting about the traffic on the ring road and look up at the clock and it's 3 am and the last bus went hours ago and you can't for the life of you remember what it was that got you onto the subject of political unrest in third world countries. You're not sure how you got there but you sure as hell enjoyed the journey! The first half of the book criss crosses between the decision to make this massive leap of faith and the events that shaped the author's life leading to him being in the position to make the decision. The second half covers some of the weird and wonderful people and events that happened at Holly Lodge and how 1 group of picnickers brought him to realise where this journey had finally taken him.

Both saddening and uplifting as well as containing many memories of places on the North Norfolk coast, this book is like making a new friend, reading a travel brochure and taking 'life choices' advice and I felt like I had made a new friend in the author afterwards.

An enjoyable and different kind of read.

Publisher - Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishers
Genre - Adult, Non-Fiction, Autobiography

Buy Samphire Coast from Amazon

Are We Nearly There Yet? by Ben Hatch

Travelling with Kids
review by Maryom

"They were bored, broke, burned out and turning 40. So when Ben and his wife Dinah were approached to write a guidebook about family travel, they embraced the open road....
...featuring deadly puff adders, Billie Piper's pyjamas and a friend of Hitler's, it's a story about love, death, falling out, moving on and growing up, and 8,ooo miles in a Vauxhall Astra."

Although that's the promotional line, I felt it didn't really describe the book. I'd been expecting an hilarious account of the pitfalls of holidaying with tiny children, made worse by the long time - 5 months - spent on the road. But the start of their epic journey coincides with Ben's father falling ill and the account of the family's trip is interspersed with reminiscences exploring their father/son relationship. Interesting and moving, maybe, but not, I felt, "what it says on the tin."
Despite the many testimonials from celebrities about the hilariousness of the book, it didn't really find my funny spot. There were occasional laugh-out-loud moments but it wasn't the constant rib-tickling event I'd expected.

Warning - contains fairly frequent strong language

Maryom's review - 3 stars
Publisher - Summerdale
Genre - Adult, Non Fiction, Autobigraphy

Buy Are We Nearly There Yet? from Amazon

Return to the Olive Farm by Carol Drinkwater

Going green
Review by The Mole

Carol has returned to the olive farm and starts to consider the impact of olive farming on the ecology around the farm. Having started to evaluate this she sets about trying to go "organic" - not truly understanding at the start what this entails.

People who write anything autobiographical are very brave and taking a big risk. The risk is that when people see the person behind the celebrity they may find them dull or take a dislike to the person. But do we see the real person anyway? We all show different aspects of ourselves in different situations and hide the real person from public gaze. In Carol's book I felt that a lot of the time - that there was a Carol in there that was hiding from the public. In the early part of the book I felt like I was being cheated somehow. As the book continues Carol's passion for the environment comes more to the fore and with it her defence is relaxed and we start to see more of the real Carol. I learned a good deal about "organic" farming and some of the "hippy", "airy fairy", "off piste" ideas that we are fed about "organic" farming suddenly start to have context and a relevance and lose the label I just gave them. I had understood "organic" to be what you put into the soil and onto the plants but Carol manages to explain through her experience how it's much more and WHY it's so much more.

I did get to understand the real Carol a bit more than I think she intended and am grateful for it.

Although I found it difficult to get into, I did really enjoy it once the defences started to come down. It's well worth a read by anyone who reads autobiographies or is worried about the environment or even concerned about the food we eat.

Publisher: Orion books
Genre: Non-Fiction, Autobiographical

Buy Return to the Olive Farm from Amazon

Ten Pound Pom by Niall Griffiths

Back To Oz
review by Maryom

When he was 9, Niall Griffiths' parents decided to emigrate to Australia with the 10 pound scheme. They stayed for only 3 years, first settling in Brisbane, then relocating to Perth on the opposite coast, travelling across country by car.
30 years later Niall Griffiths decided to recreate this experience. First re-visiting the places his family lived in and around Brisbane, then driving to Perth.
Part autobiography, part travelogue, Ten Pound Pom compares Griffiths' memories of the past with the modern Australia he discovers in the present.
Lots of things have changed but have they improved?


Most of us know Australia solely from TV and films - so is it all Neighbours and Picnic At Hanging Rock? Australia through Niall Griffiths' eyes is certainly not the place I thought it was. Muriel's Wedding with its grubby politics and 'fit in or else' attitude is the closest I've seen on the screen. Instead of a happy-go-lucky surfer culture there are warnings that speed can kill, signs prohibiting smoking, the wearing of flipflops or singlets. Instead of the alien beauty of Walkabout, there's mile upon mile, hundreds of miles, of dull desert road. In between the restrictions and monotony, though, are the memories of the child he was and the things that delighted him- the beach huts on Coochie Mudloe island, a flock of lorikeets perching on his arms and head, sleeping overnight in a hollow tree and just maybe catching sight of a platypus.

Ten Pound Pom is an enjoyable, immensely readable, highly entertaining look at Australia, its people and their lifestyle, whether Griffiths is laughing at them, say the continuing chauvinism of the average Ozzie bloke or raising serious moral issues such as the treatment of the native population.
It's a book that will make you laugh, may make you cry, but I don't think it will encourage you to visit Australia! I wonder what Australians will make of it?

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Parthian
Genre - adult, travel, biography

Buy Ten Pound Pom from Amazon

How To Lose Friends and Alienate People by Toby Young

How do you do that then?
Review by Maryom

In 1995, British journalist Toby Young decided it was time to head to New York to make his name and his fortune at Vanity Fair. Unfortunately, somehow things went more than slightly awry - New Yorkers didn't take to his British humour, single women wouldn't look at him twice and Vanity Fair decided he wasn't what they needed and didn't renew his contract. Just how did he manage it?

This wasn't quite what I'd thought it would be. I'd seen the trailers for the film based on it (though not the film) and expected a comic, rom-com, chick-lit sort of book. Although there are undoubtedly comic passages, the overall tone is of fairly serious social and political comment. Young's account of his attempts to bluff his way into the Vanity Fair Oscars party or conquer the New York singles scene are interspersed with his thoughts on the differing structure of American and British society, political correctness, freedom of thought (or its lack) in universities, work ethics ...

An interesting book but not what I expected.

Maryom's review - 3 stars
Publisher - Abacus Books
Genre - Adult autobiography

Buy How to Lose Friends and Alienate People from Amazon

The Honey Gatherers by Mimlu Sen

Travels with minstrels
review by Maryom

The Bauls with their particular blend of music and mysticism are traditionally itinerant musicians of Bengal living on the alms given by the villages they pass through - hence their name of honey gatherers. Theirs is a life style under threat in modern, increasingly urban India.
This book follows Mimlu Sen's discovery of them and their culture. Born and raised in India, after a period of political activity including time spent in prison she left home first for London, then Paris where she lived for several years and her two children were born. Strangely it was in this city on the opposite side of the world that she discovered the music of the Bauls, and her future partner, Paban Das Baul, at a concert. Instantly attracted to them, she gave up her Parisian life and moved back to India. She tells of travelling with the Baul singers and musicians throughout Bengal, hitching lifts, balancing on the top of trains, joining them at festivals and melas and eventually setting up home with Paban Das Baul and trying to find a way to bring their differing life styles together.
This was a more personal account than I had expected and I felt the author assumed the reader to have more knowledge of Indian music and customs than I have, but nevertheless a really interesting book, capturing the sights and sounds of Bengal and its people.

Maryom's review - 3.5 stars
Publisher - Rider
Genre - Adult Non-Fiction


Buy The Honey Gatherers from Amazon

Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby

And I don't like football!
Reviewed by TheMole(Gerry)


I decided to read this because my wife enjoyed it otherwise I wouldn't have considered it. I don't HATE football - I just dislike it. We have all heard it's 22 men chasing a ball etc. We have all heard the jokes:- "They were training with dustbins and the dustbins won.", "I phoned to find out what time the kickoff was and they asked what time I could get there!", "You watch them? They never came to see me when I was bad.", "They announce the crowd changes to the teams.". It's all been said and there isn't anything new. But this book isn't about football. Yes it goes on and on about it, but there is hardly a fact about it in the book.

Nick Hornby tells us of his relationship with football. How it was a way of getting quality time with his dad. How they would go every other week to see home games. How he felt on the terraces and he started to go with friends and later as a student how he changed his allegiance (temporarily) to a local team he could travel to see. How events were arranged, cancelled, attended or not attended around the home games

But more importantly it talks about his obsession with the game, an obsession he identifies as an obsession but not as a fault. He talks in a way that I found I could understand and I understood how people could become obsessed with any sporting event - events that they only spectate, either by attending or by watching on TV. It helped me to understand my own obsession with motor sports.

This book is serious but not so serious that lectures but it is not so funny that it had me rolling around laughing. It's greatest appeal is not to football fans but to those people who do not understand other people's obsessions with watching sport.

I would rate this book as a four star (****) read.

Publisher: Penguin
Genre: YA and Adult

Anne Frank Remembered by Miep Gies - Three *

I have to put my hand up and admit that I have never read anything about Anne Frank before. This was a positive and personal choice. My mother was born of Jewish parents and converted to Christianity at a time my grandfather felt it worthy of the comment that it would not save her from the Nazis. Because of this I have always been afraid to pursue the subject but fully aware of the horrors to which the Jewish people were subjected. It must also be remembered that of the 11 million slaughtered in the holocaust, 5 million were not Jewish but books like the diary of Anne Frank leave people thinking that only the Jewish people were targeted.

However that is all on the macro level, this book deals on the micro level and as Miep Gies points out, she was one of a whole army of people who put their lives at risk to help a few people to survive the war, although, as in the case of the Franks, not always with success.

I did enjoy the book and found it interesting in many ways. It is easy to consider the terror of the people being hidden and pursued, but the terror of those who assisted and protected them, knowing that discovery was likely to mean their own death, is easy to ignore. Miep tries to portray that daily terror to the reader and further to explain the lengths they had to go to keep their charges fed and healthy. Is it well written? Well I must say no, but it is honestly written and the afterword of this edition does not read anything like the main body. I believe this is because the afterword was paraphrased from the musings of the 100 year old Miep.

Miep didn't see herself as brave but would I have done the same? As a single man I would like to think I would but as a married man with children I know I wouldn't, although many thousands of individuals across Europe did exhibit such bravery to protect individuals from persecution and death. I take my hat off to all of them and thank Miep for showing me a little of the lengths such people had to go to.

Will I now read the diary? Well I am more likely to, but not yet.