When the British Government’s motivational Keep Calm and Carry On poster was merchandised a few years ago, I thought it was terrific, and was probably one of the first people to have a Keep Calm mug. As is often the case with great ideas, though, people get carried away and introduce variations on the theme.... Continue Reading →
The Food of Love, by Anthony Capella
This is the perfect travel book for reading at airports and on planes. It’s super light in content, with no long lists of names to remember or complex plots to do battle with when your brain is on the verge of jetlag-induced mush. It is pure fluff. I rather enjoyed it: mostly because it’s set... Continue Reading →
The Beauty of Humanity Movement, by Camilla Gibb
What a fabulous book! This is a story about food, religion and love, which makes it sound an awful lot like Eat, Pray, Love, but thank goodness the similarity ends there: no shallow, rich chick in this one. Old Man Hung is the pivotal character for the story: the ninth son of a poor rural... Continue Reading →
The Bird Artist by Howard Norman
As a total “java junkie”, Fabian Vas is one mellow guy. Anyone capable of consuming thirty cups of coffee in a single night and keeping it all together, though, would have to have something very serious brewing just beneath the surface. From the outset, the reader is informed of two important details concerning Vas. The... Continue Reading →
The Museum Guard by Howard Norman
Unlike Fabian Vas of The Bird Artist, DeFoe Russet doesn’t “chill” with the assistance of copious amounts of coffee. For Russet, the methodical task of ironing is how he manages to keeps it all together - gathering his thoughts and calming the nerves. Thankfully for Russet, he lives at the Hotel Nelson, which means there... Continue Reading →