Talisman

The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden - Jonas Jonasson As delightfully wry and witty as his bestselling debut, ‘The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared’, this is a tale of how one woman’s attempt to change her future ended up changing everything. Nombeko Mayeki is on the run from the world’s most ruthless secret service – with three Chinese sisters, twins who are officially one person and an elderly potato farmer. Oh, and the fate of the King of Sweden – and the world – rests on her shoulders. Born in a Soweto shack in 1961, Nombeko was destined for a short, hard life. When she was run over by a drunken engineer her luck changed. Alive, but blamed for the accident, she was made to work for the engineer – who happened to be in charge of a project vital to South Africa’s security. Nombeko was good at cleaning, but brilliant at understanding numbers. The drunk engineer wasn’t – and made a big mistake. And now only Nombeko knows about it … The 100 Year Old Man was always going to be a hard act to follow, but Jonasson has done it again with this uproariously funny tale that somehow manages to poke fun at well, almost everyone. The first book covered many different nations - North Korea, China and Russia among others while this one covers mainly Israel and South Africa. One has to wonder which nations will be the butt of Jonasson's humour next - a dry humour which I have to say if not unlike my own, or so I have been told. Maybe this is why Jonasson's books seem to have such universal appeal, for all we like to take the wee out of those in control, and he writes very much like many of us speak - straight to the point with no punches pulled. The book starts very much as it means to go on with the young Nombeko, a sh&t carrier by trade, who soon progressed through the ranks to be in charge of all the other sh*t carriers - well I guess, someone has to do it. When she is run over by a drunken fool masquerading as a nuclear engineer, she has a stroke of luck that ultimately (depending on how you look at it) destines her for greater things. Forced to work as cleaner for this man she is transported to his home to live out what can only be described as her sentence. There she meets a trio of Chinese girls, who like Nombeko herself have been forced to work for said engineer to pay off their own debts to him - for selling him fake antique geese. Nombeko who unsurprisingly has more sense that her drunken boss soon realises that this is a nuclear facility where they are building bombs - officially six, although there is a seventh one that it not listed. She decides that she has to somehow get rid of this extraneous bomb and so begins her journey to exile in Sweden where she meets a pair of identical twins one of whom like the bomb and Nombeko herself (by now an illegal immigrant) doesn't exist, an elderly potato farmer and a very angry young woman. Add to the mix 2 Mosad agents and an American potter who thinks the CIA are out to get him and you get one extremely strange, but extremely funny farce. It all comes out in the wash, as all good tales do and they settle down and live happily ever after, but not before more than a few outrageous gags at well, pretty much everyone's expense. This book took a bit longer to get going than the first and the humour was perhaps more hidden, but in writing it Jonasson has reaffirmed his place as one of Europe's funniest writers in a long while. One wonders what he will come up with next. This would most definitely for me be 5 stars. If you like a good laugh and have even a passing interest in political satire, you must read this book. In one fell swoop it manages to tackle the serious subjects of racism, illegal immigrants and political corruption and make them funny.

The Baby Laundry for Unmarried Mothers - Angela Patrick In 1963, London was on the brink of becoming one of the world's most vibrant cities. Angela Patrick was 19 years old, enjoying her first job working in the City when her life turned upside down. A brief fling with a charismatic charmer left her pregnant, unmarried and facing a stark future. Being under 21, she was still under the governance of her parents, strict Catholics who insisted she have the baby in secret and then put it up for adoption. Shunned by her family and forced to leave her job, Angela was sent to an imposing-looking convent for unmarried mothers in north-east London. Run like a Victorian workhouse, conditions in the convent were decidedly Spartan. Vilified and degraded by the nuns for her 'wickedness', her only comfort came from the other pregnant girls, all knowing they too would have to give up their babies. After a terrifying labour with no pain relief, Angela gave birth to a beautiful son, Paul, with whom she fell instantly in love. At eight weeks he was taken from her and forcibly put up for adoption, leaving Angela bereft and heartbroken. Not a day went by without Angela thinking about him. Then, thirty years later, she received a letter. It was from Paul, and a reunion was arranged. This vital slice of social history is a shocking reminder of how cultural mores have changed around the issue of single motherhood since the early 1960s. It is also an honest, heartfelt memoir that explores the closest of human bonds. This was in some ways a familiar tale of a young pregnant girl forced by evil nuns to give up her child for adoption - it goes without saying that both the girl and the nuns were Catholic. The difference was that rather being set in Ireland, which I expected from the authors surname (her married name, she has since married and had other children), this happened in leafy southern England. Despite the hardship that this girl and countless others endured (doing hard manual work for upwards of 12 hours a day) the author eventually delivered a healthy baby, although the delivery itself was not without complications - the author almost died in childbirth, not that she was told about this until afterwards in her semi delirious state. There is a semi happy ending in that she was reunited with her son, although contact has since been sporadic. It never hurts though to be reminded of our past and how far society has come, for it is only by remembering that we can make sure we do not repeat the same mistakes - I am sure there are those of more religious persuasion even today that would see a return to these sorts of conditions if they could. The book itself was a relatively quick and easy read which will no doubt appeal more to women than men. I would give this an average of 3 stars.

Panama City to Rio de Janeiro - Travels through South America: Jason Smart From the grime of Asuncion to the tango houses of Buenos Aires, Jason Smart and his wife travel through the vast continent of South America on an eye-opening adventure. Beginning in Panama City and ending in Rio de Janeiro, they try to see as much as they can without succumbing to altitude sickness or over indulging in prime steak. The pair seek out a sloth amid the skyscrapers of Panama City, then head to Machu Picchu to see the Lost City of the Incas. Travelling by bus to Lake Titicaca, they cross the border into Bolivia, where they witness a strange spectacle known as the Blessing of the Automobiles. Next, they head to La Paz to see llama foetuses for sale in the Witches' Market. Panama City to Rio de Janeiro is a travelogue covering seven countries in South America. Join Jason Smart in Panama, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. This may not be the best or the most detailed travel book I have read, but along with author Jason Smart's other works, this presented an excellent opportunity to cover 5 more countries from the Around the World Reading Challenge in a short space of time. Like the first book I read about his travels through the Balkans, this presented a whistle stop tour around some of South America's gems with Smart and his wife spending in most cases no more than 2 days in the countries they visited. This is not the way I would choose to travel, and neither could I afford the hotels that they stayed in, for in order to get a true picture of a foreign country one must immerse oneself in its culture and you can only do this by staying with the locals in guest houses and hostels. Each though to their own, and good luck to those who can afford this. As with the first book, Smart and his wife embark on a multitude of adventures, experiencing snippets of the countries they visit - highlights include Machu Pichu, Lake Titicaca and the aforementioned Witches Market. Lowlights (for me) were the preponderance of beef (South America is not veggie friendly), Paraguay and well, altitude sickness. What more can I say. As a short read, this is a great introduction to travel writing and the countries visited, but don't expect to come away knowing these places inside out. I would probably give this 3 stars.

Personally I would always much rather buy a book if I can, especially when it is self published, as I think is it important that authors are supported financially to be able to carry on their work. Having been there myself and having first hand knowledge of the struggles that the self published in particular have to face, this is very important to me, but I understand that not everyone has the funds to do this all the time. Travel books are though a great way of getting through multiple countries very quickly. Jason Smart has written a whole series of them on his travels to various parts of the world that I am slowly getting through, although I am not sure if this compromises your idea of the author being born in the part of the world that is being written about ?

Sounds like an interesting book - it looks though like it may be out of print as the only (paper) copies on Amazon are second hand ones for a penny ! It doesn't matter though, as I have a nice travel book lined up that includes not only Lesotho, but about 7 or 8 other countries as well.

I always prefer to buy books whenever I can. As an author myself I know the time, cost and effort that goes into writing books and so like to support authors financially so that they can continue to do this. After all, if I wouldn't work for free, then why should I expect someone else to? I know though that not everyone has the money to buy a lot of new books, and that it can get expensive - I read 90 books last year at an average cost of £5 each. The way I get around this then is by doing surveys on the Internet for which I get points which I then convert to Amazon vouchers. I usually get at least £15 a month. That way I am still supporting the authors, as the books are still being paid for, just not directly by me.

Sigur Ros on shuffle - with of course Jonsi, their lead singer - getting in the mood for Iceland !

I can't remember the last time I wore a dress - I'm not sure if I even have one ! It has though been a beautiful day here - I am getting used to not having to work at the weekends, and having Bank Holidays off. I still get 25 days holiday in addition to having Bank Holidays off - 33 days in total, which I think is pretty generous - most companies give you just the standard 28 days including Bank Holidays. The £1500 pay rise I got by coming here also helps - not to mention Mr Clegg's recent tax cuts - an extra £150 a month comes in handy too, especially given that my trip to Iceland is coming up very soon - less than 6 weeks to go! 6 weeks from now I shall be wandering around the north west fjords, practising with the new trekking poles that I bought today.

Angel by Aretha Franklin - boy can she sing ! Every time I hear this I get goose bumps. The other one is Can You Feel What I'm Saying by Minnie Ripperton - such a loss to the world of music, and anything at all by Donny Hathaway. Another very sad loss.

Finished my 2nd Jason Smart book - Panama City to Rio de Janeiro about an hour ago (I read one of his other books on the Balkans earlier this month). They really are great little books for getting through a multitude of countries quickly, many of which are difficult to find books for. This one covered no less than 6 different countries Panama, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil. I have already done Brazil, so that's 5 more countries done in less than 200 pages and about 3 hours reading, which isn't too bad. That brings the total to 126 out of 231 countries now done, which is even better.

Transcendence - which I found very thought provoking.

It will be moved to the top. I have given up with my own wish list which now has 80 items on it. I look at it now and again just to see if any of them have gone down in price.

Good for him !

page still not found - definitely a conspiracy

The Balkan Odyssey: Travels around the former Yugoslavia, oh and Albania too! - Jason Smart Travelling through cities and towns once ravaged by the Balkan Wars, Jason Smart witnesses first hand the beauty of this much-maligned region. With his friend, Michael, they find out that the Balkans is not a region to avoid; it is a part of Europe to explore and embrace. From the urban sprawl of Belgrade, to the tranquillity of a glacial lake in Slovenia, the pair experiences the Balkans up close. Find out how they end up in a rickety clock tower in Macedonia, do battle with a sticky nemesis in Kosovo, and learn that Albania had a king called Zog. The Balkan Odyssey is a journey through every country of the former Yugoslavia (and Albania too). Join Jason as he visits Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania. Jason Smart is a published author, with articles appearing in both magazines and print. Currently he has two other travel books published, together with a book chronicling his journey to become a pilot. I love books like this, as they a nice quick and easy read on a subject that I love (travel), presenting an opportunity to cover several possibly difficult to find countries in one book for the Around the World Reading Challenge. Smart has written a whole series of books on his adventures around the world, and they are all very well priced at no more than £3.99 each. I suspect I shall end up reading every single one of them. I enjoyed his witty writing detailing a whistle stop tour of the former Yugoslavia, not forgetting of course Albania, which had to be included as Smart and his travelling companion Michael had to travel through Albania to get to some of the other countries they visited. Smart gently pokes fun at his travelling companion who is walking satnav with a love of museums, unlike Smart who has not a cultural bone in his body. Somehow they get along though without killing each other, which is sadly more than be said for those who inhabit these former Yugoslav states. This is a quick read, like all of Smart's books at under 200 pages, which I would probably give 3 stars.

The Humans - Matt Haig THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME. OR IS THERE? After an 'incident' one wet Friday night where Professor Andrew Martin is found walking naked through the streets of Cambridge, he is not feeling quite himself. Food sickens him. Clothes confound him. Even his loving wife and teenage son are repulsive to him. He feels lost amongst a crazy alien species and hates everyone on the planet. Everyone, that is, except Newton, and he's a dog. What could possibly make someone change their mind about the human race. . . ? This was certainly a different book, both in terms of it humour, spirituality and subject matter. It is unusual in that it manages to combine humour and spirituality in the one book, which is no easy task. Professor Andrew Martin is a well known mathematician working at Cambridge University, who manages to crack one of humanity's great mathematical conundrums. The problem is, the aliens don't want him to, as they believe man is not ready for the results of this knowledge and will not know how to handle that knowledge responsibly. So they "dispose" of Professor Martin and one of their own walks into his body in order to assassinate all that Professor Martin told about his breakthrough. The walk in is of course totally unprepared for the reality of life on Earth, inhabiting a body, and understanding what being human is all about. Against all the odds, the alien finds himself empathising, even falling in love with humanity and the Professor's family, and unable to carry out his mission, and this is where the fun really begins. The last chapter is al list of advice written by the alien for the Professor's son, but aimed at all of humanity. I have to say that a lot of it makes sense and makes you look at life and realise just how damned stupid a lot of it. This is perhaps the books greatest strength, the ability to point out so matter of fact just how flawed the human condition and our attitude to and about life and the Planet we live on is. This is indeed a book for our times and a definite 4 1/2 stars.

Sao Tome: Journey to the Abyss - Portugal's Stolen Children: Paul D Cohn In 1485 the Portuguese Crown and Catholic Church began to kidnap Jewish children, forcibly convert the young conscripts, and ship them to São Tomé Island off the African equator to work the government sugar plantations. The collision of slavery, sugar agriculture, and discovery of The Americas transformed this island colony into the nidus of the wholesale black slave trade that infected Africa and Western commerce for the next 350 years. Sao Tome reveals the Medieval Church's complicity in the business of human bondage. This little-known chapter of the Diaspora tells the story of young Marcel Saulo and his sister Leah abducted with other children from their synagogue in Lisbon and shipped by caravel 4,000 miles to the West-African island where they bear witness to the holocaust of African slavery. This is a historical novel that chronicles one man's courageous struggle against religious and racial persecution, torture, and disease, and explores the abyss of Inquisition, Portuguese and Spanish world expansion, and the blight of slavery fuelled by the calamitous growth of sugar commerce. When I started the Around the World Reading Challenge at the beginning of 2012 I knew there would be some countries that would be more difficult to find books for that others, and I fully expected the small island nation of Sao Tome et Principe to be one of them. I thought from the name that this was a French speaking island and former French colony, but learnt that it was actually Portuguese - Sao Tome means St Thomas in Portuguese. I found this book simply by going to Amazon and searching for Sao Tome and up it popped. It was not the cheapest I have read this year, but so far is most definitely the best. Every once in a while a book comes along that is so unexpected and so different that it stays with you for a long time. Last year for me it was a book from Trinidad, this year I get the feeling that it may well be this one. The story is based upon what is known as the Saulo Chronicle, written by a Marcel Saulo in 1491. This chronicle which covers a period of five years details the life of Marcel Saulo who was the manuscript says, abducted from his synagogue in Lisbon, separated from his sister and the rest of his family and community, and shipped to the Portuguese colony of Sao Tome It seems that this is a dark chapter in Portugal's history which I am sure they would rather forget. The shipping of these Jewish children at a time when the inquisition held sway, was supposedly to turn them into "good" Catholics, but was actually a ruse to get unpaid labour for the sugar plantations (slavery by any other name). The book details five years in the life of Saulo following his abduction and his struggle to make a life for himself in his new home. It is a heart-breaking tale of mans inhumanity to man and of slavery in all its guises for when he arrives Saulo realises that the island nation that is now his home is also home to a myriad of African slaves, indeed a staging post for their trafficking throughout Europe and the newly discovered Americas. Despite these circumstances, Saulo makes the island his home and starts a family of his own to have this brutally snatched away by sickness in more ways than one. His downfall is his objection to black slavery and support for the the black Bishop who as an African himself is also against this practise. I will say no more, as it will only spoil it for those who may wish to read this book. I would easily give this 5 stars, and a lot more if I could.

I finished my 18th country of the year at lunchtime today - a really different and fascinating book set in the small African island nation of Sao Tome and Principe - Sao Tome - A Novel by Paul D Cohn. I thought from the name, it was a French speaking island and therefore a former French colony, but it seems that it was actually Portuguese (the name is Portuguese for St Thomas). The book is a fictionalised account of what could easily have been a true story, based on the islands past. It seems that in the late 15th Century the Portuguese, who were in the grip of the Inquisition (say no more), started to ship Jewish children to their African colony, separating them from their families under the guise of turning them into "good" Catholics. This was really though a ruse to use them as unpaid labour (slavery by any other name) to work the sugar plantations. The character in this book, despite these circumstances, made the island his home and actually became quite prosperous in his own way. His downfall was his objection to black slavery and his support of the black Bishop who as an African himself was also against this practise. I will say no more, as it will only spoil it for those who may wish to read this remarkable book, which for me is easily the best I have read this year so far. It was not the cheapest book I have read this year, at a little under £8, but I get a lot of my books free anyway, courtesy of doing online surveys, so I didn't have to pay for this one with my own money. It would have well worth it though if I had.

Gerry Rafferty - Night Owl

pay

It was pretty miserable here yesterday with rain on and off - although it wasn't that cold. Coran and I went up the viewpoint in the morning for a coffee and to watch the cyclists and then came home for lunch. We spent the rest of the day zonked out on the settee reading and watching crap on TV. Not sure about today - looking at the sky I suspect it will be more of the same. We might venture out to Polesden Lacey for lunch later on, although they don't do much gluten free - unless you like cake that is - I do, but it's not what I would call a proper meal.

I don't list the books I have read par se, although I do have several threads on here (a yearly one and one for the Around the World Reading Challenge). Of course since I got my Kindle, I don't need to keep any written lists, as all the books I buy are listed on the device itself, and I know which ones I have read. I have set it up with different folders - one for each year, and when I finish reading a book I just move it into the relevant folder. I bought my Kindle in August 2011 so any books read before then in paper format (which to me now seems very last century) would not be on there. I wouldn't like to even try guessing how many I may have read during my lifetime - I have always read to some extent, although it has gone up by at least 300 percent since buying my Kindle. During my almost 49 years, assuming I started reading at age 5 when I began school, it must be at the very least 1000 books - in all likelihood considerably more.

I dreamt that I was visiting the Blue Lagoon in Iceland last night (somewhere where I will be going in June and have been many times) - I was completely naked and everyone kept laughing at me - so I went and bought a new swimsuit today with holds my tummy in !

All the music comes from Istock which is a website that does various types of copyright free media (at a cost) for others to use. Contrary to popular belief, you can't just use anything.

Coran and I don't have any particular plans for Easter - we thought about going to Glastonbury for a few days, but the Chalice Well where we normally stay was booked up, and everywhere else is too expensive. We might go down to Portsmouth for the day tomorrow though, as it looks like a reasonable day, and we haven't been for some time. I feel like a nice day out at the coast and it's only just over an hours drive. Not sure about the rest of the weekend - it depends as much as anything else on the weather. Sunday will probably be the usual trip up to Box Hill for a walk in the absence of most other things being open, and on Monday, we shall have to wait and see - anything that doesn't involve spending much money, as I am not paid until 25th. If all else fails, there is always