Talisman

Sadly it looks as if I will have to wait a while before I can afford to get one, as I just realised I have forgotten to pay my car tax, and it was due a week ago - whoops ! On the other hand, it is my birthday soon, so if anyone would like to surprise me ... Well, those who don't ask don't get !

Girls of Riyadh by Rajaa Alsanea Gamrah’s faith in her new husband is not exactly returned … Sadeem is a little too willing to please her fiancé … Michelle is half-American and the wrong class for her boyfriend’s family … While Lamees works hard with little time for love. The girls of Riyadh are young, attractive and living by Saudi Arabia’s strict cultural traditions. Well, not quite. In-between sneaking out behind their parents’ backs, dating, shopping, watching American TV and having fun, they’re still trying to be good little Muslim girls. That is, pleasing their families and their men. But can you be a twenty-first century girl and a Saudi girl? I finished Girls of Riyadh last night, and I can honestly say that it is one of the best, msot eye opening books that I have read for quite a while, that has definately changed my perception of what goes on 'beneath the veil' in the worlds only Islamic state, where there is no secular law, only religious. Having worked for a company whsoe clients were all Saudi banks back in the early 90's, I had many conversations with our salesman, a regular visitor to Riyadh where the book is set, on the apparent contradictions and blatant hypocrisy in Saudi society, especially when it comes to women, which this book exposes in stark detail. The book follows the lives of 4 Saudi women, all of whom are very different, but as it turns out, want the same thing - to marry the man of their dreams. How though do you do this, in a society where dating as we would know it is forbidden, and where most marriages are arranged, or at the very least, have to be 'vetted' by the grooms family? The girls go about their quest in differnt ways and experience many trials and tribulations along the way. As with all good stories, all bar one end up happy and settled in the end, the rest I will leave you to find out for yourselves ...

Jar City - can't say I was that impressed to be honest. It started off well enough, with the usual dramatic Icelandic scenery, and I must admit that seeing those familiar Reykjavik streets did help bring the story to life, but they changed too much of it from the book for my liking, including some (to me at least) quite fundamental parts of the story.

sounds nice, but would be even better with veggie stock instead of chicken. We had mushroom and garlic burgers with fried egg and a huge salad. I am trying to be healthy at the moment, as I don't want to bloat before my next holiday and have to get wheat completely out of my system.

This time last year I had read just 9 books, but this year I am half through my 13th, so I guess you could say that I have read more. I think this is due to a number of factors - firstly I have had more holidays (Avenury in January, Lundy in February, Glastonbury last month), and also the fact that I have changed my working hours and have more time free in the afternoons. I realise though that for many members of this site, 13 books seems like a relatively low number, but they have all been very good and thought provoking books, both fiction and non fiction. At the start of the year I set myself the goal of reading books set in or written by authors from at least a dozen different countries and I am well on track to achieve that, with 9 so far (Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Japan, Ireland, US, UK, India, and currently reading one set in and by a Saudi woman). So far 4 of the books I have read have been non fiction (3 travelogues and 1 religious/philsophical) and 9 fiction. The best book by far has been Independent People by Icelandic author the late Halldor Laxness. I guess you would have to have been to Iceland or at least know about the history to really understand the characters in this book, and I am lucky to have been there 6 times now. For me, the descriptions of the scenery and the characters and the hardships they face gives a real insight into the Icelandic soul and the hardship that the Icelandic farmers faced at the turn of the 20th Century. It is also though a tale of redemption and compassion and how pride comes very much before a fall.

Sounds like fun to me too - every year I tell myself I will go to the London Book Fair, but I alwsays miss the deadline for tickets. Getting time off work isn't always easy either ...

We are having veggie burgers with a variety of roasted vegetables - sweet potatoes, red pepper, red onion and fennel, with possibly some goats cheese (will have to check the fridge to see if I have any left).

NoI haven't seen the film as yet, I did record it for future viewing though, as when it was shown I was halfway through reading the book, and didn't want to spoil it by watching the film before you get to the end. There are many more Yrsa books published in Iceland that have not yet been translated, in addition to the 3 that have - My Soul to Take, Last Rituals and Ashes to Dust. I too love her descriptions though and the way she so cleverly blends Icelandic folklore and the belief in witchcraft into her writings, which to many Icelanders are a way of life. I can also relate very well to Thora, the main character, and find myself laughing at the things she says, thinks and does. I almost miss the character and think of her as a friend that I am yet to meet. The next book The Day is Dark, I am pleased to see is out in hardback towards the end of July, so I will have to pre-order my copy soon. As for the sagas, I have read all (to the best of my knowledge) of those that have been translated into English and published by Penguin Classics, and also many shorter stories and sagas published by Iceland Review (an English language quarterly magazine for ex pat icelanders and people like me who just love the country and want to keep up to date with the Icelandic news). I don't know whether you can get them here, as I bought most of my copies during visits to the country. You can probably order them via the Iceland Review website as well though. I would particularly recommend the Icelandic Folk and Fairy Tales - it is not the sort of bedtime reading I would read for a child !

As some of you may know, I have a long standing love affair with the country of Iceland, having been quite a few times over the years. Apart from the fantastic scenery, 24 hour daylight (in summer) and fresh air, one of the best things about Iceland is their books. They are one of the most literary nations in the world, with more books published per head of population that anywhere else on the planet. They have a long standing tradition of writing which started not long after the settlement period, when most of the Icelandic sagas were written. These are not just stories, but in many cases are actual historical accounts of events that took place and people that actually lived. I have read most of the English translations that I can get my hands on, but my favourite which was recently featured on the BBC4 Iceland series, is Laxdaela Saga, which is a classic love triangle between one woman and 2 foster brothers, both of whom she marries at different times. There are also many more modern Icelandic authors, the late Halldor Laxness for example who was a Noble Prize Winner. His best known work is Independent People, which is a tremendously moving tale of the hardship of the Icelandic farmers life at the turn of the 19th Century. Then there are the crime writers - the best known of which are Yrsa Sigurdottir and Indridur Arnasson. It just seems to me that with the craze for Scandinavian crime fiction, the Icelandic authors (Iceland is still classes as Scandinavia, even though it is not part of the mainland) are often forgotten. I wondered whether anyone else here shared my passion and what their favourites are and if they have any thoughts they would like to add.

Even I have decided to get one, and I was dead set against e-books too for a long time, despite the advantages for the author (no more middle men taking a huge cut of our earnings so that we can sell our wares to the public). I have looked at the Kindle a few times in various stores and had thought about it, but it was never more than a passing thought. Yesterday though Coran and I were shopping in Guildford and sat down at one of the benches in the High Street to eat out ice creams, and I noticed that the man sitting next to us had a Kindle, so I asked if he minded us looking at it. That convinced me that it was no longer a matter of if, but when, so I will be looking at my finances over the next week or so, to see when I can afford to get one - I will probably go for the non 3G version.

e-books are to book stores what downloads were for record shops. Say no more.

I have never even heard of Daunts, and did not look at their site either, although I expect I will soon. My first thought though on reading that article, particularly the part where it says that Daunts staff are allowed to choose which titles the store will stock is that so are Waterstones - at least they did in 2007/8 when I spent 5 solid months phoning them all up (yes, all 500 or so branches) asking whether they would like to stock my own work (almost a third of them at least initially, did). I always felt that this gave them the edge over Borders, where everything was centralised, and calls to the buying department (unless from a large publishing house) were never returned, and POD (print on demand) titles were automatically rejected as they were non returnable, regardless of their sales history elsewhere. Admittedly I am not up to date with the publishing industry since I stopped actively promoting my book, but from what I understand, it has become a lot more difficult for the independent author to get stocked in Waterstones since their 'hub' was opened. A return to the older way of doing things would then be welcome and very good news. I would hasten a bet that a good proportion of those books that Chesilbeach mentions as not being aware of are published by independent authors, which just goes to prove my point. It is not only the independents who will benefit, but the small presses as well. Ultimately though the ones who will benefit the most from more choice are the customers, and that is what it is all about.

Organic scrambled eggs (Coran's speciality) with rosemary (gluten free) foccaccio bread, grilled tomatoes and watercress.

Brother Sister - Brand New Heavies

For me, Only Fools and Horses will always be the best - Yes Minister comes a pretty close second.

Fern Kinney - Groove Me - brilliant

Together We Are Beautiful - Fern Kinney

We had a stir fry with various vegetables (broccoli, mange tout, green pepper, red chilli pepper, chinese cabbage, red onion, baby sweetcorn) with brown rice and cashew nuts and tamari (wheat free version of soy sauce).

Yes that is the same as Redbush - I drink it because I wanted something that was caffeine free but was still like 'real' tea. It is an acquired taste, but I have been drinking it for more than 10 years now and rarely touch the strong stuff at all anymore, unless I go out somewhere and that's all I can get. As for rice milk, it is very different to cows milk in that it is much more watery and doesn't have that strong creamy taste - neither does it clog you up like cows milk, which is the main reason I drink it, that and the fact that it's healthier. A lot of people who suffer from sinus problems are actually intolerant to cows milk and don't know it, I find that I get sinus problems and a stuffy nose if I drink too much of the stuff, which is the main reason why I don't. I do still have some dairy though, small amounts of cheese and natural yoghurt, although I am cutting down on the cheese too these days and tend to use feta instead, which is made from sheep, or goats cheese. Strange that I didn't get these symptoms in Iceland when I practically lived on dairy - it must be something to do with the way that's its processed, either than or something they do or perhaps don't feed their cows on !

A big bowl of oat cereal with rice milk and a mug of Roobosch tea, also with rice milk. If its a work day the tea has to wait until I get to work and have finished getting the residents their own breakfast - usually by around 7.30am. Sometimes I have some fruit smoothie instead, to boost my blood sugar and help keep me going.

I can't be bothered with it personally - I would rather out my head in the oven than sit through all that - but that's just me - each to their own !

The Icelandic season which starts tonight on BBC4 - I think it's Jar City tonight, so as I haven't read the book yet, I will probably record it for future viewing.

Most people would tend to think of alternative history as being more non-fiction, ao I must admit that when I first read this I was a little bit confused. As someone whose own work tends to fall into this category, this is certainly how I think of this style of writing, although I can see that it could also be fiction, indeed when certain publishers realised that my work included references to lost continents, they claimed that it was fantasy - obviously not doing their own research then - imo ! As such then my own recommendations are more non fiction and rather than recommending particular books, I will recommend particular authors - Andew Collins for example, Graham Phillips (I love his style of writing and research and he is really passionate about what he does if you ever get the chance to meet him), David Rohl for the Egyptian stuff, Zecharia Sitchin of course (sadly now deceased) for Mesoopotamia and the missing 12th Planet theory, Graham Hancock, and of course no collection would be complete without Michael Cremo or David Hatcher Childress.

Good luck !

I am about two thirds of the way through Tiger Hills now, and hope to complete it by the end of April. It took me a while to get into, but it seems to be an interesting story, and different from the usual love triangle in that in some ways, the most important part of the story is actually the children involved, and not just the adults. I am well on target to achieve my goal of reading books set in a minimum of 12 different countries, as this is the 8th (possibly 9th if you count the fact that The Twelfth Insight is set in two different countries). My next book I think though will be another British one - set in Britain that is but with a Swedish author -Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg.