Fiction
Click on the image above to read my reviews of fiction.
Travel
Singapore EncounterISBN-10: 1741048842 / ISBN-13: 978-1741048841 / Published by Lonely Planet 2008 I have used Lonely Planet guides in the past - following backpacker trails through Asia. At times they are too detailed for my needs, but these 'Encounter' guides are much more to my likng. I bought the Singapore guide, needing a lightweight summary of all the highlights. And the book does exactly that. The colour-coding and clear maps make navigating both the book, and the city much easier. I have a few minor complaints, but they are not worth mentioning. I will definitely consider their other guides in this series. Eating, drinking, sightseeing and finding good accomodation is made easy. My rating 9 / 10 |
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Bad tripsISBN-10: 0394221516 / ISBN-13: 978-0394221519 / Published by Vintage Canada 1991 Usually when your friends come back from their holidays, they bore you with their tales of relaxing around the swimming pool, sight-seeing at photogenic tourist traps, and chatting to the friendly waiters. Nothing exciting really happens when a trip goes well - maybe just a touch of sunburn and a hangover. In contrast, a trip full of disasters is much more interesting to hear about. In this book, the author brings together stories from some of the world's best travel writers. Here you can read about narrow escapes from gun-toting bandits; being rocketed by helicopter gun-ships; getting lost in snowy wastes with no food, water, fire or shelter. All fascinating stuff and thoroughly well-written. For some people, these stories will make them glad they are safely at home; but for the brave or foolhardy they will instill the hunger for adventure and misfortune. Only through adversity do we discover who we really are. These travellers have certainly been there and done that! My rating 9 / 10 |
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Falling off the MapISBN-10: 0679746129 / ISBN-13: 978-0679746126 / Published by Vintage Books 1997 Another fantastic collection of vignettes. Pico is an Indian travel writer, educated at Oxford and Harvard, who has spent years travelling to countries and regions that have 'fallen off the map'. By this he means they are remote or isolated, geographically, politically, or culturally. His destinations include Iceland, North Korea and Paraguay. Of course, things don't always go as planned. In my opinion, the quality of his writing is second to none. His eye for amusing detail and ability to both inform and entertain is totally absorbing. Rather than grand overview, he focuses on the often mundane to bring the reader to a fuller understanding of each place. Rancid meals, gloriously pompous characters, arcane laws and customs, he revels in them all. This really is a must read for all those who love that feeling of 'Do these people not realize how strange they are?' or 'Why on earth didn't I go to Spain instead?' The world still has some forgotten corners so get out there and enjoy them while you can. My rating 9 / 10 |
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JapanISBN-10: 1405312211 / ISBN-13: 978-1405312219 / Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd 2007 For longer journeys I use Lonely Planet but they overload on so much detail it's difficult to be inspired by them. DK guides are the total opposite - lots of swanky photos and useful diagrams, plans of famous sightseeing destinations and colour photos of the food. They only include the highlights so it's good to separate the wheat from the chaff. Living in Japan, I found this guide so useful when I arrived. It's easy to pinpoint where to go and what to see. I still refer to it even after six years here. Of course it is a little light on detail, and misses many pleasurable sights, but it's great for a short trip. Japan is not an easy destination for foreign visitors but this guide softens the blow! There are many guidebooks on Japan. I would suggest buying this only if you are coming to see Tokyo and environs and Kyoto. If you are travelling widely then perhaps a more comprehensive guide is necessary. My rating 7 / 10 |
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Factual
The Devious Book for CatsISBN-10: 0007281234 / ISBN-13: 978-0007281237 / HarperCollins Entertainment 2008 As a cat lover this book instantly appealed to me. The content is witty, sharp and very, very funny! I shall be buying this for many of my relatives, regardless of them liking cats. An imaginative insight into the minds of cats... (A.Hayden) Cats once were proud, shrewd, independent animals who lived life on their own terms. But then came a life of domestication, comfort and free health care. And now cats are in danger of losing their sense of adventure completely. Did you know that because of boredom and indolence, the average feline today uses up a mere 2-3 of its 9 lives? Fluffy and Bonkers think its time to get out of the comfortable back seat of life and regain control of their destiny. They created this manual to teach discerning cats how to wake up a human when they want to get fed, how to stare like a pro, how to win in a catfight and - most importantly - how to get away with practically anything. With The Devious Book for Cats your cat can return to the noble creature he or she once was and assume their rightful place as the ruler of the household once again. My rating 9 / 10 |
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Guide To Money And InvestingISBN-10: 0976474982 / ISBN-13: 978-0976474982 / Lightbulb Press 2005 The world's financial markets have been in a state of turmoil for a while now, with the collapse of investment banks, a credit squeeze, problems with the CDS system. The problem is: what does all this mean? There is so much technical jargon, it can be difficult to understand the news these days. So I decided to learn about the world of finance and this book stood out as being a great and easy to understand introduction to credit markets, stock, options, futures, hedge funds, and so on. The Lightbulb Press produces a range of guides that use as simple language as possible to explain complex subjects. Step-by-step, even a financial beginner can get to grips with the basics of how the world's markets operate. Reading this guide gave me much greater understanding of what's actually happening in the world today. I thoroughly recommend it to both the interested reader, and to those thinking of investing their own money. I don't think the book is perfect, as sometimes it is too brief to fully explain a subject, but it does its best. I quickly gained a working knowledge of investing theory and now have more confidence in talking about the current financial turmoil. Each area of investing is clearly described and presented in a lively way. A great little book, and it is backed by 'Standard and Poors' - the world's number one rating agency. My rating 9 / 10 |
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Creating Websites - The Missing ManualISBN-10: 0596008422 / ISBN-13: 978-0596008420 / Pogue Press 2005 This is the book that I'm using as a guide to build this website. So you can judge whether the book works or not! I found it to be not only easy to follow, but also a comfortable read. It takes you step by step through the necessary processes and is not afraid to say what it thinks. Within two weeks I had the basic skills to start developing an entire site, and I knew nothing before I started, and I mean nothing! If you are thinking of creating a website, I say go for it! And this book will help you achieve your aims quickly and without fuss. Thoroughly recommended. Today's websites do require whistles and bells such as Javascript and Flash animations to look up-to-date and that might put many people off. But here you will learn what you need to understand what to write yourself, and more importantly, how to make use of the thousands of FREE scripts and animations on the web. It really isn't difficult once you take the plunge. I learned how to join Amazon Associates and Google AdSense and am already earning money from my site - it already pays for itself. I never thought I would join the world of e-commerce, but this book gave me the confidence to go ahead. As you see from this page, you will learn how to add links to money-making sites too. Good luck! My rating 10 / 10 |
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The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness HistoryISBN-10: 078670747X / ISBN-13: 978-0786707478 / Carroll & Graf Publishing 2000 Edition I love reading about the history of civilizations, but sometimes history books lack the human element that breathes life into the pages. This book is very different and deserves attention. It's a very thick book, but easily read in sections, and doesn't need to be tackled from start to finish, you can just dip in to whatever tickles your fancy. So what is it? It is a collection of snapshot views of history from 2700 B.C. to 2000 A.D. written by people who were actually there. These are eyewitness accounts to the events that most affected the lives of nations and people through history. The selections, from such first-hand sources as memoirs, diaries, letters, and journals, create a connection to these historical moments for the modern reader. In vivid detail, they depict the realms of social and political history (President Clinton's impeachment trial), art (Raffaello's attempt to prevent Michelangelo from completing his work in the Sistine Chapel), war (the sacking of Babylon to Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait), exploration (the discovery of America and tobacco), sports (the 1966 World Cup), science (Isaac Newton on the laws of gravity), disaster (the eruption of Mount Vesuvius), celebration (Charlotte Bronte on the opening of the Crystal Palace in 1851), and the ancient wonders (Tutankhamen's tomb unearthed by archeologists in 1923). With its wide variety of material and events, from earthshaking catastrophes to poignant moments from everyday life, from the streets of Paris to a crater on the moon, this mammoth book offers forty-seven centuries of human drama in one singular, unforgettable volume. I loved this book as it connected me to the thoughts and lives of those who wrote about the events of their times. It is perhaps a little biased towards European and American history, but it wasn't a big problem and I still rate it ten out of ten! My rating 10 / 10 |
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Watching the EnglishISBN-10: 0340818867 / ISBN-13: 978-0340818862 / Hodder & Stoughton 2005 What makes a person English? What are the character traits and behaviours that define them? Kate Fox spent years studying English people in pubs and at horse races, offices and factories. She interviewed thousands of people up and down the country to try to capture what lurks in the heart of the English. The book takes the form of her own journey of discovery as she tests theories and adjusts her conclusions. The reader is asked to share in her breakthroughs and changes-of-mind. Sometimes this writing style gets a bit tiring, but it's easy to forgive her as simply stating her results in a scientific manner would not make the bookshelves of W H Smith. I won't talk about her findings, needless to say some are obvious whereas others are more intriguing. I enjoyed her journey into what makes us tick. If you want to gain a greater understanding of the English this book is all you need. My rating 7 / 10 |
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The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient CivilizationsISBN-10: 0141014482 / ISBN-13: 978-0141014487 / Penguin Books Ltd 2005 This book explores the world's earliest cultures and examines the development of civilizations. Vivid descriptions are complemented by discussion of topics such as colonization, agriculture and technology. Photographs, artwork re-creations and full-colour maps help in the understanding of the birth of the modern world. Mesopotamia, the Babylonians, the Greeks, the ealy Americas, Polynesians, Africans, Chinese - they are all here. Each section focuses on one civilization's rise and fall. Of course, this means that there is little space to really recreate the feeling of what life was like. Instead, we have a broad overview with significant events and developments. Sometimes one is left wanting more. Perhaps this is the intention - as I immediately wanted to scour the internet for more information after I read this book. This is not a fun read by any means, but it does offer a guide of the most important historical events that lead to the development of the world as it is today and the mistakes we still make, so I recommend everyone to check it out. My rating 7 / 10 |
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Personal growth
The SecretISBN-10: 1847370292 / ISBN-13: 978-1847370297 / Simon & Schuster Ltd 2006 Once known only by an elite who were unwilling to share their secret of obtaining anything you desire is now revealed as being based in the universal Law of Attraction. And the good news is that anyone can access its power to bring themselves health, wealth and happiness. Fragments of The Secret have been found in oral traditions, literature, religions and philosophies throughout the centuries. A number of the exceptional people who discovered its power include Plato, Leonardo, Galileo and Einstein. Simple and effective, The Secret reveals the mystery of the hidden potential within us all. By unifying scientific thought with ancient wisdom and spirituality, the practical knowledge will lead readers to a greater understanding of how they can be the masters of their own lives. When I was recommended this book, I was naturally skeptical about its validity, but I read it and to my surprise it made sense. I started trying to live my life using its concepts and discovered they work, I gained responsibility for my life and started developing the tools to make big changes. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone who needs strength and direction, although many readers have criticized it for being a money-making marketing tool to make the authors rich. That's a valid opinion - I used to be that cynical, but now I'm not! Which would you rather be? My rating 10 / 10 |
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The KeyISBN-10: 0470180765 / ISBN-13: 978-0470180761 / John Wiley & Sons Nov 2007 This book features the key to unlocking our full potential, from Joe Vitale, a contributor to "The Secret". It builds on his bestselling book "The Attractor Factor", and goes beyond the book and movie "The Secret". He shows how a person must first rid themselves of unconscious self-limiting beliefs if they want to reach their full potential and attain the things they say they want from life. Inside every person are 'counter-intentions' that actually attract the things they don't want and prevent them from getting those things they do. The book offers real, practical advice and exercises for anyone who wants to get more out of life. I read this book after The Secret as a tool providing additional practical help in changing my way of thinking and feeling. Joe's writing style is very relaxed and confident - sometimes it feels it was written in minutes - sometimes it was! The exercises are contributions from a wide variety of self-help gurus. I really enjoyed it, although the reader has work to do - it's interactive, you are asked to write notes in various sections and actually do the exercises!. His comments about limiting beliefs will ring true with many making this the ideal companion to The Secret.. My rating 9 / 10 |
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