Mohammed affect to start. The he looked round. Then he fell back with a gastp, overing his eyes.

This was dramatic, but no informative. Seymour tried again.

After much pantomiming, he established that Cunningham had been just emerging from the water. Standing, anyway. He had fallen down at the edge of the water. Mohammed had leaped from his boat, caught hold of him and dragged him up on to the beach; after which, it appeared from his description, he had first collapsed over him in grief and then delivered a funeral oration.” (Page 34)

Note: In future, I’m going to try to keep better track of where I find book recommendations. This one was on a summer reading list I purused, but I can’t seem to find the link. I’ll make note of sources as I add to my ‘intend to read’ list.

This little mystery came highly recommended from a summer reading list I stumbled across. I normally don’t read mysteries and thought it would be good to expand my horizons a bit.

The first few chapters were chaotic and confusing for me. The dialogue just starts, without any reference to characters or place. You’re literally dropped into the scene without any context. I suppose this is because the main character, Seymour – a Whitecastle police officer, is also feeling the same way.

The story is set in 1911 in Istanbul, a city poised for war with the Ottoman Empire on the brink of collapse. Seymour, a humble police detective is sent to Istanbul by the Foreign Office to investigate the murder of a high profile aristocrat who is Second Secretary in the embassy.

Seymour is a likeable character, and his adventures in the city are colourful and interesting. The historical context of this story was obviously well-researched by the author. I enjoyed the tiny glimpses into the culture of Istanbul, with close attention paid to the lot of women, class distinctions and the lives of day-to-day people.

The embassy staff are portrayed as pompous and ridiculous, so of course, I disliked them all, which I guess I was supposed to. These characters got very old, very fast and I soon dreaded any dialogue which involved them (“So, old boy, how goes your investigation?” Gag).

The writing was good, though sometimes confusing. As I struggled through the book, I often wondered if I would have enjoyed it more had I been from the U.K. I sensed that some of the references just went over my head and would have enhanced my experience of the book had I understood them.

The plot was okay, not terribly dynamic and when I came to the final chapter, I was bored: I had already figured out who had killed whom and to be honest, it wasn’t all that interesting to me.

Ever since I started grooming my dog, Dusty, myself, I’ve been wowed by how simple it is and how much money I’ve saved. The clippers, which were pricey, have long since paid for themselves and my dog always looks great.

I’ve pondered whether it would be possible to cut my own hair and a last month, I put Bob Bent’s book ‘How to cut your own hair or anyone else’s’ on hold at the library.

This book was written in 1975 and is currently out of print, yet the wait list was lengthy. When I finally received it, I found out why. This book is a clear, simple and elegant explanation of how to cut hair. It literally strips away all the mysteries and lays out instructions in simple language and clever drawings.

I read the entire book from start to finish, out of curiosity, then focused on the instructions for short hair. I was so intriqued, that I grabbed a pair of scissors from the drawer, went into the bathroom and started cutting my hair.

My hair, which is very short anyways, is a very simple pixie cut. I followed the instructions and was really amazed at how simple they were. I could not believe how EASY IT IS TO CUT MY HAIR!!!!!! It took me 15 minutes, and when I was finished, my hair looked as it does when I come back from the salon, with some important differences. Usually, my stylist cuts it too short. I cut it just the right length, because I was the one holding the scissors.

I waited a few days before writing this review, to see how I felt about it. Although I feel like I can refine my cutting technique (and I plan to buy a good quality pair of scissors), the cut itself is great. Easy. Cheap. Unbelievable!

This book is light on text and full of clever and, sometimes amusing drawings. For 1975, it’s pretty graphic – one drawing of a woman depicts her cutting her own hair topless and her breasts are depicted – including mention her nipples!

Because I haven’t cut anybody’s hair but my own, I can’t attest to the other cuts in the book. What I will say is that the book demonstrates basic skills, not specific haircuts, so I believe it’s as useful for styles popular today as for those popular in 1975. The section of layering made a lot of sense to me. The section on cutting kid’s hair was also good.

If you can find this book, it’s worth reading.

“Look at them…They only see what the spotlights show them. When the ygo home, they’ll say that they know Paris. Tomorrow, they’ll go and see the Mona Lisa and cliam they’ve visited the Louvre. Bt the ydon’t know Paris and have never really been to the Louvre. All they did was go on a boat and look at a painting, one paitning, instead of looking at the whole city and trying to find out what’s happening in it, visiting the bars, going down streets that don’t appear in any of the tourist guides and getting lost in order to find themselves again., It’s the difference between watching a porn movie and making love.” (Page 123)

Paulo Choelho is the author of the famed book ‘The Alchemist.’ I read this last year and though I can’t say I loved it, it was okay and it definitely made me think. His latest book is more of a traditional novel, which feels more than a bit autobiographical.

As I read, I was actually curious about whether this story was in fact mirrored on the author’s life. There were many similarities. The book is about love and relationships and how these change through time. The main character, an author married to a war correspondent, searches for meaning after his wife disappears. She has left him and gone to an asian country to weave rugs and teach schoolchildren. He seeks her out through clues given to him by a young mystic, and with the help of his lover.

It took me over a week to finish it. I found it difficult to like this book and had a terrible time getting through it. It’s one of those books that didn’t draw me in and I sort of had to force myself to persevere to the end. I found that it flowed poorly and the author’s writing style irritated me in a fingernails-on-a-chalkboard kind of way. The story felt contrived and the characters were unlikable.

One thing I did like about it were the anecdotes – my two favourites were the story about the monk and the gift of grapes, and the an explanation regarding the distance beween railroad tracks. Toward the end of the novel, the story was actually starting to appeal to me. If the story had ended on page 287, I probably would have closed the book, somewhat satisfied. But the author had to write another 8 pages and completely shatter this mood he had built in the previous chapters. As I read the final pages, I hated this book.

I hesitate to completely pan it because it definitely made me think. I suppose I’m wondering if it really needed to be a ‘novel’ and perhaps would have been more effective as a series of short stories that incorporated the same ideas.

“The hero’s journey is what the drum talks about. Before the movie, before the printing press, before shadow plays, before songs, there was the story accompanied by the drum. The dum is the oldest special effect in the world. It gives us the willies or gives us a good feeling. It makes us jump and it helps us to sleep. It makes us want to live life. It makes us willing to kill or die. It creates a healing world, and it’s the only thing that can make a car alarm sound interesting.” (Page 146)

I read this book last summer, a few weeks after I bought my Djembe. I initially picked up the book because of the good reviews on Amazon and because it had a CD. Ultimately, I found that the book was over my head. The rhythms seemed so uncomplicated and I found most of the advice in the book incomprehensible.

Only now do I understand why – I’ve played Djembe for almost a year and participated in a few drum circles and this book is definitely oriented toward people who drum in open drum circles. The simple rhythms totally make sense in context to playing with a group. The stories and anecdotes are very interesting in context to drumming with other people.

In other words, I really enjoyed this book on the second reading because I finally ‘got’ it. It was really good! I’m already thinking about buying his first book ‘Drumming the spirit to life.’

“By trusting the process of the labyrinth, of putting one foot in front of the other, you can trave a long way.” (Page 15)

This is a well-written, interesting and comprehensive book about labyrinths (and a great improvement over the last labyrinth book I read).

Helen Curry offers a brief history of labyrinths, personal stories, and discusses the labyrinth in context to modern life. There are basic instructions for getting the most out of the labyrinth experience including meditation, prayers/blessings for various times of the year and the use of the labyrinth in ceremonies. She even provides simple instructions on how to create you own seven circuit finger labyrinth (and not-so-simple instructions about how to create an 11 circuit Chartes labyrinth).

Because anyone who reads this book is going to be inspired to walk a labyrinth ;-), the author provides a directory listing of labyrinths in the United States, but this is now out-of-date. To find an up-to-date listing, go to the Veriditas website .

“There is way too much to explain – my own blood seeping into my sister’s veins; the nurses holding me down to stick me for white cells Kate might borrow; the doctor saying they didn’t get enough the first time around. The bruises and the deep bone ache after I gave up my marrow; the shots that sparked more stem cells in me, so that there’d be extra for my sister. The fact that I’m not sick, but I might as well be. The fact that the only reason I was born was as a harvest crop for Kate. The fact that even now, a major decision about me is being made, and no one’s bothered to ask the one person who most deserves it to speak her opinion.” (Page 18-19)

Anna is three years younger than her older sister Kate, who has a rare form of leukemia. Anna was conceived by medical intervention to be an ideal donor for her sister. Her first contribution of stem cells occurs hour after she is born. As a five-year-old, she is haunted by needles when white blood cells are drawn for her sister’s care. Not long after, she’s put under anesthesia and marrow is drawn from her hips (an extremely painful procedure for the donor).

Now, at age 13, Anna will be going under anesthesia again, this time to give one of her kidneys to her sister – a step that may not even save her Kate’s life, but merely prolong it. No one asks Anna what she wants, so she pawns everything she cares about to collect $136.87 and sets off to hire a lawyer.

This novel alternates between the voices of the major characters: Anna, her mother Sara, her father Brian, her outlaw brother Jesse, her lawyer Campbell and Julia, the woman the judge appoints as a Guardian ad litem (to determine Anna’s interests). At first, I found these switches disorienting. Between different ‘voices,’ even the font changed. Later, I would find the font handy for remembering who was ‘speaking’ at any given time. On the plus side, these different voices allow the reader to experience the story from different perspectives. Sometimes, individual characters would recount an identical conversation, allowing the reader to see how the context changed with the individual.

I liked this book and the subject matter intrigued me. In fact, I would go as far to say it was a brilliant book except for one thing: the romance the author cooks up between two of the adults in the story feels contrived and silly. There were times when I just wanted to skip the relationship parts so I could get back to the story. These sections felt out of place and disturbed the flow of an otherwise well-told story.

This book anticipates that you will take sides as you read it. Because Kate, the older sister, is not allowed a ‘voice’ until the very end of the book, I tended to sympathize with Anna. The ending was unexpected and really made me think about families, compassion and medical ethics.

I still don’t know what I would have done if I was in Anna’s shoes, but the question haunts me.

To Helga, the promise of the $10,000 reward outweighed any threats of failure. She faced thd question, “what does fear keep you from doing?” and decided she was unwilling to let fear or disapproval keep her from action. Feeling her family’s future lay in her hands, she knew she must try to win the wager. So, with Clara by her side, Helga turned to the East. (page 99)

This is a gem of a book. Helga Esby’s forgotten walk is a forgotten story that is brought to life through the efforts of a keen historian and the family members who safeguarded the small fragments that remained after years of silence.

In 1984, historian Linda Hunt read a story submitted to a state history contest. In the late nineteenth century, height of the victorian era, a woman and her daughter had walked across North America, on a bet in order to win money to save the family farm. From coast to coast, braving wilderness, weather, outlaws and collecting goodwill, Helga and her daughter Clara walked. They talked to newspapers, worked for their room and board and collected signatures from prominent Americans along the way.

Tragically, this story was nearly forgotten. Her husband and children were ashamed of her walk – in her Norweigan immigrant community, during a time when women belonged at home, Helga’s actions were scandalous. She wrote a manuscript about her experience, but upon her death, her daughters burned it.

In this book, Hunt reconstructs Helga and Clara’s journey. She places their actions into historical context, offers descriptions of what they might have seen and pieces together the story through interviews, historical documents and news accounts.

Hunt is a good storyteller and this is no dry historical account. The story unfolds like good fiction and even has a surprise ending. It left me thinking about the importance of family stories – and women’s stories and wondering what other amazing tales have been lost to prejudice and ignorance.

Her story was fragmented. She did not expand on causes or consequences, and I got the strong impression that she was still unwilling to put her experiences fully on display. Her words only opened the box that she enclosed herself in, but did not lift the veil from her face. (Page 61)

As a radio journalist in communist China, Xinran struggled to bring to life real stories and the concerns of her women listeners, within the limitations of Party policy and guidelines. On her nightly call-in radio show, she told stories of love and loss, sexuality and family life, politics and war, rape and incest, wealth and poverty, uncompromising courage and unspeakable cruelty.

This book is important because it unveils the hidden stories of China’s Cultural Revolution. In Chinese culture, women have been historically silenced. Political upheaval in China throughout the 20th century has reinforced this silence. Through her radio show, Xinran was able to break through the view of secrecy surrounding the lives of Chinese women and broach topics that only years before might have been foribben.

Completely outside the stories, this book is a fascinating primer on the experience of ordinary people in China, and the daily struggles of a journalist operating within a communist society.

I found parts of this book unspeakably sad, yet there are moments of great hope in the lives of these women. The author weaves an elegant tapestry, combining the words of her listeners, interviews with women across China and her own story. The result is a fascinating journey that reveals these hiddens lives with depth, compassion and humour.

I found it difficult to put this book down and it was on my mind for days after I finished it. Each and every story – and some of them are remarkable and difficult to fathom – is absolutely true. This definitely gave me some food for thought.

“In the final analysis, this is a book as much about transformation as on weight loss. Bein overweight is not just a physical problem, so it needs to be addressed in a broader context. If you are overweight then you know what it means to be in emotional pain. When your suffering, your distress can be a catalyt, a doorway to real healing.” (Page 68)

This book is the ‘weight loss’ companion volume to Dean Ornish’s seminal ‘Program for Reversing Heart Disease’ book. Whereas the latter forcusing on treating heart disease, this book presents one of the happy side-effects of the ‘reversal diet’ – weight loss.

In the late 70s, Ornish and a group of physicians began to investigate how lifestyle changes – specifically, changes to diet and exericise – could affect coronary heart disease. Their program included a low-fat, plant-based diet, regular moderate exercise, yoga and meditation. They discovered over the course of four years that heart disease could actually be reversed and there was a happy side-effect: though not counting calories, participants in the study experienced significant weigh loss.

So, in a nutshell, this book is Dr. Ornish capitalising on the diet craze of the 90’s with a bigger, fancier book (the previous volume was a simple paperback, whereas this one is a big quality PB), of which 3/4 is recipes. The good news about the recipes: they are all vegetarian and very low fat. Celebrated chefs from across American contributed. The bad news: they’re complicated and time consuming.

The text of this book is a ‘coles notes’ (Americans, read: ‘cliff notes’) version of Ornish’s previous book on reversing heart disease. It feels a bit souless in comparison and essential sections are pared down. But it’s a good, ‘lite’ introduction to the program and it’s the program itself that’s fantastic.

I’m not a fan of the various ‘high fat’ diets that are currently the rage. But each and every time I’ve used the low fat Ornish diet to lose weight, I’ve had success. (using a good food-tracker software program to make tracking fat consumption easy). I’ve recommended it to countless friends and watched them lose weight too.

If you’re really interested in exploring this program, I suggest ‘Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease.’ It’s a more comprehensive book and it too, has recipes. (I’ve heard through the grapevine that Ornish’s book on ‘everyday cooking’ is an even better source of sensible recipes for the program)

“Today’s university students sign up for tree planting, a three month stint in horsefly country, and come back to their parents’ comfortable manses acting as if they’d just parachuted into Bhagdad on a solo mission to steal Saddam Hussein’s favourite cravat.” (Page 213)

I vacillated between enjoying this book and loathing it, between interest and boredom. The basic premise is this: the cult of individuality predominant in our culture has become the new conformity. Hal Niedzviecki proposes distils the search for meaning into a quest for fulfillment through pop culture.

This is probably my greatest frustration with the book. Intially, I found the ideas and particularly, the examples, fascinating. Niedzviecki explores all manner of pop culture phenomena from backyard wrestling to American Idol, from orthodox religion to island hippy communities.

Where he started to lose me was when he attempted to tie all of this in with various philosophical writers. Perhaps someone better versed in Western Philosophy would have found this more interesting, but that person is not me.

Worse, Niedzviecki openly scorns Eastern Philosophy as New Age mumbo jumbo and suggests that ‘connectivity, order and higher meaning’ is not possible. Throughout the book, this seems to be a theme and it grated on me after awhile.

He’s also very cynical; very funny at times, but it occasionally gets annoying.

I appreciated the Canadian cultural references throughout the book and I learned tonnes about various obscure pop culture trends that I would have never heard of otherwise. This book is worth a read, but skim the boring parts.