Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr Spencer Johnson ( You Decide Challenge 2017)

Who Moved My Cheese? by Dr Spencer Johnson

Chosen by Virginie Busette

Summary

It is the amusing and enlightening story of four characters who live in a maze and look for cheese to nourish them and make them happy. Cheese is a metaphor for what you want to have in life, for example a good job, a loving relationship, money or possessions, health or spiritual peace of mind. The maze is where you look for what you want, perhaps the organisation you work in, or the family or community you live in. The problem is that the cheese keeps moving.

In the story, the characters are faced with unexpected change in their search for the cheese. One of them eventually deals with change successfully and writes what he has learned on the maze walls for you to discover. You'll learn how to anticipate, adapt to and enjoy change and be ready to change quickly whenever you need to. 

Discover the secret of the writing on the wall for yourself and enjoy less stress and more success in your work and life. Written for all ages, this story takes less than an hour to read, but its unique insights will last a lifetime.

******

So it's only January and already this challenge has gone horribly wrong. This is why I don't do challenges. As you may recall, last year I asked for you to pick twelve books that you thought I should read in 2017. The books you chose are listed here. As you can see January was supposed to be The Truth by Terry Pratchett, as chosen by Katharine Corr. I had all good intentions of that being the first book, but I had trouble getting hold of it. Instead I ended up reading Who Moved My Cheese as I had bought it for my husband for Christmas and as he loved it so much, he insisted I read it there and then. 

I really hope to stick to the rest of the plan but it has all now moved back a month. and I now have The Truth ready to read for February. 

Anyway back to Who Moved My Cheese? Firstly I have to admit to being a real sucker for a self improvement book. I love learning more about myself and trying to change things to make life better. And this little beauty is and ideal read to see who you really are. The book follows a simple parable, about four different characters who live in this maze and look for cheese to keep them nourished. When the cheese disappears, we watch how each one will react. As stated above, cheese is a metaphor for anything in life that you really want. How you go about getting it. 

On reading this book, I was extremely surprised to realise how much I am like the character, Hem, who sits tight and doesn't change anything, hoping it will all work itself out in the end, even though the situation is looking dire. To be honest, I was shocked. I knew I wasn't like Sniff and Scurry, the two mice, who realise quite quickly that things are changing and head off as soon as they can to find something better. However, I always hoped I came across as Haw, who might leave it far too long, but eventually adapted to the changes around him. 

It's made me reevaluate what I want. This tiny little book has made me realise I must always be ready for change, because you never know when circumstances may alter your journey in life. I hate change and now I realise I must learn to love it. No one can continue in the same way forever, because things do become dated and worn. Change is the only constant in our lives.

I think this is a brilliant self help book. So short and simple, yet it really gives you all need to know. I would highly recommend it, to those in need of the motivation to help deal with the changes occurring in their lives. 

Thanks to Virginie Busette for recommending this book as part of my You Decide 2017 challenge. 

Next month's read will be The Truth by Terry Pratchett, as picked by Katherine Corr.

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying by Marie Kondo

Have you ever tidied madly, only find that all too soon your home or workplace is cluttered again? If so let me share with you the secret of success.

Published in Vermillon in April 2014

Pages - 248

This guide to decluttering your home from Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes readers step-by-step through her revolutionary KonMari Method for simplifying, organizing, and storing.

Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles?

Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you’ll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo’s clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list). 

With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house “spark joy” (and which don’t), this book featuring Tokyo’s newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home—and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire. 

******

This book has been on my radar for about a year. My American Facebook friends loved it and regularly showed pictures of all the things they had thrown away. Naturally curiosity got the better of me and I ended up ordering this book to find out what all the fuss was about. 
Now I'll admit to being a bit of a hoarder. I have cupboards full of once well loved crap, so the thought of being able to freely throw things away without feeling guilty, didn't seem possible to me. Yet on reading this book, events like below began to happen in my house.

These bags are full of clothes. And that was just the start. I found myself being ruthless. The basic principle of of the KonMari method of decluttering is that if something doesn't give you joy or make you happy - get rid of it. Easy, huh! I took one look at my wardrobe and realised I was hoarding clothes that were years old and were never going to fit not to mention ever come back in fashion and quite honestly they were making me miserable.
You start by tackling the least emotional areas of your clutter. Clothes were easier than books. My books are a work in progress, but after getting rid of nearly ten fruit boxes full, I think I'm doing OK. I have so many books and I know I will never read them all, so why keep the ones that don't make me feel excited when I pick them up? 
You are advised to sort your things out by category; gathering everything together first and then sorting them out. That seemed a little long winded to me, so I've actually sorted by area. I still have quite a few areas to go, but I'm determined!
Once the discarding commences, may I suggest in investing in some very strong bin bags to put all the crap in, as well as finding out where your local tip is. I don't think the refuse collectors will be remotely impressed by your increase in rubbish and if they are anything like mine, they have a limit on what they will take.
When you finish discarding in each category and have thrown the rubbish out, you can start finding new homes for your remaining stuff, which becomes a whole lot easier when you throw so much of it away.
I'm completely converted to the KonMari method of tidying and hope to continue emptying my house. It definitely makes me feel less restricted and I love creating more space in my home. 

Non Fiction Friday: Whoopie Pie Fun by Claire Ptak

Pages - 122

Published by Bantam Books in 2011

Amazon Summary

Meet the new cupcake!

Want to wow your friends with the perfect party snack?

Fed up with cookies, cupcakes and cheesecakes?

Enter the deliciously irresistible world of WHOOPIE PIES! Everyone is talking about these cool traditional American desserts!

So what are you waiting for?

Open up, start baking and find out what all the fuss is about!

*******

Every so often I get the urge to cook! Half term hit us and the weather was pants, so the girls and I decided to do a little cooking. This book kept appearing on my desk and the girls were instantly drawn to the pretty cover and decided we would make whoopie pies. I had never heard of them before receiving this book,  but on looking through the pages I found I was drooling. 

So after flicking through the pages, we decided to make the chocolate whoopies with fluffy marshmallow filling. 

The mixture for the cake part was finger licking good. Who couldn't resist dipping a finger into the chocolate mixture?? The recipe said that you should be able to make either 9 large whoopies or 24 mini ones. We seemed to make a number somewhere in between, but kept eating bits, so we lost count. 

Bearing in mind, I am not very good at cooking and I was working with just a top oven, these didn't turn out the way I would have liked them. I think I needed to leave them in longer, as I now realise my top oven isn't working to full capacity. These were really soft and the ones I tried at the Random House event were much firmer. 

I also think the mixture for the marshmallow filling was a little too firm! LOL. It could stand all by itself by the  time we had finished. 

They were a little floppy  when finished but they tasted really good. I will definitely make them again. The recipes were easy to follow and very straightforward. The fillings appear on a separate page so you could probably swap them easily. The ingredients were written down as you would need them, which I always think is a plus. However when I make them again I will probably buy one of these.

Whoopie Pie pan! 

Definitely a cook book to entertain the kids. It was easy for them to follow and they look really scrummy when made! 

Non Fiction Friday - Write A Great Synopsis - An Expert Guide

I have been meaning to start up a post like this for ages. I do like to read the occasional non fiction book and I wanted to try and feature them more on my blog. I used to love doing Trish's Non Fiction Five Challenge which  really got me reading books out of my comfort zone. So I wanted somewhere to share the non fiction books I have read either for research purposes or pleasure. This isn't a post that will occur every Friday, just on occasion when I read  a book I want to share

Published by Crabbit Publishing on 17th January 2012
Book purchased by myself.
Kindle edition.


The function of the synopsis is not to make people cry or laugh or be as terrified as a terrified thing. It is to show the decision-makers that you do actually have a book that hangs together and doesn't just get off on a stunning start and an amazing concept; and to show what sort of book it is. A good synopsis shows that your book works, from beginning to end. 
Goodreads Summary
Most writers hate writing synopses. They need dread them no more. In this short ebook, Write a Great Synopsis - An Expert Guide, Nicola Morgan takes the stress out of the subject and applies calm, systematic guidance, with her renowned no-nonsense approach and laconic style. 
Write a Great Synopsis covers: the function of a synopsis, the differences between outlines and synopses, dealing with requirements for different agents and publishers, finding the heart of your book, how to tackle non-linear plots, multiples themes, sub-plots and long novels, and it answers all the questions and confusions that writers have. Nicola also introduces readers to her patent Crappy Memory Tool, explains the art of crafting a 25-word pitch, and demonstrates with real examples. Gold-dust for writers at all stages.

***********

Well if I am reading this type of book, then it is clearly obvious that I have reached the stage of sending my finished manuscript off; which I did. However I couldn't send it off without writing the dreaded synopsis. I was so against writing this, I put it off for three whole weeks! I feared writing my synopsis more than have all my teeth extracted without anaesthetic! Seriously I couldn't think of anything worse. 

Everything I read about writing a synopsis left me confused. Luckily my wonderful Twitter friends were on hand with some friendly advice and they gently nudged me in the direction of Nicola Morgan's book, Write a Great Synopsis, and oh my, what a God send it was. 

From the first page, I fell in love with her writing style. I felt like I was in the company of a master craftsman who knew exactly how to slash word counts to create a concise writing companion without losing any of her humour. I found myself giggling all the way through and watched my fear fly out of the window. It wouldn't have been any easier if the author herself had held my hand through the process. This book is THAT GOOD!

The ideas are extremely organised; the instructions are easy to follow, with plenty of examples to show you what not to do. As the book is a Kindle edition, it had direct links to posts featured on the author's website, giving me even more useful information.  I actually came away feeling strong enough to take on the mighty synopsis and within a day of reading it, I had written my first very own synopsis.  I could almost see Nicola Morgan cheering with a glass of champagne in one hand and a pompom in the other as I pressed send on my PC, crossing that finishing line and fondly watching my brave little synopsis take on the world. 

This book is a must have accessory for any writer's bookshelf. An excellent resource designed to make the writer's life easier. 

This Year You Write Your Novel by Walter Mosley

Pages - 99


Published by Hatchette Books in 2007

The first thing you have to know about writing is that it is something you must do every day - every morning or every night, whatever time it is that you have. Ideally, the time you decide on is the time you do your best work.

I think from it's title and the paragraph written above, it is obvious what this book is about. Writing, of course. You didn't think I would write cold turkey without a little outside support. This is a rather short book that basically gave me the kick up the rear I needed to put pen to paper and fingers to the keyboard.  It reminded me how important it was to write every day. I know when  I make time to write every day it flows a lot easier and I get my writing quota written a lot quicker. I know that if I write every day, the story will take a life of its own and practically write itself as my mind takes over and plans the story as I do the mundane housewife tasks of ironing,cleaning and cooking.

This book also reminded me that every writer has awful first drafts. The first draft is about getting the bones of the story down. You fill in the meat of it afterwards during editing and rewrites.  The book also gives you a quick low down of the elements that need to be included in the story and then gently holds your hand as you start with your first draft.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is just starting out on their writing path, as it will give you a basic knowledge of what you need to know in order to start. From there on you can progress on to chunkier writing books which will explain the areas you are interested in with a lot more detail. For seasoned writers, this book can act as a quick reference guide to get you in the mood. It doesn't hold any information that you haven't read before in other books, but it might just spur you on to get back into your writing mode.

So not the best writing book that I have read, but a quick refresher book to get me motivated.

Did the book work for me?

I believe it did. I am running wild with my writing and actually feeling like I am getting somewhere. I think what has made the difference is that I make sure I write every day. This is the first time I have committed my self to writing every day and it feels good. Even if I have to sacrifice something else, then so be it. So occasionally I may take a day or two's break from blogging, but that is something I know I can afford to sacrifice, or perhaps I won't read one evening, I can live with that. Writing is important to me, it is something I want to do, something I have to do and I am not prepared to sit back and watch the world pass me by without achieving my goal. It may not get published, but at least I can turn around to people and say that I have written a book!

Dewey The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched The World by Vicki Myron

Pages - 271

Challenges - Non Fiction Five

Published in 2008 by Hodder and Stoughton

The first thing I felt was a blast of freezing air. Someone had jammed a book into the return slot, wedging it open. It was as cold in the box as it was outside; maybe colder, since the box was lined with metal. You could have frozen meat in there. I was still catching my breath when I saw the kitten.

It was huddled in the front left corner of the box, its head down, its legs tucked underneath it, trying to appear as small as possible.

The kitten looked at me, slowly and sadly. The it lowered its head and sank down into its hole. It wasn't trying to appear tough. It wasn't trying to hide. I don't even think it was scared. It was just hoping to be saved.

Why do I put myself through such torture by reading this style of book. I have got through a whole box of hankies and actually had to sit in a room on my own by the end of the book as I was sobbing so much.

This book is the story of Dewey, the cat that took over a library, making it his home and became an international star. The book follows the lives of the library staff through the years as they move on with their lives and build a relationship with Dewey. Now I know that there are exceptional cats all over the world, but even I came away thinking Dewey was very special. Like most cats, he could sense when someone needed his company to ease their pain.

Anyone reading this book, who owns a cat, will notice elements of their own relationship with their pet and I think this is what makes this book special. It reminds you how much your animals actually mean to you. How they are always there when you need them the most. When I finished reading this book, I searched the house for my beautiful boy, Georgie, who has been poorly lately and just sat and cuddled him.

I dare anyone to read this book and not cry a few tears, especially if you are a cat lover. Once I finished, I found myself googling Dewey and watching videos on YouTube about him. This book affected me in the same way that A Lion Called Christian did. It tugged at my heart strings and made me mourn an animal I never knew. This book will never win any literary awards, but it will win Dewey fans around the world.

The book not only deals with the love we have for our animals, but it also deals with the emotional roller coaster we call life. Vicky Myron tells us a lot about her journey through life whilst working at the library and you feel her pain, as she loses members of her family and goes through major operations in order to keep surviving. Vicky Myron is a fighter and so was Dewey.
I intend to rave about this book to everyone I speak to for the next month. It might not be your normal style of book, but if you love animals, you really should read this. It might encourage you to give your pets an extra cuddle or another little treat.

I love this book, but I don't think I can ever read it again without investing in a handkerchief company. Off now, to buy some very thick concealer, to cover up the puffy, red eyes caused by this book.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Pages - 336

Challenges - Non Fiction Five and Support Your Library Challenge.

Republished by Penguin in 2000

The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, a lonesome area that other Kansans call 'out there'. Some seventy miles east of the Colorado border, the countryside, with hard blue skies and desert clear air, has an atmosphere that is rather more Far West than Middle West. The local accent is barbed with prairie twang, a ranch-hand nasalness, and the men, many of them, wear narrow frontier trousers, Stetsons, and high heeled boots with pointed toes. The land is flat , and the the views are awesomely extensive; horses, herds of cattle, a white cluster of grain elevators rising as gracefully as Greek temples are visible long before a traveller reaches them.


For some reason, I have been fascinated by this book since I first heard about it. I don't know why, especially as I avoid all books with fictional murders in, let alone real ones. I think it was because Truman Capote wrote it, that I became so attracted to it.

In this book, Capote reconstructs the cold bloodied murders of a Kansas farmer and his family in 1959. Capote carried out an extensive study of the deaths within this family, as well as studying the two killers Perry Smith and Dick Hickock in detail.

Within this book, Capote breathes life into this violent event. Right from the beginning, I felt very strongly towards the farmer and his family. I was prepared to stop reading the book, as I had to grown fond of them, and really didn't want to find out how they were murdered.

The family were murdered purely because of hearsay. A conversation with another criminal had Hickock believing that the family had a safe in the house with a lot of money in. It turns out, there was no money, but that didn't stop the men killing the family one by one.

I can't say I enjoyed this book as the subject matter really was quite upsetting and I found myself feeling rather depressed, especially as the killers had no real motive for murdering the whole family. However, the writing is detailed and full of empathy towards the family and I felt that Capote handled such a sensitive event very well. You almost feel that Truman Capote is actually witnessing all the events that happened. He includes conversations and detailed accounts, allowing you to believe that he witnessed every part of the event. It is almost hard to believe that the book is actually a non fiction one, as the events read like fiction.

I felt that Capote portrayed the killers in an unbiased way. He tried to show that they did have feelings and were caring in some ways; he didn't write them off completely. However, I imagine that writing about people this way, is easier if you have no connection to the people who were brutally murdered. The book was released six years after the murders and I doubt that people close to the family were able to read this book without feeling anger and hatred for these two men.

There were parts within the book, that I felt may have been page fillers. I didn't feel that every person associated with the family and the killers needed to have a complete biography included about them. I found myself skipping over pages about people who had no real involvement at all,except that they were distantly related.

This book is really one of those books you should read, rather than may want to read.

Now I know other people have read this book, but my Google reader doesn't want to play nicely and I couldn't find any links to other reviews. So if you have reviewed this book, then please add a link in the comments and I will add your review on the end.

Other reviews of this book

Things Mean A Lot

Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory : The Life of Rosa Parks by Douglas Brinkley

Well, I am still in Alabama and probably will be for a little while longer as I have now found myself caught up in the history of the state. There are some marvellous people who have lived and learnt in Alabama and Rosa Parks stands out as one of the most determined ones at that.

In December 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, a 42 year old black seamstress called Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus to a white passenger. Her arrest led to a 381 day boycott of the city bus system by all black people. The boycott was led by a young Baptist minister called Martin Luther King, and is now considered the beginning of the American civil rights movement.

I really have to apologize for my ignorance here, as up until researching through my guide about Alabama, I had never ever heard of Rosa Parks. My daughters who are just ten knew exactly who she was and told me she was the woman who wouldn't move off her seat on the bus, so I am pleased that the English education system has changed it's ways and given a broader view of world history, which did not occur during my education. I cannot help but feel badly about not knowing who she was, when she was such a strong and important woman during the 20th Century. She is renowned as 'America's first lady of courage', a title she so greatly deserves.

This book was written by Douglas Brinkely, who discovered whilst teaching about the great lady, that no biography had ever actually been written about her life. There were some children's books relating to her story, but nothing else, so Brinkley set out to discover the true story of Rosa Parks and was lucky enough to get to spend time with her during times of her ailing health.

I found the book to be utterly fascinating and I thought I would give you a few points of interest from her life story.

• As a child, Rosa took a lot of her inspiration and determination from another great lady of Alabama, Helen Keller, the deaf,dumb and blind girl who I talked about recently, who went on to conquer the world and show us anything is possible.
• James F. Blake was the bus driver who had Rosa arrested, yet this was not the first time she had run into him and it seems that history books tend to overlook their first encounter ten years before. Previously, he had insisted she get off the bus and use the back entrance and had been really nasty to her, leaving Rosa vowing never to get on his bus again. The day she refused to move from her seat, happened as an accident, when she absentmindedly got on Blake's bus again.
• Parks suffered from a lack of financial stability for most of her life and it wasn't until later years when her health was ailing, that she found life a little more luxurious.
• The return of the black soldiers after World War 2 brought a change in the respect the black people had for the white Americans. It was discovered that the Nazis were actually treated better than the soldiers of colour and were allowed to eat in local cafes, whereas the people of colour were sent around the back.

There are some memorable lines from the book which I feel I need to share with you too.

'The story of Montgomery is the story of 50,000 Negroes who were willing to substitute tired feet for tired souls and walk the streets of Montgomery until the walls of segregation were finally battered by the forces of justice.' This was a line taken from Martin Luther King's book Strive Toward Freedom.

'Martin Luther King,JR., didn't start the American civil rights movement, but early on his brilliance made him its polestar, and when that guiding light was blotted out in April 1968, those who had looked to it seemed to lose their way in the darkness his death left behind. '

This book not only gives you the life story of Rosa Parks, but it also gives you the historical background and the people involved with the American Civil Rights movement. I had alway presumed that Martin Luther King was the front runner in this race, yet he came into the campaign as an after thought and there were many other fine people who led the way before him.

Rosa Parks was an inspirational woman, yet she came across to everyone who knew her as humble and down to earth. She never revelled in the fame her actions brought her, yet as time passed a lot of people involved in the civil rights movement, began to shun her out of jealousy of her fame. From that point on, she moved away as she could not cope with such ill feeling. She was cast aside for many years and her story was often not included in the accounts of the birth of the American Civil Rights, yet over the past twenty odd years, her story has begun to shine through and she has taken her place next to the other inspirational women of the twentieth century.

Nelson Mandela's visit to America following his release from prison after twenty seven years says it all. Rosa had been missed off the guest list to meet him, yet after pulling a few strings she got the opportunity to be there. When he arrived, Nelson started to chant Rosa's name, tears filling his eyes as he finally met the legend that was Rosa Parks.

I would highly recommend reading this book as it definitely opened my eyes to the history of the American Civil Rights movement. I feel so much better for reading this book, as I realise that in our lifetime there will always be difficulties, there will always be difficulties to overcome, yet with a little bit of faith and a whole lot of positivity, we can achieve the unachievable. Life is there for us to take and grab with both hands and bring about the things our hearts most truly desire.

Julie & Julia by Julie Powell

Pages 307

Published by Penguin in 2007

Challenges - Fall Into Reading.

I decided to read this book because I was desperate for a light read last week, after such a harrowing week with my father -in-laws funeral. This book definitely filled that category, although I did find an underlying current of sadness within the book, which I wasn't aware of in the reviews of it.

If you haven't heard of this book which has now been made into a movie, then you must have had your television stolen!

This is the true story of Julie Powell, a temp in an office, who feels her life is going nowhere. She wants children, but has been told she may never have them. She is completely unfulfilled in her job and wants to find her future path.

On a whim, she decides to cook all the recipes in Julia Child's legendary cook book 'Mastering The Art of French Cooking'. This book has 524 recipes in, which Julie decides to complete within a year and blog about each recipe. From her blog, this book was born.

I found it a fascinating story as you read Julie's life in parallel with Julia Child's. Both women find their way in life through French cooking. Julie Child takes up French cooking as a hobby and becomes a very famous chef with a line in books and programmes. Julie, by following Julie Child's cookbook finds a new career as a writer. It is amazing to think that French cooking managed to changed both of their lives so dramatically. Near to the end of the book, you are told about Julia Child's reaction to Julie's blogging project and she wasn't very happy about it. It seems so sad, as you would have thought they would have had a really strong connection to each other.

Now I mentioned earlier, about an undercurrent of sadness within the book. Julie worked for the government agency in charge of building a memorial for 9/11. Her office overlooked Ground Zero and the book begins several months after 9/11. You are told about how the staff deal with the grieving relatives and friends, especially in the run up to the first anniversary. I found this so sad to read about and you cannot help but wonder if the events of 9/11 had an unconscious effect on Julie which set her on her road to discovery.

I enjoyed this book a lot, I found it to be a really easy read. I did find that occasionally the story went off on a tangent and I got a little confused as to what was going on, but other than that it was good. I know a lot of people were offended by the language in the book, but I didn't feel that it was overbearing at all. I felt you were just witnessing Julie letting off steam. I found it funny and definitely very entertaining. I could see elements of me in Julie, with her high maintenance attitude and leanings towards high drama.

I would definitely recommend reading this book, if you love cooking, laughing and being a voyeur in somebody else's life.

A Lion Called Christian by Bourke and Rendall

Pages 188,


Published by Bantam Books in 2009. First published in 1971.


In 2008, YouTube showed a film clip that became an international phenomenon. It showed a very emotional reunion of two young Australian men and their pet lion Christian, a year after they had transported him to Africa to be reintroduced to his natural habit by Born Free's George Adamson.


Anthony Bourke and John Rendall had originally bought Christian from Harrods in 1969, before any laws were brought in to stop exotic animals being bought and sold in that way. They took him home and he lived in their basement for the first few months of his life. He began to grow fast and soon became to big for living in a flat.


A chance meeting with Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers altered Christian's life for ever. Rather than being put in a zoo, he was taken to live in Kenya and with other lions previously kept in captivity, Adamson helped the new pride develop and learn to live as lions should.


For the next two years, Rendall and Bourke returned to Kenya to see how Christian was adjusting to his new life. Christian showed them that he had not forgotten them and even though he had his own life as the head of the pride, he treated them to the same loving affection he had always shown them as a cub.


This is the most beautiful book I have ever read. This has just become my Number 1 book of the year. I was so taken with the life of Christian and his transportation to Kenya ( an event that took place before I was even out of nappies).


Christian became a star and his life had a huge impact on the way that lions and other exotic animals are treated today. He was the reason that Kora became a National Park in Kenya and still nearly forty years after it is helping animals to readjust to their natural habitat, after captivity. His story became an international phenomenon, allowing George Adamson to continue his research and rehabilitation of lions for over 19 years until his own untimely death. Christian's life had real meaning and purpose and shows us how intelligent animals actually are.

The book has beautiful photos to help document Christian's life in Kings Road and his transportation to Kenya. You cannot help but fall in love with such a beautiful majestic creature.

You can tell that the decision to buy Christian from Harrods altered the lives of the two Australians for ever. They both became involved in the conservation of animals.

The only thing that bothered me about Christian's life was that eventually they lost track of him. His visits back to the camp run by George Adamson became few and far between and then stopped altogether. So Christian's final years are unknown. With today's modern technology, they would have been able to keep a track of his whereabouts and been able to follow his life from a respectable distance. I just feel sad that Christian, whose life has become so well known, was not monitored in the same way. Though from the book, George Adamson was convinced that Christian had left a legacy as he had mated with a few of the female lions in the surrounding area.

If you don't believe my gushings over this book, then I suggest you head to my starting point The Youtube video. If you are not moved by the video to want to read this book, then I will be really surprised. I have to keep going back to look at it, the affection shown by such an animal is just amazing.

I have to say thank you to Diane over at Bibliophile by the Sea, as if she had not reviewed it, I would not have had the joy of reading such an uplifting book.

Other reviews of this book.

Bibliophile by the Sea

Angels In My Hair by Lorna Byrne

Pages 325

Challenges - Non Fiction Five, In Their Shoes and 100+ Books.

Published by Century in 2008

This book is an unusual one. It is an autobiography of Irish woman who has the power to see angels in her everyday life. When she was a child, she was considered to be retarded, as she didn't focus on everything around her. Lorna knew she wasn't retarded, she was just too busy watching the angels and spirits that were around her. For most of her life, she assumed everyone else could see them to.

Lorna tells the story of her life as she grows up in Ireland. Her family are very poor and it takes years for their family life to improve. Lorna then meets the man she knows she will marry, as the angels had already shown her a vision of him. She has also been forewarned that in the later years of her marriage she will look after her husband during years of sickness, until his early death. All through their married life, the couple struggle, yet every time things seem they can't get any worse, Lorna's angels come to her aid.

Within the book, Lorna talks about meeting the prophet Elijah, an Archangel and of also being in the presence of God. She describes the world as full of angels waiting to answer our prayers and wishes, however because so many of us have forgotten them, a lot of angels are redundant. So Lorna is basically asking you to call on your angels to help you with your everyday life.

I am really on the fence over this book. My friend who recommended it to me, said I would come away feeling uplifted and that it would alter my view on life. I can honestly say, it really didn't do that for me. Unfortunately I found myself slightly skeptical of the whole thing. I am a person who believes in what she can see, if I can't see it or justify it, then I have a lot of trouble believing. I would love to believe that we are surrounded by angels, waiting to answer our every prayer, I am just not sure.

I have read a lot of books on cosmic ordering and also all the books by Gill Edwards, who believes life to be full of magic and if you ask for something,you will get it eventually, so I have believed for a long time that you create your own reality by asking for the things you want and positively believing you will receive them. From this book, I felt that you could have what you wanted, but you would have to suffer a great deal in order to receive it. Lorna's life comes across as miserable and desperate, she struggles throughout her life and for her suffering she is allowed to communicate with angels and spirits. I know that the angels came through for her at the end, but they really allowed her to hit rock bottom, before they helped. Imagine getting to Christmas Eve, having no food in the house or presents and praying for a miracle. I would be busting a gut by that point and nearing a stroke! I would love to be able to see for myself if angels exist, but not for the sacrifice of a happy life and my sanity. I am not saying they don't exist, just that really I have no idea.

I also found her description of meeting God, a little hard to swallow. Lorna describes meeting him and Satan as if it were an everyday occurrence and personally I just didn't buy it.

I really wanted this book to have the same effect on me that The Celestine Prophecy had. I loved that book and could completely relate to it, where as this book left me feeling a little despondent. I really wanted to love this book and really wanted to believe, unfortunately it just left me feeling sad. Perhaps I focussed too much on the negative aspects of her life, rather than the positive visions she was witness to, but that is part of who I am, to me the glass is always half empty rather than half full.

I would love to hear from anyone else who may have read it, as I am wondering if it is just my perception of the world that stopped me enjoying it. I believe if you have strong beliefs in your faith and if you are a positive person, then this book would suit you.

Thanks for stopping by.

Friday Finds

Friday Finds is hosted by MizB at You Should Be Reading and you can find it here.

I have found two Young Adult books and two non fiction books about extraordinary animals this week, which I would desperately like to read.


Also Known as Harper by Ann Waywood Leal - found this one over at Books Love Jessica Marie. I have to say Jessica finds some fantastic YA books and her site is definitely worth a peek.

I am hoping this might give me a better insight into preteens as I feel my life is heading in that direction pretty quickly!

Here is the blurb from Amazon.
Harper Lee Morgan is an aspiring poet, which isn’t surprising, seeing as how she’s named after her mama’s favorite writer, Harper Lee. And life is giving her a lot to write about just now. Daddy up and walked out, leaving them broke. Then Harper’s family gets evicted.
With Mama scrambling to find work, Harper has to skip school to care for her little brother, Hemingway. Their lives have been turned upside down, which Harper could just about handle—if it wasn’t for the writing contest at school. If only she could get up on that stage and read her poems out loud . . .

Don't you just love the cover too!
If I Stay by Gayle Forman - I found this one over at Michelle's site Fluttering Butterflies. Michelle has a similar taste in books to me, so I am always pleased to find a book I haven't read on her site as I know I will love it. Michelle is also running an international competition to give this book away, so do click on Fluttering Butterflies above to go and enter for a chance to win. You have until the 14th July to enter.

Here is the blurb from Fantastic Fiction.
In a single moment, everything changes. Seventeen year- old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall riding along the snow-wet Oregon road with her family. Then, in a blink, she finds herself watching as her own damaged body is taken from the wreck...A sophisticated, layered, and heart achingly beautiful story about the power of family and friends, the choices we all make - and the ultimate choice Mia commands.


The story line sounds just fabulous and reminds me a little of Lovely Bones by Alice Seebold, only Mia isn't actually dead, just in limbo. Another great cover too.

Alex and Me by Irene Pepperberg. I found this one over at At Home with Alyce and Alyce gave it a glowing review.

This is my first animal non fiction book this week and normally something I would avoid. It isn't that I don't like reading about animals, I just get so upset when I read that they die. So it has to be a really extraordinary book about them to capture my interest.

Here is the blurb from Amazon.

On September 6, 2007, an African Grey parrot named Alex died prematurely at age thirty-one. His last words to his owner, Irene Pepperberg, were "You be good. I love you."
What would normally be a quiet, very private event was, in Alex's case, headline news. Over the thirty years they had worked together, Alex and Irene had become famous -- two pioneers who opened an unprecedented window into the hidden yet vast world of animal minds. Alex's brain was the size of a shelled walnut, and when Irene and Alex first met, birds were not believed to possess any potential for language, consciousness, or anything remotely comparable to human intelligence. Yet, over the years, Alex proved many things. He could add. He could sound out words. He understood concepts like bigger, smaller, more, fewer, and none. He was capable of thought and intention. Together, Alex and Irene uncovered a startling reality: We live in a world populated by thinking, conscious creatures.
The fame that resulted was extraordinary. Yet there was a side to their relationship that never made the papers. They were emotionally connected to one another. They shared a deep bond far beyond science. Alex missed Irene when she was away. He was jealous when she paid attention to other parrots, or even people. He liked to show her who was boss. He loved to dance. He sometimes became bored by the repetition of his tests, and played jokes on her. Sometimes they sniped at each other. Yet nearly every day, they each said, "I love you."
Alex and Irene stayed together through thick and thin -- despite sneers from experts, extraordinary financial sacrifices, and a nomadic existence from one university to another. The story of their thirty-year adventure is equally a landmark of scientific achievement and of an unforgettable human-animal bond.

A Lion Called Christian by Bourke and Rendall. I found this over at Diane's site Bibliophile by the Sea.

This review actually had me in tears. Especially when I saw the Youtube clip.

A fantastic and unbelievable story that shows animals are much more intelligent than we give them credit for.

In 2008 an extraordinary two-minute film clip appeared on YouTube and immediately became an international phenomenon. It captures the moving reunion of two young men and their pet lion Christian, after they had left him in Africa with Born Free’s George Adamson to introduce him into his rightful home in the wild.A Lion Called Christian tells the remarkable story of how Anthony “Ace” Bourke and John Rendall, visitors to London from Australia in 1969, bought the boisterous lion cub in the pet department of Harrods. For several months, the three of them shared a flat above a furniture shop on London’s King’s Road, where the charismatic and intelligent Christian quickly became a local celebrity, cruising the streets in the back of a Bentley, popping in for lunch at a local restaurant, even posing for a fashion advertisement. But the lion cub was growing up—fast—and soon even the walled church garden where he went for exercise wasn’t large enough for him. How could Ace and John avoid having to send Christian to a zoo for the rest of his life? A coincidental meeting with English actors Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers, stars of the hit film Born Free, led to Christian being flown to Kenya and placed under the expert care of “the father of lions” George Adamson. Incredibly, when Ace and John returned to Kenya to see Christian a year later, they received a loving welcome from their lion, who was by then fully integrated into Africa and a life with other lions. Originally published in 1971, and now fully revised and updated with more than 50 photographs of Christian from cuddly cub in London to magnificent lion in Africa, A Lion Called Christian is a touching and uplifting true story of an indelible human-animal bond. It is is destined to become one of the great classics of animal literature.

So there are my picks for the week, now if I can just lay my hands on some cash, I can make a trip to Waterstones! What books are you after this week?

Waiting on Manana by Miranda Innes

Pages - 318

Published by Bantam Press in 2003

Challenges - 100+ book and Non Fiction Five

You may previously remember me reviewing Cinnamon City which you can find here, which detailed Miranda's decision to buy a riad in Marrakesh, well this book was written before Cinnamon City and details Miranda's move from London to Andalucia.

Miranda and her new partner, the talented artist Dan Pearce, whose beautiful drawings are scattered amongst the pages of the book, decided to sell up their London home in search of a new life abroad. They fell in love with an old ruin and set about restoring it with the help of an abundance of Spanish builders. This book takes you through the trials and tribulations of starting a new life in a foreign country and building a house from scratch whilst actually living in it.

This book is hilarious. I had tears in my eyes whilst reading some of the scenes. Miranda Innes has a talent for comedy and is quick to turn distressing events into a comedy sketch.

Here are a couple of my favourites scenes.

On visiting the house. For a week of the purchase, Dan and I stayed above La Loma, the bar at Almogia, one of the two nearest villages to our finca. It was very hot, and my skirts stuck to my bum - I had to walk backwards, lest people should think I was incontinent.

When discussing their decision to buy the house in Spain. We were like a nightmare soap opera that you cannot switch off - air hostesses, shop assistants and passing dogs, they all got to know about the house in Spain as out came the pictures, the drawings, the documents. We bored everyone but each other. For weeks, close friends had crossed the road rather than encounter our double tsunami of incoherent enthusiasm.

These are just tasters of Miranda's comical writing abilities. Though the comedy is not the only thing that makes this book so fantastic. Miranda writes beautiful descriptions where her words allow yourself to immerse yourself in another world and culture. From descriptions of the landscapes, to a virtual tour of the finca, you can easily imagine the scenes with the vivid descriptions provided. I came away feeling I had actually visited this part of Spain and felt I could envisage it for myself.

Also another plus for this book are the recipes that appear frequently through the chapters. Now being a foodie, recipes within fiction and non fiction books will always win me over and have me scuttling away to my imaginary world, hosting dinner parties, serving the delicious recipes presented in this book, declaring them to be genuine Spanish recipes.

At present, these are the only two non fiction books in this genre that Miranda has written. I am hoping that Miranda may well move into fiction too, as her writing is so entertaining. Her story telling reminds me of Jilly Cooper and Catherine Alliot.

Do go out and read both Cinnamon City and Waiting on Manana, as they are both such fabulous books. You won't regret it.

The Funny Thing Is by Ellen Degeneres

Pages 177

Challenges - Non Fiction Five, 100+ Books.

I was intrigued to read this book after reading about it on Rebecca's site Lost in Books.

I really like Ellen Degeneres, I used to love watching her TV comedy show 'Ellen', many years ago. Do you remember the show when she used to own a book store with a coffee shop in it. How popular did that idea become. Can't visit a bookstore now without a strong smell of coffee making me gag! ( Sorry to all those coffee lovers, but the smell just makes me nauseous.)

Anyway back to the book. This really wasn't what I was expecting, which doesn't make it bad. In fact, it is a fabulous book that is really funny. The essays are hilarious and very entertaining. However, I was expecting a little insight into the life of Ellen Degeneres, a sneaky peek into Ellen's world. Alas, there is not even a tiny bit of truth in the book. It is full of stories that Ellen could easily tell on stage. I would have to be verging on the side of stupid to believe even one of her stories, even the one about Eminem bringing gazpacho to her weekly Sunday brunch.

Here is one of my favourite paragraphs.

The key to having confidence about your appearance is all in the
details.

Take your nails. Nothing builds self-esteem like a beautiful set of
nails. Haven't had a manicure in a while or ever? Do it yourself by
opening the car door and dragging your nails along the pavement whenever you
slow down for a stop sign. Why spend money on emery boards when you can save
dollars a year my way.

Rebecca over at Lost in Books mentioned that you should probably try and read this book as if Ellen was actually talking to you and telling these tales and I have to agree with her. If you like to watch Ellen on stage, then this is the book for you. A funny selection of essay looking at the daft things we all do in our everyday lives. Definitely a light and easy read to lighten up your day and have you giggling to yourself, which will concern your family into thinking hysteria has set in. Enjoy!

Other reviews of this book.

Lost in Books

Friday Finds and Library Loot

Friday Finds is hosted by MizB at You Should Be Reading and you can find it here.

I have two books that I would really like to read this week.
The Painter From Shanghai by Jennifer Cody Epstein. I found this on Dar's site Peeking Between the Pages and she has a competition on her site to win it too. You will find the competition here.
Here is the synopsis from Waterstones books.

In 1913, an orphan girl boards a steamship bound for Wuhu in South East China. Left in the hands of her soft-hearted but opium-addicted uncle she is delivered to The Hall of Eternal Splendour which, with its painted faces and troubling cries in the night, seems destined to break her spirit. And yet the girl survives and one day hope appears in the unlikely form of a customs inspector, a modest man resistant to the charms of the corrupt world that surrounds him but not to the innocent girl who stands before him. From the crowded rooms of a small-town brothel, heavy with the smoke of opium pipes and the breath of drunken merchants, to the Bohemian hedonism of Paris and the 1930s studios of Shanghai, Jennifer Epstein's first novel, based on a true story, is an exquisite evocation of a fascinating time and place, with a breathtaking heroine at its heart.

s Angels in My Hair by Lorna Byrne was a book I happened to see one of my friends reading. This book really intrigues me as it is the memoirs of a woman who has grown up seeing other people's guardian angels. She was under the impression that everyone could see them. This book is meant to be one of those books that changes your outlook on life.

Here is the synopsis from Waterstones.
Angels In My Hair" is the autobiography of a modern day mystic, an Irish woman with powers of the saints of old. When she was a child, people thought Lorna was 'retarded' because she did not seem to be focusing on the world around her, instead Lorna was seeing angels and spirits. As Lorna tells the story of her life, the reader meets, as she did, the creatures from the spirit worlds who also inhabit our own - mostly angels of an astonishing beauty and variety - including the prophet Elijah and an Archangel - but also the spirits of people who have died. This remarkable document is the testimony of a woman who sees things, beyond the range of our everyday experience.

Library Loot is hosted by Eva and Alessandra and you will find them here.

I picked up four books from the library.

Getting to Manana by Miranda Innes - this is the book she wrote before Cinnamon City which I reviewed here. This is about her adventure into buying her Spanish villa.

The Funny Thing is by Ellen Degeneres - I saw this on Rebecca's blog Lost In Books and really wanted to read it. I used to watch Ellen when she had her sitcom years ago. I used love the book shop/ coffee shop she owned. I always found her funny, so I knew I wanted to read this.

Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch - this has had a lot of airplay in the blogging world and as it is set in the south of America, it will help me with my Southern challenge.

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry. I have wanted to read this one since I saw it in January. I just wasn't going to buy it in hardback - far too expensive! I would have waited until the paperback version came out but once I saw it in the library, I just couldn't resist.

What books did you find this week?

Cinnamon City by Miranda Innes

Pages - 363

Published by Black Swan in 2005

Challenges - 100+ and Non Fiction Five

This has to be the funniest non fiction book I have ever read. I picked it up purely by accident as I have started to take a keen interest in travel journals and the story behind this book seemed just too interesting to leave on the shelf.

This is the personal journey of Miranda in the quest to purchase a very old and long neglected riad (a house with a garden in the centre of it) in the centre of the magical pink walled city of Marrakech and to turn into a holiday home. Miranda and her long suffering partner Dan, an artist and illustrator, fall in love with Marrakech after helping their friend Maggie buy a riad to turn into a guest house. They fall in love with the friendly people, the souks (outdoor markets) full of spices and clothes such as kameez ( Asian cotton tunics) and babouches (soft slippers). The smells from the restaurants and cafes constantly had their mouths watering. They knew from their first visit, they wanted to spend more time in the wonderful city.

So after investing all the money they had in a property, the restoration work begins. Only then do they realise that nothing runs smoothly in Marrakech and a project that should have taken six months to complete turns into over a year, scattered with difficulties and money worries. Though eventually the property is finished and it became all they dreamed it would be.

This is a fantastic book, the descriptions evoke visions of colour and life and send your senses into overdrive. My mouth watered as I read about tagines and how they were cooked, as well as lots of different couscous dishes and not to mention mint tea, a firm favourite in Marrakech.

Miranda's descriptions of life and the people in Marrakesh are very humorous and definitely entertaining. She comes across as the type of person you would like to sit down and share a cocktail and a conversation with. If she talks as elaborately as she writes, you know you would be completely entertained.

The characters come alive in her book, Khaled, the manager of the riad, sounds like one of the most wonderful and most patient people you would ever meet. Abteldif, his brother in law, is a very colourful character desperate to Westernise his lifestyle.

Also within the book, there are some beautiful illustrations, depicting scenes from the riad and the souks. They are just as detailed as the descriptions of what can only be described as a magical city.

This book will make you fall in love with Marrakesh and want to visit it. Up until reading this book, Marrakesh had merely been a word used to name a city, but now it conjures up such beautiful visions of lemon trees, spices, ranges of pigment inks, henna and wonderful people, that I imagine myself hopping on a plane and going to visit.

Miranda Innes is formerly the editor of Country Living and in 1997, she gave up her life in England and bought a property in Spain, where she still resides. She has previously written one other travel book called 'Getting to Manana', which tells the story of her purchase of her Spanish home. Miranda has also written a range of design and craft books too. Miranda Innes is the sister of Jocasta Innes,a very famous designer known around the world for her books on design and paint finishes..

Once Miranda had finished the building work on her property in Marrakesh, she opened it to the public as a guest house. If you click here, you will be able to see the property and details about booking accommodation.

If you wish to read more about Miranda and her partner Dan, you find information on her website here.

This a fabulous book, that kept me thoroughly entertained and is definitely worth a read. I haved learnt so much about Marrakesh through the pages of this book, that I feel I would easily be able to blend in with the surroundings if I visited it. I will definitely be searching out 'Getting To Manana', as I am certain it will be an entertaining read.