How many times can you capsize a boat?

I have enjoyed reading Chris Stewart's adventures on a farm in Spain (Driving over Lemons and A parrot in the pepper tree), so was quite exciting to hear that he had also written about his adventures at sea. Three ways to capzise a boat – an optimist afloat describes his adventures in the Mediterranean as a skipper, learning to sail at first. Then moving on to a trip in the North Atlantic, destination New Foundland. He is filled with adventures and spirits and hearing it straight from the man himself on the audio book, gives it the extra zest.
Josefine

Title: Three ways to capsize a boat – an optimist afloat Author: Chris Stewart ISBN: 978-1-4084-4316-3

Confession of a late shopper

I read parts of Checkout – a life at the tills by Anna Sam with a smile on my face, having some experience in customer service, I recognised many of the events.

Then I came to the Late Shopper Customer and I have to confess, in my younger years, my sister and I made a point of every Sunday, pay a visit to the store at ten to nine (it closed at nine), dash in, head for the sweets, then dash back out and home to the nine o'clock start of the regular TV movie of the week. They must have set the clocks after us. To our defence, we never lounged around in the aisles, we always knew what we wanted, but it must have been so annoying seeing us every week doing the same thing. Sorry Checkout girls, we were young and didn't know better.
Josefine

Title: Checkout - life at the tills Author: Anna Sam ISBN: 978-1-906040-93-2

Back again

It has been a long break but now I feel I have the time again to write something meaningful about the books I read. I will mostly concentrate on the English language books, so it is easier for you to find them as well. As always, get them at your local library. Use it! It needs your support.

First out is a love story straight from the Tower of London.

Who knew there could be so much unrequisted love at the Tower of London. An albatross that mate for life, the keeper of the meangeree who thought he mated for life, The Rev. Septimus Drew, the Ravenmaster, Valerie Jennings at the Tube's Office of Lost Property and Julia Stuart weave the stories together skillfully.
The subplot at the Lost Property Office at the Tube might contest for her second book, as the stories are as engaging and funny as the mainstory. It wouldn't surprise me if half the things Stuart writes about actually got lost on the Tube for real.
Josefine

The scene of the book, seen across the Thames.

Photo source: Niclas Ejebjörk

Name: Balthazar Jones and the Tower of London Zoo. Author: Julia Stuart. ISBN: 978-0-00-734523-6

Taking a break

Summer is now in full bloom here in London, at least most of the times and even if I usually read more in the summer, at the moment I don’t have the time to sit down and write anything. I have therefore decided to hold up for a couple of months.
Josefine

My recommendations: Enjoy the summer, take a book, go and sit outside and enjoy the sunshine.

Pompeii

It was a long time since I listened to a CD book. But last weekend when I had a big spring clean weekend I borrowed Pompeii by Robert Harris. I mainly choose this book for its length, which might not be the best measuring tool, but I was lucky. It not only kept me occupied the whole day, but the story is intriguing with lots of subplots and roman history all set with the rumbling Mount Vesuvius in the background.
Josefine

My recommendations: The Bridge over the River by Johannes Gramich

Miss Smilla

A young boy is dead. He jumped to his death from a rooftop. The traces in the snow shows only one set of footprints, but Miss Smilla knows better. She can read the signs of the steps in the snow and they are not made by someone who willingly jumped, especially not someone who is afraid of heights. The question is who was it that got him up on the roof and scared him so much that he would jump?
This is a wonderful book, Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow by Peter Høeg, is well written, engaging and impossible to put down. When I came to the last chapter I let the book rest for three days just to able to savour it a little longer.
There is a movie version of the book, I haven’t seen it, but I doubt it is better than the book.
Josefine

My recommendations: Italian Shoes by Henning Mankell

2012 Book race

I have now finished nine countries (4,39 per cent) in my effort to read a book from every country that will participate in the 2012 summer Olympics. I think I have to step it up a bit to be able to make it. My next conquest is George-Marc Benamou’s book The Ghost of Munich (France).
Josefine

My recommendations: Miss Smilla’s feeling for snow by Peter Höeg (Denmark)