I have done a lot of reading while under duress. At present I am reading:
So how did it all begin? What happened before Victoria met Joe and they embarked on their crazy life in Spain?
This light, airy and charming story is the delightful prequel to Victoria Twead’s Old Fools’ series. Her childhood memories are vividly portrayed, leaving the reader chuckling and enjoying a warm sense of comfortable nostalgia. Photographs and recipes complement page after page of tales that burst with the rich vitality we have come to expect from Victoria Twead.
Written in the same style as her previous books, Victoria's story of her childhood is light and airy with humour and lightness. An easy to read book it does not grip me like other more serious memoirs but is again a window into the life of someone I know. Victoria has recently emigrated to Australia to be near her daughter. Her husband has cancer and is at present in England having treatment. The next story she writes may be one of joy or sadness.
Earlier this week I finished:
Laura Morelli holds a Ph.D. in art history from Yale University, where she was a Bass Writing Fellow and Mellon Doctoral Fellow. She authored a column for National Geographic Traveler called The Genuine Article and contributes pieces about authentic travel to national magazines and newspapers. Laura has been featured on CNN Radio, Travel Today with Peter Greenberg, The Frommers Travel Show, and in USA TODAY, Departures, House & Garden Magazine, Traditional Home, the Denver Post, Miami Herald, The Chicago Tribune, and other media. Recently her art history lesson, What s the difference between art and craft? was produced and distributed by TED-Ed. Laura has taught college-level art history at Trinity College in Rome, as well as at Northeastern University, Merrimack College, St. Joseph College, and the College of Coastal Georgia. Laura has lived in five countries, including four years in Italy. Laura Morelli is the author of the guidebook series that includes Made in Italy, Made in France, and Made in the Southwest, all published by Rizzoli / Universe. The Gondola Maker, a historical coming-of-age story about the heir to a gondola boatyard in 16th-century Venice, is her first work of fiction.
I loved this book, just as I loved visiting Venice. I was continually recharging my ipad as I could not put the book down and wanted to see what happened. I learnt so much about the structure of gondolas, also the history of Venice in the middle ages. It was as if I was there and I became almost a part of the story. A highly recommended book.
On my talking book machine I have just finished reading:
In October 2008, Mellissa Fung, a reporter for CBC’s The National, was leaving a refugee camp outside of Kabul when she was kidnapped by armed men. She was forced to hike for several hours through the mountains until they reached a village; there, the kidnappers pushed her towards a hole in the ground. “No,” she said. “I am not going down there.”
For more than a month, Fung lived in that hole, which was barely tall enough to stand up in, nursing her injuries, praying and writing in a notebook. Under an Afghan Sky is the gripping tale of Fung’s days in captivity, surviving on cookies and juice, from the “grab” to her eventual release.
This was a real page turner and I struggled to stay awake each night to listen to even 15 minutes. Each time I woke up I had to rewind back to where I thought I had finished earlier that evening. How she survived buried underground in a tiny hole for so long amazed me, I do not think I have the resources to undertake such a captivity. She often mentions eating only cookies and fruit juice and I did wonder what she did when she had her period. Unfortunately their is little enlightenment about her state of health after release as the book ends soon after she was released in exchange for the mother of one of her jailers. A book well worth reading.
