"Last Curtsey" by Fiona MacCarthy

I've always been really interested in the history of women, I love reading about influential women in history and about those points in history when the fates and fortunes of women changed. "Last Curtsey" by Fiona MacCarthy is about a very British rite of passage that a select number of privileged young women had to go through (some more willingly than others) in order to be introduced into polite society. These young women were called debutantes and they came from the most privileged, the wealthiest, titled families and the rite of passage that they went through was called the season, the highpoint of which was the curtsy to the Queen, the presentation at court.  

Fiona MacCarthy was one of these debutantes, actually she was in the last batch of debutantes ever to be presented at court and in "Last Curtsey" she shares the story of the debutantes and their lives during the season. 

It is a fascinating read with host of interesting characters : the debs delights, young men escorting the debutantes to parties, some of whom were branded by the debs' mothers with the "can't be trusted in cabs"; the golden debs who had their pictures featured in magazines, walked in Cardin fashion shows or went on to marry rich and influential men; the independent debs who soon gave up the dresses and dances to pursue careers. And then there are the quaint details and historic notes such as accounts showing the expenses that a budget or a full-scale season would have cost or the musings on the traditional menu at the pre-ball dinners. 

"Last Curtsey" is the story of United Kingdom that is no more and it also hints at why because it is obvious that although the dresses, the balls and the dancing is fascinating at first, it demands nothing more of the girls than that they be pretty and sociable and there are no expectations of careers or achievements beyond marriage and kids. MacCarthy writes sensitively, hiding no flaws but condemning no one for their choices and brings to life a long-gone era in an engaging, interesting and thoughtful manner. 

Are you "Brandwashed"? (by Martin Lindstrom)

Have you ever wondered what on earth persuaded you to buy those red skinny jeans/that post-modern poetry collection/the deconstructed flower vase? Or why you religiously choose Coca Cola over Pepsi? Or feel a strange kinship with the royal family?

If yes, then you NEED to read "Brandwashed" by Martin Lindstrom. For anyone not living in the Amazon jungle or rural North Korea, this will be an eyeopener. For those of us regularly trawling shops for things we don't need, this is a jolt, an awakening.
Lindstrom is a brading guru, has been on the Time magazine Influential 100 list and has worked with a number of the world's biggest, most influential companies on their branding strategy. This is a man who knows what he's talking about. And who will scare the living daylights out of you if you think that you're in charge of what you buy.

Did you know that you can target unborn children through music? For example by playing it in shopping malls thereby instilling a sense of familiarity that will mean they are attracted to going to the mall even as toddlers.

Did you know that you can actually be addicted to lip balm?

Did you know that a royal baby is one of the best PR stunts that a royal family can pull and that it often has a great impact on the popularity of the monarchy?

Did you know that the best way to market a product, the strongest, most impactful way is through referrals and recommendations? So next time you buy something your next-door-neighbour recommended, you might want to ask yourself if they have been employed to recommend it...

Do you want to know more? Well then you'll have to get yourself down to your local bookshop and get "Brandwashed" by Martin Lindstrom - it will give you a whole new take on branding and consumerism...

Non-fiction for Real Women

I like a good memoir or a non-fiction book by a strong women who has opinions and experiences that the rest of us can learn from. These women are like on-the-page mentors and have taught me a lot of things while at the same time making me laugh or cry or both as I read their stories. 

"How to Be a Woman" by Caitlin Moran

"Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady" by Florence King

"Mystics, Mavericks and Merrymakers" by Stephanie Levine

"The Mitford Girls" by Mary S. Lovell

"Female Chauvinist Pigs - Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture" by Ariel Levy

"Mennonnite In A Little Black Dress" by Rhoda Janzen

10 Reasons to Love "Mennonite In A Little Black Dress"

There are a lot (a lot!) of reasons to love "Mennonite in a Little Black Dress" by Rhoda Janzen but here I will pick out ten in the hope that this will convince to read this brilliant book:

1) Janzen grew up in a Mennonite community, left it to become an academic and then went back home to cook and write a fantastic memoir when her hapless husband Nick left her for a guy named Bob that he met on gay.com. She rocks.

2) This quote from page 24: "I hope it's clear by now that the Mennonites wouldn't want me. The only reason they're nice to me is that my dad is famous, my mom makes great pie, and I babysat their kids when I was twelve."

3) Her take on men (from page 62): "Hannah's husband was fabulous. Among Phil's many excellent qualities was the expression of zero interest in leaving his wife for a guy he had met on Gay.com."

4) She manages to make Germanic food such as Platz, Borscht and persimmon cookies sound oddly attractive and I did actually buy persimmons to try the recipes at the back of the book. Thanks Rhoda's mom!

5) Her musings on modern womanhood (page 166): "Consider how impossible it is, for example, to aspire to the role of virtuous woman when professional commitments dramatically interfere with jam delivery to oldsters."

6) Her musings on what makes a man sexy (page 203): "In my opinion, sexiness comes down to three things: chemistry, sense of humour, and treatment of waitstaff at restaurants."

7) Her observations on the sorority that she is faculty adviser to (page 210): "One twelve-degree evening in February, when there was eight inches of snow under a layer of slippery drizzle, my sorority gals celebrated their fellowship by donning denim minis, pink tights, and stilettos."

8) Her explanation of the difference between Amish and Mennonite (page 226): "But the Amish cut away from the Mennonites in 1693 because the rest of us were too liberal. That's rich, no? A liberal Mennonite is an oxymoron if ever there was one."

9) The way she manages her mother who is a typical, practical Mennonite woman who at times approaches life in a different way: "If your mother takes a frozen uncooked chicken in her suitcase to Hawaii, all bets are off. You just go with the flow."

10) The fact that she manages to tell a tragic story about a woman who looks after and takes care of her mentally frail husband who then leaves her when she herself is at her most fragile without letting the grief and the unfairness take over. Instead she turns it into a story about life,  hope and looking towards the future, she is an inspiration.

"Mystics, Mavericks and Merrymakers" by Stephanie Wellen Levine

Ever read a book that had you gripping it tightly with anticipation? That was so full of emotions, actions, excitement that whenever you weren't reading the book, you were thinking about the book? A book that left you wanting more and made you yearn for a sequel? 

I read a book like that recently and much to your surprise, it was a non-fiction book. Probably the most gripping non-fiction I have ever read and definitely one of the best books I have read in 2012. "Mystics, Mavericks and Merrymakers: A Intimate Journey Among Hasidic Girls" by Stephanie Wellen Levine is a master piece in its genre. Having studied psychology, I have read a good number of similar books and this one stands out because it is written with passion, with a true interest and love by an author who can write. Levine is more than just a researcher, writing an academic text, she is an author chronicling lives. 

The lives she chronicles are those of Hasidic, Lubavitch teenage girls who live in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, in a tight-knit, highly orthodox Jewish community. Everything in their lives is centered around the Jewish, Hasidic faith. They go to the Bais Rivka high school, a girls only school where they are required to very kosher clothes - no pants but long skirts and shirts covering their elbows. They obey the kosher food rules and have pizza at a local Hasidic pizzeria, where although both girls and boys come there, they talk only to other girls. A good Hasidic girl does not interact with males outside of her immediate family. 
They have hopes and dreams, the listen to music and watch movies (albeit only approved, Jewish music and movies) and they love shopping. However, in all of this their focus is on their God and while other, "normal" teenage girls might discuss hot boys and dating, these girls are more likely to discuss whether the Rebbe, a central religious leader, is the Messiah. Dating is not an issue for these girls because a majority of them will meet their future husband through a matchmaker and will marry him in a traditional, gender-segregated Lubavitch ceremony after as little as three dates. Falling in love is not a goal, growing to love your spouse is. 

This might make it sound like all of these girls are alike but nothing could be further from the truth. In this book, Levine introduces her reader to the a group of girls as individual as they come. There is the rebel who reads Satre and Freud, a rebel who works as a waitress in a strip club to fund her rent and college tuition. There's the academic, high-achieving golden girl who wants to train as a doctor and raise a traditional Lubavitch family at the same time. There's the normal girl whose frustrated mother sometimes takes her anger out in violence against her children. There's the highly religious girl who sometimes, secretly wishes she was a boy so that she could study the Torah instead of doing womanly chores such as cooking and cleaning. There's the girl whose faith is so unwavering that she wants to leave the safety of the community to spread the word about Lubavitch in faraway places where she and her husband will be the only Lubavitchers. 
It is a stunning insight into their lives. A fascinating, easily readable, tale of the strength of young women. Of their resourcefulness and intelligence and big hearts. Reading this inspired me and left me full of hope and love for the young women of today who have so many expectations forced upon them from media and society and yet manage to emerge as strong women. 

Read it if: You find teenage girls and their hopes and dream interesting. You want insight into a very different culture, thriving in the midst of New York. You want something to juxtapose the vacuousness of shows such as Gossip Girl and 90210, something with a bit more bite and a bit more value. 

So what do modern women want?

Everyone wants the answer to that question - from men to marketing companies, there are plenty of people who would pay big money for the answer. I don't have it but this summer I've been reading through a whole bunch of feminist, modern-womens books in the hope of finding the answer to this and other equally important questions. And I think there's a book I will need to have for my journey, a guide books of sorts. Namely "The Feminist Bestseller: From Sex and the Single Girl to Sex and the City" by Imelda Whelehan. 

This is what it says on amazon.co.uk: 
Imelda Whelehan provides an overview of popular women's writing from the late 1960s to the present, looking at how key feminist texts such asThe Women's Room, Kinflicks and Fear of Flying have influenced popular contemporary fiction such as Bridget Jones' Diary and Sex and the City. Whelehan reconsiders the links between the politics of feminist thought, action and writing and creative writing over the past 30 years and suggests that even so-called 'post feminist' writing owes an enormous debt to feminism's second wave.

Have you read it and can you recommend it? 

The Two Sides of Italy

As I've mentioned before (but will mention again because I'm literally counting down the days), I will very soon be off for a week or so in Italy. London seems to have forgotten what summer is about and instead of sun, we've had rain, rain, rain, rain. So lazy days of sunshine and pasta sounds heavenly to me and I can't wait to go. I've been preparing by reading non-fiction books about Italy and today I'll share my opinions of two of these with you - they each give an honest account of life in Italy but oh what different lives they tell of. 

"Extra Virgin" by Annie Hawes
This is the most wonderfully life-affirming story of two young British women, who are fed up by the London weather and price levels (oh do I know that feeling!) and flee to Italy for a summer of rose-pruning. In the small, traditional village of Diano San Pietro, Annie falls in love head over heels in a small hovel of a house that she and her sister buys on a whim. In the following years, they live part-time in the Ligurian mountains (to enjoy life) and part-time in London (to make money enough to enjoy life) and "Extra Virgin" is the story of how two very British women who know nothing about olives (the horror!!) learn to adapt to the Italian way of life where every piece of string or wood can be fashioned into furniture and where food is something that you forage for in the mountains and turn into feasts. 
The worst thing about this book is that it left me perpetually hungry for proper Italian food. Go away Pizza Express, I want a proper meal of antipasti, primo, secondo and homemade wine. 
It is a fantastic non-fiction book because Annie conjures up the characters with such vividness that they leap off the pages. It is a book about people and about the Italian spirit and it is absolutely gorgeous. This is la dolce vita sprinkled with village feuds and a dash of fresh olive oil. 

"Gomorrah" by Roberto Saviano
Have you been to Napoli? We went there a few years ago on a daytrip and I wasn't impressed. Everything was dirty and people were less than welcoming. It was a different Italy to the one I knew - which is mainly Liguria, Umbria, Piemonte, Tuscany and Rome. This was crime capital in a way that I hadn't imagined. At all. 
So when I started reading "Gomorrah", I had a clear picture of Napoli in my mind but it was nowhere near as horrible as the picture painted in this book. It's divided into sections focusing on the different types of crime happening in Napoli and spreading not only across Italy but across Europe and the world, like rings in water. There is the smuggling from China, the workers in small, factories in Napoli sewing designer clothes that end up as far away as the Academy Awards red carpet in Hollywood. There is the drug cartels, supplying Italy with cheap heroin and testing the drugs on volunteers who'll do anything for a free fix, even die. The toxic waste dumping and the mountains of landfill waste. And then there's the violence. Everyone in Napoli might not be involved with mafia-like gangs but everyone is a potential victim in their wars. 
It is not a happy read, it won't make you feel good. It will probably make you feel worried, even scared. But it is an important book because it deals with a topic that no one wants to touch out of fear for repercussions. When I closed it, having read the last page, I admired Saviano that he had the courage to write this book and hope that it will inspire others to do the same. 

Review: "Cityboy" by Geraint Anderson

Ever wondered why bankers make so much money? This book won't give you the answer but it will tell you all sorts of other things about bankers... Stuff that seems too outrageous to be true. Now, I am not one for generalisations but Geraint Anderson, author of "Cityboy Beer and Loathing in the Square Mile" is quite a credible storyteller. He started writing the "Cityboy" column for a London newspaper, while working in banking and has years in the industry to use as material for what is a semi-biographical book.


"Cityboy" is the story of a young man, a real hippy with a German-inspired ponytail and an aspirational goatee, who is offered a job in the city as a stockbroker after a rather haphazard job interview that takes place in a noisy pub. He jumps on the chance to make some money but as the years roll by and he finds himself becoming more and more successful at work, he seems to lose himself more and more in a spiral of drugs, greed and gold diggers. 
Driven by a serious competitive streak, our hero fights his way through an incredibly large number of boozy lunches, dinners that turn into all-nighters and all-day drinking sessions that turn into cocain-fuelled mornings after. On this journey from innocent hippy to disillusioned professional, our hero meets some pretty stereotypical people who all represent a certain type of person that the author has met in his working life in city and they help illustrate the tale of craziness. From the self-made trader with a penchant for stripper and orange-tanned Essex golddiggers to the mathematical genius with no social skills, it is a parade of stereotypes but somehow it works. 


So what did I make of this book? It is somewhere in that strange grey zone between fact and fiction but most of all it is fun. Don't read it for the prose because in terms of writing, it's no beauty - at times it is even a bit annoying. Don't read it for the opinions on the world of finance, there are better books for that. Read it for the humour and the stereotypes. Read it to recognize people you meet on the tube in the morning and to appreciate your own colleagues more. 


Read it if: Your favourite book is "Liar's Poker" by Michael Lewis. Your or your partners works in banking. You are a part of the Occupy movement and want to hear the nasty tales from an insider. 

Survival Kit for the Confused Reader

Today I am not reading a book but the Sunday Times  - it is Sunday after all and there is something about lazing indoors with a newspaper and a cup of coffee when it is raining outside. In the "Culture" section I came across a really interesting article about books; an author named Sandra Newman has written a book called "The Western Lit Survival Kit: How to Read the Classics without Fears". 

What is this, you now ask?

Basically, it is guide to all of the greats and goods of Western literature from a women who has read them all. Not only does she give you an idea of storyline and context but she also grades the books out of ten! Yes. Grades. Them. Proust, Austen, Dante. They all get a (fair) trial and are awarded points based on level of humour, importance and accessibility and some of them get a fair bit of criticism thrown in - Kipling, apparently, is irritating. 

From the interview in the Times, Sandra Newman sounds like a breath of fresh air. She tells it how it is, even when it comes to her collaboration with editors who apparently weren't that keen on a book about literatur: “They stubbornly wouldn’t believe that anybody was interested in literature. They thought we should do a book comparing literature to celebrities, or television...” 

Book bloggers of the world unite and prove them wrong. This sounds like a fascinating book and it will go straight on my TBR. Actually, if wasn't Sunday and it wasn't raining, I'd be heading straight for the book shop now!

Read the article here. 

Review: "Untold Story" by Monica Ali

There is something about book based on real persons... By using figures that are essentially real, they inhabit a strange land inbetween fiction and non-fiction and I have always found this grey-zone really interesting. One of the books that I found does this really well is "Life Mask" by Emma Donoghue about the actress Eliza Farren and the sculptress Anne Damer - it had me heading straight for the National Portrait Gallery to see sculptures.


"Untold Story" by Monica Ali is pure fiction but it is based on Princess Diana. The Diana. Princess of Wales. And to be honest, I had no idea to how to handle this. Is it wrong, is it right? Is it disrespectful or is  she making use of the artistic right of an author?
In "Untold Story", Ali speculates what would have happened if Diana if she had survived the car crash in Paris and had instead staged her own death to flee to a small town in America to live a normal life. Lydia is the name that Princess Diana takes on as she lives what is a typical life, working at a dog shelter and spending time with her girlfriends who think that she has fled from a powerful husband. It is American surburbia at its finest that has replaced the role of Kensington Palace.


As the story evolves we get the story from Lydia herself and from her former secretary who is the only person she has trusted with her secret. It is the story of a women so fed up with the difficulties of life in the spotlight that she is willing to give up everything, including her children, to start over. It is a choice that comes at a price, a high price and when a British paparazzi surfaces in this oh-so-normal American backwater (incidentally also called Kensington), it could all have been for nothing.

It is an interesting read - the story itself somehow does not come across as dramatic. It is very well-written but the beautiful literary style is very much at odds with the content. Because as much as I enjoyed reading Ali's well-crafted sentences and stylistically superior prose, I did not enjoy the use of Diana's name. The story could have been told just as well had it been based on a fictional character and I have to admit that I found the book an invasion of privacy. This feeling of partaking of something not quite right ruined the reading experience for me and the insensitivity in using the Diana icon overshadows what could have been a good read.

Review: "Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady" by Florence King

One of the strongest American stereotypes most be the Southern Belle. If you have ever read "Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell, you know exactly what I mean. It is a way of life, an identity oozing overpowering feminine charm and delicately wrapped female vile. It is the exact opposite as being one of the boys.


"Confessions of a Failed Southern Lady" is Florence King's tale of growing up in a Southern family, ruled by the soft and well-manicured yet steely hand of her grandmother. Granny has aspirations to be a grand lady and she dreams of raising a Southern belle - however, her own daughter is more of a man than a woman really, loving baseball and suits, so when a granddaughter comes into the world, Granny does everything in her power to turn her into a real lady. Growing up in a bohemian household with Granny, mama and a book-loving Englishman for a father means that Florence has a childhood far away from the norm. From day one the three main adults in her life has three very different agendas and Florence has to find her own identity from a young age.


I read about "Confessions..." at one of the blogs I follow and loved the sound of it. I wasn't really sure what to expect but from the first line of the first page, I loved it. Absolutely loved it. Florence King has a talent for observing the awkward and funny, the little humorous gems of an extraordinary life. Her observations on the American female of the 1950s are both disturbing and hilarious - I was appalled and fascinated at the fact that all of the other girls in her sorority at college took a marriage prep class. Homework involved washing their boyfriends socks!


To describe these girls who are forever worrying that no-one will marry them and depend on guys to give them self-esteem and self-worth, Florence and her father comes up with the word "malkin". A fantastic word that I will definitely keep in my vocabulary. Is is bound to come in handy.
Florence herself was far from a malkin - though she looked like the perfect young Southern lady, inside her there was a real academic mind hungering for books as well as a sexual creature hungering for, well, sex. The story follows her battles to study French (she ends up studying history instead) and to lose her virginity without falling pregnant. Quite rebellious pursuits in the South in the 1950s but Florence has courage and is not afraid to go after the things in life as she wants.


The book is written with intelligence and personality, it is full of anecdotes and scattered words of wisdom and it poses questions about femininity and the role of a woman that are as relevant as they were in the 1950s. Because what defines you as a lady? They way you look or sound? A ring on your finger or who you sleep with? It is probably a question that each of us have to answer for ourself just as Florence King did. And as she herself says in the book - she may have gone to bed with both men and women but she never ever smoked on the street.

Review: "Lucky" by Alice Sebold

Some books are so honest, so open and so real that it affects me in an almost physical way to read them. Do you know that feeling? Where you are so immersed in a book that you tense up and end up with your shoulders right under your ears and you spine is hurting from the tension? Fairly few non-fiction books get me to this stage... actually very very few. "Lucky" by Alice Sebold is one of these very few.

You have probably heard of Alice Sebold before. She is the author of "The Lovely Bones", the highly acclaimed novel that was made into a movie. I haven't read that one but I stumbled over "Lucky" and thought I could give it a go. The topic is a difficult one. This is the non-fiction, truer than true story of how young Alice was raped when she was on her way through and crossed through dark part of a park.

This is the story of what has happened to so many girls and women. It is the story of a woman being robbed of something that she can never have back and of having to fight for her right to a normal life afterwards. Because the rape is just the first part of the story, then comes the trial and having to go through the process of being a victim and dealing with the way that people are now treating her differently.

On the back of the book it says something really profound: "You save yourself or you remain unsaved." Alice Sebold figured this out the hard way as she fought to save herself from the role that society and people pressed upon her and as she fought for what she believed was her right - a normal right.

As a book it is in a league way above most of the other "my true story" tales. It is so well-written that you almost (almost) forget that this is a real story, not just a very vivid narrator. It is an incredibly powerful book that will probably be an emotional read for most people but it is also a courageous work at art that confronts a taboo that few of us dare to discuss. Some people might be offended by the violence in the book and by the way that Sebold handles (or doesn't handle) the emotional and mental consequences of her experiences. I didn't thought - what I felt most was admiration for her honesty and her will to tell this story and encourage others to tell their stories and face the taboos.

For other bloggers' thoughts on "Lucky" by Alice Sebold try:

Amy Reads

My Dear Trash

The Mad Bibliophile

Review: "The Monster of Florence"

Another book with a lame title... Sorry to authors Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi but this title (even though it is very describing and fits the subject well) is just not good... It hints at something sordid, it is a tabloid title. The headline of one of those newspapers that you'd never read in the bus for fear of being seen with it... You know what I mean?

This book, "The Monster of Florence", deserves a better title because it is very far from the tabloid style. In order to explain, let me first give you a quick summary of the plot of this non-fiction tale where truth is so strange that it has inspired the novel (and movie) Hannibal by Thomas Harris.
The case of the monster of Florence takes its beginning in Florence (obviously...) in the 1970's and 1980's where a serial killer targets young couples making love in cars in the hills around the beautiful renaissance city. The crimes are ruthless and barbaric, the victims young and the motives unclear. And the murderer turns out to hide his tracks very very well.
Mario Spezi is the journalist who becomes known as the monstrologer, the man who follows the case and investigation closely and who knows as much if not more about the case than the police. In 2000 the case is still unsolved as thriller author Douglas Preston moves to Florence to write a novel about something completely different but ends up becoming fascinated with the monster and friends with Mario Spezi.



As the police struggles to explain the unsolved case and as the possible theories become more and more impossible and unreal, Preston and Spezi get dragged further and further into the investigation until one day, they are under suspiscion.

You shouldn't read this book if you main interest is the gory details of the murder because that is not what this book is about. This is a book about the importance of the freedom of the press and about the power of false accusations. As the people of Florence become more and more scared, they also begin to suspect each other of being the monster and innocent lives are ruined by false accusations. The authors cling to the importance of the principle of innocent until proven guilty and sometimes they seem to be the only sane persons in the entire city...
The most scary part of this book is not the murders though they are gruesome, it is the fact that the police are seemingly willing to ignore all facts if they can get someone, anyone, convicted as the monster of Florence.

Read this if: you liked "The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher" by Kate Summerscale

Review: "Princess Margaret - A Life Unravelled"

While reading "Past Imperfect" by Julian Fellowes, I was intrigued by the narrator telling how the youth of the 1960s aristo milieu would flock to a nightclub if Princess Margaret was known to be there on the night. In this day and age "hunting" royalty and celebs clubbing is something the tabloid press (no names mentioned, none forgotten) seems to spend an exceptional amount of time on, however, I somehow hadn't imagined that that was already done in the 1960s. So in my curiosity I picked up Tim Heald's "Princess Margaret - A Life Unravelled" to learn more about this modern party princess, the sister of HRH Queen Elizabeth II.

First thing first: I love the cover. The look in her eyes, the crossed arms. Taking by the amazing Cecil Beaton - apparently in the loos in Kensington Palace... - the cover tells a story in itself and only encouraged me to read the biography.



Princess Margaret was born in Scotland between the wars and her father was brother to the future king. However, as you know Wallis Simpson then showed up on stage and an abdication meant that Margaret was now daughter of the king and sister of the future queen. This meant that growing up in the austere Britain during the WWII years, she was a very special girl but what Heald seeks to uncover in this book is how Margaret reacted and developed as she grew from being the spoiled daughter of a king to being on the outskirts of the royal family. Princess Margaret's life seems to have been no dance on roses - she fell in love with a man she could not marry and went on to marry and divorce Lord Snowdon. They are both alleged to have had several lovers both during and after the marriage and what I really really like about this biography is that Heald seems to pay no heed to gossip. He sometimes refers to rumours and gossip but always makes sure to underline that this is just rumours.
The biography could so easily have focussed more on the rumours and the gossip about Margaret but instead the author keeps a sober tone and distinguishes between known facts and rumour. He could probably have written a much more colourful biography but the focus is on being true to the subject of the book - Princess Margaret - and what the people around her remember about her and who includes lots of excerpts from letters and other written sources. It is a really fine biography that made me interested in reading about some of the princesses contemporaries such as John Betjeman and which gave me a glimpse into the past.

The non-fiction challenge!

At The Broke and The Bookish - one of my favourite book blogs - they have devised a really great challenge that I just had to sign up for! The Non-fiction Challenge. Surprise surprise, this one is all about reading non-fiction to broaden your horizons and I really think that is a great idea. No harm in learning something new.

The rules are pretty easy:
- The challenge runs from January 17th to December 31st 2011.
- Anyone who links a review up is eligible to be entered to win a book of their choice (under $15). How many reviews you link up determines how many entries you get. Additional prizes may be added once I organize this more and depending on how many people sign up. (International readers welcome if Book Depository ships to you).
- Anyone can join. If you don't have a blog, you can link reviews on Goodreads or Amazon or wherever you have your reviews.
- You can join the challenge at any point throughout the year.

These are the categories:
Culture: Non-fiction books about different cultures, religions and foreign lands; memoirs & biographies count.

Art: Non-fiction books about anything art related (painters, music, architecture, photography, dance, literature, film, etc.). Memoirs/biographies of any people related to the arts count.

Food: Food memoirs, anything related to food industry, food lifestyles

Medical: anything related to the medical field--industry memoirs, memoirs about illnesses (mental included) /diseases, etc.

Travel: travelogues, industry memoirs, travel guides, etc.

Memoir/Biography: Self explanatory

Money: Anything related to finances, economics, history of money, financial improvement etc.

Science/Nature: Anything related to any scientific field, memoirs count.

History: Anything history related-- events, biographies of historic figures, etc.

These are the different levels:

1-3 books from different categories: Master of Trivial Pursuit
4-6 books from different categories: Apply For Who Wants to Be A Millionaire
7-9 books from different categories: Future Jeopardy Champion

I will start out aiming for the Master of TP level and then we will see how it goes. For now this is my challenge plan:

Money: "Cityboy: Beer and Loathing in the Square Mile" by Geraint Anderson

Science: "The Political Brain" by Drew Westen

Memoir/biography: "The Temptress: The Scandalous LIfe of Alice, Countess De Janzen" by Paul Spicer

Art: "Blow by Blow" by Dermot Blow

So are you also signing up?

Review: "Female Chauvinist Pig" - Miss Piggy

No doubt you have seen them, the ladettes, the chav girls - if not in real life, then at least the pictures. They are the girls that give the rest of us a bad name as they stagger around the centre of the city, drunk and clad in the smallest garments possible with too much make-up and to little dignity. They are the women who want to be one of the men and there is nothing wrong with that but in the process they seem to lose their dignity.

These are some of the girls that Ariel Levy write about in her brilliant and entertaining book "Female Chauvinist Pig: The Rise of Raunch". "Female Chauvinist Pig" is a short but very well put together book about the tendency of some women to want to be one of the men. It features chapters about Playboy and Hugh Hefner, about Girls Gone Wild (never heard of it before but what a nasty concept), Paris Hilton, CAKE parties and many many more phenomenons that seem to have sprung out of the feminist movement in the 60s and 70s.

Levy wants to confront the raunch culture and questions if it really is - as many of its participants say - a part of the liberation of women. Levy seems to think not, she finds it degrading and chauvinist - and she somewhat berates us women for misusing the privileges our mothers won for us.

Personally I found this book a bit too judgmental. I consider myself one of the boys but I don't think I am part of a raunch culture and I would never dress like Paris Hilton on a night out. Ever. However, I liked the book because it introduced me to new concepts and phenomenons and made me think about feminism and ask myself questions. A really great book and one that would make a great present for any girl or woman in the ages 17 to 35.

Teaser Tuesday: "Sect Child"

Today - this morning on the bus to work - I was reading a Swedish book called "Sektbarn", translated to English that would be "Sect Child". It is basically a book of interviews with adults who have grown up in different religious societies. Even though the author is very critical and focusing on the issues, I find it really interesting and I feel like I learn something about the different faith and belief systems. Here is a quote - translated by myself... sorry for any mistakes:

""I understand them", Sandra says, "I think it takes a stable life to handle the mental work it takes to remember all these assaults. Today I have a stable and very good life. Just six years ago I wouldn't have wanted to tell about my childhood.""

From the book "Sect Child - Chosen for Paradise" by Charlotte Essén

So go ahead and share your teasers!!


TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two “teaser” sentences from that page.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!
Please avoid spoilers!

"The Green Beauty Bible" - Beauty without beastly ingredients

So this one, I think, is mainly for the ladies. It is a big, happy hardback book about reforming the wicked ways of your bathroom cupboard and going green on beauty products. It is not a book of recipies for how to make your own products but more of a tool on how to understand what is actually in the products that we use to make ourselves prettier.
It is written by Sarah Stacey and Josephine Fairley who have been concerned with this for years and who have tried and tested many many of the products out on the market and who have a great knowledge of the market and the chemicals that are best avoided if you want to go green.
There are two separate parts of the book - there are the factual knowledge and then there are "Tried and Tested" sections of products where the authors and a panel of testers give their opinions on specific products. I actually really enjoyed these "Tried and Tested" parts but I think what I found most valuable were the practical pieces of advise about for example herbs and plants.
A lot like an extended version of a womens magazine.