Reading challenge 2013: The Sweetness of Life by Francoise Heritier

The third book in my challenge to ready 12 non-fiction books in 2013 is The Sweetness of Life by Francoise Heritier.

In just 72 pages, this book has become one of my favourites of all time.

A best-seller in its original French, The Sweetness of Life has been translated into English for the first time. Its author is an anthropologist and a professor who has previously written books including Masculin/feminin.

The Sweetness of Life started as a response to a doctor who wrote to Heritier to say he was on a "stolen" week's holiday. And so Heritier decided to put together a list of all the things that make up the sweetness of life, from "wild laughter, phone calls made for no reason, handwritten letters" to "rediscovering the macaroon smell of gorse every summer".

In addition to being a gathering of generic moments that make up life, The Sweetness of Life is also part biography, revealing little tidbits about Heritier herself. Her list includes "living sparingly at the time of the Suez Crisis on a thin baguette and a cup of coffee a day", "surviving the attack of a swarm of wild bees in the African bush" and "melting over the devastating restraint of Robert Redford in Out of Africa and the equally devastating insolence of Clark Gable in Gone with the Wind".

The Sweetness of Life is inspiring, and is a book to cherish. It made me stop and think about all the things that make life worth living, and that I should cherish each day.

Reading challenge 2013: Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton

The second book in my challenge to read 12 non-fiction books in 2013 is Hillary Rodham Clinton's Living History.

This 500+ page book is the story of Clinton's childhood, college life, early career and then her time as First Lady during her husband's presidency.

I've always been a bit of a Clinton fan, and I admire her for fighting for the rights of women and for smashing a couple of glass ceilings, but before reading Living History I didn't know too much more about her.

I was surprised, therefore, to read that she was a Republican in her youth, as her parents were Republicans. Reading about how Clinton came to become a Democrat was an interesting insight into the world of political thinking.

Also fascinating was Clinton's early career as a lawyer - she worked as part of a group of lawyers who had to see whether or not there was enough evidence to impeach President Nixon. This is an experience she would partially relive when her own husband was facing impeachment.

Bill Clinton, unsurprisingly, is a huge part of this book. The pair, if the way Clinton presents it is to be believed, had a pretty idyllic romance. Of course, we all now know that isn't quite true, and I would be lying if I said the Monica Lewinsky episode wasn't the thing I wanted to read most about. Clinton's recounting of that time in her life is a little sparse, but then again, this is her marriage she's talking about. I was impressed by how she managed to get on with life while barely speaking to Bill, and respect her decision to choose to stay with him. We're not treated to a play-by-play of every conversation the couple had, but it's clear that Clinton was comfortable when she decided to not pursue other avenues - such as divorce.

Clinton's time in the White House during her husband's first four years was largely spent trying to pass healthcare reform. It's something the White House failed to do, but many, many thousands of words of Living History are spent talking about it. While it was interesting, I found myself more interested in hearing about Clinton's agenda of equal rights for women across the world, and found the book became much more compelling when this subject was brought into the fold.

Other chapters are devoted to the vendetta against the Clinton White House by the Republicans, and Kenneth Starr's neverending investigation into the couple, their business dealings and their life. I'm not sure how Clinton got out of bed some days, but carry on she did.

As well as all the big things, Clinton recalls many smaller episodes, some of which, like her constant battle to have the right hairstyle or wear the right clothes and her relationship with daughter Chelsea, add a lightness to the book, others of which, like losing close friends and family, add a sadness. All add depth to a woman so often seen in 2D.

There are plenty of people who don't like Clinton, and I can see why, but Living History only made me like her more. It's a great read, and I look forward to the inevitable sequel - perhaps after she's spent another eight years in the White House?

Book review: Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich

When I need something easy to read, with characters I like, and that will make me laugh, I turn to Janet Evanovich.

The latest book in her Stephanie Plum, Bounty Hunter series lives up to expectations - Explosive Eighteen (following on from Smokin' Seventeen) is laugh-out-loud funny, has some completely crazy characters, and manages to contain a mystery that had me guessing to the end.

Stephanie, back from a holiday in Hawaii that ended abruptly and that she refuses to speak about, finds herself the target of some shady folks who are after a photograph she threw away - and that belonged to her seatmate on the flight back from Hawaii, who later turned up dead.

Alongside "former ho" Lula, Stephanie's also trying to make some money by picking up people who have failed to make their court dates, including arch-enemy Joyce Barnhardt.

And, of course, she'll still caught in the middle of the two men in her life - Morelli and Ranger. The pair take a bit of a back seat in Explosive Eighteen, which is fine with me. I like the two of them, but I like reading about Stephanie and her gang of misfit friends and family more.

Lula, in particular, was a highlight in this book, as she fell in love, while Stephanie's Grandma Mazur is hilarious and terrifying in equal measure.

I'm currently working my through a giant non-fiction tome, so Explosive Eighteen was a fun break from that book. It might not have taught me anything new, but Explosive Eighteen did something more important - it made me laugh.

Book review: Ballad by Maggie Stiefvater

Ballad is the second of Maggie Stiefvater's Books of Faerie.

The book focuses on James, who we met briefly in the first book in the series, Lament, which focused on his best friend Dee. She is a cloverhand, someone who can see faeries, and fell in love with Luke, a kind-of faerie gone bad but not quite, all while James loved her from the sidelines.

Having been badly injured towards the end of Lament, James, and Dee, are now both at a boarding school for musically talented young people. Their friendship has largely broken down, and James is still heartbroken over Dee.

Step in Nuala, a faerie who has her sights set on James, and who starts the book as a really annoying character, and who I grew to really like, which mirrors the way James feels about her. Nuala needs talented humans to stay alive, and she initially picks James, before falling in love with him and discovering that she'd rather give up her life than the person she loves.

Ballad is a really layered book, there's not a huge amount going on when you look at the surface, but as usual with a Stiefvater book, there are plenty of feelings floating around, adding a depth to the storytelling.

James is a compelling character, and one I wanted to see more of in Lament, so I'm glad Ballad focused on him. This book switches chapters between James and Nuala, meaning we get to know both characters really well. There are also pages of unsent text messages from Dee to James, which at first seem odd within the novel, but actually form a crucial part of the storyline and reveal a lot of what is to come later in the book.

Unlike in Lament, there are also a couple of secondary characters who we come to know and like - James's roommate Paul and his teacher Sullivan, and their role in what happens in Ballad is significant.

Ballad's strength is its characters rather than its plot, which gets a tiny bit confusing at times - I still can't get my head round the way everyone just accepts the faerie world with no questions asked - but Ballad is a good read and, unusually, a sequel that's better than its original.

Travel review: The Olde House in Chapel Amble, Cornwall

The town of Port Issac in Cornwall

Sometimes, you just need to get out of the everyday grind that is city life, and go somewhere a bit more peaceful. And where could be more peaceful than a cottage on a farm in a quiet corner of north Cornwall?

With a few equally work-weary colleagues, I headed to The Olde House in the village of Chapel Amble (I kept wanting to call it Ambridge, I've obviously been listening to too much Radio Four). Close to Padstow (where we stopped for a quick wander, sadly too late to eat at one of Rick Stein's restaurants), it's set in the rolling countryside and accessible via lots of country roads (not a motorway in sight).

The Olde House is a series of self-catering cottages set on the 500-acre Penpont Farm. Arriving at dusk, we were impressed with the cute cottages we could see, but with not much light left (and unlike in the city there aren’t buildings lit up all over the place here) we headed straight to our home for the weekend - Poppy Cottage, which had curtains decorated with poppies - ultra cute!

Having spent hours and hours (and hours) in a car, we discovered a tray of fresh baked scones awaiting us, with jam and clotted cream in the fridge. For four ravenous, tired people, it was the perfect snack to scarf down sitting at the gorgeous wooden kitchen table as the sun completely set.

Following a late night of lazing around the living room of the cottage, eating and chatting, we woke up the next morning to find the sun shining and a dog or two racing about in the back garden we shared with a few other cottages - all fitting in perfectly with the old farmhouse and the farm buildings despite being much, much newer. 

The fields stretched out as far as the eye could see, and there were plenty of sheep milling about.

Two of the recently-born lambs at The Olde House

They weren’t the only animals we encountered - there are plenty of chickens wandering around the site, and a farm dog or two.
 
Set on a working farm, The Olde House gives visitors a hands-on experience, if they want. The farm is home to hundreds of cows, and to even more sheep, and when we visited it was lambing season. Because of the mild climate, Penpont Farm is able to lamb in November and March.

Andrew, the owner of The Olde House, was kind enough to ring us when a sheep was about to give birth, and we got the chance to help bring a couple of little lambs into the world, which was an exhilarating experience.

The Olde House is located not far from the water, so on the advice of the owners (and armed with a map they provided us with), we took ourselves off for a coastal walk. We parked at Port Quin (or Portquin as it was spelt on one roadsign I saw) and there discovered a beautiful cove, a bit like something from a Famous Five book by Enid Blyton, but without the smugglers.

The cove at Port Quin

As the tide was out, we headed down to explore, spending far too much time leaping across rocks (covered in oyster shells) and heading into two caves (fulfilling my childhood fantasy of being part of the aforementioned Famous Five). Dark and echoey, one had a natural chimney in it, and for a moment it was easy to forget there was a whole modern world outside.

It was then onto the coastal path, where every step brought us yet another spectacular view of the blue-green sea. 

We headed to Port Issac - a 2.5mile walk from Port Quin if you believe the signs there, and a 3mile walk if you believe the signs at Port Issac. I say three miles.

The coastal path is not an easy walk, but even as spectacularly unfit as I am, I managed to traipse along at my own pace, enjoying the scenery and only getting slightly out of breath at all the steps there were to climb (the key is to let others in your group go ahead of you and pretend to be admiring the view when they ask why you've stopped - easily believable with the view you get).

The view from Port Issac

We encountered a number of other walkers as we traversed through fields, up and down hillsides, and over a gorgeous little river at one point, before the small town of Port Issac, full of narrow streets, stone houses, and little shops and cafes, came into view.

With the sun shining brightly down, the town was bathed in a pretty light, enhancing its beauty. We popped into a gallery selling beautiful jewellery, paintings, photographs and more, and a little sweet shop, where we bought some delicious fudge, which came in a variety of flavours.

The day’s walking left us hungry, so it was back to the cottage for a hearty dinner. It’s not just the great setting that makes The Olde House a great destination - it’s the attention to small details and the little touches.

In addition to the scones on arrival and the call from Andrew, this can be illustrated by the way the kitchen was well equipped. Not only were there the usual crockery and cutlery, kettle and toaster, we also discovered the cupboards had things we never thought we’d need, but ended up using, from a cheese grater to egg cups to a toast rack (the latter two coming in handy for long, leisurely breakfasts).

Poppy Cottage at The Olde House

For children, there is a fun-looking play area - we were tempted to try it out but figured it would be best left to actual children, rather than children at heart.

And to help you unwind and relax any aching muscles from all that walking, there is a swimming pool, jacuzzi and steam room on site.

Packing up our belongings, including our muddy boots, on our final day, we left The Olde House with wistful sighs, already missing the peaceful surroundings, and the gorgeous views. One last picture turned into 10 last pictures, before we finally drove off, our weekend having met its goal - to relax us and take us away from the pace of city life for a few days.

The Olde House, Chapel Amble, Cornwall, PL27 6EN

0844 7700420
info@theoldehouse.co.uk
www.facebook.com/theoldehouse
Twitter: @TheOldeHouse

Glee recap/review: Girls (and Boys) on Film

I Do recap/review

When Glee last left us (and it's always Glee leaving us in this most frustrating of on-off relationships), everything was in a state of transition.

Emma had left Will at the altar, Santana had moved to New York, Ryder had kissed Marley even though she's with Jake, Kurt and Blaine were in some sort of friends with benefits situation, and Rachel thought she might be pregnant.

And everyone else was milling around filling the gaps.

When Glee returned from its hiatus with Girls (and Boys) on Film, there was a lot to resolve. And in true Glee style, what better way to resolve things than with a couple of mash-ups and some movies.

The show opened with Will and Emma in a black and white scene harking back to the golden days of Hollywood, singing You're All the World to Me from Royal Wedding. It was sweet, romantic, playful, and reminded me that Matt Morrison is a great performer and that occasionally Will and Emma can seem very, very right for each other.

It was also all just a fantasy (something we would see later too). Having dreamt the encounter, Will decided to set New Directions the task of doing mash-ups from the movies, in their annual girls vs boys competition.

Taking a brief detour under the guise of all working together before competing but really so that Glee could make money from yet another song, the group sang Shout from Animal House through the hallways and classrooms of McKinley. It wasn't one of my favourite Glee group performances, but it was fun, an okay pick as the show's 500th number (although I would have preferred a song all the old New Directions still in the show could have been involved in), and, most importantly, it got the glee clubbers a great reaction from the rest of the school. We've not really seen too much about how New Directions is treated by the school this season, but if Shout is anything to go by, the club is no longer bottom of the totem pole.

And then to the boys vs girls performances, where, I have to say, the boys won for me with their mash-up of Danger Zone from Top Gun and Old Time Rock and Roll from Risky Business. It had fun, uniforms and some cool dance routines. The girls mash-up of Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend and Material Girl was cute, but didn't really make me sit up and take notice. Unlike me, Will couldn't choose and declared them all winners in a complete cop-out, which even the New Directioners are noticing.

To be fair Will was angsting a bit about Emma. After Artie and Finn concocted a scheme to pretend to be ginger and found out where Emma was living from her parents (genius), Will and New Directions serenaded her with In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel. Cute again, but nothing to write home about. Still, it did the job for Emma, and she and Will finally talked, and were honest with each other. Although at first he was unhappy, Will actually listened to Emma when she said that she felt like they needed to get to know each other again.

Their happy ending is far from assured though, as Finn finally confessed to Will that he kissed Emma. That's what you get, Will Schuester, when a 19-year-old man boy becomes your best friend.

Also angsting at McKinley was Marley, who confided to Kitty (seriously, Kitty? Of all people) that Ryder had kissed her. Marley was torn between her feelings for the two, shown in a clever sequence where she kept imagining Ryder as Jake sang Unchained Melody from Ghost to her. Racked with guilt, she confessed to Jake, who walked away in an echo of Will walking away from Finn. Both Jake and Will ended the episode without confronting the other person in their separate little "love" triangles.

Over in New York, things were far, far more interesting than at McKinley. Snowed in, Kurt, Santana, Adam and Rachel decided on a movie marathon, but not before Kurt and Adam got in a few Downton Abbey impersonations and Santana let slip about Kurt and Blaine hooking up at the wedding. 

Having noticed that Rachel has been looking a bit bloated and has been throwing up, Santana picked three films with the word "baby" in the title, which Rachel rejected. Kurt hinted that he knew about Rachel's pregnancy as well, putting much emphasis on having a baby when speaking about Santana's choices.

Still facing rejection, Kurt settled on Moulin Rouge ("bitches!) and the foursome sat down to watch.

And so came the best scene of the episode. Blaine, dressed in a tux and bowtie, atop a roof which looked like a cross between the Elephant Love Medley set from Moulin Rouge and Kurt's apartment, singing Come What May in a voice full of longing and love, and a little bit of regret. Flashbacks to key moments in the life of Kurt and Blaine were shown, tinged with that fuzziness that indicates memory. And then out came Kurt, dressed in a tux and a white bow tie, to join in.

The two walked around each other, dancing at one point, but frequently looking away from each other. Finally, finally, the pair wound up facing each other, at which point a close-up of their hands showed Kurt reaching out for Blaine, and the two wrapping themselves together in a hug. This was a hugely significant gesture, since physically we've not often seen Kurt reach out for Blaine.

As the song ended, we came back to Kurt, sitting on a couch in an apartment in New York, crying as he watched Moulin Rouge with Adam and Rachel. Although signs pointed at this being Blaine's fantasy, it was actually Kurt's. Trying to pass it off as his contacts acting up (and seriously, how are we supposed to believe Rachel is Kurt's best friend if she believes that he wears contacts when she knows he doesn't?), it's Santana that calls Kurt out on his emotions, revealing to the group that Kurt and Blaine wanted this to be their wedding song and that Kurt thought singing Come What May was a more intimate act than sex. (Santana=better friend than Rachel.)

Santana didn't dwell too long though, as she wanted to reveal her suspicions about Brody - that he's a drug dealer. Having searched through everyone's belongings (hilarious scenes of Santana making a huge mess going through people's drawers), Santana found a wad of cash and a pager belonging to Brody, leading her to the conclusion that he's a drug dealer. Rachel tried to laugh it off, calling Brody to make her point, but the seeds of suspicion were sown. And when Santana finally confronted Rachel about being pregnant (she found the test in the bin) Rachel broke down and cried in Santana's arms.

Kurt too, was a little miserable, having hooked up with Blaine and then being reminded of his former boyfriend in New York while watching a film with the guy he's currently sort-of dating. Kurt's heart wants one thing - Blaine - but his head is still hurt that Blaine cheated on him, so Kurt is stuck not knowing what to do. I think it's perfectly okay for him to take his time with this, and really figure out what he wants. That's not Adam by the way, who is sweet, but who definitely is Kurt's rebound, even if Kurt denied it. Contrast the way Kurt reached out for Blaine's hand in Come What May, where Blaine met him halfway, to the way Adam reached out for Kurt's hand at the end, where Adam had to complete the gesture and grab Kurt's hand because it wasn't forthcoming. When Glee wants to be, it can be very, very good with its imagery.

Best moments
I loved all the little meta comments, such as Emma's dad puzzling over why the glee kids don't think about college until the last moment and the New Directions commenting on how rubbish Will is at deciding things, but for me the best thing this episode was Santana, hands down. She might be a bitch, and she might search through all your stuff when you're letting her live with you for free, but she's a very, very good friend. She remembered stuff about Kurt and Blaine that Rachel didn't, and she knew something was wrong with Rachel, and she knew how to draw it out of Rachel and be there for her when no one else is. And as well as the serious stuff, there was Santana's great impression of someone taking coke while Rachel spoke to Brody, and her little exchange with Kurt about the aforementioned drug dealerness. You, Santana, rock, and are my kind of people.