Reviews and Comments

I came across this book that came out in early November. British historian, Anthony Seldon, walks the new 1000km "Western Front Way" which is a walking and cycling trail along the length of the World War One trench lines from Pfetterhouse on the Swiss border to the Belgian coast at Nieuwpoort. Looks really interesting. More about the project here: thewesternfrontway.com

I read a later book by Nicola Upson - another Josephine Tey mystery called Nine Lessons - before this one. I enjoyed that one. It was well paced with a good plot and kept my attention. In contrast, this was really hard work and has taken me ages to finish it as I got so bored I abandoned it several times. The main issues are page after page of dry diary entries from someone who lived 100 years previously, and so much irrelevant padding. I was determined to finish it, and it did finally pick up pace in the last few chapters. I have several other books by the author, so I hope they are better than this one!

A huge book packed with information about Jazz artists and their recordings. The most recent, and final, edition was published in 2002. For more up-to-date content you now need to visit the www.allmusic.com/ website. But that's just not the same as sitting down thumbing through the pages reliving past favourites, discovering new, and deciding what old vinyl record or CD you'll seek out next.

We have used this book on several trips to Venice. It takes you away from the typical tourists locations, away from all the people - even in the peak months - to discover, and get lost in, the real living Venice. Consists of seven walking itineraries.

This can be dipped into as and when as it has a chapter for each month of the year and then small sections about different things in the garden - like a particular flower, bird, mammal, insect, tree and so on.