A Coffee Chronology

This isn’t a short read!

Biblioklept

A COFFEE CHRONOLOGY

Giving dates and events of historical interest in legend, travel, literature, cultivation, plantation treatment, trading, and in the preparation and use of coffee from the earliest time to the present

(From William H. Ukers’s All About Coffee, 1922)

900[L]—Rhazes, famous Arabian physician, is first writer to mention coffee under the name bunca or bunchum.[M]

1000[L]—Avicenna, Mahommedan physician and philosopher, is the first writer to explain the medicinal properties of the coffee bean, which he also calls bunchum.[M]

1258[L]—Sheik Omar, disciple of Sheik Schadheli, patron saint and legendary founder of Mocha, by chance discovers coffee as a beverage at Ousab in Arabia.[M]

1300[L]—The coffee drink is a decoction made from roasted berries, crushed in a mortar and pestle, the powder being placed in boiling water, and the drink taken down, grounds and all.

1350[L]—Persian, Egyptian, and Turkish ewers made of pottery are first used for…

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Sedition

Sedition

By Katherine Grant

Where do I start?  An unexpected pleasure and thrill to read Katherine Grant’s book Sedition.  Beautifully paced and written Grant leads us into a seductive and dark world of music, passion and love.

London 1794 is home to Pianoforte maker and obsessive, Cantabile and his disappointment of a daughter, Annie.  Annie is an accomplished and spirited musician who spends the majority of her days in the workshop and tending to her sick mother.

Annie’s world changes when a gentleman is looking to acquire a pianoforte for his daughter and her friends to learn on so they can perform at a concert in the specific hope of procuring husbands.  Unwilling to part with his beloved instruments, Cantabile is furious when his daughter sells one to this man and here begins a downward spiral.

A music master is sent by Cantabile to ruin the girls, and we are drawn into their silly girlish thoughts and not so girlish actions.  One of the girls, Alathea lives in a world of darkness but when Annie unveils herself she brings light, while Alathea offers love and hope.  These two girls share a passion for music and a love of and for each other.

Sedition is a real look into a connection between people and the harsh realities of life.  Grant’s writing is musical throughout and in one chapter she brilliantly writes one event from differing perspectives using a ‘repeat’, stressing that although it may be called a repeat, no note can be played in exactly the same way twice – the same event will be viewed and experienced differently by the participants involved.

Highly character lead, the slower pace of the introduction leads into the faster pace of the passion and intensity of emotion until the crescendo.  As the title suggests, there has been conduct, inciting the people to rebel and this is what we are deeply waiting for throughout.

What I liked most about this books was the true capturing of emotions.  There was no salacious Hollywood feel, just believable and the sometimes unexplored or discussed feelings being represented which kept the book’s feet on the ground, so to speak.  This is a definite read and a potential reread.

The First Fifteen Lives Of Harry August

The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

By Claire North

Death and rebirth have been subjects that have interested people for as far back as we can remember; Religions around the world are based on them. Claire North explores these themes in her novel The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August.

I was drawn to this book because I thought it was going to be about a man who is born, lives, dies then is reborn into another body in another year. However, it is about a man who is born New Year’s Eve 1918 and is reborn, after every death, on exactly the same day and in exactly the same circumstances. The thing that differs is his knowledge. In each new life, at around school age, he remembers the previous life and therefore uses this acquired information in a variety of ways to suit his needs. Some of his choices have better outcomes than others and occasionally he is forced to take his own life. Each new life is an ongoing adventure for Harry.

The book begins with a very short chapter comprising of an unusual conversation between Harry at seventy eight on his death bed and a seven year old girl. In an adult tone she relays an important message to and through Harry: The world is ending.

Apart from the obvious and his intelligence (most of which is gained from his memory of previous lives), Harry is an unremarkable guy living in unremarkable circumstances. He has family issues like the rest of us and, in general, doesn’t seem like the most interesting man although he does seem to have a dark sense of humour. The catalyst for Harry to step out of his rather boring life is his visit from this young girl. This provides him with a purpose and allows us to see what type of person he really is when pushed to the extreme.

Claire writes with great detail and fluidity. She seems to have done her research as the book is filled with references about World War 1, Russia and science, to name but a few. She’s created character well, showing us how people are through their actions.

‘… a Mrs Mason, a cheerful, rose-faced woman who could crack a chicken’s neck between thumb and forefinger and who didn’t believe in this new-fangled NHS business, not when there were gooseberries in the garden and rosehip cordial in the kitchen cupboard.’ (P197)

The story jumps between lives but does have structure so it’s not too confusing. What is interesting, apart from the main story line, is how Harry behaves in each of his lives. How he changes some of the things he does or how he doggedly sticks to some actions. It’s intriguing to the reader to not only see what it could be like to be reborn but to examine fate and question if we can really change the events of our lives if we choose or had chosen an alternate path.

This book was definitely worth a read. And with clearly an intelligent and talented author, I will be keeping a look out for her other novel Touch.

How Studying or Working Abroad Makes You Smarter

Wouldn’t it be lovely if there was no such thing as books for boys…or princesses…or pink

I completely agree with the removal of gendering books. I would go one step further and remove anything targeted to specific sexes. Stop holding people back by putting them in a box.

BRIDGET WHELAN writer

I recently wrote about a Barbie book that should never have seen the light of day and now I’ve heard about a young girl in California who has managed to convince a publisher that it isn’t only boys who are interested in insects.Seven years old Parker Dains from California, wrote to Abdo Publishing after she discovered that the book on bugs she was reading was part of a series called  the Biggest, Baddest Book for Boys. She told the publishers:

I really enjoyed the section on Glow in the Dark bugs and the quizzes at the end…when I saw the back cover title, it said ‘Biggest Baddest Books for Boys’ and it made me very unhappy. It made me very sad because there’s no such thing as a boy book. You should change from ‘Biggest, Baddest Books for Boys’ into ‘Biggest, Baddest Books for Boys and Girls’ because some girls…

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The Moaning of Life

The Moaning of Life

By Karl Pilkington

Karl Pilkington is a simple guy with some interesting thoughts and quotes. Whether you are watching him being berated by Ricky Gervais or reading one of his 6 books, you will be struck by his complex straightforwardness. I find him fascinating while his intelligence, stupidity and insightfulness flummoxes me. The main reason is because he is a successful writer and producer. Not that I want to be mean, on the contrary, but after watching and reading Karl’s thoughts I wonder how he ended up where he is now.

He’s not interested in travel and likes to live modestly, so why has he travelled around the globe and put himself in the arena for potential fame and ridicule? Was it the force known as Ricky who shoved Karl on a plane and gave him terrible tasks to do just to be annoying or did Karl deep down want to see some of the world.   Maybe Karl just though it would be a good little earner? Whatever it was he’s grabbed this bull by the horns and continued travelling and writing books including The Moaning of Life.

Written plainly with a northern twang The Moaning of Life is set out into sections with a witty introduction clearly stating his lack of interest in fuss and surprises and allowing us a little insight into his confusions at traditions like marriage and having children. Simply named the headings are: Marriage, Kids, Vocation and Money, Happiness and Death. We follow Karl as he travels the world partaking in these everyday occurrences in life.

Marriage sees Karl exploring the concepts of matchmaking and marriage. He works as a wedding planner for an Indian family and observes a couple who marry in Vegas in a laundrette. They exchange dirty clothes and wash them, therefore beginning the marriage on a clean slate while accepting that there may be less pleasant times or habits which one has to accept. During his involvement in wedding ceremonies and meeting the people involved Karl offers his point of view.

I find it odd that we’ve named it the ‘ring finger’. It just goes to show that we have too many fingers. I reckon we’d get by okay if we had lobster hands.’ P12

A typical Karl comment.

Kids begins with an excellent explanation as to why he doesn’t want offspring – it’s actually quite sweet really. Karl is in a hotel and there is a knock at the door, he’s nervous about letting the person in as he is hiding something in his room. He answers the door and he’s relieved it’s just the director and not the hotel staff. Karl says he’s knackered as he hasn’t slept then he shows the director the problem: a turtle in the bath.

Karl has rescued a turtle from a street market in Tokyo. Unfortunately, in a Karl-like manner, he hasn’t thought it through. He has decided to keep it in the bath, but was so concerned the turtle would strangle itself with the plug chain Karl stayed awake to make sure it was safe. He sees this as proof that he shouldn’t have children. He thinks if he’s worrying about a turtle that much then what would he be like with a child? He’s got a point. Like he says:

‘Having kids is the biggest decision you have to make in life, cos once you’ve had one, you can’t send it back.’ P86

Karl opens the Vocation and Money section by saying:

‘I left school with no qualifications worth speaking of, and the only work experience I’d had was playing a shepherd in the Christmas nativity play,’ p147

I find this inspiring. I bet he’d never think he’s an inspirational guy, but I like that he is who he is; he hasn’t come from a position of privilege yet he has a successful career. From a shepherd to producer and writer. I wonder if he sees it that way?

Happiness is a strange (or should I say stranger) section. Karl meets people who hang themselves, by their skin, from hooks; people who get happy by exercising and others seeking happiness though dancing. Now, here is one activity Karl always seems to enjoy. For someone who doesn’t like a fuss made of them because it’s embarrassing he clearly has music in his veins because if there’s an opportunity to dance he doesn’t need asking twice and without a moan he’s up and moving. During this chapter Karl even gets into the swing of cosmetic surgery.

The book ends (obviously and aptly) with Death where Karl experiences funerals, mourning and the dead. On such a dark subject Karl manages to lighten the mood. On moving a body he says:

‘It’s hard to describe the chaos, but just imagine the Chuckle Brothers trying to shift a mattress.’ P312

His description provides us with an all too clear image. He isn’t disrespectful, even though it may sound like it. He admits he has limited emotions and through the book you do get a detached sense of Karl amongst the world. This is probably why his insights and comments can be taken without too much upset because he always seems a little removed to mean any harm plus his honest thoughts and simplicity of style allows him to slide under the radar of reprimands because telling him off would be like scolding a Labrador.

This brief look into the book and unusual mind of Karl Pilkington will hopefully make you want to read some of his writing. It’s an entertaining, funny, light read and for those who have never heard of him you will be shaking your head as you delve into the Pilkington mind. Perfect for this festive period when some escapism is required.

Who’s Afraid of The Big Bad Book?

Who’s Afraid of The Big Bad Book?

A picture book by Lauren Child

There are lots of things which author and illustrator Lauren Child does (not just in Who’s Afraid of The Big Bad Book? but in her numerous other stories too) which goes against the general advice from children’s publishers. She uses words and old style phrases unfamiliar to contemporary children like ‘bedraggled’ and ‘dressed up to the nines’ and she places text

scattered

all over

the

page.

However, it doesn’t seem to make a difference to her book sales and there’s a reason for that: she writes witty, playful tales illustrated in a humorous and distinctive style. You can see the illustrations and text are equally important to her and she loves to capture the imagination of all. This is why she’s become a huge name in children’s fiction and why she can get away with such brazen individuality in her illustrations and text placement.

Who’s Afraid of The Big Bad Book? is a story about Herb, “he wasn’t a very good reader, it didn’t matter because he could tell a lot from the pictures.” He read everywhere but the consequence of that was his books were messy. Lauren not only comments that it’s okay not to be the best reader to enjoy books but she makes a reference to the importance of the pictures right from the outset. Setting out right from the beginning that Herb is ‘normal’ and it’s all about the enjoyment the child receives.

One night Herb reads a fairy tale book and falls asleep with his head in the page. When he ‘wakes’ he’s inside the book being shouted at by an angry Goldilocks. Lauren accompanies Herb falling asleep with some tumbling text to mirror his actions. She also uses different fonts and sizes to highlight words like “Whoops” and “Seize him!”  Creating emphasis and an interest in words and language.

Herb jumps from story to story. In the middle of the book he approaches a door which was, “difficult to open because the illustrator had drawn the handle much too high up”. Herb jumps for the handle and enters into a ball on a four page, fold-out spread.  He finds a palace with the queen sporting a biro moustache looking for her throne and a king searching for Prince Charming. We discover Herb was the graffiti artist and not only that, he’d cut out Prince Charming and the throne and had placed them somewhere else. Lauren has welcomed the child reader into, not just the book, but the imaginative world as she shows them how their actions might change the world for the characters in the story. By referencing the illustrator and Herb doodling on the characters she mixes reality with imagination: blurring the boundaries between the two.

Herb tries to draw a throne for the demanding queen but it’s not to her exacting standards – he uses green crayon instead of gold as he hasn’t got gold and, “the queen did not look impressed.” Herb escapes the raging queen by snipping a hole in the floor which creates a hole in the page for the child reader to see through.

When Herb is transported home he finds Prince Charming and places him back in the ballroom. However, “His dancing would never quite be the same again due to severe leg creasing.” Herb fixes everything, and even includes a couple of humorous additions for grumpy Goldilocks.

The story is fun with illustrations to match, but you get the feeling Lauren has a more serious message underlying the humour. I think she wants young readers to love books and reading but at the same time to respect the creations of both the text and pictures without being precious. She even attacks the text, her own writing, when she uses it as a means of escape for Herb, “Herb grabbed hold of the letters and scrabbled up the sentences. Some of the words were a bit weak and the whole lot started to wobble.” Her statement shows how important each chosen word is to the reader and how one ‘weak’ word can ruin the story.

Her love of writing and illustrating for children is abundantly clear and you really get can see she takes it seriously. Never read a Lauren Child book? Not sure where you’ve been but take your pick, there’s no shortage, and enjoy the love of childhood innocence and creativity.

HOW I LIVE NOW

How I Live Now

By Meg Rosoff

Being a winner of the Guardian Fiction Prize, I was, to say the least, a little surprised at how underwhelmed I was by this novel.

The reader follows 15 year old Elizabeth, AKA Daisy, on her journey from New York to the depths of the countryside in England. The reason? She’s anorexic with a hatred for her stepmother and her unborn sister so her father unburdens himself and plonks this messed-up teen on her cousins and busy aunt.

The real journey however, turns out to be her relationship with her cousins during the (a) war. Now, I write ‘a’ in brackets because I was confused right from the start. Daisy tells of the war as if it the Second World War but then speaks of not getting a mobile phone connection and not being able to send emails. In other parts of the book she also mentions terrorism. No date is ever mentioned – I’m so confused. My mum read it and couldn’t enlighten me either. I feel like I’ve missed something. I feel as if I should read it again, but I really don’t want to.

Personally, I was instantly irritated with the voice of the fifteen year old (and I say ‘personally’ because The Mail on Sunday and author Mark Haddon say the voice is original and faultless, respectively). I felt sometimes she sounded about five years old and other times much older – possibly beyond her years. Alongside the mixed references of the war and contemporary media and the strange, old-style names similar to something you’d find in the Famous Five nothing sat comfortably with me. Even if I took into account her mental instability I couldn’t get my head around it.

I enjoyed the second half of the book more because we see Daisy on a perilous mission to find her cousins, so you do wonder whether she will live long enough to actually reach her destination and complete her search.

There are funny moments of dialogue and I did feel a twinge of emotion towards the end, but it soon passed. This book was easy to read yet complicated. What I mean is, you can read it quickly – which is a good thing because it will leave you feeling like a second read is a must just to see what you missed. I will hopefully be enlightened and a little less confused if I dare to venture into this book again.

Maybe I should think about it like a Francis Bacon painting: it isn’t supposed to be comfortable or easy. Yet, it wasn’t the topic which I found challenging it was the voice, style and lack of clarity as to what war was going on. Please read it, and offer me your views on what I have missed. I don’t usually struggle so much with any of the arts and I’m finding it frustrating.

 

Harris + Hoole Closures

Harris + Hoole Closures

Quote: “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.”

Harris + Hoole, the coffee shop chain backed by Tesco, is to close six stores.  Alex Lawson from the Evening Standard wrote in his article on Tuesday 19^th August, “A source claimed the costly nature of the stores, which feature high-end décor and premium barista coffee machines, was to blame for the closures and questioned Tesco’s desire to grow the chain.”

The ‘independent’ looking shops have been slated for taking the backing of Tesco and misleading customers into believing they still maintain their independent status.  However the family run business was set up by three siblings with a “vision to bring great tasting speciality coffee to the high street.” (www.harrisandhoole.co.uk).  Having established a strong brand, strong enough to interest Tesco, they accepted the backing to allow them to expand and live their dream.

However, maybe they’re spreading themselves too thin or maybe it’s trial and error with the best locations for their coffee shops.  Some of the branches closing include those in Hounslow and Walton-on-Thames.  Whatever the reason it is easier to take the hit with Tesco behind you.  And although six stores are closing, there are still plans for more to open across the country soon.

The Last Dance

The Last Dance and Other Stories

By Victoria Hislop

In this collection of evocative short stories Victoria captures the intimate lives of the Greek people.  Through her intricate observations of daily life she allows the reader to be drawn into poignant events through memorable characters.

The detailed description is what makes Victoria’s writing come to life.  She doesn’t skip the grime or sadness – in fact she embraces it and uses it to evoke the atmosphere of a place and the heart of a person.

“It was the silent hour.  The wind had dropped, traffic had disappeared, pedestrians had vanished.  It was hard to tell whether the stray, still dogs in the shade were alive or dead.  Flies seemed to be the only living creatures, ceaselessly flitting from one animal to the other.” P69

The Lesson captures the intensity of a bond between two children just beginning their school lives together.  Giannis is constantly berated and humiliated by his overbearing teacher who is annoyed by his disobedience and defiance of her authority.  The children are inseparable and the teacher takes huge offence to their defiance as they continue to remain in each other’s company as long and as frequently as possible.  Once grown a chance encounter brings Giannis and his teacher back together.

One story tells of feuding butchers with grudges from the past while another sees a saddened mother watching her twin sons competing ferociously with each other to the detriment of their relationship.  Another is a wistful love story with a beautiful and intriguing opening:

“In a Melbourne suburb, a young man was unpacking.  He retrieved two small objects from the bottom of his suitcase, removed several layers of tissue and placed them carefully on his desk.  Apart from the key ring of the Parthenon that he had been given by his aunt, they were his sole souvenir from Greece.  The figures, a bear and an eagle, were perfect in every detail and he would treasure them.” p57

All the stories (typical of Victoria’s writing) are thought provoking and enjoyable to read.  The benefit of a short story is it doesn’t take too much time to read.  And because it is like an emotional capsule – capturing a moment – you don’t feel short changed; you feel like you’ve just peeped through a window and witnessed an argument, an intimate kiss or a lonely tearstained face.