Booklover Book Reviews

The Art of Travel Synopsis

Any Baedeker will tell us where we ought to travel, but only Alain de Botton will tell us how and why. With the same intelligence and insouciant charm he brought to How Proust Can Save Your Life, de Botton considers the pleasures of anticipation; the allure of the exotic, and the value of noticing everything from a seascape in Barbados to the takeoffs at Heathrow.

Even as de Botton takes the reader along on his own peregrinations, he also cites such distinguished fellow-travelers as Baudelaire, Wordsworth, Van Gogh, the biologist Alexander von Humboldt, and the 18th-century eccentric Xavier de Maistre, who catalogued the wonders of his bedroom. The Art of Travel is a wise and utterly original book. Don’t leave home without it. (Amazon)

BOOK REVIEW

While I do not as a rule read self help books, I had heard great things about the writings of Alain de Botton and so wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Of all non-fiction I am most partial to travel memoirs and so I decided that out of his extensive back catalogue The Art of Travel was the perfect place for me to start.

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Thanks to Signal 8 Press, I have an ebook copy of Yu Jihui’s recently released memoir The Gunners of Shenyang to giveaway to one lucky reader.

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The Gunners of Shenyang Synopsis

In Yu Jihui’s memoir of his life as a university student in China as the nation starved during Mao’s Great Leap Forward, carrots are decadent luxuries and flatulence is the people’s true common language. “Soapy,” the author’s nickname during his college days, has been dubious about the benefits of the socialist revolution sweeping the country ever since his father was exiled to a desolate town in the middle of nowhere for daring to question the wisdom of trying to industrialize overnight. As a young adult, Soapy and his dorm-mates attend classes, chase girls, and attend endless political meetings, always struggling with the need to maintain a cheerfully patriotic outlook despite that pesky urge to faint from hunger from time to time. When Big Zhang, an older boy from the provinces, dares to be a nonconformist, openly mocking the system, the dangerous silliness of the day turns to literal, life-or-death danger.

The Gunners of Shenyang is at once hilarious, revealing, informative, thought-provoking, and sometimes college-boy vulgar — a memoir of the horrors of the times from a boy still young enough to enjoy himself and a man now wise enough to see the big picture for what it was. (Signal 8 Press)

BOOK REVIEW by Tony Ziemek

The Gunners of Shenyang is a memoir dedicated to the author’s parents and it is recounted sparingly and with poignancy. It is a tale of friendship, love, humanity and hunger. I found it fascinating because it is an unfamiliar world but one peopled with characters that are universal in their lives, loves, friendships and the many (often ribald) jokes that defy the austerity of the times.

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Today I have the pleasure of welcoming author Danna Pycher to Booklover Book Reviews as part of her tour for her title 3rd Generation and Beyond.

Writing 3rd Generation and Beyond: “The How”

When I was growing up I really did not enjoy writing. In fact, I hated it.

I always had a story to tell, yet felt so confined by grammar, structure, and rules that for some reason felt arbitrary and a hindrance to just writing freely. I was never big on arbitrary rules in any aspect of my life in general!

I was a journalist for many years and although I had to write daily it was always a burden.

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Adventures of a Compulsive Traveller Synopsis 

Journalist Dominic Dunne’s travels have rarely been ordinary, despite his best intentions. He has been travelling all his life, from the time his parents started their annual pilgrimage to the opal fields of Lightning Ridge. Since then he has trekked all over Australia and to some 60 countries, spending his life trying to satisfy his insatiable appetite for travelling, an addiction that has taken him to wonderful and sometimes dangerous places where he has met all manner of people.

In Adventures of a Compulsive Traveller Dominic uses insight and wit and a good dollop of gossip to capture the highlights (and lowlights) from destinations the world over. Dominic takes readers backstage with Nana Mouskouri in Greece and in search of the ghosts of Elvis Presley in Mississippi. He escapes marauding Americans at Noel Cowards Jamaican sanctuary, crosses cranky guards in North Korea, rubs shoulders with Hillary Clinton in Washington and solves a life-long mystery in Zimbabwe. And he meets his namesake, the best-selling American author Dominick Dunne, with whom he forges an enduring friendship.

‘Dominic Dunne has had a surfeit of quirky travel experiences, and amazingly, has lived to tell the tale. Now would someone please confiscate his passport?’ – Pamela Stephenson-Connolly

(Booktopia)

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LITTLE PRINCES, One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal Synopsis

In search of adventure, 29-year-old Conor Grennan traded his day job for a year-long trip around the globe, a journey that began with a three-month stint volunteering at the Little Princes Children’s Home, an orphanage in war-torn Nepal.

Conor was initially reluctant to volunteer, unsure whether he had the proper skill, or enough passion, to get involved in a developing country in the middle of a civil war. But he was soon overcome by the herd of rambunctious, resilient children who would challenge and reward him in a way that he had never imagined. When Conor learned the unthinkable truth about their situation, he was stunned: The children were not orphans at all. Child traffickers were promising families in remote villages to protect their children from the civil war—for a huge fee—by taking them to safety. They would then abandon the children far from home, in the chaos of Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu.

For Conor, what began as a footloose adventure becomes a commitment to reunite the children he had grown to love with their families, but this would be no small task. He would risk his life on a journey through the legendary mountains of Nepal, facing the dangers of a bloody civil war and a debilitating injury. Waiting for Conor back in Kathmandu, and hopeful he would make it out before being trapped in by snow, was the woman who would eventually become his wife and share his life’s work.

Little Princes is a true story of families and children, and what one person is capable of when faced with seemingly insurmountable odds. At turns tragic, joyful, and hilarious, Little Princes is a testament to the power of faith and the ability of love to carry us beyond our wildest expectations. (Amazon)

BOOK REVIEW

Regular readers of my blog will know I do not often read non-fiction – after a long day at work, more reality is the last thing I feel like reading for pleasure. In spite of this, when I first read the synopsis of Little Princes I knew I just had to read it. This book lived up to much expectations and more.

What makes this memoir special? Conor Grennan is refreshingly open about his original motivations for travelling to Nepal. He also shares with the reader his wry sense of humour and feelings of uncertainty and inadequacy.

Little Princes is the refreshingly honest and uplifting story of Conor Grennan, a young man who sets out looking for fun and adventure and finds maturity and true purpose.

I was impressed by Grennan’s candidness about his path to maturity. This is a book I will be urging my friends to read.

Little Princes is a story that will raise your spirits. It reminds us of the innate capacity for joy and strength of children and what enormous good can be spawned from one genuinely charitable act by a single person. It reminds us that ‘the more you give of yourself, the more you get in return’. When asked “Why him?”, Conor Grennan simply answers, “I was the person that showed up.”

BOOK RATING: The Story 5 /5 ; The Writing 4.5 / 5

BOOK DETAILS: Little Princes (Amazon); Little Princes (Kobobooks – epub); Little Princes (Audible)

I purchased my own copy of Little Princes from The Book Depository and in so doing contributed to the great work of Next Generation Nepal.

Genre: Action-Adventure, Drama, Romance, Non-fiction

Author Information: Check out Conor Grennan’s official website, where he explains what inspired him to write Little Princes, and also shares with us tales of his life and family in his very entertaining blog posts.

- Watch video of Conor Grennan talking about Little Princes and the work of Next Generation Nepal.

Other Reviews of Little Princes: Mrs O’Dell Reads ; Fan the Pages ; Book Bliss

Tales of an African Vet Synopsis

When do you watch a wild animal suffer and let nature take its course, and when do you intervene? In his more than twenty-five years as an African vet, Dr. Roy Aronson has seen and done some remarkable things. He has tracked lions and cheetahs, anesthetized rhinoceroses and king cobras, collared rogue elephants, performed eye surgery on a lion out in the bush, been attacked by a puff adder, come face to face with an angry hybrid wolf, and nearly lost a foot to a crocodile. Dr. Aronson has also worked with some of Africa’s most dedicated conservationists and wildlife veterinarians. He has witnessed their passion and bravery and been with them when hard decisions had to be made.

Tales of an African Vet brings together Dr. Aronson’s adventures in a rare behind-the-scenes look at those who treat wild animals in their natural habitat. For those drawn to outdoor adventure stories, African wildlife, or the veterinarian’s trade, it is a riveting book replete with rich insights into both the animal and human cultures of Africa. (Amazon)

Book Review

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated  —  Mahatma Gandhi

This prelude quote from Gandhi sums up beautifully the sentiment that pervades this collection of Tales of an African Vet by Dr Roy Aronson. Short stories such as the heartbreaking tale of baby elephant Jabu, a lioness with a sore eye, a fish with the bends and a delinquent elephant are told in an understated and direct manner, letting nature speak for itself.

‘The male orphan named Temba had developed some bad habits. He tried to mate with several of the reserve’s rhinos and in the process had inadvertently killed three of them with his tusks. An elephant tusk with a 3-ton body behind it can slice through a rhino like a hot knife through butter. Temba had also learned how to use logs with his trunk to short-circuit the electric fence surrounding the lodge. The results of an elephant breaking into places he should stay out of can be quite startling.’

Aronson’s simple story telling provides the reader a quick and easy read with just the right mix of technical explanation, humorous observation and personal philosophy. The best way to improve the treatment of animals in the long term and advance wildlife conservation efforts is through education and this collection of veterinary adventures furthers Aronson’s and his colleagues important work in this field.

Tales of an African Vet published in high quality hardcover with dustjacket will make a wonderful gift for all animal lovers.

BOOK RATING: The Story 4 / 5 ; The Writing 3 / 5

BOOK DETAILS: Tales of an African Vet (Amazon) ;  Tales of an African Vet (Book Depository)

Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir

Author Information: Dr Roy Aronson currently works in a small private veterinary practice in the City Bowl in Cape Town. Roy’s wife is also a vet. Read more about his experiences and read samples from Tales of an African Vet at Roy’s website.

- A free podcast of an interview with Dr Roy Aronson talking about this publication is available from iTunes

Other Reviews of Tales of an African Vet by Dr Roy Aronson : Page 247 ; A Library is the Hospital for the Mind ; Animal Worx

* My receiving this book free for review purposes did not effect my ability to express my honest feelings about it.