Review: Eva and Eve: A Search for My Mother's Lost Childhood and What a War Left Behind by Julie Metz

Thank you to the author for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review

Publication date: 6th April 2021

Publisher: Atria Books

Pages: 320

The author of the New York Times bestselling memoir Perfection returns with an unforgettable account of her late mother’s childhood in Nazi-occupied Austria and the parallels she sees in present-day America.

To Julie Metz, her mother, Eve, was the quintessential New Yorker. Eve rarely spoke about her childhood and it was difficult to imagine her living anywhere else except Manhattan, where she could be found attending Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera or inspecting a round of French triple crème at Zabar’s.

In truth, Eve had endured a harrowing childhood in Nazi-occupied Vienna. After her mother passed, Julie discovered a keepsake book filled with farewell notes from friends and relatives addressed to a ten-year-old girl named Eva. This long-hidden memento was the first clue to the secret pain that Julie’s mother had carried as a refugee and immigrant, shining a light on a family that had to persevere at every turn to escape the antisemitism and xenophobia that threatened their survival.

Interweaving personal memoir and family history, Eva and Eve vividly traces one woman’s search for her mother’s lost childhood while revealing the resilience of our forebears and the sacrifices that ordinary people are called to make during history’s darkest hours.

I adored “Perfection”, Metz’s memoir, and have incredibly fond memories of being curled up in front of the wood-burner drinking tea and reading, so I was delighted when the author contacted me offering a copy of her latest book to review.

I am, on the whole, a fiction reader. It takes a special kind of book to pull me out into the world of non-fiction, and Metz never fails to captivate me with her glittering words. This book caught on a particularly raw nerve following the death of my mum, and I felt a sense of kinship with Metz as she deals with the grief of her mother’s passing in the first section of the book, and how keenly she feels the loss of the pieces of her mother’s past that she’ll now never have the chance to ask about. That feeling of loss, of loneliness, of the need to understand and fill in the blanks that she never felt able to ask about due to a tumultuous relationship, are the driving force of the story as she picks up, puts down, uncovers a little more of the mystery and then is swept up in her own life again for a while.

Whilst on the surface it is a book about her mother, ultimately it digs into a host of lives that impacted the incredible events that culminated in her mother’s escape from Nazi occupied Vienna. Whilst sometimes keeping such a host of people straight in my head was bewildering, I loved Metz’s attention to detail and how she worked to uncover all the pieces that created this whole. It is a sprawling, beautiful book, that examines the family before, during and after such a cataclysmic and traumatic event, as well as uncovering those who made the escape possible, and Metz’s own exploration of the story and the people who helped her along the way. Her own retracing of her family’s steps added additional layers of colour as she found small ways to connect her present to the past and stand where her mother once stood. It is part an expression of grief, part examination of the America Metz was experiencing at the time of writing and the political upheaval and parallels to her mother’s story, and part love letter to her mother - a truly extraordinary woman.

With a delicate touch, Metz weaves all of this together into an incredible whole, and I found myself quickly captivated and desperate to snatch moments to read further. Indeed, I found myself missing Julius, Anna and Eva’s company in the days after I finished reading. I liked the quiet joy that pervaded their lives in Vienna before 1938, and felt keenly the desperate fear and determination that threaded through their escape.

This is an incredible and thought provoking book that opened my eyes to a slice of history I found I was shockingly ignorant over, and humanised it further with brief snatches of fiction as Metz imagines what life was like for her mother and grandparents in a life altering handful of years. Beautiful, poignant, and filled with love for her lost mother, this is an incredible book that I would not hesitate to recommend.

Review: Gmorning, Gnight by Lin-Manuel Miranda

Publication Date: October 16th 2018
Publisher: Random House
Pages: 224 pages

"Good morning. Do NOT get stuck in the comments section of life today. Make, do, create the things. Let others tussle it out. Vamos!" Before he inspired the world with Hamilton and was catapulted to international fame, Lin-Manuel Miranda was inspiring his Twitter followers with words of encouragement at the beginning and end of each day. He wrote these original sayings, aphorisms, and poetry for himself as much as for others. But as Miranda’s audience grew, these messages took on a life on their own. Now Miranda has gathered the best of his daily greetings into a beautiful collection illustrated by acclaimed artist (and fellow Twitter favorite) Jonny Sun. Full of comfort and motivation, Gmorning, Gnight! is a touchstone for anyone who needs a quick lift.

A little burst of positivity and comfort for the dark winter nights and even darker days filled with the world imploding. "Gmorning, Gnight" is a really wonderful snapshot of niceness, when that feels like a rarity these days.

Sometimes you just need someone to give you a bit of a pep talk each day. An affirmation of your worth, your awesomeness. Titbits of wisdom, of courage, of empathy. It's a lovely easy book that I think a lot of people need at the moment.

Whilst I did binge the entire thing in one go, I think that this is best explored one page at a time. Put it by your bed, give yourself a random piece of wisdom each morning, and its correlating piece at night before bed, and see how it changes your outlook on each day.

This is a very recommended piece of love and sunshine, that everyone can find something they really needed to hear in the pages.

Review: I'll be There for You by Kelsey Miller

Publication Date: 25th October 2018
Publisher: HQ
Pages: 304

This definitive retrospective of Friends incorporates interviews, history and behind-the-scenes anecdotes to offer a critical analysis of how a sitcom about six twentysomethings changed television forever. 
When Friends debuted in 1994, no one expected it to become a mainstay of NBC's "Must See TV" lineup, let alone a global phenomenon. In the years since, Friends has gone through many phases of cultural relevancy, from prime-time hit to 90s novelty item to certified classic. Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe have entered the pantheon of great television characters, and millions of people around the globe continue to tune in or stream their stories every day.
I'll Be There for You is the definitive retrospective of Friends, exploring all aspects of the show from its unlikely origins to the elusive reasons why we still watch it. Journalist and pop culture expert Kelsey Miller relives the show's most iconic moments, analyzes the ways in which Friends is occasionally problematic and examines the many trends it inspired, from the rise of coffee-shop culture to "Friendsgivings" to the ultimate 90s haircut, The Rachel.
Weaving incisive commentary, revelatory interviews and behind-the-scenes anecdotes involving high-profile guest stars, I'll Be There for You is the most comprehensive take on Friends, and the ultimate book for fans everywhere.

For myself, and for a lot of people around the world, "Friends" was a lynchpin of growing up. A show that you watched every week without fail. Whose characters felt like your own friends. And who you'd return to again and again on re-watches. Feeling under the weather? World going to hell? Need some nostalgia or tlc? Friends were literally there for you (in some cases three episodes three times a day) whenever you needed them.
It was a show you could enjoy as a child, because it was clean and nice and people weren't mean to each other. And as the viewers grew up, the show took on new layers and meanings. There's a lot that resonates for me now on re-watches, that I didn't really touch on at all when I was first watching it.

Basically, it's a cultural phenomenon, and this book explores all of that.

It's a deep dive into the creators, the cast, how the show came to be, the issues they faced with filming, and the entire smorgasbord of elements that came together to form this entity that no-one ever saw coming.

It's well written and engaging, and I found myself immersed in this show again, wanting to go back and re-watching certain episodes. To revisit these characters and that nostalgia once more. It's stuffed with titbits of information, anecdotes and retrospection that are really interesting, and quite frequently things that I had no idea about, despite having done a lot of reading around the show.

It likely won't appeal in the same way to those who are just very casual viewers, but anyone who loved the show at the time, or has found it since it came off the air, will enjoy this insightful foray into a phenomenon that no one saw coming when the pilot was first written.

Review: Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson

Publication Date: September 24^th 2015
Publisher: Pan Macmimllan
Length: 277 pages

Huge thanks to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review

In “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened”, Jenny Lawson baffled readers with stories about growing up the daughter of a taxidermist. In her new book “Furiously Happy”, Jenny explores her lifelong battle with mental illness. A hysterical, ridiculous book about crippling depression and anxiety? That sounds like a terrible idea. And terrible ideas are what Jenny does best.
According to Jenny: "Some people might think that being 'furiously happy' is just an excuse to be stupid and irresponsible and invite a herd of kangaroos over to your house without telling your husband first because you suspect he would say no since he's never particularly liked kangaroos. And that would be ridiculous because no one would invite a herd of kangaroos into their house. Two is the limit. I speak from personal experience. My husband says that none is the new limit. I say he should have been clearer about that before I rented all those kangaroos."
"Most of my favorite people are dangerously fucked-up but you'd never guess because we've learned to bare it so honestly that it becomes the new normal. Like John Hughes wrote in The Breakfast Club, 'We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it.' Except go back and cross out the word 'hiding.'" 
Jenny's first book “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened”, was ostensibly about family, but deep down it was about celebrating your own weirdness. “Furiously Happy” is a book about mental illness, but under the surface it's about embracing joy in fantastic and outrageous ways-and who doesn't need a bit more of that?

I adored Jenny’s first book. I frequently had to go out to my car to read it on my lunch break because I was laughing so hard I was ‘disturbing my co-workers’. I have never laughed so hard whilst reading before, and it was truly a glorious experience and an amazing read. So it was a no brainer that I would, of course, be picking up any further books Jenny wrote, and as soon as I saw the cover and title I knew I would be in for a treat.

Note to self: Don’t read this whilst in public. I got odd looks from laughing so hard and then nearly crying on the metro, in an airport (whilst reading the section about flying and airports, it was fortuitous timing and made everything ten times funnier) on the plane and then on a train. Several trains in fact. I had odd looks from strangers and my husband, who got increasingly irate everytime I tried to share another funny bit, because, let’s face it, that was most of the book, and ended up yelling that NO MORE, HE WANTED TO READ THE BOOK FOR HIMSELF. (Spoilsport)

Don’t be fooled though, because yes, there is plenty of laughter and merriment and general insanity (raccoon rodeo anyone?) but there are also much more serious sections which in turns punched me straight in the feels, made me nod along and go YES, SOMEONE ELSE UNDERSTANDS and sob, and also pass the book over to Husband with the instructions to read this because Jenny explains it so much better than I ever could.

It is outrageous and funny and heartfelt and full of poignant moments and good advice. In short, Jenny has done the impossible and created a truly brilliant blend of humour and seriousness tackling life with mental illness. It’s still so much of a taboo to discuss mental illness and Jenny throws all of that out the window and does a truly spectacular job of talking about it in ways that will both appeal to sufferers and those hoping to understand more. I’m bulk ordering many copies of this book to go to various people for Christmas because it is brilliant.

If you want an amazingly wacky and hilarious book – read this. If you want a book that talks honestly and openly about mental illness – read this. If you fancy some non-fiction – read this. If you’re not sure you like non-fiction books – read this. It is for everyone (apart from minors, because some of the language used isn’t appropriate but is utterly brilliant. Save a copy for them for when they’re older.) and everyone should be reading it.

Plus look at that cover. That cover alone should be giving you a good idea of what’s waiting for you inside – insanity and hilarity written by a truly incredible writer.

Review: Investigating Sherlock by Nikki Stafford

Publication Date: September 1^st 2015
Publisher: ECW Press
Length: 240 pages

Thanks to Netgalley and ECW Press for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review

He’s been depicted as a serious thinker, a master of deduction, a hopeless addict, a bare-knuckle fighter. His companion is a bumbler, a sympathetic equal, someone helpless in the face of his friend’s social inadequacies. Sherlock Holmes and John Watson remain the most-adapted fictional characters of all time. In 2010, when Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman stepped into the roles, they managed to meld many previous incarnations into two glorious performances. Over Sherlock’s first three seasons, the Emmy-winning series has brought new life to stories almost 130 years old and, with its Holmes and Watson for the 21st century, created a worldwide fandom unlike any other.
Investigating Sherlock, written by bestselling author Nikki Stafford, examines each episode through in-depth and fun analysis, exploring the character development and cataloguing every subtle reference to the original stories. With biographies of Cumberbatch and Freeman, as well as Arthur Conan Doyle, Investigating Sherlock is the ultimate guide to the great detective.

I am a huge fan of the BBC Sherlock series, so I was incredibly excited to dig into this unofficial companion guide, and whilst it was an interesting enough read, it failed to really grab me and inspire me in the way I was hoping.

For massive fans of both the TV show and the original stories, this companion won’t provide anything new. The extra information is taken from DVD commentaries and well publicised interviews, as well as information, stories and characters all available through Doyle’s original stories. So if you’ve combed all of the original source material and are an active fan then this book will provide nothing new. It’s an interesting enough read (although some of the delivery of the additional information does come across as a little condescending and pompous) and for those who haven’t seen the episodes or read the stories in a while, this will be a good book to dig into.

However I did have a few problems with it. The writing is a little bit scattered, as if the author is following a train of thought and skips all over the place back and forth between different topics, particularly at the start. As a result it doesn’t feel like a cohesive piece, and the topics aren’t as accessible to the reader as they could have been made.

It was also alarming to discover that some of the ‘facts’ weren’t actually correct and a simple re-watch of the episode could have resolved them. But my biggest frustration was the way fandom was handled. Most shows and movies have a fandom these days, but Sherlock has one of the biggest and most vocal. It felt strange then to be reading a book claiming to be investigating the tv series and all that surrounds it, that all but ignored fandom (apart from one or two very brief nods to theories that the author has enjoyed and some disparaging comments about shippers) when fandom has played such a huge role in the success of the show. The creators themselves have commented on the impact that fandom has had and the show’s worldwide popularity as a result, so to all but ignore it seemed a little odd – a dirty secret that should really be swept under the rug.

The book reads like an essay of one individual’s thoughts on the series and how they feel the episodes portray characters and readings of scenes, and as a result they discard and ignore any ideas or theories that don’t fit in with their mind-set. No-where is this more apparent than in the examination of the final episode of season three, and anyone who disagrees with the authors thoughts may find this more than a little frustrating.

The book has several interviews with long time Doyle fans, backstory on Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss, Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman and Arthur Conan Doyle. It also looks at each episode in detail, giving opinions, comparisons to the original stories, errors and additional facts, plus a couple of additional essays including one on Sherlock’s self-proclaimed status as a sociopath. It’s an interesting read, but as I said, doesn’t really add anything new. So if you’re looking for more theories, more discussion and a more intense break-down of scenes, characters and episodes, you’re more likely to find it for free on tumblr than in this. 

Review: This Book is Gay by James Dawson

Publication Date: September 4^th 2014
Publisher: Hot Key Books
Length: 271 pages

Huge thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Former PSHCE teacher and acclaimed YA author James Dawson gives an uncensored look at what it's like to grow up as LGBT. Including testimonials from people 'across the spectrum', this inclusive book explores everything anyone who ever dared to wonder wants to know - from sex to politics, how to pull, stereotypes, how to come-out and more. Spike Gerrell's hilarious illustrations combined with funny and factual text make this a must-have read.

This is an incredibly important book for everyone not just those whose sexuality is covered in the book.

James tackles a breadth of subjects and topics within sexuality so that no matter who you are and how well informed you may already be, you will learn something from this book. It acts like a sort of guidebook for those thinking about their sexuality, coming to terms with their sexuality, and those who may already be out and secure with it. The breadth of topics covered is staggering: common definitions and labels, stereotypes, biological theories, coming out dating, homophobia, sex, marriage, children, religious opposition, transphobia and HIV/AIDS. For such a slim volume it does a huge amount.

He gives clear, honest and open advice on all of these topics as well as pulling stories and thoughts from survey’s he has conducted with people from around the world and the result is a patchwork of support and advice that shows anyone reading this book that you are not alone. It gives snapshots into so many lives and it’s wonderful to see so many different views collected into one book, providing a thought provoking and engaging read.

Sex-Ed is woefully lacking in so many parts of the world, and almost non-existent for anyone whose sexuality doesn’t fall into the straight category. It leaves so many people isolated, confused and ignorant about things that should be taught as freely as straight sex-ed is taught, and this book is a fantastic step in the right direction to right this imbalance.

The only reason that this book doesn’t have a full five stars from me is because there are quite a few topics glossed over – for example I didn’t feel that there was nearly enough page space devoted to Trans, and I think the idea of being asexual was mentioned once? For a book that was supposed to be inclusive I felt that it leaned very heavily on Gay/Lesbian and didn’t look very far outside that circle. That’s fair enough if the book was just going to focus on that, but to act as though the book was all inclusive and then to only focus heavily on being gay or lesbian felt a bit frustrating.

It also felt as though the aimed for age of the reader was a bit all over the place. This is an important book, one that needs to be read by pretty much everyone regardless of their gender or sexuality or age, and there were some points that felt like they were aimed for much younger readers and then others where it shifted abruptly to more adult language. It didn’t quite strike the right balance for me as a book aimed at a wide group of people. It was an admirable attempt at a very tough job, but it didn’t quite hit all the right points for me.

This is a hugely important book, for those needing help, advice and reassurance for the things they are going through. For people who are curious. For people who are willing and open to being educated. The world has been so homophobic for so long that it is a relief to see books like this appearing on shelves. Funny, informative and engaging, this is one that I will be getting everyone I know to sit down and read.

Review: The Painful Truth - What Chronic Pain is Really Like & Why it Matters to Each of Us by Lynn R Webster

Publication Date: May 4^th 2015
Publisher: Lynn Webster M.D

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review

The Painful Truth is a deeply intimate collection of stories about people living with disabling pain, their attempts to heal, and the challenges that we collectively face to help them survive and, ultimately, live meaningful lives. As a physician who has treated people with chronic pain for more than 30 years, I reveal in the book the difficulties that patients face dealing with chronic pain in a society which is often shamelessly prejudiced against those who are in most need of compassion and empathy. I share how those biases also affect those who treat patients with chronic pain.

My normal reading involves around 95% fiction and 5% non-fiction, and of that non-fiction I never really branch outside historical or memoirs/biographies etc. So this book is quite a departure from my usual reading and as a result my usual reviewing. However when I saw this title come up on Netgalley, I had to read it.

I’ve been in pain since I was seven. I was officially diagnosed with Chronic Pain Syndrome when I was seventeen. I am now nearly twenty seven. I don’t remember a time when I was not in pain. Unfortunately the general attitude towards CPS is to tell the person suffering that they are making it up, that they should suck it up and get on with life, that they should stop complaining. There is very little sympathy, empathy or treatment available, and that leaves you with a pretty miserable existence being ostracized by people who don’t understand and passed from Dr to Dr as each one either tells you to stop complaining, or runs out of ideas of what to do with you.

So a book about CPS is an incredibly important thing, and one that I was thrilled to discover whilst browsing Netgalley. The book is split into two sections. The first has stories from patients of Dr Webster – their individual battles with chronic pain and the ways that it has affected their lives and how they have come to deal with it. Some of them are living virtually normal lives, vastly improved through various means to help deal with the pain, whereas others are still in as much pain as they were at the start but with a better understanding of what they are dealing with, and a supportive network of friends. The second looks at the stigma surrounding CPS and what needs to change for CPS to be recognised and helped.

The book tackles all different avenues of support – family, friends, medical, spiritual – and tries to offer something for anyone reading it. If you have CPS, it offers the knowledge that you are not alone, some new ideas and thoughts, and a sense that you are not stumbling around in the dark with something no-one can understand. If you know someone who has CPS it can offer you a better understanding of what they’re going through and what they might need to support them through it. And if you have never encountered CPS then it helps to shine a light onto a criminally overlooked problem that so many people dismiss as nothing.

It could have benefitted from a heavy edit, some of the stories tended to go in circles, information was repeated several times and there were far too many patient stories. It was interesting to read so many different stories, but after the fourth one I began to get depressed and to lose interest. I had to put the book down and come back to it at a later point. There is a difference between something that is difficult to read because of the subject matter and something that is difficult to read because it hasn’t been edited properly and as a result is far too dense. Unfortunately this came down in the latter camp.
I also felt that whilst these tales were interesting and offered so many different view-points and thoughts on CPS, they didn’t actually help someone who is reading it without having experienced CPS to understand what it is like for the sufferer.

It felt towards the end as though it could easily have been an essay on the dangers and problems faced with pain medication – opioid addiction and all that comes with opioids being the predominant medication used to treat pain. There was a very heavy emphasis on this, and whilst it was interesting to start with I did find myself losing interest after a while. I wanted to see more ideas of ways to tackle CPS rather than just have them glossed over and leave the focus so heavily on medication.

However despite these issues I was incredibly glad to have read the book and hope that more people will discover it and start to look at CPS. It is a problem that so many people suffer from and yet is ignored and trivialised. I hope that this book will allow more people to begin to talk about it, for more to be done to try and ease the suffering of those who are affected, and for those who have been diagnosed with it to know that they are not alone. It is an incredibly isolating condition and one that I hope more people will come to understand.

If your interest has been piqued, but you are not yet ready to delve into a medical text then I highly recommend watching the film ‘Cake’ starring Jennifer Aniston. I haven’t seen CPS depicted so accurately before, and I hope that it’s a sign of a change in people’s perceptions and awareness.

Top Ten Non-Fiction Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the wonderful folks over at The Broke and the Bookish

This week is a top ten freebie week, which is always exciting! I talk about fiction books 90% of the time over here, so I decided to branch out and talk about some of my favourite non-fiction books this week. I don't read a huge number of non-fiction books - I'm very picky - but I have some firm favourites that I love returning to. Funny, moving, and some exquisite travel books, this list has a little bit of everything!


1. Paris in Love by Eloisa James
Eloisa James and her family uprooted themselves for a year from America to Paris, and this book is a collection of events, memories, musings and snapshots of living in the capital of France and the unexpected beauty you can find in a strange city. This book helped me in my own transition and reminded me to look for the beauty in the little things and to appreciate the incredible experiences on offer. Written in little bite size chunks, this is a wonderful book to dip in and out of.

2. Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

I have never laughed so hard when reading a book. I genuinely thought I might have cracked a rib at one point. When reading this on lunch breaks at the office I had to remove myself to my car to read because of the weird looks I received... This book is a masterpiece, and Lawson's humour is unparalleled. An incredible account of her life, this book is insane, brilliant and hilarious.

3. The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl by Belle de Jour
I discovered this book whilst researching for my non-fiction writing module at university and was utterly engrossed from the very first page. Belle's writing is blunt, compulsive and intriguing. Utterly filthy and incredibly factual. This was my first real foray into non-fiction writing and I absolutely loved it. Infinitely better than the tv show they made from it, this is an eye opener of a book.

4. Immoveable Feast by John Baxter
When Baxter fell in love with a French woman, he moved to Paris to marry her. Her family set him the ultimate test - to cook Christmas dinner for the family of eighteen. The book follows his year long adventure collecting recipes, travelling France and making some truly outstanding food. This is a feast of a book, delving into an incredibly important element of life in France - the food.


5. Talk to the Snail by Stephen Clarke
For anyone who is living, is going to live or who has lived in France, this book is a must read. Funny, bitingly true and full of useful tidbits of information, this book helped make the transition to living in France easier and provided me with a lot of insider information I never would have learned otherwise.


6. Perfection by Julie Metz
Also a find for my non-fiction module, I have very vivid memories of reading this curled up in front of the fire drinking copious amounts of tea whilst having my heart slowly broken. It was beautiful, terrible, brilliant and heart breaking. One woman's account of how her life fell apart when her husband died, and then shattered when she discovered he had a long term mistress. This is a quiet and tragic book.


7. The Most Beautiful Walk in the World by John Baxter
Another book from Baxter, again set in France, but this time exploring Paris by foot. Paris is an incredible city and Baxter explores it in ways that most people would pass by entirely. Whether you're preparing for a trip to Paris, or simply want to explore the city in the pages of a book, this is a gorgeous book filled with the elegance of Paris and a plethora of stories that have unfurled within its streets.


8. A Slip of the Keyboard by Terry Pratchett
A collection of non-fiction by Terry Pratchett, this book dips back and forth in time and writings and is an absolute must for Pratchett fans. His writing is fantastic, regardless of whether he is taking you through Discworld, or talking about his process. This is a wonderful collection of pieces.


9. As You Wish by Cary Elwes
If you love 'The Princess Bride' this is a must read. Twenty five years after the film was made, Cary Elwes has collected together tales from the majority of the cast of filming this incredible cult classic. A book infused with love and adoration for each other and the source material, this is an incredible book that will make you fall in love with the film all over again.


10. My Family & Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
This was such a big part of my growing up. My Mother used to read it to me (and she did all of the voices) and I have incredibly fond memories of listening to the Durrell family's exploits. It's an absolutely incredible and wildly funny book that I love going back to again and again.

So those are my top ten non-fiction books. Are you a fan of non-fiction? Or are you tempted by any of these? Let me know in the comments below and link me to your own top ten lists!

Review: As You Wish - Inconceivable Tales from the making of The Princess Bride by Cary Elwes

From actor Cary Elwes, who played the iconic role of Westley in The Princess Bride, comes a first-person account and behind-the-scenes look at the making of the cult classic film filled with never-before-told stories, exclusive photographs, and interviews with costars Robin Wright, Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest, and Mandy Patinkin, as well as author and screenwriter William Goldman, producer Norman Lear, and director Rob Reiner.
The Princess Bride has been a family favorite for close to three decades. Ranked by the American Film Institute as one of the top 100 Greatest Love Stories and by the Writers Guild of America as one of the top 100 screenplays of all time, The Princess Bride will continue to resonate with audiences for years to come.
Cary Elwes was inspired to share his memories and give fans an unprecedented look into the creation of the film while participating in the twenty-fifth anniversary cast reunion. In As You Wish he has created an enchanting experience; in addition to never-before seen photos and interviews with his fellow cast mates, there are plenty of set secrets, backstage stories, and answers to lingering questions about off-screen romances that have plagued fans for years!
With a foreword by Rob Reiner and a limited edition original poster by acclaimed artist Shepard Fairey, As You Wish is a must-have for all fans of this beloved film.

I am a rather huge fan of The Princess Bride. I’ve been watching it ever since I was seven and my sister brought home a copy of it on video and I watched it on repeat. It has everything, it is a classic, it is utter genius and pure brilliance and if you haven’t seen this film or read the book, you need to remedy this immediately. As brilliant as the book is, I highly recommend watching the film first.

So when it was announced about a year ago that Cary Elwes would be releasing a behind the scenes making of book extravaganza, I was one of the people whose shrieks of joy could be heard the world over.

The book is beautiful, lovingly created with some gorgeous photographs and a wonderful piece of art hidden inside the dust-jacket. The whole thing reflects the film itself, it’s a labour of love with everyone involved coming together to provide stories, musings and recollections about the process and filming of The Princess Bride. It’s like putting on a favourite sweater and slippers and drinking a hot mug of tea – warm and comforting, familiar and wonderful. I laughed, I got a little teary eyed, and the whole thing was a magical experience, a beautiful way to go back and revisit the film and to hear from the team that brought it to us so many little tales from behind the scenes that helped make it even more brilliant.

The audiobook is also fantastic, read by Elwes himself with the other cast lending a supporting role for their own tales. It’s a labour of love for the people who love the film, by the people who loved bringing it to life.

My only complaint is that the writing does have a tendency to go round in circles and make the same point twice – it could have done with some tightening up and a bit of editing in places. On the whole though, this is a beautiful book, lovingly written and created, and one that adds another piece of magic to an already magical tale.