Recently Read

 This was a great easy read, outlining some of the memorable things which have happened to this GP during her professional career.

To define translation accurately is an incredibly difficult thing to do; it seems so easy yet it is not. This was a remarkable read about translation, translators, what they do and the perils and pitfalls of translating in all its hilarious and horrifyingly complex glory. A book to be read slowly and savoured.

Worth reading; I found the chapter on Death particularly interesting and the description of St Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai is wonderful.

I've always had a soft spot for Ray Mears and his survival programmes. My respect for this very private man has increased exponentially after reading this book. He is a thoughtful, intelligent man of integrity, honesty, decency and a deep desire to preserve the native knowledge and wisdom of the indigenous peoples he has worked with.  Fascinating from an anthropological view, I found it extremely good reading and  it has now got a permanent place on my bookshelves.

These are books two and three in a series by Cindy Woodsmall which  I started to read last year. The series outlines what happens when a young Amish woman falls in love with a neighbouring Mennonite man, but is then raped by a passing stranger and becomes pregnant. It seems that ho-one believes her, that she can trust virtually no-one and even her mentally troubled sister turns against her and spreads gossip. When her child is born prematurely and dies, our heroine leaves her home and runs away makes a new life in the Englisch world.....but will she ever go back to her home community? A truly enthralling series which captivated me.

The Broken Road is the long awaited final part of the trilogy detailing Patrick Leigh Fermor's journey across Europe as a young man. It does not have the immediacy and freshness of the first book and the fact that he is writing so very many years after his walk is very evident. The chapter about Mount Athos - which is mostly verbatim from his diaries - is by far the best part, but still a good book overall.