We have all been there haven’t we? Spending hours searching on the internet, thinking that we have found the perfect place to relax for a few nights whilst travelling only to be completely dismayed by what we find when we arrive. Hotel owners have no shame when it comes to…
Star Rating: **** Pages: 269 “I travel because it challenges my preconceptions of the world, and about what I can and cannot do. Using public transport forces me into immersing with local cultures.” (Ian Packham) Have you ever considered setting yourself a challenge, one that you know others are…
Star Rating: **** Pages: 173 First published by Possibilities Publishing in 2014 Have you ever been embarrassed by your parents? If so, this is a book for you. This is a heart-felt, warm memoir of one man’s family holidays from years gone past. Now, when I say family holidays, images…
Stars: *** Pages: 283 First published in 2014 by The Book Guild Ltd My intrigued piqued when I read that this book was aimed specifically towards a male audience – yes, at first glance the front cover is most definitely gender-bias; not only with the half-dressed female adorning the…
Star Rating: **** Pages: 314 First published in 2014 by John Blake Publishing “I don’t know why, but the dawn in South West London never seemed to have the same effect on me. Somehow, looking out of my bedroom window in London I’d never managed to get that…
Star Rating: *** Pages: 249 English translation first published by Secker and Warburg in 2003 Originally written in German and titled Herr Lehmann this story represents life in Berlin, for the twenty-something’s, before the wall came down. With no responsibility or sense of short-coming Herr Lehmann has embarked on a…
Star rating: *** Pages: 256 First published by Hogarth Press in 1939 Want to know what Germany was like pre WWII? Christopher Isherwood highlights the highs and lows of life in Berlin in his short biographical observations expertly put together within this novel. Split into six short stories, all with…
Star Rating: *** Pages: 204 First published in 2005 If you want a laugh-out-loud quick read about a family camping trip this is the book. We follow the adventures of a British family setting off on their annual summer holiday camping exploits in France and from the very beginning you…
Star Rating: ** Pages: 312 First published in 1991 After years of others raving about Bill Bryson and his novels I took the plunge and added a couple of his titles to my Christmas List. To say I am a little disappointed is probably an understatement. Other than his occasional…
Just like Polly Evans, I have often wondered what traditional Spain was like before the beer swilling Brits arrived in the Costas demanding traditional English grub from bars called ‘The British Bulldog’ and ‘Royal Britannia’? Is Benidorm really the best that this country has to offer? “It’s not about the…