Travels on a paper plane

If you can't afford to go travelling just now, the next best thing is to live vicariously through someone who has. It may be a sign of our economic times that there seems to be fewer armchair travel books out than usual. That's a shame. Nothing like flitting off to Patagonia or the south of France with someone else who's had to foot the bill and mangle the language. Especially if they suffer along the way.

It probably reveals a lot about me that I don't enjoy books about people upping stakes to Tuscany, discovering the ineffable beauty of life and launching their own line of spumante. Smug b-----s. I like books about people who go to Moldova, eat unspeakable things, have their pants mauled by goats, and narrowly avoid being married to someone's hairy, toothless cousin. Now that's entertainment.

But I realise that not all my readers share such gentle tastes. I have therefore compiled a list of recent travel stories that may amuse, inspire or possibly educate.

Goats not guaranteed.

The Further Adventures of an Idiot Abroad - Karl Pilkington

Britain's favourite idiot is back. Safely home from his latest travels, Karl has decided it is time to share his hard-earned wisdom of the world. Taking the bucket list '100 Things to Do Before You Die' as his starting point, Karl combines brilliant stories from his recent adventures to Alaska, Siberia and beyond.

Follow the Money: A Month in the Life of a Ten-Dollar Bill - Steve Boggan
British journalist Steve Boggan sets free a ten-dollar bill and accompanies it on its journey for thirty days and thirty nights across 3,300 miles. As he cuts crops with farmers in Kansas, gets wasted with a blues band in Arkansas and hangs out at a quarterback's mansion in St Louis, Boggan enters the lives of ordinary (and extraordinary) people as they receive and pass on the bill. Add the missionaries from Missouri, the Amish in Michigan, the banker from Chicago and the deer hunters from Detroit, and what emerges is a chaotic, affectionate and funny portrait of a modern-day America that tourists rarely see.

Swiss Watching: Inside the Land of Milk and Money - Diccon Bewes
A portrait of the land and its people - bristling with guns, but famed for its neutrality, the home of ground-breaking science and technology, but also stifling tradition, and where cuckoo clocks are actually from over the border, 80 per cent of the population is from somewhere else, and trains don't always run on time! Welcome to Switzerland, a land about so much more than clocks, chocolate and cheese.

100 Places You Will Never Visit: The World's Most Secret Locations - Dan Smith
Included in this descriptive guide to top-secret tourist destinations are Fort Knox, the Coca-Cola safety deposit box, the Tora Bora caves in Afghanistan, the Tucson Titan missile site, the Vatican Archives, Three Mile Island and the Chapel of the Ark in Ethiopia. The world is full of secret places that we either don't know about, or couldn't visit even if we wanted to. This is the only way in.

Crazy River: A Plunge Into Africa - Richard Grant
No one travels like actor and madman Richard (E.) Grant, and really, no one should. He gets waylaid by thieves and hookers before he even sets off to explore the uncharted Malagarasi, and dodges more than a few bullets. As well as hippos, crocodiles and civil war, and a fever that wants to ensure there's never a Withnail 2. Grant secures an audience with the president of Rwanda, before finally casting up on the shores of the Nile, a more well-travelled, but no wiser, man.

Touching the World: A Blind Woman, Two Wheels and 25,000 Miles - Cathy Birchall
Cathy Birchall is the first blind person ever to circumnavigate the globe on a motorcycle, covering 26,385 miles, 31 countries and five continents on an 18-year-old bike. From India to Machu Picchu, this is a travel story from another perspective. On their travels Cathy and her companion Bernard overcome every obstacle with strength and courage - helped in generous measure by the unwavering kindness of strangers around the world.

Meander: East to West Along a Turkish River - Jeremy Seal
The Meander River is so famously indirect that its name has come to signify digression. Jeremy Seal travels it in a one-man canoe from Turkey's steppe interior - the stamping ground of such illustrious adventurers as Xerxes, Alexander the Great and the Crusader Kings - to the great port city of Miletus, home of the earliest Western philosophers. Along the way he unpicks the history of this remarkable region, and encounters a rich assortment of contemporary characters.

The Green Road into the Trees: An Exploration of England - Hugh Thomson
Hugh Thomson's 400-mile journey to the coast through the old ways of England, used by its ancient peoples. Along the way he relates remarkable findings about the Celts, Saxons and Vikings that have yet to reach the wider public, and meets a host of modern eccentrics who cast light on England as it is now. 

Brazil - Michael Palin
The latest from the former Python and frequent flier, to accompany a new series. From the Venezuelan border and the forests of the Lost World where he encounters the Yanomami and their ongoing territorial war with the gold miners, Palin follows Teddy Roosevelt's disastrous expedition of 1914. He encounters the hunter-gatherers of the interior, the descendants of African slaves with their culture of rituals and festivals and music, the large German community and the wealthy guachas of the Pantanal.

Looking for Adventure - Stephen Backshall

After a rainy-day visit to the museum, seven-year-old Steve Backshall became obsessed with exploring the vast, untamed wildness of Papua New Guinea. Full of incredible wildlife, extraordinary wilderness, jungles, cannibals, pitfalls, triumph, danger and excitement, Looking for Adventure is the irresistible, inspiring story of a little boy who let his heart rule his head.

Picking the Man Booker Prize 2012

I'm not normally one to pick an award-winning book (invariably I always like the ones that don't make the short-list), but I'm going to wade into the Man Booker Prize debate this year, for no other reason that I am ever hopeful that one year I might actually be able to agree with the judges of book awards.

There were two books that I was surprised, and somewhat disappointed, that didn't make the final short list of six titles this year, The Unlikely Pilgramage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce and The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman (both of these are on my recommended reads for 2012).

There's already been some controversy surrounding this year's awards as chair Peter Stothard weighed in with his opinion piece about book bloggers. I'll leave you to judge this comments for yourself. 

So, onto the short-list of six titles (from an original of twelve) :

• Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel
• Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil
• Umbrella by Will Self
• Swimming Home by Deborah Levy
• The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Ewing
• The Lighthouse by Alison Moore

One of the apparent surprises this year was the four debut novels made the final short list alongside more established authors, Hilary Mantel & Will Self. I'm really pleased that these four new writers have been recognised, and that their books will now get greater exposure. It's hard enough for a debut author to be noticed, so to be part of the Man Booker short-list gives their books an extra boost.

The official Man Booker Prize announcement takes place on October 16th (which will be October 17th NZ time), so let's see if I can pick a winner ... 

My pick for the 2012 Man Booker Prize is ... The Lighthouse by Alison Moore.

It's creepy. It's short (less than 200 pages). It's published by an indie publisher. It's not quite what I expected when I started it. It's not as simple as it seems.

If you still need convincing, here is a review in The Guardian, and it is also this month's Listener Book Club book, and you can read an interview the author Alison Moore here.

So we'll find out soon enough if I (finally) managed to pick a winner. 

*** Update 17/10/2012 - So I couldn't pick a winner this year. It turns out that Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel is this year's pick - and she joins a select list of people to have won the award twice. Oh well, I will try again next year. ***

Iconic 90s Books

This one is a bit late due to technical difficulties! Sorry! 

Bridges of Madison County1992 Robert James Waller

The Bridges of Madison County may have been the ’50 Shades of Grey’ of the 90’s (by that I mean they are both extremely popular while not being very well written).  The Bridges of Madison County spent over 3 years on the New York Times best seller list and has sold over 50 million copies world wide. The book was adapted into a film of the same name by Clint Eastwood in 1995.

Delia Smith’s Christmas 1990 Delia Smith

Delia Smith actually released 5 cookbooks from 1990-1999 (and over 25 books in her career) but my personal favourite is Delia Smith’s Christmas released in 1990. If you are after a great Christmas cake or Christmas mince pie recipe then look no further. Delia Smith’s Cookbooks have sold over 21 million copies worldwide.

Tomorrow When the War Began 1993 JohnMarsden

TWTWB was the first book series that I absolutely fell in love with. Ellie Linton is such a smart and powerful young woman. It made an impact on me. I still love these books and I try to re-read them at least once a year. I'm proud to say my copies were so well read that I had to buy new copies last year. Adults will love these books too.

The Rainbow Fish 1992 MarcusPfister

How cute is The Rainbow Fish? With his little blue face and shiny, shiny scales? Awww. Another 90’s classic. This colourful picture book teaches kids the importance of sharing and how fun it is to do so. There are 5 other Rainbow Fish books: Rainbow Fish to the Rescue, Rainbow Fish and the Big Blue Whale, Rainbow Fish and the Sea Monster's Cave, Rainbow Fish Finds his Way and Rainbow Fish Discovers the Deep Sea. 

The book before the film

Hollywood has always raided literature for its ideas - some of the most successful films of all time are based on books, from The Shawshank Redemption to The Princess Bride to The Help. Could anyone not laugh when Miss Hilly ate that chocolate pie?

In turn, when film versions come out, requests for the book skyrocket. Anyone who's ever been number 1784 in line for The Hunger Games can attest to this. This, then, is advance warning for those lucky enough to read this blog. In no particular order, here's what you can look forward to at the movies over the next year. Need I mention The Hobbit?

Get your requests in now, before the lines get too long!

Les Miserables

In my humble opinion, the best musical of all time, and a pretty good book as well. The new film version (based on the stage show) is out for Christmas. Former Kiwi Russell Crowe is the relentless Inspector Javert, Hugh Jackman is the hero Jean Valjean, and poor, broken Fantine is played by a skeletal Anne Hathaway. Advance previews look - and sound - fantastic. Read what it's all about now, before the barricades go up.






The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Still playing the schoolgirl, Emma Watson is the love interest of shy freshman Charlie (Logan Lerman, who also plays Percy Jackson in a forthcoming screen adaptation). Along the way, Charlie endures the suicide of his best friend, some tough family secrets, and being shown the realities of life by two seniors who take him under their wing. It's a coming of age story that is already a hit with teens, and will be even bigger after this. There's a New Zealand connection here too - Melanie Lynskey plays Charlie's Aunt Helen.




The Spook's Apprentice

This is a genuinely grisly, well-written series for kids with tough stomachs. It is being very loosely adapted in America as The Seventh Son, with an international cast. I really do hope the Americans get this one right, as it was a very British-flavoured series, and the original kids were thirteen. Being 31, I'd have said Ben Barnes was a bit old for the title character, but he's still worth a look. I mean, the film is...Out in October 2013.






Anna Karenina

Another literary classic back on the big screen. If you haven't read this yet, now is the time. Set in late-19th-century Russia high-society, the aristocrat Anna Karenina enters into a life-changing affair with the affluent Count Vronsky, played - I'll have to see this to believe it - by the young Aaron Taylor-Johnson, of Kick-Ass fame. Anna is played by Keira Knightley, and Kelly Macdonald, Jude Law and Matthew Macfadyen have supporting roles.






The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Read (or re-read, or in fact, watch) The Wizard of Oz to get yourself on the yellow brick road to Oz: The Great and Powerful. This new movie, due in March 2013, is a prequel to the famous story, showing how Oz first came to the land that bears his name. It has a starry cast: James Franco, Rachel Weisz, Mila Kunis and Michelle Williams, and the colours look lovely too.






Cross

Upcoming film Alex Cross is very loosely based on Cross by James Patterson. Tyler Perry plays detective - yep - Alex Cross, who is on the hunt for a serial killer who murdered a family member. See if you can spot which elements are from the book. Due here in November.









Safe Haven

Yet another Nicholas Sparks romantic weepie, like The Lucky One, Dear John, Message in a Bottle, The Notebook...Yes, pretty much everything the man has written appears on screen. Beautiful but private Katie seems determined to avoid forming personal ties until a series of events draws her into two reluctant relationships: with Alex, a widowed store owner with two young children; and with her plainspoken neighbour, Jo. But even as Katie begins to fall in love, she struggles with the dark secret that still haunts her . . .Out for Valentine's Day in the US, starring Cobie Smulders and Josh Duhamel.



Cloud Atlas

A rather indefinable - some said unfilmable - movie starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Susan Sarandon and Hugh Grant, and directed by the Wachowski siblings. Various lives are intertwined and reincarnated, influencing each other, including a reluctant voyager crossing the Pacific in 1850; a young Islander witnessing the nightfall of science and civilisation; a genetically engineered "dinery server" on death row - one a killer who becomes a hero, one a man played by a woman. One act of kindness can ripple through time to cause a revolution. If that sounds like your bag, grab the book. It's had rave reviews.



The Life of Pi

One of the most anticipated films of the year, based on one of the most read books of the last decade. A tiger, a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra and a boy are afloat on a raft in the middle of the ocean. The tiger turns to the hyena and says...Just kidding. You'll have to read it to find out what really happens. Due November.





One Shot

Enough with the Tom Cruise jokes. Let's see if he can really play the part of action man Jack Reacher. Guess we'll find out in short order...The movie Jack Reacher is based on the ninth book in the series, One Shot, in which five people are mysteriously killed by a sniper. But what's the motive? Hits New Zealand on January 3.








Mr Pip

No confirmed release date on this adaptation of Kiwi author Jones's book, but soon...Hugh Laurie is Mr Watts, the school teacher in Bougainville, where rebels are trying to close the copper mine poisoning their island, and to drive the redskin army from Papua New Guinea into the sea. Thirteen year old Matilda is infatuated with 'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens, which Watts is reading to his students. She writes 'Pip' in the sand and decorates it with shells. The redskins see it, and decide they must track Pip down. Who is this rebel leader? The search will have devastating consequences for Matilda, Mr Watts and the entire village.

How to make complex things much simpler

I like big numbers. I like colourful graphs. I like maps. I like complex data sets.

Most of all, I *really* like beautiful visual representations of information.

So imagine my absolute delight to find a new book full of visual representations of data sets that *almost* knocks David McCandless' books off my number one spot of "awesome books to spend hours poring over".

Managing increasingly large & complex data sets is a challenge facing today's society, and how to make sense of, and then communicate the meaning of, that information is becoming increasingly important. Government spending data, local health data, global traffic patterns - all big data sets that need to be analyzed and interpreted.

One solution is to take those big numbers, interpret the information and create a visual layout of that data so that it can be understood more clearly by the non-statisticians amongst us (aka most of the adult population).

Albert Einstein is credited with saying "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." So why not take all those numbers and turn them into pictures? Simple. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, so maybe a picture is also worth a thousand (or more) numbers.

The book that I am currently spending far too many waking hours engrossed in is Information Graphics, published by Taschen. This book shows that people can, and will, understand information if it is visually well-interpreted. It is beautiful. It is big. It is fascinating. I promise to return it by its due date so that you can share in the fun! In the meantime, take a sneak peak into the book here.