Rainy Day Reading

Lets face it, after the glorious sunshine of April, May has turned out to be a bit of a damp squib. If like me all this rain is getting you down then it's time to find solace in the escapism of a good book. Here are a few of my choices to help you while away the hours whilst it's chucking it down outside:

A Tramp Abroad:


Mark Twain travelogue contains his diverse and humourous accounts of his 15 month walking trip through Central Europe and The Alps. Wonderful descriptions of nature sit nicely alongside Twain's anecdotal flair. This Modern Library Paperback Classic reproduces the text of the first American edition and features new explanatory notes and a critical Afterword by Kerry Driscoll, professor of English at Saint Joseph College in Connecticut.


A Tramp Abroad - available here
Format: Trade Paperback, 400 pages
Price: £12.99
ISBN: 978-0-8129-7003-6 (0-8129-7003-9)

The Mountains of My Life


Continuing the travel theme, the second recommendation is Walter Bonatti's 'The Mountains of My Life' whose heroic adventures in the Alps and Himalayas make my reluctance to leave the house due to the merest hint of rain seem rather risible. This books retells his fateful K2 expedition as well as being illustrated with Bonatti's own photo's.




The Mountains of My Life - available here
Format: Trade Paperback, 496 pages
Price: £13.99
ISBN: 978-0-375-75640-5 (0-375-75640-X)

Roll on summer sunshine!

Happy Belated Birthday J.M Barrie!!

OK so I'm a few days late (it was the 9th May) but better late than never!

Happy Birthday to Mr. Barrie, Scottish novelist and playwright, and of course most famous for that eternal children's classic, Peter Pan. Barrie's been having a resurgence over the last few years in so far that Johnny Depp played him in the biopic 'Finding Neverland' in 2004. Right I'm off to Kensington Gardens to see the statue and to learn how to fly.

Available from Modern Library:

Peter, Wendy, Captain Hook, the lost boys, and Tinker Bell have filled the hearts of children ever since Barrie's play first opened in London in 1904 and became an immediate sensation. Now this funny, haunting modern myth is presented with Bedford's wonderful illustrations, which first appeared in the author's own day, have long been out of print, and have never been equaled.



Peter Pan
Format: Trade Paperback, 192 pages
ISBN: 978-0-8129-7297-9
Price: £5.99

Culture Smart in the press in the UK and US

Our excellent Culture Smart series has been gaining attention on both sides of the Atlantic this week.

Read review in the New York Times

and

Read review in the The Sunday Times

For more information visit Culture Smart Guides

Liverpool fans get ready for Athens with our cross cultural tips!

So its all decided in the football - a repeat of the 2005 Champions League final - Liverpool vs Milan! Thought we'd be of assistance to those lucky Liverpool fans who are making the trip to Athens with our top tips of how to behave in Greece: (Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho, you can stop reading now as this doesn't concern you)

Taken from Culture Smart! Greece by Constantine Buhayer:

• Never show the palm of your hand with all fingers apart, as if you are indicating "take five". In Greece this means "excrement on your face", or that you are scum.

• The standard greeting is a handshake, both when you arrive and when you leave... However 'Thank You' is not an expression that you will hear frequently.You will find yourself rendering some small service that the receipient wil accept without batting an eyelid.

• Greeks do not smile continuously during conversations - they smile in approval but if you smile continuously it can indicate that you are weak and simpleminded.

• A nonsmoking admirer of Greece was once asked why he visited the place so often. He replied that he had become addicted to passive smoking. Greeks don't simply smoke; they are among the heaviest smokers in the world.

• You'll will rarely see a drunken Greek..The preferred high is to be in good company and build up the mood with conversation...Though beware - this doesnt mean that Greeks don't drink over the limit. It is just that through their social interaction they channel their behaviours well clear of the ugly conduct common in northern cultures.

So no doubt the travelling fans will stick to a shandy or light ale.

(All together now) When you walk through a storm....

Culture Smart! Greece
Format: Trade Paperback, 168 pages
ISBN: 978-1-857-33369-5 (1-857-33369-1)
Price: £6.95