Book Reviews

Almost French: A review of "Almost French", the story by Australian journalist Sarah Turnbull of how she came to live in Paris, her struggle to come to terms with a new way of life, and her experiences along the way.
Bad Christmas: "Don't you just love Christmas? The feelings of guilt when that distant relative thousands of miles away sends you a card and it's too late to send them one? ... The arguments in the kitchen as mother-in-law insists that you don't baste a turkey that way? No? This could be the book for you, then." Dave McMahon reviews 'Bad Christmas', a rib-busting collection of news stories and anecdotes about other people's Christmas disasters.
GenXpat: "There's plenty of evidence around to suggest that more people than ever before are seeking to earn their livelihoods in a country other than the one they've grown up in." Dave reviews Canadian cross-cultural trainer Margaret Malewski's guide to becoming an expat for young professionals: "GenXpat".
It's All Greek To Me!: "John Mole's book is very much in the Mayle mould; largely, no doubt, because he starts off with a similarly ramshackle property in a similar traditional rural community. If anything, though, Mole's predicament is even further removed from the urban UK - even the UK of the late 1970s, when he and his family were contemplating their move to the Greek island of Evia." Dave reviews John Mole's account of his new life in rural Greece.
Maid in West Ham: "Born in 1924, Ivy Alexander was the third of six children. She grew up in Old Canning Town. Like much of the East End of London, it was economically, culturally, and environmentally damaged." A review of Ivy Alexander's book: Maid in West Ham.
Motorway Sights Guides: "Ever been driving along a motorway, seen a building, and wondered what it was? Wonder no more. Mike Jackson and his small team have trawled the lengths of three of Britain's longest motorways to find out for you!" Dave reviews Mike Jackson's innovative and lively Motorway Sights Guides.
Quisqueya: "It would be very easy to write the book from the narrow point of view of a Briton abroad and to dismiss the differences of life in the DR as shortcomings or oddities on the part of the Dominicans. Ginnie steers well clear of this trap and, indeed, gently chides the naivety of some of the many foreigners who've visited Puerto Plata with a view to settling." Dave reviews "Quisqueya", Ginnie Bedggood's account - at turns funny, candid and hard-hitting - of her first eight years as an expat in the Dominican Republic. Compulsory reading for any expat planning to move to a developing country!

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Off the Cookshelf