What is your current "read"?

Francesca said:
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Three Michelin Star Chef Angél León ´s 1st book .. A nautical Researcher and Food designer who collaboarated with a Japanese Manufacturer to créate a means of creating Plankton transparent which the chef employs in some of his renowned shellfish and fish dishes. The son of two medical doctors who is the owner of an incredible restaurant called APONIENTE in El Puerta de Santa Maria, Cadiz and is now opening a fish & shellfish bar in Madrid ..
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@MypinchofItaly & @ElizabethB

Thank you Ladies .. Absolutely an amazing Food Designer & Chef .. A truly incredible experience and the book is a " cannot put down " !

Have a lovely weekend ..
 
@MypinchofItaly & @ElizabethB

As both of you are aware, Pâtissier et Chocolatier Pierre Hermé has been awarded as the World´s Best Pastry Chef at the London Restaurant Awards, which is held every April in London ..

This is simply a gold mine of chocolate jewelery and pastry gems ..

There is no one who creates an almond flour French Macaron like Pierre Hermé and I had eaten them throughout not only Paris but all of France on my travels and believe me it is something one never forgets ..

Wheat flour is not used in France to créate Macarons, a sándwich cookie with a filling ranging from fruits, tri color chocolate, pistachio and even savory fillings such as foie gras de canard ..

The book does come in English .. I am uncertain if it comes in Italian however, Eataly may have it in Italian on its ground floor book shop ..

Have a lovely evening and weekend ..
 
ElizabethB said:
@Francesca

A lovely, thoughtful gift from a lovey, thoughtful friend. Lucky you.
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@ElizabethB

Actually it was a French client ( a lady ) who took one of the tours to Ski & Spa Cuisine last Winter in north west Cataluna called Lerida on the Romanic Route .. She and her husband were very lovely ..

I was very surprised when I received it at our offices ..

She wrote me a very beautiful thank you note too .. In a card, not an email ..

Late here 12.10am .. Goodnight ..
 
Owing to my not being well and a mix up over dates, I now had 2 audiobooks and 5 print books from our local library. As they will be due back in a month's time, I have given up reading my own books, and am now reading "Blood, Iron & Gold" by Christian Wolmar (a large print book).
 
I finally manage to read The Forgotten Highlander by Alistair Urquhart

Alistair Urquhart was a soldier in the Gordon Highlanders captured by the Japanese in Singapore. He not only survived working on the notorious Bridge on the River Kwai , but he was subsequently taken on one of the Japanese 'hellships' which was torpedoed. Nearly everyone else on board died and Urquhart spent 5 days alone on a raft in the South China Sea before being rescued by a whaling ship. He was taken to Japan and then forced to work in a mine near Nagasaki. Two months later a nuclear bomb dropped just ten miles away . . .
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This is the extraordinary story of a young man, conscripted at nineteen and whose father was a Somme Veteran, who survived not just one, but three very close separate encounters with death - encounters which killed nearly all his comrades.
 
Now that I have read every novel by Charles Dickens (including the unfinished one), there is still a little published work to cover. Right now, I am reading his American Notes, written during his visit to the US in 1842. Those familiar with Martin Chuzzlewit should recognise some of the scenes and people. Dickens seemed to suffer a good deal of opprobrium for what he wrote about America, but from what I can see, there is a fair amount that is quite complimentary, particularly with regard to institutions such as asylums, prisons, orphanages and such like. Dickens appears to find more fairness and humanity in the way that the poor and dispossessed were treated in America as opposed to Britain. He is, quite rightly, scathing about slavery, so perhaps this upset a few people. In which case, good.
 
Duck59 said:
there is a fair amount that is quite complimentary, particularly with regard to institutions such as asylums, prisons, orphanages and such like. Dickens appears to find more fairness and humanity in the way that the poor and dispossessed were treated in America as opposed to Britain
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That is really quite surprising. I had assumed that America would have been similar to UK at that time in that respect.
 
@Duck59

I have not read the book so I do not know what he has to say nor do I know what British institutions were like. In Dickens' time American institutions were little more than holding pens. Residents were more like inmates. Include homes for the elderly in that list. There was much abuse and neglect. In mental institutions people were often involuntarily subjected to experimental treatments in the name of science - frequently extremely cruel and inhumane. Humanity, dignity, compassion and human rights were unheard of. There was little change until well into the late 20th century. During WWII German and Japanese citizens were incarcerated in camps.

I love my country. I would not want to live any where else. I am not blind to our faults and weakness. Even our poor are better off than in many countries. Unfortunately they are dependent on hand outs and have forgotten how to care for themselves. Politics and agendas are much to blame for the breakdown of the family unit.

Enough - I could rant for DAYS.
 
There used to be a large prisoner of war camp near where I live. The prisoners were all German or Italian. When the war finished, a lot of them chose to stay here. One of my old friends who was Italian met her husband (who was English) at the end of the war when British troops were in Italy. They married in Italy when she was 15, and they came to the UK to live. All the time I knew her, she had never been back to Italy, although her children did visit on several occasions. On the other hand, my cousin in Saudi Arabia did actually come over to the UK during the first Iraq war, when an errant scud missile nearly landed on his house. He swore he would never come back here, and he never did apart from business trips and a couple of short holidays to catch up with family. And, for the record, I hated it here when I first came back from Germany. Everywhere I knew and loved seemed to have been demolished or buried under a sea of concrete.
 
Mod Edit: Could we possibly return to what books people are reading? Anything else can be discussed in new threads and links put in here (or not) provided that they meet the T&C's of this site! Points 1 & 3 seem particularly relevant in this case.

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I found Baldacci's "The Whole Truth" gave a very grave view of how unscrupulous persons could manipulate the internet. Fictional, of course, but one never knows.
 
I'm reading Irvine Welsh at the moment. It's yet another Trainspotting spin-off and while it's hard to escape the conclusion that Mr Welsh is wringing out this particular theme for all its worth, it's still a good read. This one is Skagboys, set in the 1980s and chronicling the (increasingly wasted) lives of our heroes. I can't help but wonder if we will get yet another volume taking us back to when they were all at school...

Still, it cost me all of 10p in a jumble sale, so I can't complain.
 
ElizabethB said:
I am reading Dan Brown's "Origin" a so-so read. I do think of @Francesca - the story is set in Spain. The story opens at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. From there the characters have moved on to Antoni Gaudi's Casa Mila in Barcelona. Both such amazing structures.
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@ElizabethB

Incredibly amazing architecture .. The Sagrada Famlia in Barcelona and the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Vizcaya, The Basque Country ..

Sounds very fascinating ..

I have been in Madrid all week with my husband, on vacation .. We have National Holidays ..

Having an extraordinary week ..

All my best for a lovely weekend ..

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