The Righteous Men by Sam Bourne

The Righteous Men by Sam Bourne (2006)
Read: October 2012

I picked this book up at the CSA when their library was having a book sale.  I was trying to be selective and so only bought two books from the sale at 5LE each.  I picked this one out because, although it wasn't along our favoured theme of Egypt/Middle East/Travel, I had read a book by the same author over the summer.

The story follows Will, a reporter for the NY Times, who's wife gets kidnapped and the finds himself then trying to figure out a series of clues to find her - and, it turns out, stop the end of the world!  It was a pretty good concept to be honest, and the grounding in Jewish tradition and folklaw seemed well based.  I did also like the clues that he had to solve via text and computer and the chase of finding these around New York.  My only problem with the book was that it felt like there was a significant section in the middle where Will was concentrating so much on solving the clues that he forgot that he was actually meant to be looking for his wife.

A 1/4 Gram by Essam Youssef

A 1/4 Gram by Essam Youssef (2008, English translation 2009)
Read: September – October 2012

We were lent this book by a friend after they raved about it and as it isn’t published by the AUC Press it’s doubtful that it would have otherwise come up on our radar. I’m glad it did though because it is a very real story and one that feels well set and well told.

The book follows Salah from his days with his mates in school until he is an adult, but this journey is not one of growing up, but one of growing addiction. As a reader you can see it coming; that the group of friends first try one drug and then another, until not only their friendships but their lives revolve around drugs.  The book itself is very lengthy, but this is necessary in order to tell the full tale, I feel.  It shows that the pathway to addiction is not linear and that the road to recovery is much the same.  There are many times in the story when you hope that Salah will make a different decision but when he doesn’t you know that it is just the addiction ruling his life rather than he. I did find Salah a believable protagonist and his complicated story is required, as it would not have ‘worked’ if he had simply been on drugs and then come off them.

As a reader I found it frustrating when Salah was trying to check out of the rehabilitation hospital.  This was a clear turning point in the book – and in his life.  I really wanted him to succeed, but I also felt his attitude towards rehab showed a real arrogance.  I would like to have seen him credit for doctors more for his progress and role in recovery.  Salah does succeed (in checking out, and in staying clean) and the credit for the work of the doctors is then there.  As Salah journeys along the road to recovery he finds a sponsor to guide him.  I really liked that the sponsor is younger than Salah as this emphasised the importance in the Programme of experience over anything else. The author clearly understands addiction and the Programme and is passionate that others should be exposed to the realities of both through the story.

I am not really a fan of the preface/post-script for the book trying to emphasise that this is a true story and manuscript approval etc.  I don’t feel this is required for the book to have power and impact. 

You don't often find a novel with appendices, but I did think it was important to have the NA steps in, as and this does give book power and grounding. It was interesting to see the history of NA in Egypt and I hope that this book inspires others and enables NA to expand here.  I thought that it was a missed opportunity that there were no links to encourage readers to find out more about NA in Egypt e.g to help themselves/others.

Millionaire Teacher by Andrew Hallam

Millionaire Teacher: The Nine Rules of Wealth You Should Have Learnt in School by Andrew Hallam (2011) 
Read (Kindle): September 2012

When Scotty first mentioned this book I thought it was just about a teacher who was a millionaire, and didn't realise that it was also actually about 'teaching' people to be able to do the same.  Scotty was so keen to read it that he downloaded it onto the Kindle within a few hours of discovering it and he read it in less than a week.  I then started it a few days later on Scotty's recommendation, and also finished it within a few days.

We both found the book to be really informative and really relevant for our situation.  Hallam is an international teacher like us, and we have been trying to work out what to do with our savings recently so finding this book and ideas linked in perfectly.  The ideas in the book helped us be more confident about taking control of our own savings, rather than having others manage them for us.  It also helped us understand the stock markets and shares a bit more and how different savings styles work.  We weren't looking to have a huge understanding of the stock markets, so this book was just right, as it does not go in to detail about 'buy and sell' etc, but just enough to get the understanding you need to play the 'long game' of savings and investments.

I'd definitely recommend this book for other people who are interested in taking control of their savings (however small or large) and who want to invest for a significant period of time.

Overland to Egypt by Gordan G May

Overland to Egypt on a 1952 BSA Bantam by Gordan G May (2012)
Read: September 2012

We'd been waiting to read this book for quite a while as we'd assumed Gordan would publish it soon after his adventure finished (summer 2010) but in fact it was only published nearly two years later.

The reason we were so keen to get our hands on the book is because we followed Gordon's adventures on his Overland to Egypt blog at the time of the trip and in fact met him when he finished his (outward) journey in Cairo.  It was really great to meet Gordan as we got to learn loads about his journey and got to show him around our favourite part of Cairo; the Bab Zuweyla area.  On reading the book we were honoured to find we had two mentions; one for our meeting and wander, and a second when Gordon followed a tip-off from us about looking in to the SS Thistlegorm wreck.

The reason behind the delayed publication of the book was one of the things that actually makes the book so unique and 'of a time'; the fact that six months after completing his trip the Arab Spring took place.  Gordon felt that he could not publish the book until he knew that everyone he had met in the region was safe and well.  The person he worried the most about was his guide whilst in Libya who had travelled the breadth of the country with him and welcomed him in to his life.  It was another six months or so after the Arabi Spring that Gordon finally heard from Ezzat that he was safe and well. As a result of the change in the region, it is just no longer possible to do the trip that Gordon did because of security concerns and boarder regulations.

I found the first half of the book itself rather difficult to read.  This was because it is so 'bike' heavy. This is to be expected I guess because the focus of the trip was to travel to Egypt on a vintage motorbike.  I found this first part of the (two) journeys to be very technical with details of the set up and maintenance required on the bike.  At the end of the book, Gordon notes that he learnt a lot about himself, the countries he visited and about motorbike maintenance (!) and I feel that in this way I did too!  Gordon doesn't go on about this aspect of his journey unnecessarily, as the bike seems to break down / need maintenance a few times each day as well as a large overhaul each morning it seems.  By the end of the book I really did question how wise it was to do the ride on this bike in the first place.  I understand his sentimental reasoning, but considering all the problems that there were (even from the first day of the ride!) I think that for any future ride he should really consider a far longer 'test' period to get the bike 'worn in' whilst on familiar turf.  It took him four days to travel to the Channel when it should have taken two, but surely some of the problems he came across could have been identified (or he could have gotten used to) beforehand.

The journey travels through Europe before hitting North Africa and then returning via the eastern Mediterranean, and my preferred section of the book was definitely when he entered Libya and then Egypt.  I found this to be the most interesting because of the personal connection to that coastal road that we too have travelled on, and of course this was my preferred section of the book as it involves us meeting Gordan!

We get a mention on two different days in his journals - first from our meeting and the lovely evening we spent together. And then a few days later too, when he follows up our tip that BSAs were carried and shipwrecked on the Thistlegorm in the Red Sea. We truely did have a wonderful evening when we met Gordan. We love wandering around Downtown and to meet up with him in a small ahwa outside his hotel was brilliant.  We got to meet Peggy too, of course, and after a wander together we had dinner.  I think we got along really well - considering he is someone we effectively 'met on the internet'! - and we weren't left wanting for conversation.  In fact we even walked back to his hotel for a nightcap at the bar there.

After finally getting to his destination (and I am proud to say that we gave him the tip-off about visiting Saqarra pyramid which is where he got the cover shot from) he is still under pressure to keep moving, but seems to be a lot more at ease with the bike.  This makes the journey a lot more enjoyable it feels and he utilises a whole host of different methods for getting the bike to where he wants to me (lifts on the back of lorries, boats, trains etc).

Tropic of Capricorn by Simon Reeve

Tropic of Capricorn: A Remarkable Journey to the Forgotton Corners of the World by Simon Reeve (2009)

Read: September 2012

This book had been sitting on our shelves for about nine months and so I thought that it was about time to get round to reading it.  I wanted a good read to get me back in to reading here in Cairo and this story of a journey around the tropic of Capricorn seemed to fit the bill. What I hadn’t realised when I first picked it up was that this book actually accompanied a TV series – which I now think we should get a copy of!  The author seems to have had an interesting background, as he has presented a TV series before visiting the ‘places that don’t exist’ i.e. places that are not recognised by different organisations like Fifa, the UN, Eurovision – now that programme I’ve got to see!

What was interesting about this book was the range of different countries and hence experiences that are encountered on route, as Capricorn hits southern Africa, Australia and South America.  The author is quite daring in his food and activity choices during the journey as he meets and spends time with local people.  But he is probably more daring in the fact that he is getting married in the middle of the journey and so the first half of the trip he spends planning the wedding from a distance or with his fiancée accompanying him, and the second half he spends trying to get back to her before Christmas!

Although I found some chapters a little too long and needing more breaking up (or maybe this just reflects my need for sleep sooner in the evenings!), the book hangs together very well and the style is very accessible and understanding about the issues and peoples come across. Without revealing what he will find in other countries too soon, Reeve manages to draw out some similar tales that unite these apparently very different countries.  Although the journey is much about meeting the people who live along Capricorn it is not surprising that it is the (changing) climate that they all have in common, and as such the tale turns from a human one to an environmental one.  One that has implications beyond the belt of countries visited.

The Last Testament by Sam Bourne

The Last Testament by Sam Bourne (2007)

Read: August 2012

We had a good trawl of the charity shops in New Malden and Wimbledon one weekend as we realised that we had  returned to the UK without anything much to read for the whole summer!  We had actually brought back a range of books from Cairo, but these were to store in our ”keeping” collection though. This book was found after much browsing of what was on offer and honed in on because of the setting of the story (between Israel and Palestine) and the subject (old artefacts) and the credits (the bloke with the crazy hair and beard at the British Museum was credited because of his help with the cuneiform in the book).

There was not as much on the topic of the artefact itself in the book as I had expected, as for much of the book the tablet is being looked for, rather than being looked at.  It was interesting to see its journey from discovery through looting of the Museum of Baghdad, to illegal selling, transporting and finally translation. 

The real journey that was being followed though was that of Maggie as she tried to trace this object that had caused so much interest.  She, and the reader, had to follow a series of clues, some more obvious than others, that took them from present day to the past, from one country to another and one world to another (I’m still not sure whether the foray in to Second Life was an inspired, or infuriating device)

I was not so interested in Maggie’s love life and personal conflict / attempted redemption in returning to her role of negotiator, but the backdrop of political sensitivity and attempts to bridge the divide between the two countries was good.

I might not rush to pick up another of his books, but this one definitely filled a gap in the summer with something that was engaging and had a little bit of intrigued and mystery in.

Sandstealers by Ben Brown

Sandstealers by Ben Brown (2009)

Read: July - August 2012

This book looked like my cup of tea when we found it in a charity shop in SW London.  I’d enjoyed reading biographies of various journalists in the past (John Snow, Kate Adie and the likes) and this seemed to combine journalism with conflict in areas of the world that we are interested in (the Balkans and the Middle East).

As it was a novel, rather than a biog I knew I’d have to put up with some kind of love story / personal dilemma taking place amongst the characters, but I was able to get over this (even though every character seemed to have their own personal trauma / conflict – much like what people claim with international teaching; that everyone has a backstory).  I found that the book moved with difficulty at first between the present day and the history, but after a while it settled in to a rhythm and pace that I found easy to read.

I did enjoy the settings; the Balkans and then the Middle East, and intense relationships between the journalists, as well as their approaches to their work were well conveyed.  One of the reasons behind buying this book was that the author biog showed that Ben Brown’s alter ego was a conflict correspondent himself.

The twist towards the end of the book was a little disappointing in that everything came back to relationships, rather than the setting itself, but I guess that working in such an intense environment means that relationships are actually important – even though you try not to make them so.