Driving Over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia

Meet Chris Stewart, the eternal optimist. At age 17 Chris retired as the drummer of Genesis and launched a career as a sheep shearer and travel writer. He has no regrets about this. Had he become a big-time rock star he might never have moved with his wife Ana to a remote mountain farm in Andalucia. Nor forged the friendship of a lifetime with his resourceful peasant neighbour Domingo...not watched his baby daughter Chloe grow and thrive there...nor written this book. Fate does sometimes seem to know what it's up to. "Driving Over Lemons" is that rare thing: a funny, insightful book that charms you from the first page to the last...and one that makes running a peasant farm in Spain seem like a distinctly good move. Chris transports us to Las Alpujarras, an oddball region south of Granada, and into a series of misadventures with an engaging mix of peasant farmers and shepherds, New Age travellers and ex-pats. The hero of the piece, however, is the farm that he and Ana bought, El Valero - a patch of mountain studded with olive, almond and lemon groves, sited on the wrong side of a river, with no access road, water supply or electricity. Could life offer much better than that?

Travel

Chris-Stewart

Europe

Sort of Books

The scientific exploration of the ocean is an extraordinary story. Hundreds have climbed Everest yet only two people have descended, in a homespun 'bathyscaphe', to the very depths of the deepest sea chasm. Amazing oases teeming with life have been found in deep sea volcanic vents but we have hardly begun to identify their resident species. We know that sea currents control our climate but we don't know how. Ocean scientists are pretty sure that we could reverse the greenhouse effect by manipulating plankton blooms with doses of iron ...but fear we might trigger an ice age in the act. "Mapping the Deep" is a state-of-the-ocean report on the sea and its science. After amazing you at how little you know of the ocean, Kunzig swiftly draws you into a compelling narrative of oceanographers past and present - scientists, pioneers, maverick thinkers, deep water divers and submersible pilots. Like all the best science books, this is a hugely informative page-turner that confirms Robert Kunzig's position in the top rank of popular science writers.

Mapping the Deep : The Extraordinary Story of Ocean Science

Science & Math

Robert Kunzig

Earth Sciences

Peter Blegvad's cult comic strip "Leviathan" ran for seven years in "The Independent on Sunday" review. It was memorably described by "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening as 'one of the greatest, weirdest things I've ever stared at'. Quirky and referential, dark and droll, by turn, Blegvad's cartoons are indeed unlike anything else in print. "The Book of Leviathan" assembles the cream of Levi and Cat's adventures in a 160pp hardback - startlingly produced, with flat-bound, mirrored cover boards and full colour printing throughout. It is an object to treasure.

The Book of Leviathan by Peter Blegvad (2000-10-01)

Comics & Graphic Novels

Peter Blegvad

Comic Strips

Driving over Lemons: An Optimist in Andalucia

Biographies & Memoirs

Finnish artist Tove Jansson's Moomin stories have been continually in print for more than half a century, in 35 languages. They are among Europe's best loved and enduring children's classics, and through the current TV animation (BBC2), the warm-hearted, whimsical creatures of Moomin valley have been brought to a new younger British audience. This book introduces the first Sort Of Children's Classic in a new English version by Sophie Hannah. Sort of Books proudly presents the original full colour Moomin picture book with its irresistible cut-out page designs and playful rhyming text in a new version by one of Britain's star poets.

The Book About Moomin, Mymble and Little My

Tove, Jansson

Children's Books

Chris Stewart's "Driving Over Lemons" told the story of his move to a remote mountain farm in Las Alpujarras - an oddball region of Spain, south of Granada. Funny, insightful and real, the book became an international bestseller. "A Parrot in a Pepper Tree", the sequel to "Lemons", follows the lives of Chris, Ana and their daughter, Chloe, as they get to grips with a misanthropic parrot who joins their home, Spanish school life, neighbours in love, their amazement at Chris appearing on the bestseller lists . . and their shock at discovering that their beloved valley is once more under threat of a dam. "A Parrot in the Pepper Tree" also looks back on Chris Stewart's former life - the hard times shearing in midwinter Sweden (and driving across the frozen sea to reach island farms); his first taste of Spain, learning flamenco guitar as a 20-year old; and his illustrious music career, drumming for his schl band Genesis (sacked at 17, he never quite became Phil Collins), and then for a circus.

Parrot in the Pepper Tree : A Sort of Sequel to Driving over Lemons

Travel Writing

When ten Pakistani men walk into Kathleen Jamie's small Scottish town on a peace march, in November 2001, she is thrown back to her own travels in Northern Pakistan and a book she wrote a decade earlier. "Among Muslims" is the account of Jamie's time travelling alone and living among the Shia and Ismaili Muslims in the Northern Areas - the mountainous regions wedged between Afghanistan, India and China and one of the most volatile borderlands in the world. A bold, sympathetic and superbly written book, "Among Muslims" delves into Jamie's own Scottish upbringing to find links with the purdah-observing lifestyle of her Shia Muslim hosts. It is a privileged account from an acclaimed poet, who during her travels was often literally the only woman on the bus. "Among Muslims" was originally published as "The Golden Peak". For this edition, Kathleen Jamie returned to Pakistan to write an Afterword and Preface.

Among Muslims : Meetings at the Frontiers of Pakistan

Politics & Social Sciences

Kathleen Jamie

Anthropology

Who Will Comfort Toffle? A tale of Moomin Valley sees Toffle driven from his home by the frightening noises of the forest. Too shy, at first, to approach the many colourful Moomin characters he passes along the way, he gains confidence by discovering a scared and lonely Miffle who needs his help. Toffle's quest to save Miffle from the dreadful Groke is an inspiring tale that every child (and many adults) are sure to identify with.

Who Will Comfort Toffle? : A Tale of Moomin Valley

JANSSON, TOVE

Translated by Sophie Hannah

Literature & Fiction

An elderly artist and her six-year-old grand-daughter are away on a summer together on a tiny island in the gulf of Finland. As the two learn to adjust to each other's fears, whims and yearnings, a fierce yet understated love emerges - one that encompasses not only the summer inhabitants but the very island itself. Written in a clear, unsentimental style, full of brusque humour, and wisdom, "The Summer Book" is a profoundly life-affirming story. Tove Jansson captured much of her own life and spirit in the book, which was her favourite of her adult novels. This new edition, with a Foreword by Esther Freud, sees the return of a European literary gem - fresh, authentic and deeply humane.

The Summer Book: A Novel

Contemporary

The Post Office Girl: Stefan Zweig’s Grand Hotel Novel

Zweig,Stefan

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