Good things this month

Not T'ai Chi books, but none the less I would like to recommend a few items here as I know so many folk in the schools are keen readers.

First Charlotte DuCann's '52 Flowers That Rocked My World'. I am about half-way through this great book which covers Charlotte's journey from high-living fashion journalist to her life as a writer now, via the deserts of America's South, dreams, nature and the Transition movement. It's an engrossing memoir of the Way, and can be found here.

Kim Stanley Robinson's 'Shaman' was one of my favourite books of last year and his newest title 'Aurora' is just as good. Some people write-off SF (speculative fiction) and miss out on so much due to genre snobbism. Robinson is as good as our much-missed Iain M Banks, and I cried, shuddered and flew though Aurora in a couple of days. Everything about this book is superb; it brought to mind the ecological sensitivity of Ursula K LeGuin, the galactic sweep of Iain M Banks and the depth of characterisation of Barbara Kingsolver. 'Aurora' is also a cutting analogy of our own predicament, and has given me much food for thought.

 

I really enjoyed 'Bird Man', the film starring Michael Keaton, with actors at their very best, all round. It has the illusion of being one long continuous shot and includes an incredible drumming score by Antonio Sánchez. I can't fault the film on any front, enjoy!