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Books

Wonder: A film for the whole family! #choosekind #wonderthemovie

Wonder, by R. J Palacio, is a special book in our family. We first heard about it as recommended reading from the headmistresses of the girls’ school. It’s about August Pullman, a 10-year-old boy with a severe facial disfigurement who enters mainstream primary school for the first time. It’s told …

Good Reads: 11 fantastic book club suggestions

  I’ve belonged to all different types of book clubs. There was the couples only book club a while back, led by a literature graduate. Each session was a mini dissertation on the selected book (oh the pressure). Then there was the book club where we only picked classics. I …

Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking

I’ve just finished Quiet – The power of introverts in a world that can’t stop talking, by Susan Cain. It’s a fabulous feel good book for introverts and I can’t stop thinking about it. The premise is that while introverts make up 1/3 to 1/2 of the population, society is …

The Kite Runner: Khaled Hosseini’s flea market

  The San Jose Flea Market, made famous by Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner, is not far from where we are staying in California. One of the reasons the book resonated with me was because of the author’s connections with Silicon Valley, where I grew up. I visited the flea market …

A day at the beach

I’m thoroughly ensconced in California now. We’ve been here nearly two weeks and the girls are officially “tired” of Mexican food. One can never tire of the beach though, and here are some pics from a recent trip to Santa Cruz…    Where we collected lots of shells!   And made …

My perfect day in San Francisco, kids included

Everyone has their own idea of a perfect day in a favourite city– a secret haunt, restaurant, coffee shop or that special view. If you get it right, it's like putting on your favourite sweater. I lived in San Francisco in the 90s when I was single, upwardly mobile and thought I was the luckiest person in the world. If I squint, I can just about remember it. Now I live in the UK and have three gorgeous girls (ages 5, 6 and 8). Of course I wanted to share my favourite city with them. Oh, just an aside, please never say Frisco in my presence.

So what's my perfect day in San Francisco?

Lombard 
Drive down Lombard Street. Enter at the top of Greenwich.

18 really good book club suggestions from mums that read (and blog)

One dayIt's book club time again! I'm always looking for suggestions on book that are interesting and entertaining yet gritty enough to spark heated discussion. I asked my mum blogger friends for some ideas and it resulted in a plethora of good reads.

1. One Day by David Nicholls. "It's about a couple who meet each other on 15th July (their graduation) and it follows their lives on the very same day until they are older. The ending is fab and totally unexpected. They're making it into a film and Anne Hathaway plays the main female character! x" (Jo Jo Kirtley)

2. The Help by Kathryn Stockett. "About the American deep south at the time when slavery was being abolished in the north. It's written from the perspective of one of the maids and is a really easy brilliant read." (Kate Takes Five)

3. Fingersmith By Sarah Waters. "By the same author as Tipping the Velvet. Victorian crime novel – lots of twist and turns in the plot and I haven't even reached the end yet…" (Kate Takes Five)

I really need to watch more telly

I’ve always been hopeless when it comes to recognising celebs. Fifteen years ago when I was fresh-off-the-silicon-valley-boat and seated right next to Chris Evans at a press lunch at Langhams, I was more interested in the tech exec at the table. Later, the agency director whispered in my ear, don’t you know who that was? …