Nicholas Shakespeare: The Sandpit, Vintage (Penguin Random House UK) 9781787301771, C Format Paperback, May 2020
German Edition: “Boomerang”, Hoffmann & Campe, Hardback, Mai 2020

Vintage who publish Nicholas Shakespeare’s “The Sandpit” compare his novel with those of Graham Greene and John Le Carre, there is definitely a likeness. 

In my view  the element of a thriller was not the dominating red string running through the book; it is the captivating narration told in the present of a journalist, John Dyer, who has recently returned from Rio de Janeiro to Oxford where he is leading a quiet life, writing a book about a Brazilian tribe, and getting himself involuntarily mixed up in the disappearance of an Iranian nuclear physicist, Rustum Marvar, the father of one of his son Leonardo’s friends  who is attending his old posh prep school. Dyer seems to be the last person who saw him before he disappeared without a trace.  Suddenly some people, parents he knows from watching his son’s weekly football games, start inviting and questioning him about his friendship with Marvar displaying great interest in his knowledge of what appears to be a groundbreaking breakthrough Rustum is rumored to have made at his lab. Soon Dyer finds himself in a dangerous situation facing an impossible dilemma: how to guard his and his son’s life and how not to betray the trust Marvar had placed in him.

“The Sandpit” is a very clever story without using heart-throbbing thriller effects but keeping you hooked just the same. I particularly liked how neatly Nicholas Shakespeare tied it all up in the end.

Meike Winnemuth: Das große Los -  Wie ich bei Günther Jauch eine halbe Million gewann und einfach los fuhr, Penguin Verlag,  Deutschland, Taschenbuch, 9783328102667,

Ich kann mich noch genau daran erinnern, als die Journalistin Meike Winnemuth ihre 500.000 Euro in  Günther Jauchs Quizsendung gewann und gefragt,  was sie damit mache wolle,  sagte: „ Ein Jahr lang jeweils einen Monat in einer Stadt meiner Wahl leben.“  Ich dachte noch, Wow, was für eine coole Idee und traute es dieser Frau sofort zu. Sie hat es getan.

 Jetzt ist ihr Buch da, in dem sie klug, witzig und sehr kurzweilig über  ihre Zeit in diesen Städten resümiert.  Es sind Sydney, Buenos Aires, Mumbai,  Shanghai, Honolulu, San Francisco, London, Kopenhagen, Barcelona, Tel Aviv, Addis Abeba und Havanna geworden.  Nicht alles läuft glatt, der Tsunami, der die nukleare Katastrophe in Fukushima auslöst, zwingt sie Tokio auszulassen und ihre Route zu ändern.  Mumbai entpuppt sich für sie als eine mittlere Katastophe, in der sie so gar nicht ankommt. In dem sie die Form des Briefeschreibens an eine ihre nahestehende Person für jede Stadt wählt, bekommt die Reisebeschreibung eine sehr persönliche Note. Gut hat mir auch gefallen, dass sie am Ende eines jeden Städtemonats  „10 Dinge, die ich in …..gelernt habe“  anfügt. Ein paar Ideen habe ich von ihr abgekupfert.  Das Buch hört nicht mit dem Ende ihrer Reise auf, sondern sie nimmt uns mit per Frachter zurück nach Hamburg und vor allem in die Zeit danach, wie es ihr mit dem Ankommen in ihrem alten/neuen Leben ergeht . 

Meike Winnemuths Beschreibung eines ungewöhnlichen Reisejahres passte perfekt als Tröster für meine eigenen ausgefallenen Reisen in diese durch Corona geprägte reise freie Zeit.  Ein schönes, inspirierendes Buch, das immer noch nachschwingt.

For English speaking readers a short synopsis:

Meike Winnemuth is a journalist who won 500.000 Euro several years ago in a popular German Quiz show. Asked what she wanted to do with the money she answered: Live in 12 cities for one month each over a year. … which is what she did and captured here time in Sydney, Buenos Aires, Mumbai, Shanghai, Honolulu, San Francisco, London, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Tel Aviv, Addis Abeba and Havana. Her book and account of this unusual travel year and the time thereafter makes for very inspirational, entertaining reading, perfect for an armchair trip in this enforced travel free Corona time. 

The book is available in German only, details see above.

Jedidiah Jenkins: To shake the sleeping self, 9781524761400, Penguin Random House USA, paperback 17, - $

In a time when Corona has turned travelling into a distant dream, I could not have discovered a better memoir than Jedidiah Jenkins “To shake the sleeping self” which I absolutely loved.  Damn, it is finished now and I cannot escape from the current troubling reality to a daily  bike adventure  cycling with him in spirit from Portland, Oregon down to Patagonia and the most southern point of South America, which is exactly what Jedidiah Jenkins embarked on at age 30. Self- declared physically unfit and not a cyclist at all, he had decided at 27 once turning 30 he would leave his settled life behind and head for Patagonia “to shake the self”. 

Being a veteran of numerous but definitely luxurious  biking holidays myself, I had to chuckle several times as he describes how he sets off to buy his bike and graciously allowing an almost stranger, Weston, who is his exact opposite, to become his cycling companion on this monumental  adventure. What follows is not only a narration of a  journey through countries varying greatly in wealth, character, weather conditions, climate and terrain meeting all types of travelers and people but also a brutally honest journal of his inner struggles. Having been raised by a very conservative Christian mother after his famous parents eventually divorced, (they walked across the US for 5 years in the 1970ties covered by National Geographic), Jed discovered early on that his sexual preference was towards the same sex creating tormenting conflicts and even religious retreats to change his sinful feelings. Hoping not only to find beauty on his ride but answers  to reconcile his sexual orientation with his religious believes, he shares very intimate and philosophical thoughts with his reader. 

 “To shake the sleeping self” is terrific: funny, tender, honest and candid with unforgettable descriptions of encounters, landscapes and people he meets. Jed has a big heart and I felt he had become a friend by the end of this book , have now hooked up with his Instagram postings. 5 star recommendation from me.