Colourful character entertaining

He is arguably one of the most outrageous characters to appear on breakfast viewing and his comments divided the country and almost ignited an international incident. Reporter Aden Miles says Paul Henry's memoir, What was I Thinking is packed with stories from his career and is flooded with his trademark wit
 
What was I Thinking tells stories of his childhood and his extensive career in journalism that is a compelling read and gives clear insight into who this man really is.

It is no surprise that Paul Henry is an individual with cemented beliefs and he is audacious. He recounts his work as an international correspondent interviewing politicians and celebrities; he even witnessed Mother Theresa's funeral.

I was surprised to discover that he was thrown into jail in Iraq.

The book also allows him to speak personally, detailing his efforts at drama school, working at the BBC, Radio NZ as well as running for Parliament.

Whether you like him or not, you have to admit that he knows how to tell an entertaining story.
I have a feeling Paul Henry doesn't care if people like his book or not.

Fantastical read whisks you away

Released in 2005, The Last Templar was Raymond Khoury's first novel and spent 22 months at the top of New York Time's Bestseller list. The book is powered by original thoughts and will take you all over the globe.

The story opens at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Treasures from the Vatican are on display when four masked horsemen wearing the medieval attire of the Templar Knights ride out of Central Park into into the centre of the gala.
As the tuxedo crowd run for safety, astounded archaeologist Tess Chaykin, who is one of the central characters, watches as one of the horsemen utters a phrase in Latin before snatching one of the objects and fleeing into darkness.

Khoury takes you back to 1291 Acre, where the Muslim assault overwhelmed the guards of Jerusalem. Grand Master of the Knights of Templar William of Beaujeu escapes and is nearing death.

He knows they have lost this battle and orders Aimard of Villiers and his Martin of Carmaux to escape with a chest on the only vessel left in the nearby harbour, which is the The Falcon Temple.

The Last Templar is a fantastical read, which intertwines two worlds. The plot is smartly delivered with most of the action taking place in the present.

The book also spawned a sequel, The Templar Salvation, which was published in 2010.

Author rips into enduring fascination with identity



CASE CLOSED: Did author Patricia Cornwell really solve
the Jack the Ripper case?

For more than a century, the mystery of Jack the Ripper's identity has captivated the world.
Who brutally murdered so many Whitechapel prostitutes in England in the late 1800s?

Reporter Aden Miles says Patricia Cornwell confidently points the finger at artist Walter Sickert in Portrait of a Killer: Jack The Ripper - Case Closed.

Cornwell said that Sickert's work was one of the best clues to his incrimination.
She describes his work as menacing and threatening, particularly towards lower class women.

Several of Sickert's canvases illustrate the Ripper's crime scenes.
Cornwell suggests the Ripper would have been a man with a ferocious hatred of women.

She also mentions that Sickert, who was fascinated with anatomy, was a master of disguise who could have easily lured women to their deaths.

Cornwell has done her best to reveal the Ripper. It's an intriguing read and the evidence damning.

Baking paradise found in heaven

It's easy so why not give a go.

Take time to flick through the pages of Cupcake heaven - hundreds of divine recipes to take you to baking paradise.

If the book's title didn't give it away, then the crayon pink stained cover with a central image of a cupcake topped with white icing or cream and strawberries, certainly would.

A collection of recipes are sprawled out over 243 pages with an introduction to making basic cupcakes, frosting and tips on how to measure and test when cupcakes are ready to be pulled out of the oven.

It has also been divided into chapters including celebration cupcakes, healthier options and dessert and vegetable cupcakes. It also contains a section for cupcakes for children.

I am a passionate advocate for both men and women having the skills to bake and cook. People appreciate it, believe me :)

A brilliant piece of literature but story that's hard to follow

To the Lighthouse was first published on May 5, 1927 by Virginia Woolf and was a landmark novel. Reporter Aden Miles read the book when he was 19 years old and said it was a way of telling stories that he had never read before
 
Anyone who has read To the Lighthouse will inform you that it is of extreme modernism and can be difficult to follow.

The story centres on the Ramsay family and their visits to the Isle of Skye in Scotland between 1910 and 1920.

Following in the traditions of other modernist novelists like James Joyce, Woolf's plot is secondary to thoughtful reflection and can be hard to grasp.
There is little dialogue and no action as most of it is written as observations. Hence the reason for the difficulty to follow the story.

To the Lighthouse has many themes where it seeks to investigate the means of perception, attempting to understand people.

The themes also includes the of loss subjectivity, perception and the passing of time, which can occur mid-sentence.
Some of the characters also display elements of modernist thinking. One such character include Mrs Ramsay abuse Victorian standards of society and she challenges the existence of God.

To the Lighthouse isn't a light read. It is written on thoughts and reflections and can change mid-sentence.
However, it is a brilliant piece of literature that explores story telling in such a different form.