The book I read to research this post was The Berlitz Travel Guide to the Rhine Valley which is an excellent book which I bought from a secondhand shop. The Rhine which flows through 6 countries is famous for its castles, cathedrals, countryside and quaint villages. What a lot of people don't realise is there's also power stations, coal barges and a lot of pollution. The part that's typical of the traditional idea runs from Cologne to Mainz. Cologne is part of the Ruhr conurbation but has a lot of nice features like an ancient cathedral with 2 spires. It was one of only a few buildings left standing at the end of World War 2. Bonn which was the capital of West Germany is quite a sleepy town. It was chosen to avoid the rivalry that existed between Frankfurt & Hamburg. Also the first chancellor wanted to be within travelling distance of his rose garden. Mainz was one of the holiest places in christendom after Rome and has a very impressive cathedral. At one time babies were baptized in the waters of the Rhine at Mainz which is a farcry from now when it's so polluted some people wonder whether the pike and perch caught from there are edible. The best way to see the Rhine is on a river cruise and they even have some steam powered ships for nostalgic reasons. The biggest port on the Rhine is Rotterdam which is one of the biggest ports in the world.

The horror novel I am reviewing in this post is Lucifer's Ark by Simon Clark which is excellent and which I borrowed from the library. Be warned this book is not for the squeamish. The plot is a cruise liner called The Volsparr is taking the relatives and friends to visit their loved ones who are miners on a remote mining settlement on the Baltic Coast to celebrate christmas. Unknown to them there is a load of psychopathic prisoners who are being transported to an unofficial penal colony. Actually that's not very far fetched when you consider the english transported terrorist suspects to unofficial internment camps in Libya under the Gadaffi regime where they were routinely tortured. It's been a big scandal in Britain. Anyway the prison guards onboard the ship are as bad as the prisoners and love torturing them. The prisoners in this book aren't terrorists, they're just serial killers. Anyway they take control of the ship where they settle a few scores. There's a young lady on the ship called Tanya who is the central character. Her friend accuses someone called Phillip of date rape and Tanya who has been out for a drink with him and got somewhat inebriated thinks the same thing may have happened to her. He apparently helped her back to her cabin. Phillip's quite upset about these accusations and comes good in that when one of the criminals has him at gun point he doesn't give them away. Also because there has been a storm in the Baltic there are World War 2 Nazi Cruisers that have been disturbed from the seabed and are now floating with munitions on board that could explode take the Volsparr with them. There is a happy ending and it's a good gritty tale.

The sci-fi novel I'm reviewing in this post is The Drought by JG Ballard which is an excellent book which I borrowed from the library. This novel which was published in 1965 was way ahead of its time. When this book came out nobody knew anything about the greenhouse effect yet this book is about a world without rain where the water has developed a skin making it difficult to consume. It had a kind of companion novel called The Drowned World which provided the inspiration for Madonna's Drowned World Tour. That book of course was about a world where it constantly rained. The plot to this book - The Drought - is there is a man who lives on a houseboat and of course there's a massive drought making it impossible for him to do any fishing. Also his houseboat has run aground. He goes with a group which includes his exwife and her partner to the coast in search of water. The population has been heavily reduced by the drought. There's plenty of food available but it appears the sea has disappeared and they must walk out to it. There's infighting between them and there are lions and wild dogs to contend with. Many experts think if humans were to disappear lions probably would become the dominant species on this planet. Many if they got hungry enough and there was no zoo keepers would escape from the zoos. There is a wonderful ironic ending to this book. Ballard is also famous for writing Empire of the Sun based on his experiences in Shanghai during World War 2 although it's a fiction book. Also it was made into a film directed by Steven Spielberg. It was also nominated for the booker prize.

The book I read to research this post was The Berlitz Travel Guide to the Algarve which is an excellent book & I had 10 of these books for 10p each from the local secondhand shop so I may try and do 1 each day for a few days. The Algarve is the southernmost province of Portugal & its capital is Faro which has a population of around 50,000. It enjoys around 3,000 hours of sunshine per year making it one of the sunniest places on earth. Indeed it's sunny even in the winter. There is loads of almond trees and when they're in flower they resemble snow. The Algarve is particularly popular with western europeans. I know they have frequent flights from Birmingham Airport which is near where I live. Lisbon is just half a day away by coach or train and 40 minutes away if you fly. It would make an interesting excursion. One of the big sports in the Algarve is big game fishing especially for Tunny or Tuna which can grow to over 12 feet long and weigh over 1,000 pounds. I think there is a trend to tag these if you catch them so as to preserve this magnificent fish. The Algarve used to be regarded as being near the end of the world. Before they discovered Africa, until Henry the Navigator developed a ship that could sail on a light breeze, no one would sail out of sight of land. The Portugese developed a major trading centre at Lagos in Nigeria. Also the Moors invaded Portugal & Spain and occupied them for several centuries and as a result many places in the Algarve have arabic names including the name Algarve. I have never been to the Algarve. I don't tend to take holidays because I am busy in my job. I must admit it sounds a fascinating place.

The book I read to research this post was Personal Branding for Dummies by Susan Chritton which is a very good book which I borrowed from the library. Personal branding is about making the most of yourself in situations like where you are looking for a job or seeking promotion. One thing I read in another book is we are all self employed and that we sell our services to the highest bidder who is normally who your employer is. In the near future broadband will be just another service rather like gas & water. Already in Worcestershire where my parents live the council are trying to roll out broadband to rural areas with lottery funding. Personal branding with time will get more and more important. You should be true to yourself. One unintentionally way I brand myself is I like nice jackets and coats especially baseball jackets. I have quite a big collection of them. So a lot of people identify me with that and I do get a lot of compliments. In some cases it might be that you wear smart suits. It can be adapted over time but you have to remain true to yourself otherwise. Just look at how a brand like Macdonalds adapts, at one time it was just fast or junk food but they do things now like salads but their brand has adapted. Look at the for Dummies books we identify the colours yellow & black and also the picture of the funny little man. They have branched out into many things like instructional cds and dvds, it's even possible to buy a telescope that's their brand. If you are interested in personal branding you should look at what colours do people associate with you. I think people tend to associate navy blue with me I think because it goes well with my skin tone. I tend to be a little bit pale. You should have a blog and be working facebook, twitter and linkedin especially if you are self employed or looking for a job. There's a site called http://vault.com that lists many business resources. Although I thought I'd do this as part of my blog I also do health on. I have a business blog at http://melissaball86.com I definately recommend this book.

The novel I am reviewing in this post is the thriller Long Lost by Harlan Coben which is an excellent book which I bought from a carboot sale. This is part of the Myron Bolitar series of thrillers. Basically he's a sports agent who never made it as a professional basketball player who also does a bit of amateur sleuthing. He and Win are a bit of an item and he gets a phone call from an old flame called Therese asking him to come to Paris and help because she's been accused of murdering her husband. Police have found what appears to be DNA belonging to his daughter and because she died years ago think it belongs to Therese. At the same time Myron beats up the chief of police at a sports game and wants to make himself scarce. During the course of the investigation somebody tries to kill Myron so he beats him up. Also Myron disappears for 16 days in what seems to be like a twilight dream. He has been drugged in other words. Also he finds out fetal material was taken from Therese when she was pregnant and although she had a hysterectomy although the child died he wonders if she has a daughter. Then he finds footage of someone who resembles her daughter. It has a happy ending and Myron gets it on with Therese but I doubt that will last. It's also a very good story that keeps your interest and keeps you guessing until the end.

I have done a post reviewing the thriller The Affair by Lee Child at http://oldscratbag.com

You're all welcome to have a look.

I have done a post on picture composition at http://oldscratbag.net

You're all welcome to have a look.

I have done a post on Rottweilers at http://oldscratbag.blogspot.com

You're all welcome to have a look.

The book I read to research this post was Art History: A Very Short Introduction by Dana Arnold which is a very good book which I bought from kindle. This book takes a long hard look at what art is and tends to talk about the history of art in general terms. The author is sympathetic to the contributions of women & non westerners to the art movement. Did you know there is a complex and diverse art tradition in Africa that is 5 thousand years old and predates the ancient egyptians. Egypt of course is a part of Africa & Cairo is the biggest african city. The ancient egyptians used egg tempera in there pictures which gave a very smooth finish and of course oil painting didn't come along until the 16th century. They mixed egg whites with water and added various pigments to get colour, the egg enabled the paint to set. In china which often gets culturally ignored they have the 7,000 strong terracota army which is a huge artistic achievement. Another good example of nonwestern art is Easter Island with its thousands of sculptures. The island could only support a small number of people in terms of food etc so it's a mystery how thousands of people could make these sculptures. Another mystery is how they got these huge rocks on top of one another. Stonehenge in Britain which is a form of art would of presented the same problem and also the mind boggles at how they transported these huge monoliths from Wales over a hundred miles away.