FEAST OR FAMINE

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the  author of:-  Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

https://similarbutdifferentanimals.com/2018/01/26/variable-sunbird/ MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the  author of:-  Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

The theme for the 2018 World Malaria Day celebrated annually on 25 April is ‘Ready to Beat Malaria.’ According to the latest research by the World Health Organisation (WHO), in 2016 nearly half of the world’s population was at risk of malaria. In total in 2016, there were 216 million cases of malaria identified across 91 countries, an increase of 5 million over 2015.  European regions documented no cases at all; but some parts of Southeast Asia, Western Pacific, and sub-Saharan Africa saw an increase in numbers. The total number of malaria fatalities has declined since 2010, however the Africa region still has an estimated 90% of all global malaria cases and deaths, based on the findings of the 2017 WHO Malaria Report. WHO is therefore continuing to focus on the African region. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3 is to include efforts to end AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria by 2030. However, governments now need to determine priorities for heal...

London Cape Town Joburg: A Novel (2014) is set in three cities: London in England (1994-1998), Cape Town in South Africa (1998-2008), and Johannesburg in South Africa (2008-2011). In the prologue, 13-year-old Zuko Spencer-O’Malley has suicided in the bathroom of his home. The novel reveals why. London was where Germaine Spencer and Martin O’Malley meet, marry, and have Zuko. Germaine Spencer is a ceramist, a potter, and white; Martin O’Malley is a London-born investment banker, and black. Martin’s father is Irish and his mother is South African, both living in Cape Town.  Germaine and Martin’s move to Cape Town in 1998 is so that Zuko can ‘grow up among people who look more like him’ – a young black boy. In the late 1990s South Africa is the land of opportunity, and a country at the beginning of change. The first truly democratic election in South Africa’s history results in Nelson Mandela’s rainbow nation win. Although Martin has never been to South Africa, ...

Into the Thickening Fog (2017) is set in winter in Far North Russia. Eduard Filippov is a Russian theatre director, and a French theatre has agreed to stage his latest drama. This would be the most prestigious and lucrative offer of his career.  Reluctantly, Filippov travels back to his hometown in the Far North to tell his long-time collaborator and friend that the assignment does not include him. Filippov has been hired to do the assignment alone. Filippov needs to deliver the news to his friend in person to avoid upsetting him. However, the travel back to his hometown is during one of the worst winters on record. Then the power cuts out and he is left in the bitter cold, freezing to death.  To survive, he takes to drinking vodka, and reminiscing about his past, his childhood, and his ambitions: ‘he suddenly saw his fifteen-year-old self trailing off to school in the wintry morning darkness and the impenetrable fog that blanketed the town for severa...

https://similarbutdifferentanimals.com/2018/02/26/greater-sulphur-crested-cockatoo/ MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the  author of:-  Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

My Life and Hard Times (1933, this edition 1999) is the memoir of American humourist James Thurber, growing up in Columbus, Ohio. This is a short, 80-page, non-serious, book of reminisces about childhood, family, dogs, farm life, and anything else he remembers. As an example, there are 10 chapters or stories, such as ‘The Night the Bed Fell’ and ‘The Day the Dam Broke.’’ Accompanying the text are the author’s cartoon drawings, which are as great as the narrative. Thurber seems to have grown up in an outrageously funny and crazy household – and his grandfather is a comical character that readers will love.  This is exceptionally funny if readers want a short book of humorous stories. But if readers want an academic book about Thurber’s thoughts and philosophies, this isn’t it. It’s so short and so wickedly funny, that it’s worth a read, but don’t forget that it’s written in another era of simple, uncomplicated living.  MARTINA NICOLLS ...