This is a memoir; an honest, down to earth, take-a-hard-look-at-yourself memoir. It’s about singer and yoga teacher Marianne Dissard’s struggle with anorexia and then bulimia. The bulimia is described in all its detail, from the adrenalin rush of orgiastic eating to the taste and stench of vomit. Never having experienced either of these illnesses I felt sickened to read about the mental and physical struggles Marianne has had but it helped me understand more about these eating disorders. Marianne writes with clarity, humility, and her wry humour eases the tension which necessarily comes with t ..read more

On Thursday 29 August 2019 I joined a select throng for an evening event – the launch of Karen Haller’s book The Little Book of Colour – How to Use the Psychology of Colour to Transform your life. It was held at the designer furniture store Minotti in Margaret Street, London. I’ve known Karen for many years and was thrilled to see her buzzing with excitement, especially as the book has already been translated into eleven other languages for audiences from Taiwan to Turkey. Karen is a leading international authority in the field of Applied Colour Psychology and she shares some of her knowledge ..read more

Minimal Film: The cinematic world reimagined through graphic design. By Matteo Civaschi. Published by Skira. The author, Matteo Civaschi, is the Executive Creative Director at H-57, a design studio based in Milan and the brains behind Life in 5 Seconds, a book that unveiled their concept of Shortology, in which an entire film’s synopsis is portrayed in just a handful of pictograms. We see this philosophy reflected within Minimal Film, which illustrates the notion of eliminating the superfluous and focusing on the essential.  ‘The use of infographics is extremely effective, because it is based ..read more

To follow on from Bohemian Style at Home a new ‘room by room’ guide from Thames & Hudson comes out this summer, it focuses on Japanese style. After a recent trip to Japan some friends of mine decided to do away with curtains on their patio doors and replace them with shōji-style screens. They love the simplicity of the screen – the way it lets in light yet provides complete privacy. When covered like this windows take on a completely different role, the glass itself assumes screen-like qualities and the room suddenly becomes a flexible space; the glass and shoji screen work in unison, acti ..read more

To me Bohemian interior style is inspired by the hippy movement, a youthful reaction against the sober post-war fifties and its utilitarian furniture. As a child of the sixties I grew up and experienced this exuberant atmosphere, it was provocative yet peaceful. A new zest for life permeated all areas of society. In interiors it resulted in big bold colourful designs, relaxed low seating and the touchy-feely physical excitement of lots of different textures. Thames & Hudson kindly sent me a copy of the book Bohemian Style at Home so I could have a sneaky read before it appears on the shel ..read more

A treasure trove of Murano glass. One of the largest books in my design library it documents the relatively short life of the MVM Capellin Glassworks and explains the role that the young Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa played in developing its distinctive aesthetic. Scarpa was born in 1906 and died in 1978, and in the 1920s he was employed to work on the renovation of MVM’s head office, the Gothic Palazzo da Mula. He had a good eye and was not afraid to try something different and it wasn’t long before he got involved in other artistic areas of the business, even the creation of designs for MV ..read more

A new publication of 140 poems by the renowned garden poet Liz Cowley Green Fingers comprises over a hundred pages of verse. Liz has chosen a range of well known proverbs sayings and quotations and has responded to them with the wit and acute observation of an avid gardener. This conversational style of poetry is one I’ve not come across before but then I have to confess that poetry comes third to non fiction and fiction for me. But when the printed word encourages a giggle you know you’re holding an entertaining book in your hand. Here’s an example of a poem that tickled me: entitled The frui ..read more