The Beat That My Heart Skipped – A blog dedicated to daily design inspirations. By Rohini Wahi.

Has the sunshine gone? Perhaps now the freckles (I’ll pretend they aren’t sun damage) will fade away and I can return to my British pale and lovely complexion that plagues me most of the year. I think, due to the number of small people hovering around the streets, that schools have broken up. It now makes the tube impossible to get anywhere without have to step over these said small people en route.

You are especially doomed if like me you live or work within a tube stop for something that these people might actually want to visit in their holidays (Tooting Lido – come on it’s just a big pool, you don’t really want to go there do you?) it’s a nightmare and it makes my head want to implode. This is coupled with the fact that London Underground have decided that every few weekends they will just shut down South London by closing the Northern line – but it’s ok you can take a replacement bus – which takes 45mins. 45 mins to add to any journey – great! What exactly do I pay for in my Oyster card these days? Small people and buses stuck in traffic apparently.

Well good riddance for rain – maybe now they will stay at home and read a book or maybe which is more likely I will stay at home and read a book. This week we have something for all ages ‘The Prince of Mist’ by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. A chilling horror tale that will scare you nicely into submission to never leave the house again, just incase you should encounter anything like this yourself.

The story’s hero is Max Carver a nine year old the son of a watchmaker and inventor who due to the war has moved to the seaside with his family. The house once belonged to a highly regarded surgeon Dr Richard Fleischmann and within the overgrown garden of the house Max finds something sinister. A group of statues which sit within a metal fence crowned by a pointed star. On closer inspection these statues turn out to be a circus troop (turn away now if you have a fear a clowns) and the central figure is a huge clown.

As the tale unravels we have the mystery of a wardrobe speaking to his sister and beckoning her to come to it. There is the discovery of the wreck of a boat that sank many years ago where everyone perished except one man an engineer. You may never want to go diving again after you read this book so perhaps if you have a fear of open water and clowns steer clear. Nothing however is ‘hammed up’ the story is exciting and thrilling and Zafron’s skill shines through to create a book perfect for the young adult range but to be loved by adult readers alike. It has all the main ingredients of thrilling read but twists it into something new and powerful. The book is pure magic and takes pride of place in the school holiday read section.

Summer makes me feel so much better about life, the early sun means I can get up early and go to bed late and not mind.  I’m sporting a mahogany tan which is far superior to the one I got in India – it seems my skin likes tanning in British sun more than foreign sun.  This is Summer is actually how a great British Summer should be except for maybe that the World Cup is on.

I have no genuine interest in the World Cup as I don’t support football yet I feel the need to watch England games just like everyone else – except the Germany one where I went shopping and enjoyed near personal service in every shop I went to – brilliant. Now I have World Cup, Wimbledon and general sport watching fatigue being one of the boys means I now have to sit around whilst they dissect every match in detail and spend the whole time in the pub looking over your shoulder at something else.

Well at least you can read a book if you aren’t interested,  I have been  lugging War & Peace around for quite some time now as I am deciding it will be my own sporting feat by reading it. Hopefully I will have more success than England.

If you are going on holiday or not you will still want to escape the madness and head to the park in the sunshine and you’ll need a summer read to do so.  This week I have selected for you a couple of brand new releases worth snapping up before the other WAGS do. Lauren x

The Help – Kathryn Stockett

This book is set in Jackson Mississippi in 1962 and follows the story of 3 women from both white and black backgrounds.  Minny is a black woman with a sassy mouth and wonderful cooking, Aibleen is a black maid raising her seventeenth white child and grieving the death of her own son and Miss Skeeter is a white woman home from college trying to find out where her favourite maid has gone. The three friends push the boundaries of acceptable friendship and this stunning work is really a classic in the making.  This text is old ground but it is so beautifully written you will get caught up in the emotions very quickly.

The Legacy – Katherine Webb

You’d be forgiven for rolling your eyes at a book which starts with the same plot of ‘sisters inherit large stately home and discover long lost family secret’ and this book is in short another one of those. However this book is miles out of any of its counterparts leagues. The characters are absolutely fantastic and the outcome is anything but predictable. The story follows two Sisters Beth and Erica Calcott who inherit their family manor home from their cold grandmother Meredith. They start searching for answers to the disappearance of their cousin Henry who disappeared from the house one summer holiday. Their search weaves back through time and into the Wild West of America following the story of their Great Grandmother Caroline an American heiress.  Beautifully told both historically and as a storyline snap it up for a summer treat.

Apologies for going ‘Awol’ last week, the work life and partying balance had gone way out of balance leaving me sobbing into my Weetabix in the morning with tiredness.  Life balance is definitely something I should learn to have more control over now that I am the big 2 and 7 this week and officially in my late 20’s. Late in any walk of life is never good except for maybe when you are fashionably late therefore I am dubbing my new age as the ‘fashionably late 20’s’ – whatever makes you sleep a night I hear you cry.

One thing that is a highlight of my birthday is it gives you ample opportunity to work out who your friends are, those who send the cards, buy you lunch, organize things for you and attend all birthday functions. The mark of a good friend is if you can overcome distance, time apart, petty squabbles and other halves. This week has defo been a game of two halves with friends – those that really should turn up to events and pull out a the last minute citing excuses that, well, to be frank are rubbish, to those who genuinely surprise with gifts and time spent thinking of ways to make your day. You all know who your friends are and what their weaknesses are when you meet them but it can take long time to find out your best friends.

At the weekend two of my good friends got engaged and I am genuinely pleased for them, although impending spinsterhood for myself seems to set of some alarm bells. It seems like sunshine, champagne and crap football brings out the best in people. So this week the column is dedicated to my friends with the top 5 friendship books which remind me of them:

Lauren x

The Three Musketeers

‘All for one and one for all’ has to be the motto of friendship, the first book in the series following the exploits of these four inseperable friends is world famous. Porthos, Athos, Aramis and D’Artagnan have to be the most solid of friends swearing never to cross swords with each other and no matter what the political difference (which in the later books heats up considerably) that friendship and each other come first.

To Kill A Mockingbird

The friendship of Scout, Dill and Jem is stuff that GCSE paper questions are made of and their friendship set against the hot southern summer, racial tensions and depression is a slice of humanity which is played out perfectly against the sad and moving story.
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This weekend I became godmother again to my friends ‘Small No2’ – it’s a bit like getting Chanel No.5 but they smell real bad. This seems to have astounded some people at work mostly due to the fact that I was picked twice. I frown at this judgement – just because I get absolutely smashed with all my work mates does not mean I will automatically take my godchildren to pubs (I have, but that is another matter).  Just because I seem to have little or no control over most of the things that go on in my life does not mean I have nothing valuable to teach my small followers (I’m pretty sure I explained to the eldest one why Auntie Lauren looked like she was going to barf in her Roast Dinner last time she was visiting). It’s true, I will best be able to teach them to party and how not to vomit on their shoes but this must all be saved for later in life.

‘Perhaps’ I smugly interject at work during the mocking ‘you haven’t been asked because you aren’t making the grade’. I see being a godparent as an assignment and I am very glad to say I nailed the first task. If you get given a brief in advertising you either challenge it or astonish them with your understanding of what they want.  I beat off all the competition (and there was competition – how many of you have the same godparents? None. Thought so.). I understood the brief best, I am the winner, I got the next assignment.

Partly I assume I was picked for comedy value but that is pretty much how I have been picked for most things in my life. The father of my god children and my dearest friend’s husband finds my brand of guidance often less than amusing. When given a play-mat that created a light and sound show this weekend my god daughter was distraught to find it didn’t work – No batteries. ‘You’ll find Goddaughter’ I chimed with glass of Rose wine ‘Nothing comes with batteries in younger life and older’ the parents shot me a look ‘What!? I’m managing expectations!!’.

So to prove once and for all that I don’t just provide knowledge on what comes first salt, tequila or lemon. I have complied some of my other great wisdom – Children’s books you must read and own. Perfect for gifting especially at this time of year when birthday’s seem two a penny there are of course lots out there but here are just 10 of my favourites.

The Big Green Book – Robert Graves (Illustrated by Maurice Sendak)

It’s not that famous but I loved it as a child and the illustrations are beautiful . Currently out of print in English (don’t hate me hate the publishers!!) the book starts with an orphan finding a magic book that turns him into an old man. Fun and adventure ensue – I still remember the part where his nails grow so long they indent into his hands! It’s perfect for a rainy day so hunt it down and treasure it.

The Twits – Roald Dahl
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I find it quite interesting that our ‘Dear Editor’ has started a new office job. It’s quite amusing thinking about Rohini in an office at all but last week she emailed me some witty office ‘faux pas’ she has been experiencing and asked me much like an agony aunt to tell her my similar trials (either that or she finds me some sort of comedy persona and wants me to make her feel better about herself – I’ll take the first one). So I thought about the many office cock ups I have tallied up and how I have learnt absolutely nothing along the way. Clearly I can give advice but I can’t take it myself.

Working in an office is a skill and mostly looked down upon by creative types ‘how can you work in those grey cubicles, ugh it would kill me’! I don’t work in a sodding cubicle. This isn’t 1970.

I have a desk it doesn’t have four walls or even three.  My desk is an extension of me and you can get a good idea by looking at peoples desks what you are getting yourself in for if you decide to make friends. Avoid people with cuddly toys on their desks, they are likely to sob their hearts out to you about their cheating boyfriend later on.  Likewise avoid people with too many pictures of their partner or children on their desk – this will be pretty much your sole topic of conversation for the next few years. If you can, try not to pick up any of these pictures and make comments about how nice/attractive/cute the person in the picture is. You will lose at least half an hour.

There is always an office clown, they kind of borderline most of the time on being an evil bully but they manage to make the joke so hilarious that no-one in HR notices. Try not to provoke them by sending emails to ‘reply all’ or telling any secrets when you are half cut in the pub. There will also envitably be someone who you would probably like to snog when drunk or maybe even date when sober. Try and hide this from the office especially the clown, they want ammo and as a newbie they don’t have any on you. Don’t get drunk and tell people how much you like them, this will also become ammo.

If you work in a high majority female office check the house before you leave for panty lines, camel toes, muffin tops, sticky up hair in the back, too much fake tan and something so fashionable that only Carrie Bradshaw can get away with it. Girls are like vultures and the round robin email will be bitching about you – you are new. If you work in a high majority male office just act as if every day they are scoring you out of 10 and sending it round on an email – because they probably are. Then like everything else in office life you’ll care about all this rubbish for all of two weeks and then some sh*t will hit the fan and you won’t give a toss. As soon as you don’t give a toss you aren’t new anymore – well done.

Then We Came To The End by Joshua Ferris is an absolute classic book about office life. In particular life in a Chicago advertising agency in the 1990’s which is falling apart at the seams. Amongst the tension of redundancies and losing clients the bitching and back stabbing reigns. Ferris writes in the first person for most of the book and enters the office world to look in depth at the characters that inhabit it.
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