This is off-topic, but I *loved* Patti Smith’s new book, [amazon_link id=”1408867680″ target=”_blank” ]M Train[/amazon_link]. Why?

[amazon_image id=”1408867680″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]M Train[/amazon_image]

Because ‘Horses’. Just because.

Because of the way she travels, steered by ideas and whims, embracing both the interest in other people and places and the combined pleasure and melancholy of being alone in a strange hotel. Reminds me of – in different ways – both [amazon_link id=”1841957453″ target=”_blank” ]Rebecca Solnit[/amazon_link] and [amazon_link id=”009951673X” target=”_blank” ]Geert Mak[/amazon_link].

[amazon_image id=”009951673X” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]In Europe: Travels Through the Twentieth Century[/amazon_image]  [amazon_image id=”1841957453″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]A Field Guide To Getting Lost[/amazon_image]

Because surely nobody could drink so much coffee?

Because it is a very moving testament to her love for her husband, far more so than Joan Didion’s much-feted [amazon_link id=”0007216858″ target=”_blank” ]The Year of Magical Thinking[/amazon_link].

Because in my alternative life, I too would have spent much of my time sitting in cafes, writing ideas down in notebooks.