Books
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Lately the urge to review books has sprung up again. I’ve read some good stuff lately (and some not so good stuff) and I’d like to record it. So, first up is Poppet by Mo Hayder. I’ve only read one of her books before, Pig Island, and it was ok but not great. What really…
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Last week someone gave me a really unusual book: Edition 11 of Decimal Clasification and Relativ Index by Melvil Dewey. Which is interesting because it is written in phonetic English. The library at my employer was having a clear-out and this was one of the books destined for the skip. Or something. I’m not really…
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September’s book club book was Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes which is a novel set during the Vietnam War. I can’t really say what the book is about without cheating and looking at wikipedia because I only made it through the first hundred pages (of six hundred). In those first one hundred pages nothing happens. There…
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I’ve been reading a lot of non-fiction lately. Sometimes I don’t notice until I write my reviews. A Great and Terrible King: Edward I and the Forging of Britain by Marc Morris is an historical biography of Edward I, king of England 1272 – 1307. Historical biographies are as much about the social and political…
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I’m supposed to like this, right? It’s a classic. And I remember I liked the film a lot when I was younger. Maybe that was just because Sting was in it. Dune by Frank Herbert has been sitting on my shelf for a good five years since it was bought for me by a friend…
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I never really struggle to find books to read. There are loads of them and I’ve read hardly any. For me, it’s more about not buying all the books I see that I think I’d like to read. Sometimes I try to resist. Honestly. Then a book will come into my awareness and I’ll think…
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I’ve had this book on my shelf for a long time, wanting to read it but thinking it might be hard work. Seven Viking Romances, translated by Hermann Pálsson and Paul Edwards, is a collection of Viking adventure stories. These tales are less serious than the Icelandic Sagas and have many more fantastical elements.…
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Take the periodic table and make a book full of interesting facts and factoids about each of the elements. What a brilliant idea. How could that not be a great idea? I was so full of hope about Periodic Tales by Hugh Aldersley-Williams. The concept seemed to be all things I love; random useless nuggets…
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Sometimes there are books that really make an impression, that will stay with you for the rest of your life. Half the Sky by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl Wudunn is a book like that. It covers the experience of many women in the developing world, including sex trafficking, honour killings, lack of access to…
Boudica Marginalia 