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Meme Wars by Joan Donovan. Emily Dreyfuss and Brian Friedberg is an analysis of the memes that have flourished in online subcultures in the 21st century and their impact on real world events. Memes are units for the transmission of ideas, behaviours and styles, usually images or phrases with highly symbolic content, that move from…
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Redemption’s Blade by Adrian Tchaikovsky and Salvation’s Fire by Justina Robson is a duology written by two different authors. It works way better than you might think. Redemption’s Blade is about what people do in the aftermath of war. Particularly, it’s about what heroes do when the world no longer needs them. The main character…
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The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli is a collection of very short essays exploring the many mistakes humans are prone to making when we think about things. There’s not much new in this book, but I find however often I read about confirmation bias and the sunk cost fallacy I find myself slipping…
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The Rent Trap by Rosie Walker and Samir Jeraj Published by Pluto Books in 2016 The Rent Trap explores the world of private renting and how rising house prices make home ownership out of reach for many renters. It looks at the instability caused by short term contracts and the impact on families. The book…
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The Curious Affair of the Deodand by Lisa Tuttle Published by Jo Fletcher Books in 2016 as a sampler I went to FantasyCon last weekend and had a fabulous time. In my goody bag were a number of samplers for books. Unusually The Curious Affair of the Deodand is a complete short story and is…
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At FantasyCon 2015 one the panels discussed why people choose a book out of the thousands available to them. Some people go for covers, some like a good blurb, a few will read the first page. Me, I love a great title. What about you?
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Some years ago, I found myself with hundreds of unread books due to buying more books than I was reading. I set myself a challenge to read all those books. I didn’t quite make it. I read a lot. I gave away a lot; ones I’d never read and classics that I could get free…
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My loot from FantasyCon 2015! Thanks to the authors and publishers giving these titles away. I’m looking forward to reading them.
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Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson is the story of a murder trial and all the social and cultural factors that lead to a false accusation. It is set on an island off the coast of Washington State in the US where the main industries are timber, soft fruits and fish. The island has…
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You may have noticed that I haven’t been blogging here for some time. Reviewing books had become less useful to me in terms of improving my writing. I got a lot from it and had reached the point where I needed a change. So, Boudica Marginalia is now closed. But I miss blogging! I have…
Boudica Marginalia 