Review: Dinner with Churchill Dinner with Churchill was a pretty delightful look at Churchill’s idiosyncrasies, love of food, mannerisms and foibles. I’d read certain accounts of the meetings and conferences of the allies but this was a new experience. Instead of Churchill the leader, the politician, we see Churchill in a light he certainly seemed(…)
Non-fiction
Book Review: Rape is Rape: How Denial, Distortion, and Victim Blaming are Fueling a Hidden Acquaintance Rape Crisis
Review: Rape is Rape: How Denial, Distortion, and Victim Blaming are Fueling a Hidden Acquaintance Rape Crisis There are subjects that are difficult to read about, awful to talk about but all the same it’s absolutely vital to keep the dialogue ongoing. And then there are subjects that you think you’ve heard the very worst examples of(…)
Book Review: Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus
Review: Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus My usual ratio of reading has been one non-fiction title for every ten fiction titles, but 2013 has seen me embark on a real non-fiction kick. In part I blame (or rather thank) this book. Really, the book synopsis covers it perfectly: this is a book(…)
Book Review: Useful Enemies – Richard Rashke
Review: Useful Enemies I had read Escape From Sobibor and appreciated the immense amount of work that had gone into it. It’s clear that Useful Enemies is no less of a labour of love. Beyond that, it is very difficult to compare the two books. They tell very different stories. Although both are biographical works(…)
Book Review: Peace on the Peninsula – Coral Russell
Review: Peace on the Peninsula 2013 seems to be the year of non-fiction for me. I’ve been reading everything from science to politics, from gender studies to history. When I received a copy of Peace on the Peninsula, I really didn’t have any idea what to expect. Apart from Escape from Camp 14, I have(…)
Book Review: Blog It! – Molly Greene
Review: Blog It! The author’s guide to building a successful online brand When you’ve been blogging for a while, it’s really easy to forget how overwhelming the combination of setting up a new blog, new social media accounts and so on can be. Well, here’s the good news: it does become second nature. Here’s the(…)
Book Review: Why Are You Atheists So Angry? – Greta Christina
Review: Why Are You Atheists So Angry? I am not an angry atheist. I am an atheist who has a great deal of respect for others’ practices and beliefs, provided they don’t expect me to share them. I’ve seen the solace that religion can provide, but I’ve also seen the hurt that has been caused(…)
Book Review: Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops – Jen Campbell
Review: Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops This is a book that should come with several warnings, including making strange “Nooooo!” exclamations in public, not being able to breathe for laughing and regularly wanting to smack yourself upside your head with the book to see if you really are still in the world you thought(…)
Book Review: Why are Orangutans Orange? – New Scientist
Review: Why are Orangutans Orange? (2011) Why are Orangutans Orange? is yet another instalment in the popular Last Word series from the New Scientist. I say yet another as this is a series that could go on endlessly, given science never runs out of questions. Thankfully these questions and answers are entertaining and therefore that(…)
Book Review: Fifty Writers on Fifty Shades of Grey – Lori Perkins (ed.)
Review: Fifty Writers on Fifty Shades of Grey (2012) I have no desire to read Fifty Shades of Grey but it’s in the media and social media so much at the moment that you can’t escape it. I am really interested to see what people think of Fifty Shades of Grey and that’s the reason(…)
Book Review: Life on Air – David Attenborough
Review: Life on Air Sir David Attenborough is one of the true British greats. His voice is known worldwide and his vast array of work, including many memorable wildlife documentaries, have long since cemented his place as one of the finest presenters. An amusing but modest man, Attenborough kindly shared an autobiography of his life(…)
Book Review: The Violinist’s Thumb – Sam Kean
Review: The Violinist’s Thumb I readily admit to being a bit of a science geek. That’s not to say I’m good at science – I actually have to work very hard to understand the concepts – but I love science books, particularly ones that show science in more ‘human’ terms. The Violinist’s Thumb is one such(…)
Book Review: Bad Pharma – Dr. Ben Goldacre
Review: Bad Pharma (2012) Bad Pharma is actually a fairly scary book to pick up when you’ve just collected a prescription from the chemist but I’d heard a lot about Bad Science (which I’ve since read) and thought Bad Pharma would be incredibly interesting. I certainly wasn’t wrong. This is pretty much a damaging expose of(…)
Book Review: Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion – Elizabeth L. Cline
Review: Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion (2012) If you’re going to read Overdressed, be prepared for it to leave a nasty taste in your mouth and a lump in your throat when you next open your wardrobe. This really is a pretty damning expose of the ‘fast fashion’ industry, which churns out clothes(…)
Book Review: Chique Secrets of Dolce Amore – Barbara Conelli
Review: Chique Secrets of Dolce Amore Welcome to Milan, as seen through the eyes of Barbara Conelli. As someone who clearly loves this city, she takes you beyond the tourist laden streets and down the back alleys of the city, to discover the parts she loves. Along the way, you will encounter some of the more(…)
Book Review: Triumph of the City – Edward Glaeser
Review: Triumph of the City I live in a large town in the UK but am fortunate in that there is greenery on the doorstep in the form of a canal, while surrounding trees make it relatively lucrative for our household of cats, though only one will venture outside. I’ve always hoped that later in(…)
Book Review: The Templars: History & Myth: From Solomon’s Temple to the Freemasons – Michael Haag
Review: The Templars: History & Myth: From Solomon’s Temple to the Freemasons I’m most at home when reading medieval history and having read about the Crusades in the past I was eager to try Michael Haag’s book about the Templars, the order of knights founded to defend the Holy Land after the First Crusade who(…)
Book Review: Nerd Do Well – Simon Pegg
Review: Nerd Do Well I first saw Simon Pegg in the cult comedy Spaced (1999-2001) and the series became one of my favourites. Pegg’s career has flourished since then with successful forays onto the big screen with his own work such as Shaun of the Dead (2004) and appearances in the likes of Mission Impossible(…)