Factfulness by Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Rönnlud – book review
Believe all the hype – it’s an amazingly quick and clear read Continue reading Factfulness by Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Rönnlud – book review
Kit de Waal’s “My Name is Leon”
I came across this book completely by coincidence. I had an awkward gap between meetings and seminars at the London Book Fair and I saw that Kit de Waal was speaking at the time. I knew she writes for The Guardian occasionally, so I decided to trot along to the talk. It was interesting enough for me to buy her debut book My Name is Leon. … Continue reading Kit de Waal’s “My Name is Leon”
Thomas Paine “Common Sense” – book review
Attempting to review Thomas Paine’s Common Sense is somewhat absurd. After all, as a political pamphlet, it set itself one task above all: to persuade its readers and that aim it has unquestionably achieved. You cannot possibly read an account of the American Revolution which does not mention Thomas Paine. America’s independence seems now to be unquestionably common-sense. Yet it was fascinating to read Paine in … Continue reading Thomas Paine “Common Sense” – book review
Joseph Conrad “A Personal Record” – book review
This is not a chronological autobiography – Conrad doesn’t go through all the events of his life. Instead, he focuses on what one might call turning points: when he decided to join the navy, when he wrote his first novel, when he revisited his hometown after 20 years absence. The whole is a carefully crafted meditation on what it means for him to be a writer. … Continue reading Joseph Conrad “A Personal Record” – book review
Han Kang “The Vegetarian”- book review
Han Kang’s The Vegetarian is one of these novels that I fundamentally fail to understand. There – I’ve said it – think of me as badly of me as you like. The story begins when a hitherto well-behaved and traditional wife, Yeong-Hye, suddenly decides to become a vegetarian. Her husband and her family are outraged. But is it really a simple case of ethical guilt … Continue reading Han Kang “The Vegetarian”- book review
Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez – book review
There haven’t been any reviews on this blog for a while – I’ve been reading a few books, but of the sort that I’m usually slightly embarrassed about reviewing online (but read anyway). In the same way as I read a book about perfect skin, because of my acne…. I read a self-help book about finances, because my finances are not as great as I’d … Continue reading Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez – book review
The Troublesome Immigrant – Eastern Europeans in the UK
There’s an issue that makes it difficult for me to be objective about Nikesh Shukla’s bestselling book, The Good Immigrant – and that is its title. The book was published in 2016, the year of the UK referendum, and it concerns itself solely with the BAME community. There is absolutely no mention at all of Eastern Europeans living in the UK. Correction: there are plenty of … Continue reading The Troublesome Immigrant – Eastern Europeans in the UK
The Good Immigrant edited by Nikesh Shukla – book review
The Good Immigrant is a collection of 21 essays by BAME (black, Asian, minority ethnic writers) exploring what it’s like to be an ethnic minority in the UK. As in all essay collections, (they share this strange quality with boxes of chocolates), there are some essays I love to bits, and some that left me with nothing more than a vague sense of appreciation. It’s … Continue reading The Good Immigrant edited by Nikesh Shukla – book review
Perfect Skin by Alexandra Soveral
As you might have realised, I have something of an embarrassing weakness for self-help books. Hand me anything that promises to help me improve myself and I will probably grab it. This particular book had a positive review in the Financial Times, and so… I bought it. When I was reading the review, I somehow managed to miss the fact that the book is about … Continue reading Perfect Skin by Alexandra Soveral
The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois – book review
I wasn’t quite sure what I expected when I first picked up The Souls of Black Folk – but I certainly did not expect to encounter quite as many statistics… W.E.B. Du Bois wrote his PhD, The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America, 1638-1870, at Harvard, and his scholarly apparatus is in evidence in his essays examining “the problem … Continue reading The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois – book review
