My least favourite part of “Sapiens” were Harari’s predictions about the future: and here was a book that consisted solely of his predictions of the future. Continue reading Yuval Noah Harari “Homo Deus” – book review
The first thing to note is that “Acting with power” is not necessarily meant as “behaving with power”. Gruenfeld does genuinely mean “acting” in the same way as Judi Dench would do. Continue reading Deborah Gruenfeld “Acting with Power” – book review
I love the Very Short Introduction book series. Some are worse, some are better : but they often provide a concise overview of a complex subject and an in-depth reading list for those who want to learn more. Boden’s Artificial Intelligence is a particularly good example of A Very Short Introduction. Margaret A. Boden is a recognized expert in the field of artificial intelligence. I’ve … Continue reading Margaret A. Boden “Artificial Intelligence: A Very Short Introduction” – book review
Catherine Belton worked from 2013-2017 as the Moscow correspondent for the Financial Times. Her book, Putin’s People provides a narrative of the mechanics and ideological conception behind Putin’s government. Continue reading Catherine Belton’s “Putin’s People” – book review
The phrase “surveillance capitalism” has been appearing in the newspapers recently as a way of describing the business practice of Google and Facebook. The phrase was coined by Shoshana Zuboff’s book The Age of Surveillance Captialism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of AI. The book begins with a definition of surveillance capitalism Sur-veil-lance Cap-i-tal-ism, n. A new economic order that … Continue reading Shoshana Zuboff “The Age of Surveillance Captialism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of AI” – book review
The term “bad feminism” serves as a frame for this collection of Roxane Gay’s essays. Continue reading Roxane Gay “Bad Feminist” – book review
What better time to read Jared Diamond’s Upheaval? After all, the world is having a crisis of some sort at the moment. Sadly, the book doesn’t lay out a ten-step-plan to get ourselves out of the COVID-19 crisis, as it was published in 2019, a world away from what is actually going on now. Still. Jared Diamond’s Upheaval is a case study of 7 nations … Continue reading Jared Diamond’s “Upheaval” – book review
I have a history of not receiving feedback terribly well. When I was little and my Mum had the audacity to say that I was not vacuum cleaning in the corners, I would cross my arms and reply “You can do it yourself if you don’t like it”. The slightest criticism was a risk of me either giving up or bursting into tears. Obviously, as … Continue reading Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen “Thanks for the Feedback” – book review
Did I really ‘read’ William Dalrymple’s The Anarchy?
I let it waft around me, listening on Audible as I cooked dinner and I cleared the kitchen. That is surely not the reading it deserves. Continue reading William Dalrymple’s “The Anarchy” – book review
This is not a story of a hero. This is a story of a man who did the best he could. We need more like him. Continue reading Jack Fairweather’s “The Volunteer” – book review
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