Colin's books
19 Apr 2024
What I'm reading ...
Fascism: A Warning - by Madeleine Albright
28 Mar 2024
What I'm reading ...
The Book of Two Ways - by Jodi Picoult
10 Mar 2024
What I'm reading ...
Lovers at the Museum - by Isabel Allende
9 Mar 2024
What I'm reading ...
Abominations - by Lionel Shriver
This book was good read. Many of the pieces were thought-provoking. A few were amusing. All were well-written, as I would expect from this author. Some of the political views expressed are at variance with my own, but it is good to read well-written and carefully thought through articles that explain different points of view coherently.
11 Feb 2024
What I'm reading ...
Anachronist - by Andrew Hastie
30 Jan 2024
What I'm reading ...
But What Can I Do? - by Alastair Campbell
11 Jan 2024
What I'm reading ...
The Thursday Murder Club - by Richard Osman
27 Dec 2023
What I'm reading ...
Papyrus - by Irene Vallejo
29 Nov 2023
What I'm reading ...
Demon Copperhead - by Barbara Kingsolver
2 Nov 2023
What I'm reading ...
Taste - by Stanley Tucci
Reading a memoir, by someone with whom you are familiar, should leave you with the feeling that you know them a little better than you did before - a bit like spending time with an acquaintance can progress them towards being a friend. On this basis, this book delivered. I knew that Stanley was keen on food and cooking. His discussion of this topic in the framework of talking about his life shows clearly that food is a passion for him. And it’s quite infectious. The inclusion of a few favourite recipes from time to time is definitely “added value”.
27 Oct 2023
What I'm reading ...
The Starless Sea - by Erin Morgenstern
10 Oct 2023
What I'm reading ...
Politics On the Edge - by Rory Stewart
19 Sept 2023
What I'm reading ...
Lessons - by Ian McEwan
25 Aug 2023
What I'm reading ...
Talking to Strangers - by Malcolm Gladwell
14 Aug 2023
What I'm reading ...
Not Dead Yet - by Peter James
2 Aug 2023
What I'm reading ...
Ancestors: A prehistory of Britain in seven burials - by Alice Roberts
2 Jul 2023
What I'm reading ...
Maureen Fry and the Angel of the North - by Rachel Joyce
24 Jun 2023
What I'm reading ...
Apples Never Fall - by Liane Moriarty
19 Jun 2023
What I'm reading ...
The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy - by Rachel Joyce
5 Jun 2023
What I'm reading ...
Solve For Happy - by Mo Gawdat
As expected, this book was very thought provoking. Clearly, Mo is a very smart guy and wants to understand Life, the Universe and Everything. He makes many valid observations and lots of interesting ideas. However, overall I was disappointed, as I felt that his Two Big Ideas were flawed.
I was attracted by his idea that life is not limited to our physical existence on Earth. He says life has always been there and always will. His justification for this assertion involved quantum mechanics and relates to the fact that measuring/observing something influences it. He extends the idea to the conclusion that, if something is not observed, it cannot happen. So, life in some form must have observed the Big Bang. I believe that this is an erroneous interpretation of Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle etc.
He also talks about Intelligent Design. Although I have felt for a long time that the Universe as a whole [laws of physics, mathematics etc.] seems too complex [and maybe too beautiful] to be the result of chance/accident, I strongly support Darwinian evolution. Mo seems to think that evolution is all about chance, which results in the numbers not adding up. This is incorrect.
My conclusion is that, although the book is not a waste of time, it does fail to convince me on these key issues.
22 May 2023
What I'm reading ...
Mad Honey - by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan
28 Apr 2023
What I'm reading ...
The Fran Lebowitz Reader - by Fran Lebowitz
18 Apr 2023
What I'm reading ...
Watermelon - by Marian Keyes
25 Mar 2023
What I'm reading ...
These Precious Days - by Ann Patchett
This was a very enjoyable read, despite my reservations about the format. The essays are quite varied, but many of them are very personal and some quite emotional [spoiler: keep tissues on hand for the Epilogue]. Her quality of writing is outstanding. If she wrote a manual for a microwave oven, it would be a page turner.
14 Mar 2023
What I'm reading ...
The Midnight Library - by Matt Haig
First off, this is not a fantasy book at all. It is left to the reader to decide exactly what it is, but no suspension of belief is really needed. Phew!
It was a very enjoyable read - amusing and entertaining in places, but always thought provoking. The quality of writing kept me engaged and the story made me keep turning the pages.
I look forward to reading more of this author’s work.