What I'm reading ...

I have started Great-Uncle Harry by Michael Palin. This was serialised on the radio and I heard a bit and it intrigued me. I prefer to read, so I got the book. The author has been around on TV for most of my life, so he feels like an old friend. I am sure that I will hear his voice as I read. Here’s the blurb:

From the time, many years ago, when Michael Palin first heard that his grandfather had a brother, Harry, who died in tragic circumstances, he was determined to find out more about him.

The quest that followed involved hundreds of hours of painstaking detective work. Michael dug out every bit of family gossip and correspondence he could. He studied every relevant official document. He tracked down what remained of his great-uncle Harry's diaries and letters, and pored over photographs of First World War battle scenes to see whether Harry appeared in any of them. He walked the route Harry took on that fatal, final day of his life amid the mud of northern France. And as he did so, a life that had previously existed in the shadows was revealed to him.

Great-Uncle Harry is an utterly compelling account of an ordinary man who led an extraordinary life. A blend of biography, history, travelogue and personal memoir this is Michael Palin at his very finest.

The Humans - by Matt Haig

The blurb for this book gives very little clue to what it is all about and what to expect. My previous experience of the author’s work is what drove me to read it. Initially, it appears to be sci fi or fantasy and I suppose it is just that. However, it is so much more than that. The book is an insightful look at what it is to be human from a very different perspective. It is well written with well drawn characters and tells the story with not a little humour. At the end, there are some author’s notes that explain how he came to write the book and these are as interesting as the story itself.

Once again, I look forward to more of Haig’s work.

What I'm reading ...

I have started The Humans by Matt Haig. I enjoyed the last book that I read by this author and this one looks intriguing. Here’s the blurb:

After an 'incident' one wet Friday night where he was found walking naked through the streets of Cambridge, Professor Andrew Martin is not feeling quite himself. Food sickens him. Clothes confound him. Even his loving wife and teenage son are repulsive to him. He feels lost amongst an alien species and hates everyone on the planet. Everyone, that is, except Newton, (and he's a dog).

Fascism: A Warning - by Madeleine Albright

This book really delivered on its promises. It covers about a century of political history and I learned a lot about the two world wars and their causes and the roots of many present-day issues. The author is a very good writer, with a clear style and a pace that kept me turning the pages. I must investigate if she has left us other writings that would interest me.