On the Calculation of Volume - I, by Solvej Ball. Pub 2020. Translation by Barbara Haveland, pub 2024. On the Calculation of Volume - II, by Solvej Ball. Pub 2020. Translation by Barbara Haveland, pub 2024. I found these when looking at the Booker International list for 2025. I was interested as a time stories... Continue Reading →
Fifteen Dogs, by André Alexis. Pub 2015
A friend suggested this to me, not really as a recommendation but just something she happened to be reading (which surprised me, as she's previously said she's not a fan of anthropomorphizing animals in stories). This turned out to be an enjoyable light-ish and short read, just the thing to truly cleanse the reading palate.... Continue Reading →
The Exchange, by John Grisham. Pub 2023
I recall reading The Firm years ago (either before or shortly after the Tom Cruise film) and enjoying it as a clever and tense legal thriller - more about the lawyers than about any dramatic case, which was an interesting twist on the genre. I hadn't thought about it much since then, although I have seen the... Continue Reading →
Birding, by Rose Ruane. Pub 2024
I heard a bit of this read on the Backlisted podcast last year, even before the book was available. I pre-ordered it, and so when it arrived it was a bit of a surprise (I’d forgotten the order). The novel interleaves the stories of Lydia and of Joyce. Lydia is a former pop-star whose life... Continue Reading →
Every Valley, by Charles King. Pub 2024.
In our last year at university, my friend and I joined the University Singers, an amateur choral group supporting the more advanced singers within the School of Music. I think we saw a poster advertising the group’s plan to perform Handel’s Messiah that fall, and so we signed up. Thus began a lifelong love of... Continue Reading →
Stop Reading the News, by Rolf Dobelli. Pub 2019. Translation by Caroline Waight, pub 2020.
The title of this book spoke to me, in light of many conversations this year about the depressing imposition the news represents, and the goal of reclaiming my attention from the whirlpool of online sites. According to Dobelli, the only way is cold turkey - as the title says, stop reading the news – and... Continue Reading →
Do/Pause, by Robert Poynton
I wish I could remember where I heard about this book. I suspect it was an impulse purchase on a bookshop online store, where the lovely cover illustration and tagline appealed to me: You are not a To Do list. Part philosophy, part self-help, this manifesto advocates introducing conscious and deliberate pauses into one’s day... Continue Reading →
Useful Not True, by Derek Sivers. Pub 2024
I had read Sivers’ Anything You Want a few years ago, and found it to be a good inspiration and guide to being true to oneself when starting a business. The main takeaway from AYW is an important touchstone for me: “You can’t live someone else’s expectation of a traditional business. You have to just... Continue Reading →
In Covid’s Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us, by Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee. Pub 2025
Short version: In Covid’s Wake presents an excellent overview of the policies and actions in several regions of the world (primarily the US) during the Covid-19 pandemic, evaluating these for lessons learned for future crises. The authors do an excellent job analysing the rationales for the various approaches and the outcomes and impact on the... Continue Reading →
A Way to Be Happy, by Caroline Adderson. Pub 2024
This book was a birthday gift last year, from a good friend and colleague with whom I meet regularly for lunch and discussion. For our birthdays, we often exchange books, and I always find something new and interesting in these gifts. Short stories are a tricky space. The author must get the reader engaged early... Continue Reading →
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