This book was recommended by three friends. The first read it as part of a book club at their work. The second is the partner of the first. The third is a friend of the first and second. Like so many I’ve read this year, this is a sci-fi book and not typically in my... Continue Reading →
Beneath the Surface of Things, by Wade Davis. Pub 2024
This was an impulse purchase at the local bookshop. By rights, I should have waited for a birthday or Christmas list (and for paperback), but impulses rarely give way to such sober second thinking. I was keen to read more of Wade Davis’ writing after enjoying The Wayfinders last year, as well as his public... Continue Reading →
The Order of Time, by Carlo Rovelli. Pub 2017. Translation by Erica Segre and Simon Carnell, 2018.
I heard about this book on a podcast sometime in the past year. While on a bus around the same time, the person sitting next to me was reading it, and when asked how it was, said, “It’s good but some parts are tough.” I agree with that assessment, but ultimately I found the push... Continue Reading →
The Wayfinders, by Wade Davis. Pub 2009
I've had this book for many years, likely from not long after it was published. I recall reading a few previous books in the series - especially Payback (Margaret Atwood) and A Short History of Progress (Ronald Wright) - and purchasing this one when it came out. After starting it, I think I ran out of steam for... Continue Reading →
Pandexicon, by Wayne Grady. Pub 2023
I don't recall where I first heard of this book, but I know it was in the last month or so, likely on a podcast of some kind. Needing a book to fill the language category, this seemed like a timely fit, and promised (according to the cover) to describe "how the language of the... Continue Reading →
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, by Karen Joy Fowler. Book report #28 (2022)
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, by Karen Joy Fowler. Pub 2013. This book was a re-gift from a friend (who herself received it as a re-gift). My friend reported being surprised at enjoying this one, as she did not enjoy the author’s more famous book. At the heart of this book is a surprising... Continue Reading →
The Feather Thief, by Kirk Wallace Johnson. Book report #18 (2022)
The Feather Thief, by Kirk Wallace Johnson. Pub 2018 I first heard about this story and book in an episode of the podcast This American Life. It is one of those stories of a seemingly oddball crime by an oddball character that takes the journalist and ultimately the reader to some fascinating places and times.... Continue Reading →
When We Cease to Understand the World, by Benjamin Labatut. Translation by Adrian Nathan West. Pub 2020
This book was an impulse purchase. At the bookstore to collect some books for work, I overheard the clerk telling another customer about this one and was intrigued by her effusive praise for the strange science and compelling stories. I thought it might make a good gift book for someone (and so an allowable purchase... Continue Reading →
2021 Reading Challenge – summary
I didn't quite make it through the entire 2021 list, but was very close. The goal was 34 books, and I got to 33, including one that did not make the official list due to redundancy. Here's the final book list for 2021: 1 - Book with a murder in it Death in a Darkening... Continue Reading →
Everything in Its Place, by Oliver Sacks. Book report #28 (2021)
Everything in Its Place, by Oliver Sacks. Pub 2019 A now-former work colleague recommended Oliver Sacks as good reading. As this same person had recommended Harari's Sapiens, which was excellent, I took their advice again and was not disappointed. This is the most recent of Sacks' books, a posthumous one. It is a collection of essays... Continue Reading →
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