Disconsolate means “very unhappy and unable to be comforted”, according to the Oxford Dictionary of English on my Kindle. My 10-year-old daughter and I have been reading “The Silver Sword” by Ian Serraillier. She had been learning about the Second World War at school and chose this book to accompany her studies. We had a… Continue reading Word of the week: disconsolate
As with yesterday’s piece about Earworms I now feel obliged to post a “Coincidence Corner” piece every month. In May’s “Coincidence Corner” I described it as my “light-hearted … monthly look at the themes, stories or references that recur if you keep your eyes and ears open, no matter what you read, watch or listen… Continue reading June’s “Coincidence Corner”
There are many books that I have started and not finished, and many books that I have read part of and do not plan to read all the way through. The book that I have tried to read, and failed, more than any other is Charlotte Bronte’s “Jane Eyre”. Throughout the last 20 years I… Continue reading “Jane Eyre”
Earlier this month I took a look at one of our bookcases and realized that there were dozens of books there that I am unlikely to read in the next year or two. I grew up in a house without many books for adults. (I was going to write “adult books”, but that means something… Continue reading Books, shelving and storage
Earlier this month I read “Gut” by Giulia Enders. It has the subtitle “The inside story of our body’s most under-rated organ”. I had been looking forward to it, enjoyed it, and recommend it. There are lots of exclamation marks! And rather weak jokes! But that didn’t spoil it for me. This book constitutes a… Continue reading Gut
“Coincidence Corner” is my light-hearted description for what has become a monthly look at the themes, stories or references that recur if you keep your eyes and ears open, no matter what you read, watch or listen to. They’re not really coincidences, though some people might see them that way, and they’re based on what… Continue reading May’s “Coincidence Corner”
Earlier this month I wrote about Micromorts and Microlives, referencing a New Scientist cover feature from May 2015. Since then I have read the book mentioned in those pieces, “The Norm Chronicles: Stories and numbers about danger” by David Spiegelhalter and Michael Blastland). It’s an entertaining and detailed look at risk and the different ways… Continue reading More about Micromorts and Microlives
How do you know what to read next, or which radio programmes to listen to, or what to watch on TV? Whose recommendations do you follow, if any? How much randomness or serendipity is there in your choices? TV and radio were very straightforward when I was growing up. We had three TV channels, no… Continue reading Recent Recommendations
I was sad to read of the death of Sally Brampton earlier this week. A few years ago I bought “Shoot the Damn Dog”, her Memoir of Depression, on a friend’s recommendation. It’s the kind of book that I have started, and then dipped into, rather than read cover to cover. It’s excellent, but heavy-going… Continue reading Not everything is copy
“When I woke up the next day I was a different guy”. For me that is the most memorable sentence from Keith Richards’s “Life”. It describes the effect on him of hearing Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” on Radio Luxembourg one night. As it says on page 58 of my hardback edition: “That was the stunner.… Continue reading “When I woke up the next day I was a different guy”
The Compartments 