SPQR : a history of ancient Rome by Mary Beard
The Roman Empire still holds quite a sway in modern imaginations and culture. Gladiator and the tv show Rome are only two …
Between the world and me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Ta-Nehisi Coates is a name that has floated around me for a while now. Often in discussions on Metafilter about racism and …
Jane Eyre’s Sisters by Jody Gentian Bower
Don’t you just love it when you pick up a book at random thinking it looks vaguely interesting and then you devour …
The Genius of Dogs by Brian Hare, Vanessa Woods
“Brian Hare, dog researcher, evolutionary anthropologist, and founder of the Duke Canine Cognition Center, and Vanessa Woods offer revolutionary new insights into …
A Slip of the Keyboard by Terry Pratchett
A week or two before Terry Pratchett died A slip of the keyboard and A blink of the screen arrived for me …
Cracked not broken by Kevin Hines
When he was nineteen years old Kevin Hines jumped from the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco to what he thought would …
The voice that thunders by Alan Garner
Earlier this year I read The Owl Service by Alan Garner, and I had many many thoughts about it, and I enjoyed …
Clever dog by Sarah Whitehead
illus. by Jo van Kampen. I’ll admit that I’ve watched a fair amount of Cesar Milan and his dog whispering, but while …
What makes this book so great by Jo Walton
My first non-fiction book of 2014! And it is a book all about books. The best sort of book ;) I would …
Rin Tin Tin by Susan Orlean
The life and legend of the world’s most famous dog While serving during World War I serviceman Lee Duncan came across a …
The good, the bad and the multiplex by Mark Kermode
As a film critic Mark Kermode watches films. A lot of films. A whole lot of films, and he often doesn’t like …
Obedience to authority by Stanley Milgram
In the 1960s Stanley Milgram and his associates carried out a number of experiments on obedience. They were set-up a situation where …