Tag: books

WWW Wednesday

Posted November 8, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

The three ‘W’s are what are you reading now, what have you recently finished reading, and what are you going to read next, and you can find this week’s post at the host’s blog here if you want to check out other posts.

What are you currently reading?

Cover of Pantomime by Laura LamActively, Laura Lam’s Pantomime. And I’m probably going to finish it today! For some reason I didn’t really get into it before, but this time I’m tearing through it. Right time, I guess? That and I have a challenge to read two books from my currently reading pile for one new book (whether that’s actually new or a reread). It’s actually working really well for me, for once; I’m down to eight, counting Pantomime. 

What have you recently finished reading?

Cover of ZIkaZika: The Emerging Epidemic; I found it really interesting, although it’s by a science reporter rather than a scientist who has actually been researching Zika directly. Sometimes I didn’t quite fall in with the tone — he goes a bit Not All Men for a while about women’s worries about pregnancy through rape — but I didn’t disagree with his campaign to get the CDC, etc, to issue the advice that women should delay pregnancy if possible. I’ll probably write more about this in my review, but yeah. I totally agree with the advice and if anyone reaaaally needs me to explain why, I can always do a post on my science blog.

What will you be reading next?

Cover of Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha LeeI think I’ll target finishing Raven Stratagem next. I think I only stopped reading it because I forgot to take it on the plane to Canada, or something like that, and I’m now in the same place as my copy again. My copy that I bought urgently after finishing the first book. Oops.

Other than that, for a Habitica challenge I’m going to read Castles: Their History and Evolution in Medieval Britain, by Marc Morris. I’ve been meaning to read this for a while and it fits into the Dewey Decimal category for this month, so it’s the perfect excuse.

What are you reading? 

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Review – Adventures in Human Being

Posted November 8, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Adventures in Human Being by Gavin FrancisAdventures in Human Being, Gavin Francis

Gavin Francis’ book is basically a series of essays about the human body and how it works (and how it breaks), from the head down. It’s pretty readable, with anecdotes from Francis’ time as a doctor, though it’s not something that grabbed me as much as, say, Henry Marsh’s Do No Harm. Actually, it’s fading a bit from memory already. It’s certainly readable and filled some time during an epic plane and train ride from Canada through Amsterdam to Belgium; it’s not revelatory, or amazingly written. I’m a little surprised, though, at how ‘meh’ I feel about it in retrospect.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – Close Encounters with Humankind

Posted November 7, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Cover of Close Encounters with Humankind by Sang-Hee LeeClose Encounters with Humankind, Sang-Hee Lee

Received to review via Netgalley; publication date 20th February 2018

Close Encounters with Humankind is a sort of compendium of various questions about hominid ancestors. It doesn’t try to tackle things chronologically or systematically. Instead, it poses interesting questions — are there cannibals in the line of human descent? How much of a Neanderthal am I? — and then tries to answer them with the best of what we know at the moment. Sometimes the answers aren’t entirely satisfactory or complete, because the evidence isn’t there (yet, or perhaps ever; behaviour, after all, does not fossilise).

It’s a pretty good tour through some interesting topics, although if you’re already interested in this sort of thing, you may well find that there’s nothing much new here for you. But if that knowledge is a bit cursory or out of date, this’d probably be perfect.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – A Sting in the Tale

Posted November 6, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 6 Comments

Cover of A Sting in the Tale by Dave GoulsonA Sting in the Tale, Dave Goulson

I’m not a big fan of insects. If you know me personally, even a little, you’re probably laughing at the understatement there. So okay, the truth is that insects scare me silly. But so did disease at one point, and now look at me tearing through my degree and thinking of working in a lab to study infectious diseases… All through the power of reading enough about it to really pique my curiosity. So maybe I can do the same with insects, and hence this book. Not that bumblebees frighten me that dreadfully; they’re sort of endearing, at their best. But it’s a place to start, and Goulson’s enthusiasm really sold me on it. I even have another book potentially lined up about bees now…

There’s a lot of personal reflection, including talking about what he did as a kid to get involved with bees, and his place in France where he’s rewilding a field to attract more wildlife. It’s not strictly scientific, by-the-book facts, that’s for sure; for me, that added to the appeal. I could almost get excited about bees, through the eyes of Dave Goulson — and I could definitely get excited about his conservation goals and hopes.

Also, you get to learn fun things like the fact that bees have smelly feet…

Recommended! Even if bees are not exactly your cup of honey-sweetened tea. (And yes, yes, I know, bumblebees do not actually make honey. I did pay attention to that much, I promise.)

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Away With the Fairies

Posted November 5, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Away With the Fairies by Kerry GreenwoodAway with the Fairies, Kerry Greenwood

Phryne’s answer to Murder Must Advertise, and loaded with references to Sayers’ work (Nutrax Nerve Food, you say? smuggling clues in magazine copy, really?) — but also very much a novel in its own right, as Phryne goes above and beyond any of the on-screen heroism displayed by Lord Peter by rescuing her lover, Lin Chung, from pirates. Yep, pirates. As ever, it’s the usual mix for a Miss Fisher novel: a bit of mystery, some very fashionable clothing, some sex, a murder or so, and daring rescues featuring guns and requiring Phryne to get her kit off.

It kind of sounds formulaic when I put it that way, but it doesn’t feel that way when reading. It remains a ‘cosy’ mystery despite the guns and murder, even when it’s not a reread, because you know Phryne’s going to fix things in the end, with only minor damage to those around her. (Though I admit to being sceptical that Lin Chung’s replacement rubber ear is that realistic.)

The mystery part of it is fairly staid in comparison, though I do love the engagement with then-current politics (i.e. the mild background commentary on Mussolini).

Rating: 4/5

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Review – The Brain

Posted November 4, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Cover of The Brain by David EaglemanThe Brain, David Eagleman

If you haven’t read anything else about the human brain and how it works, you’ll probably find this interesting. It covers the usual points: a lot of interesting stuff about the way our brains work and the way they perceive the world. And it’s definitely presented in a readable, easy to understand fashion; I think it’d definitely be suitable for a layperson.

For me, however, it got boring pretty fast because I know this stuff. It’s hardly even revision for me – this is stuff I just know. I had the same feeling with one of the author’s previous books, so I’d better keep a mental note and avoid in future!

Rating: 2/5

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Unstacking the Shelves

Posted November 4, 2017 by Nicky in General / 20 Comments

Absolutely no new books this week, which means this is officially an UNstacking the Shelves week! For those who haven’t been around for that before, it’s a week where I showcase the books I’ve cleared from my shelves — I’ve just read ’em all, so please don’t tell me to enjoy them or I’ll know you haven’t read my post at all, and I’ll be sad!

First, this is my last weekend away from the bunnies for a while, so have two photos to celebrate!

Cuddle time!
Reading the paper over dinner

Books read this week:

Cover of The Other Log of Phileas Fogg by Philip Jose Farmer Cover of The Rabbit Back Literature Society  Cover of What On Earth Evolved?

Cover of The Silver Wind by Nina Allan Cover of Provenance by Ann Leckie Cover of Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer Cover of The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan

Four stars to: Provenance, Friday’s Child and The Gracekeepers.
Three stars to: What On Earth Evolved? … In Brief? and The Silver Wind.
Two stars to: The Other Log of Phileas Fogg and The Rabbit Back Literature Society.

Reviews posted this week:

Caliban’s War, by James S.A. Corey. I enjoyed several of the new characters for this installment, while also getting a bit frustrated with the main character of the series and his crew. I’m still intrigued. 4/5 stars
Snowdrift and Other Stories, by Georgette Heyer. Probably not where I’d start with Heyer, but an enjoyable set of stories with her usual comic touches. 4/5 stars
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, by Carlo Rovelli. Rovelli’s really good at getting across big ideas in simple language and a short space, though of course he doesn’t go into depth. 3/5 stars
Kitty and the Midnight Hour, by Carrie Vaughn. There was some stuff I wanted to enjoy about this, but it was overshadowed by the character interactions. Probably a personal reaction, though. 2/5 stars
The Bonobo and the Atheist, by Frans de Waal. Fascinating stuff about the species most closely related to humans. 4/5 stars
A is for Arsenic, by Kathryn Harkup. Fascinating stuff about the chemistry of poisons as well as how Agatha Christie used poison in her mysteries. 4/5 stars
The Servants, by Michael Marshall Smith. It felt like this didn’t quite know what it wanted to be. I didn’t love it and I don’t know who I’d recommend it to, even though I found it interesting enough to read all the way through. 2/5 stars

Other posts:

WWW Wednesday: What’s on my currently-reading stack, and what’s coming up next.

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Review – The Servants

Posted November 3, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of The Servants, by Michael Marshall SmithThe Servants, Michael Marshall Smith

I’m not sure what to make of The Servants, in the end. It sounds like it’s going to be creepy, but isn’t really. It feels like Tom’s Midnight Garden, except that it’s a bit more mature in some ways, and then again in other ways it isn’t. It doesn’t quite seem to all fit together right, producing a story that doesn’t seem to know what it is — one minute it’s deeply real, a boy’s experience of his mother’s sickness and his parents’ divorce. The next, it’s into the Midnight Garden type of fantasy, and in the end comes off as feeling too easy, almost wish fulfilment. I wasn’t sure who the book was really aimed at, either.

It’s not a long or difficult read, but I found it rather puzzling because the elements didn’t come together. I don’t really recommend it, partly because I’m not sure who I’d recommend it to. There’s some great atmospheric bits and description and glimpses into the head of a boy dealing with a stepfather and a mother’s critical illness… and yet.

Rating: 2/5

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Review – A is for Arsenic

Posted November 2, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of A is for Arsenic by Kathryn HarkupA is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie, Kathryn Harkup

I avoided picking this up for quite a while, mostly because I’m just not that interested in Agatha Christie’s work — she wrote some great mysteries, but I’m more interested in characters, and I’m not overly fond of any of hers. (Poirot and his mannerisms drive me mad, sorry.) It turns out that while this does talk a lot about Christie’s work, it also relates her ideas to actual chemistry — of which she’d have been aware of as an assistant in a dispensing chemist — and actual murders that she may have found inspiration from.

All in all, it becomes a rather entertaining little package, not just focused on recounting the plots of Agatha Christie’s books. The chemistry involved was pretty easy for me to follow, but bear in mind that I am in my last year of a science degree! It might get a little too involved for people who are interested in this from the Agatha Christie end of the equation (while not, I think, being worth reading just for the explanations of how poisons work, because there’s a lot of social info and stuff about Christie and her plots as well). Fortunately, if you are a fan of Christie, Harkup doesn’t spoil any of her plots — or in the rare cases she has to for the sake of explaining things properly, she warns you in advance.

I still would’ve liked to see it be about the Golden Age crime fiction in general, and then Harkup would’ve had a great one to analyse in the shape of Sayers’ Strong Poison… but that’s beside the point.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – The Bonobo and the Atheist

Posted November 1, 2017 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of The Bonobo and the Atheist by Frans de WaalThe Bonobo and the Atheist, Frans de Waal

If you’ve ever wondered about the evolution of morality and whether humans are the only moral creatures, this is a good exploration of the idea. Frans de Waal posits that we have an innate sense of morality, and like Jonathan Haidt, suggests that this sense dictates what we do – the emotional tail wags the rational dog, rather than the other way round, in Haidt’s terminology.

The main attraction for me is not the ideas, which I’ve come across plenty of times before, but the anecdotes about the behaviour of wild and captive bonobos and chimpanzees. They’re our closest relatives, on the evolutionary tree, and we can learn a lot about ourselves from observing them. Frans de Waal includes a lot of interesting titbits, and I found his work fascinating, though not surprising.

It probably won’t convince anyone who thinks that morality comes only as handed down from God, but if you wonder about this kind of thing, you’ll probably find this interesting.

Rating: 4/5

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