Books and Me

By Jesper Juul (2012) Phew - that was a struggle.  In fact I don't know how I got to the end of this incoherent ramble . Perhaps it was the fact that just as a stopped clock will tell the right time twice a day, the author did get things right occasionally and it was mildly entertaining to seek out these fleeting moments, but more realistically it was probably because the whole thing was mercifully short.  The book didn't present a coherent strategy for parenting with "no", despite seemingly promising to do so on the cover.  Really, there are far better books out there on how to live happily with one's children, and this book definitely suffered for such comparisons, not least because I was simultaneously reading one of these better ones. (Review to follow shortly). 1/10

by Dr. Michael Mosley  (2017) The fact that this is my third Michael Mosley book so far this year is a pretty strong clue that I am a dedicated fan of this doctor-turned-journalist. He churns out these books on similar subjects and I read them all avidly.  This is yet  another  book primarily on the microbiome and the latest (as of 2017) ways to improve it, which of course is predominantly through diet (a lot of tasty though often meat based recipes are provided), but also through fasting, exercise, getting a good night's sleep and minimising stress. It might seem like reinventing the wheel, given all the other stuff I have read on this subject in the recent past, but actually, I am constantly grateful for the revision as well as the updates. For example, it is easy to fall off the fasting wagon and a little reminder of why it is worth it, particularly when coupled with the advantages of  HIIT,  is always a good thing.   And of course the ...

                                                                     by Sue Lloyd-Roberts and Sarah Morris (2016) This was not an easy read.  Yes, one is broadly familiar with most of the forms of savagery that are meted out on women, (a knowledge for which we most likely have to thank the likes of Sue and her fellow journalists), but the sheer horror of these atrocities is brought home by the reporting of the stories of the individuals who underwent these experiences.  It doesn't start out gently either.  We jump straight in with female genital mutilation, from whence we proceed to the appalling grief of Las Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo, then on to the wash house persecution of "fallen" women in Ireland and so on, unrelentingly, until we reach the last chapter on the UK's gender pay gap (com...

by Brene Brown (2018) This  book is both a quickish reiteration of themes from Brown's previous books and an extension into the application of those themes to leadership.  Perhaps because it was my first Brene Brown book, I couldn't read it in the flight time that Brene prescribed.  I had to linger over the ideas primarily because it could be quite dense but also because of some key parts of the language which somehow remained obscure to me.   For example,  I finished the book still not being entirely sure I that I know what a "rumble" is. The meaning seemed to mutate a bit depending on context, so I sketched it in as I went along.  These a quibbles though.  The main message of the importance of being aware of one's vulnerability, facing it honestly and dealing with the resulting shame in a way that avoids the noxious pitfalls shame generates is utterly obvious, helpful and healing. You also end up feeling that the world badly needs a ...

by Rick Wilson (2018) This is an eviscerating account of the idiocy that is the Trump presidency.  Trump is skewered with perfectly targeted prose, along with all those who, one way or another, aided and abetted his election and continue to believe in him. Despite the richness and laser-like accuracy of the character assassinations, it is all a bit relentless and hopeless and could have done with a bit of editing as it does get repetitive.  Let's face it, there isn't much suspense.  You know how disastrous it all is right from the off - it's in the title after all, and it is therefore rather hard to stick with it through the close examination of the respective failings of a whole bundle of Trumpian lackeys, many of whom are not terribly familiar to us this side of the pond.  However, a curiosity about the vocabulary kept me going for quite a bit: for a Brit like me, it is was an education and I am now up on  "doofy" "chickenhawk","pudknock...