Books and Me

                                                                     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 Tim Harford (2011) This is a superb examination of the problem solving nature of experimentation, failure and learning. It is an argument in favor of the approach that works -  local knowledge, autonomy, an initial safe space coupled with an iterative, experimental process and an ability to respond appropriately to failure. It is also a powerful argument against centralisation, standardisation and a supposedly rational, top-down method that is impervious to critique. The author illustrates his argument with the most lucidly described examples from a range of fields such as military history, oil rig disasters and economics and in the process, he manages to shed light on the driest of subjects.  This is a double win: not only do you have a firm grasp on how evolution works in every field of experience, but you might also end up finally having a handle on  the significance of sub-prime mortgages and credit default swaps. A desert island book on a big subject. ...

by Rod Liddle (2014). True to form, Rod continues to entertain and infuriate by turns .  Actually, if I'm honest, he never does manage to infuriate me, but regular headlines, including one  today , demonstrate that he does successfully irritate a large number of people.  The thing is, unlike the likes of Katy Hopkins, I suspect that being vexatious isn't Rod's entire raison d'etre.  Instead he primarily wants to say it as it is even when what it is he has to say completely unsayable in this day and age.  You have to respect that, even on the few occasions when you suspect that he might also be wrong.   And of course on the entertainment front, he is quite often very funny, turning out perfectly pitched, humorous ridicule annoyingly easily, which is always admirable. The stand out unsayable, the elephant that has occupied my particular room ever since I floundered around for most of my youth as my mother worked her socks off as a doctor, was the...