Fabulous Monsters by Alberto Manguel inspired great discussion last night and – as all good choices – it struck various chords and resonated differently with all readers. In this it was a fine choice, even if it may not have…
I am very unsure that I can craft a review that does any justice to the sheer lyricism of this book. It is to be savoured. The narrative exists ob a variety of levels from the small anecdotal insertions of individual…
I didn’t warm to this novel initially and it took a good chunk of the book before I became rather engrossed. However, the Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols by Nicholas Meyer grabbed my attention after 20% and there was no…
A book club alternate this month, I am always looking for a few more suggestions and this one was a great read. Despite promises of post-apocalyptic grittiness and Atwoodian overtones, I chanced a delve and was well rewarded. Station Eleven…
The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America by Margaret O’Mara casts a far-reaching net to construct a long view perspective on the rise of Silicon Valley as a culture and society in its own right. O’Mara provides a…
The Code is an attempt to cast a far-reaching net to construct a long-perspective view of the rise of Silicon Valley as a culture and society in its own right. O’Mara provides a superbly readable and fresh look at an…
Shadowplay is a sumptuously stunning read full of fact and fiction to enlighten and engage the reader. For me, it is a perfect balance of clever allusion and reference to documented factual occurrence and playful injection of plausibility and possibility.…
I originally posted this as a far briefer review – which is unfair to the author and the material raised. Consequently – like Wallace-Wells’ transformation of an essay into a full-length book – I revisit this review to expand on…
Rivers of London / Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch A brief review. I give this first novel in the series a full five stars for pure enjoyment, wonderful inventiveness and how the author builds a wonderful clever relationship with the…
This is an odd book. It’s well written, engaging, and comprehensive look at German espionage efforts in Ireland during the emergency. As such I would suggest that it would be better entitled to the more broad offering that it is.…
This historical-action-espionage novel (as strange as that combo may sound) asks the question: just what was it that allowed the Knights Templar to exert influence in or over the Roman Catholic church during the 12th/13th centuries? And what if that…
The waves splash and crenellate the shore. They create a boundary zone. Seeking to reach inland, denied by the land. The struggle between tenacious forces creates a spectacle of natural wonder. The tapestry spreads below, beaches, rocks, fields, streams and…