23rd September 2018
by Leigh Forbes
Comments Off on Shadow of the Silk Road
by Colin Thubron. Colin Thubron travels along the ancient silk road, from the east of China to Turkey, via Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, northern Iran, and Turkey. He visits ancient monuments, often eliciting the help of locals to reach all-but lost … Continue reading
21st June 2018
by Leigh Forbes
Comments Off on Hard Prejudice
by Dave Stanton. Dan Reno is a tough-guy private eye, who teams up with side-kick Cody Gibbons to investigate a serious miscarriage of justice. Sadly, and although I usually like this genre (and I did read to the end), I never really … Continue reading
13th February 2018
by Leigh Forbes
Comments Off on Blind Descent
by James M. Tubor. James M. Tubor chronicles the search for the world’s deepest cave, as lead by two teams – one American (in Mexico), one Ukrainian (in Georgia) – between 1991 to 2009. He describes the characters involved, and the … Continue reading
2nd February 2018
by Leigh Forbes
Comments Off on Complete Norwegian: Beginner to Intermediate Course
by Margaretha Danbolt-Simons. NOTE: the “audio support” for this edition (ISBN13: 9781444195040) is a phone app, through which you then download audio files to your phone. There is no CD, and the audio can’t be played on a computer. You … Continue reading
3rd January 2018
by Leigh Forbes
Comments Off on The Big Red Train Ride
by Eric Newby. Eric Newby, his wife, Wanda, Otto the German photographer, and Mischa, their “guide”, journey from Moscow to Nakhodka (on the Pacific) by way of the 5,900-mile trans-Siberian railway. As we journey long each section of the railway, … Continue reading
27th December 2017
by Leigh Forbes
Comments Off on The Swordfish and the Star: Life on Cornwall’s most treacherous stretch of coast
by Gavin Knight. A fascinating account of life for those on Cornwall’s far-west peninsular, this book covers fishing, art, a bit about mining and smuggling, incomers, poverty, family, feuds, fighting, alcohol, and drugs. I enjoyed this book well enough, but … Continue reading
13th August 2017
by Leigh Forbes
Comments Off on This Census Taker
by China Miéville. A boy comes running into town, crying murder. He is confused and upset, and it takes a while for the townsfolk (and for him) to understand what has happened. And even then, no one’s sure. The first … Continue reading
8th August 2017
by Leigh Forbes
Comments Off on A Day in the Life of the Brain: The Neuroscience of Consciousness from Dawn Till Dusk
by Susan Greenfield. A Day in the Life of the Brain takes the reader through a typical day: from waking up – that moment when we regain consciousness (and what is consciousness, anyway?) – to going back to sleep and dreaming. During … Continue reading
26th May 2017
by Leigh Forbes
Comments Off on The Great Explosion
by Brian Dillon. Brian Dillon’s “The Great Explosion” takes us on exploration of the north Kent marshes, through the site and history of a munitions accident that killed 108 people in 1916. In the middle of WWI, weapons manufacture was … Continue reading
10th February 2017
by Leigh Forbes
Comments Off on Blink: the Power of Thinking Without Thinking
by Malcolm Gladwell. This book looks at how we instinctively know when something is right or wrong, based on our ability to “thin slice” a situation. Citing examples of art experts spotting a fake (that months of research had validated), a tennis … Continue reading
