by Shaun Bythell. Shaun Bythell recounts – in the form of diary entries – his life as owner of The [secondhand] Bookshop in Wigtown, and I say “life” because and it’s so much more than a mere job). His observations of customers, … Continue reading
Category Archives: NON-FICTION
Homemade Takeaways
by Rob Allison. From-scratch recipes! Cooking, as I do, for three children with sensory-processing issues (they struggle with both the taste and texture of food), the range of dishes they can all cope with is very small. That said, they … Continue reading
5th October 2018
by Leigh Forbes
Comments Off on Histories of Nations: How Their Identities Were Forged
Histories of Nations: How Their Identities Were Forged
by Peter Furtado. A “History of the Political Revisionist Histories of Nations” would be a more accurate title for this book, which comprises a selection of essays, written by natives of each country, on some (necessarily limited) aspect of their … Continue reading
This is Going to Hurt
by Adam Kay. Adam Kay is a junior doctor in the UK’s National Health Service. (“Junior” in this context means highly qualified, but overworked and underpaid.) Anyone who has followed the news in recent years will know that junior doctors … Continue reading
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
18th September 2018
by Leigh Forbes
Comments Off on Nathaniel’s Nutmeg: How One Man’s Courage Changed the Course of History
Nathaniel’s Nutmeg: How One Man’s Courage Changed the Course of History
by Giles Milton. Nathaniel’s Nutmeg is essentially a history of the East India Company’s early years – including the lengthy prelude to its inception – and its part in the spice race. The first half of the seventeenth century saw the … Continue reading
Why Does E=mc2 (And Why Should We Care)
by Brian Cox and Jeffrey R. Forshaw. A mind blowing journey through Einstein’s special and general theories of relativity. This book explains why – for example – time really does slow down when clocks speed up (and so why we age more slowly … Continue reading
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
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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
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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