My friend Owen recommended this book - and as it was only 99p, I thought I'd give it a go. It's a sprawling urban fantasy - with an unwieldy cast of characters. It is suffused with atmosphere, palace intrigue, and a strong sense of decay and decrepitude. I'm usually a sucker "history + magic" books - but this was a bit unrelenting, and almost devoid of joy. It has an unsatisfying end - like…
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Barbara Newhall Follett was just thirteen years old when she published The House Without Windows in 1927. The book went on to become a million-copy bestseller. Years later, as an adult herself, Barbara followed in the footsteps of her radical heroine - dissatisfied with the limitations of life as a respectable married woman, she walked out of her house one day and simply disappeared. This is a …
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This book demonstrates how popular culture can be successfully incorporated into medical and health science curriculums, capitalising on the opportunity fictional media presents to humanise case studies. Studies show that the vast majority of medical and nursing students watch popular medical television dramas and comedies such as Grey’s Anatomy, ER, House M.D. and Scrubs. This book is c…
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Winner of the 1989 Children's Book of the Year Award for older readers. I rarely re-read books. I just don't like revisiting the past. But I remember reading this repeatedly during adolescence. And something called me to re-reading it as an adult. I'm glad I did. Parts of this book were buried deep in my brain. I call on them from time-to-time. But long sections of it were completely alien to …
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So much of what we say about Shakespeare is either not true, or just not relevant, deflecting us from investigating the challenges of his inconsistencies and flaws. This electrifying new book thrives on revealing, not resolving, the ambiguities of Shakespeare's plays and their changing topicality. A joyous read in these troubling times. A series of essays on Shakespeare from one of the UK's…
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Kepler is like you, but not like you. With a simple touch, Kepler can move into any body, live any life - for a moment, a day or for years. And your life could be next. I thoroughly enjoy Claire North's writing. This was a perfect slice of sci-fi. Body-jumping, fast-talking, continent-hopping fun! An ancient set of humans which can take over anyone's body. Leaping from life-to-life, putting…
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There's no doubt that technology has made it easier to communicate. It's also easier to shut someone out when we are confronted with online discourse. Why bother to understand strangers--or even acquaintances--when you can troll them, block them, or just click "Unfriend" and never look back? This is a mish-mash of essays which never quite comes to a conclusion. Virtual Reality experiences…
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A series of grisly murders rocks London. At each location, only a jumble of bones remains of the deceased, along with a bizarre sphere covered in strange symbols. The son of the latest victim seeks the help of Sherlock Holmes and his former partner, Dr. John Watson. They discover the common thread tying together the murders. Bizarre geometries, based on ancient schematics, enable otherworldly…
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Written in brief entries from ‘Ambition’ to ‘Zzzzz’ Salway's confident debut novel chronicles the existential ups and downs of British 20-something Verity Bell. The alphabetically arranged mini-chapters make for an inventive and episodic narrative, as Verity muses on her career. For some reason I purchased this in 2013 and left it 7 years before reading. I wish I'd left it 70. I don't usually …
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Karen Armstrong's concise yet compelling investigation into the history of myth takes us from the Palaeolithic period and the mythology of the hunters right up to the 'Great Western Transformation' of the last 500 years. She shows us that the history of myth is the history of humanity, and our stories and beliefs, our curiosity and attempts to understand the world, link us to our ancestors and…
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A young and naive English doctor, William Abbey, witnesses the lynching of a local boy by the white colonists. As the child dies, his mother curses William. William begins to understand what the curse means when the shadow of the dead boy starts following him across the world. It never stops, never rests. It can cross oceans and mountains. And if it catches him, the person he loves most in the…
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In The Memory Illusion, forensic psychologist and memory expert Dr Julia Shaw draws on the latest research to show why our memories so often play tricks on us - and how, if we understand their fallibility, we can actually improve their accuracy. The result is an exploration of our minds that both fascinating and unnerving, and that will make you question how much you can ever truly know about…
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