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1000 Facts About Space
Review: I always say that if you want to learn about something, anything, the best way to do that is to get yourself a kids book. And once again I am proven right as this book was brilliant. Lots of information, lots of pictures, and presented in such a way as to keep me reaching
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Under the Volcano
Review: This was so good. A modernist novel that right from its first publication was recognized as a masterpiece. I loved this book and will be referring back to it in the future, often, until people are sick of me banging on about Under the Volcano. With that said, not everyone loves or even admires
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World War I Trench Warfare Vol. 2
Review: Neilos reading a book on World War One history? Shocking! Okay not really, and despite all the books I read on this subject I always learn something new, and this book was no exception. For those that don’t know, Osprey books are the gold standard in military reference books. They have hundreds of volumes
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Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes
Review: This was a great book, both when it was originally published in 1942 and reading it now in 2025. In cliché terms it has stood the test of time as have the myths and epics described inside this remarkable volume. I have been reading Greek drama and myths since I was a youth so
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Goth – A History
Review: I’ll be honest right here at the start and say that I knew nothing about goth, goth music, or the history of the genre. Nothing beyond black hair and makeup and that The Cure was a band. So I got this book and now I know a lot more about goth as a subculture,
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Muse of Fire
Review: First completed read of 2025 and we’re 4 months in! And this book was well worth the wait. As the subtitle indicates this book is a a history of WWI as seen through the the eyes and the lives of the soldier poets, or as they are often remembered, the War Poets. Why I
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The Lonely City
Review: In selecting this book I am guilty of a logical fallacy, something akin to the gambler’s fallacy. The gamblers fallacy is esentially, I flipped this coin before and it came up heads twice, so there’s gotta be a third head up next. Or alternatively I flipped this coin before and it came up heads
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Book of Divine Works
Review: Hildegard of Bingen has been called a Renaissance woman centuries before the Renaissance. After reading this book I can unequivocally state this is not an opinion, it is an undisputed fact. As a Renaissance man myself, game recognizes game. So, for starters, who was this woman with the hemi-loaded name? Hildegard of Bingen was
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Ken and Me
Review: This is the autobiography of both William Roache and Ken Barlow as their lives are completely intertwined, and both are as dramatic and fascinating as anything that the writers at Coronation Street could come up with. First of all, a sort of disclaimer. This book is copyright 1993 and the amount of change in
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To The River
Review: I am haunted by waters. Thus begins this extraordinary book. I don’t use the word extraordinary lightly here, I mean this is a really extraordinary, exceptional, puzzlingly beautiful book. This was Olivia Laing’s debut, way back in 2011 but it has aged beautifully. The book begins with the author describing her recent breakup with
In His Own Words