READ ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY?

[plaques]

I've said before I found it interesting but there again I had just moved to Colne and had been round photographing a lot of the old lumps of stone so the descriptions given in the book had a lot more meaning.

[plaques]

Collected my second book from the library. (Entangled life: how fungi make our worlds, change our minds and shape our futures.) A couple of days left in Paul Krugman's book, so I'll go from entangled politics to entangled fungi. Not much difference really. Both depend on a goodly amount of s... to keep going.

[Stanley]

You'll like 'Entangled' Ken. Fascinating stuff. You'll never look at your compost bins in the same way again!
I told Susan about Romy Landau and she is delighted, she's going to tell her book club.

[Stanley]

I'm backtracking on the Romy Landau story. I am beginning to think that it is a clever hoax by the author. Too many unexplained gaps in the evidence.

[Stanley]

I finished PE for this week and gave 'Underland' another chance. It only took one chapter to convince me that my first impression was correct. Not for me!
I shall have a look in the library and see if anything jumps out at me. Probably an old favourite!

[Stanley]

I gave 'Underland' another chance and was surprised when it suddenly improved! He is describing Norwegian fishing and oil exploration and is with one of the agitators who secured the setting up of the Sovereign Wealth Fund there which is so successful. (What a pity Thatcher didn't do that instead of spending the money destroying manufacturing and the Unions.)

[plaques]

Finished 'Entangled life: how fungi make our worlds, change our minds and shape our futures' An interesting book highlighting points I've never given any thought to but with reservations. I thought the author spent too much time describing himself and his 'magic mushroom' mind bending theories. Also towards the end he started throwing in a lot of vague related subjects to add bulk to the book. Happy to return it to the library but would have been disappointed if I'd spent £20 on it.

[Stanley]

Have you noted it is the BBC Book of the Week? We must be reading the right stuff!

[Stanley]

'Underland' hasn't actually improved, I still think it's pretentious, but it is getting quite interesting as it discusses modern trends and in particular climate and environmental change. 'Salmon' ended up in much the same vein.
I shall read Underland to the end.

[Stanley]

I finished 'Underworld' yesterday. It got quite interesting towards the end, one of the underground matters it discussed was the storage of high level radio-active waste. Interesting and informative but intensely depressing when you learn how much there is and how dangerous it is. I'm afraid I am in the 'ignorance is bliss and 'tis folly to be wise!' camp these days.

[plaques]

Finished 'Dreams from my Farther' Barack Obama's early book. Excellent well written and lots of family background where he is more an observer than the main subject. I can recommend it.

Did a book swap yesterday with my pal in Barrowford outdoors chat putting the world to rights, masks and social distancing observed. That should impress the neighbours.
Will start on 'The Rule of Law' Tom Bingham. 70+ pages of notes and references, Can't be bad.

[Stanley]

I took the easy route and got the first two Smiley Novels down off the shelf.....

[Stanley]

I'm enjoying Le Carre and Smiley, such well written books!
I became aware yesterday of Harold McGee's 'Nosedive', here's a description.
"The long awaited new book from Harold McGee, winner of the Andre Simon Food Book of the Year & the James Beard Award. What is smell? How does it work? And why is it so important? HAROLD McGEE, leading expert on the science of food and cooking, has spent a decade exploring our most overlooked sense. Nose Dive is the amazing result: it takes us on an adventure across four billion years and the whole globe, from the sulphurous early Earth to the fruit-filled Tian Shan mountain range north of the Himalayas, and back to the keyboard of your laptop, where trace notes of phenol and formaldehyde are escaping between the keys. A work of astounding scholarship and originality, Nose Dive distils the science behind smells and translates it into an accessible and entertaining sensory and olfactory guide. We'll sniff the ordinary (wet pavement and cut grass) and extraordinary (ambergris and truffles), the delightful (roses and vanilla) and the challenging (swamplands and durians). We'll smell each other. We'll smell ourselves. Here is a story of the world, of all of the smells under our noses."
I admit that the fact it's hard back, 2Kg and 688 pages attracts me. I do like big books that have taken ten years to write! I ordered it and it will be my Xmas reading.

[PanBiker]

It remains to be seen whether it is a good book but I believe it has good reviews. It is a new book and apparently a definitive tome. Behind the Enigma - The authorised history of GCHQ - Britain's Secret Cyber-Intelligence Agency by John Ferris. A birthday present from my daughter and family 823 pages, should keep me busy for a while. I don't do novels or other such reading matter, not an avid reader but I do like factual accounts and similar stuff, this one is right up my street.

[plaques]

Thanks for the nod. I've now reserved it through Lancashire Libraries.

[Stanley]

I've gone for it as well. We will all need weighty and engaging books to read next year as our world crumbles around us.

[Stanley]

'Nosedive', promised for Thursday, arrived this morning. No need to pay for Prime, Amazon are delivering everything as fast as possible!

[Stanley]

I made a start on Nose Dive yesterday afternoon. It's deep and needs careful reading but I think it's going to be very rewarding.

[Stanley]

I'm back into Nose Dive after reading this week's PE. It is not an easy read, I shall persevere but am beginning to have serous doubts as to whether I can stay the course!

[Stanley]

I gave up on Nose Dive, it's beyond my pay grade! I have got two books out of the front room as they have been calling to me for a while. They are Louise Lavathes' 'When China Ruled the Seas' and Gavin Menzies' '1421.The year China discovered the world'. Both books deal with the period of The Dragon Throne in Chinese history, 1405 to 1433 when great 'Treasure Fleets were sent out to expand China's influence and then suddenly stopped as China retreated into isolation for centuries.
It looks like a good time to learn more about Chinese history.
(I'm expecting news of the Bletchley Park book any day.)

[plaques]

1421.The year China discovered the world'. Read this book some years ago. Very interesting and poses some largely unanswered historical questions. Not about mainland China so it will do no harm to start this book first.

[Stanley]

Yes I read them both Ken. I just thought it was a good time for a re-read.....

[Stanley]

I started on Louise Lavathes' 'When China Ruled the Seas' which starts by giving a useful general history of China. (I never realised there was a Turkish connection.)
Very good and it has totally grabbed my attention. No regrets about setting 'Nose Dive' on one side. We all make mistakes at times....

[Wendyf]

Ken, do you know if the Samaritans book stall in Colne is open?

[plaques]

Honestly I don't know. I was going to look in on this saturday after a Christmas hair cut.