Simon’s Comments (group member since Jun 26, 2016)

Simon’s comments from the SimonOxfPhys Book Club group.

OK, let the discussion begin! What did you guys think of this book? Do you agree with the criticisms I make in my video?

Fixing Climate: The Story of Climate Science - And How to Stop Global Warming

I was given this by my supervisor - it's a good summary of a lot of the evidence and the science of what we can do!

Maryam wrote: "I will pay you in spoonfuls of gratitude if you do not, in fact, start with 'A Brief History of Time.' I am Dan in this situation, I'm assuming there are many of us who identify with Dan, please ta..."

I think it will probably be 4-6 weeks, so plenty of time yet!

Hello everyone! After a long hiatus it's time to bring the book club back to life.

The reason things went quiet last time was because I said that Dan and I would read Hawking's A Brief History of Time... and then he never finished it. So I didn't make a video, and the chain of content feeding the book club died. However based on the response to my latest book video - posted in the group - it's clear that there's still an appetite for this book club - whatever it may end up being - to continue. I really enjoy making book content, and cultivating an active community of readers (not of the Wikicast variety) is one of the most worthwhile things I think I can do with my platform. So let's raise this thing from the ashes like a glorious phoenix!

As well as doing my seasonal reading summary videos, I would like to resume the book club videos, maybe once every 1-2 months? I also don't like leaving things unfinished so I think to begin with we should pick up with A Brief History of Time and review that in a few weeks' time. I am however very open to suggestions for future reads!

So in summary: book club coming back, unless there's massive uproar we'll start with A Brief History of Time. Please do pelt me with questions in this thread, and let's get back to reading!

In case you hadn't noticed, I'm white. Like, very very very white. The town that I grew in listed its census as 97% white British. Almost certainly because of this, most of my reading history (including, I'm ashamed to say, all the books on my favourite shelf) has come from white authors.

The reason I bring this up is that I just finished Colson Whitehead's searing The Underground Railroad, and it made me reflect on how I have been missing out on a huge huge part of the literary world by not really reading authors of colour, not through deliberate choice but simply by happenstance.

So my question is: what books should I read that weren't written by white folks like me? I've already added a bunch to my to read list as seen on my profile, but I would love to hear your input. Please leave your suggestions!

So kind of a personal question, but it's said that everyone has a great book inside them - it just needs writing. What is yours about? Give as much or as little detail as you like, and if you like the sound of someone else's book - say so! I'm sure the encouragement would be appreciated :)

OK guys Imma make a poll - get your voting clicks ready!

Last time we chose a book by poll, which I'd like to do again. But first we need some options to put in the poll! So what books could Dan and I read and would make for interesting discussion?

I'll be filming my review of Sapiens in the next couple of days but I'd like to know your thoughts on the book - hopefully I'll have a little section in the video where I can showcase your reviews!

So what did you think?

I was reading Sapiens and realised that it's basically a perfect primer to give an alien (capable of reading English) to understand the human race, its origins, and peculiarities. Which got me thinking. What are the other books that you would give to an alien to help them understand humans? That could be human society, how we feel about each other, international politics, history, or anything else. Interested to hear what you think!

I feel like the group discussion I had in the most recent book club special on harry potter was a great addition to the book video format and it got me thinking - what do you think should be in a good book video on youtube? Specifically the kind of video I've been making where we all read a book together and discuss it in the comments.

I read the most recent Harry Potter and will be doing a special book club on it next week with some guests - but what did you think about it?

I'm just over third of the way through this book and very much enjoying it so far. So much so that I kind of wish I'd studied classics at uni instead of physics...
Lots of insights into how societies form their mythologies, and about the nature of how historical and political analysis developed in the ancient world, as well as changing my view of just how many pieces of writing survived from the republic. What are people's views on the book?