All About Books discussion

My January 2015 reading:

1. Hoa Hakananai'a by Jo Anne Van Tilburg
2. Urban Wildlife by Peter Shirley
3. The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
4. Drawn from Paradise: The Discovery, Art and Natural History of the Birds of Paradise by David Attenborough and Errol Fuller
5. Microphones And Muddy Boots: A Journey Into Natural History Broadcasting by Derek Jones

How did you find the Selfish Gene?

Charbel wrote: "How did you find the Selfish Gene?"

It was interesting but Dawkins is too acerbic for my taste and his explanations were laborious and overly intricate.

Yes he takes a little getting used to.

I never have liked that title ... ;)

Me either Jean.

Two more books finished:

6. The Aye-aye And I: A rescue expedition in Madagascar by Gerald Durrell
7. The Wild Rover: A Blistering Journey Along Britain’s Footpaths by Mike Parker

Did you enjoy them? I really enjoyed The Aye-Aye and I - but then I always do with Gerald Durrell :)

I did; I laughed out loud quite a bit in The Aye-aye and I, and felt quite sad at times too as I already knew to some extent the catastrophic destruction of the environment in Madagascar. The Wild Rover was also very interesting; it was good to read more about the history of rights-of-way and about the people who walk them.

Yes - many's the time I've climbed over stiles armed with an OS map, but hoping to not encounter an irate farmer in case I've mistaken the public right of way.

I know that feeling!

8. The Mole by Kenneth Mellanby

9. A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor

Paulfozz wrote: "9. A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor"

I've seen this mentioned elsewhere recently (maybe it could have been you?!) It sounds like it could be really fascinating, or maybe a bit dull, how was it?

It was really good, though having 100 objects spread over 500+ pages meant they did blend together a bit even though I read it over a reasonably long period. It gave me lots of food for thought though and added lots of things that I need to look for when I next visit the British Museum.

There's a BBC podcast of the book (it was originally a radio series) so you could look for those and see what those are like first?

Oh I might do that, thanks Paul :)

No problem; there's a page on the beeb website where you can download them, as well as the usual podcast places:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/...

Too many to list but I found these ones particularly interesting:

091 Ship's chronometer from HMS Beagle
080 Pieces of Eight
076 The mechanical galleon
070 Hoa Hakananai'a Easter Island Statue
047 Sutton Hoo helmet
034 Chinese Han lacquer cup
033 Rosetta Stone
031 Coin with head of Alexander
023 Chinese Zhou ritual vessel
021 Lachish Reliefs
020 Statue of Ramesses II

I'll try a couple of your suggestions, the ship's chronometer sounds interesting, I liked reading about the history of longitude and John Harrison, though I don't know whether this is the chronometer referred to. I didn't realise that the radio series was on for so long, or covered the whole 100 objects, I thought it would be just a small selection.

The Beagle chronometers (of which there were actually 22!) were later, cheaper instruments by a different clockmaker. Apparently at the end of the five year voyage 11 of the chronometers were still working and the largest discrepancy between them and Greenwich time was just 33 seconds.

10. Redcoats and Rebels: The War for America 1770-1781 by Christopher Hibbert

The British generals and government were incompetent and fought amongst themselves and the problems in pursuing a war so far from home (messages sometimes took 5-6 months to be exchanged) were pretty much insurmountable once France and Spain declared war but the British came surprisingly close to defeating the Americans. Had France not joined with the Americans then it's difficult to tell who would have won.

An interesting book; Hibbert writes very well as his book mostly kept me gripped and reading even though I usually find purely military histories rather boring.

Paulfozz wrote: "10. Redcoats and Rebels: The War for America 1770-1781 by Christopher Hibbert

The British generals and government were incompetent and fought amongst themselves and ..."

Thanks for the review Paul, I've added this to my shelf.

You're welcome. There were elements where I had to look back to try to separate the different protagonists during his descriptions of battles (which were thankfully kept brief and to the point) but there were parts that had me truly anxious for the outcome; it was a very good book to read for an overview of the conflict.

I decided against writing a review on the book page as so many others had written with far, far more authority on the subject than I could offer.

11. King Solomon's Ring by Konrad Lorenz

Very interesting book indeed, though very much a work of the 1950s in attitude towards keeping wild animals.

12. The Making of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr

13. Gallows Thief by Bernard Cornwell

My first fiction read of the year. A little different to the other books I've read by Bernard Cornwell (a murder mystery) but, as ever with his work, a well-written novel that kept me gripped.

I absolutely love the entire Sharp series. Cornwell is top drawer fiction.

I really enjoyed that one too, Paul :) Steeped in the atmosphere of the time, I thought.

He always captures so well the atmosphere of the periods he writes about, I think.

I've read quite a number of his books Mary but I've avoided the Sharpe books, mainly because there are so many and I'm not sure I want to start on that road. I prefer the anglo-saxon/viking era books really though.

14. Pyramids by Terry Pratchett

Started re-reading this just after I found out Terry had passed away; very sad. Fantastic book, though I think Small Gods pips it as my favourite of his books.

Don't know this one. I'll give a look for it!

It's a wonderful satire on ancient Egypt Laura.

15. Small Gods by Terry Pratchett

16. The Snow Geese by William Fiennes

Rather disappointing really; it promised a lot but it seemed mainly to consist of self-examination and descriptions of vague meanderings around diners and people's houses, with only almost incidental mentions of geese as William travelled across America and Canada.

One of those breed of nature books that concentrates far, far more on people and slightly narcissistic self-absorption than on wildlife. There are few writers that do this in a way that doesn't feel self-indulgent - I think Simon Barnes probably is the only writer I've read that is able to pull off this style of writing.

Paulfozz wrote: "16. The Snow Geese by William Fiennes

Rather disappointing really; it promised a lot but it seemed mainly to consist of self-examination and descriptions of vague me..."

Shame! Anthropogenic details can really ruin a wildlife observation.

17. The Lynmouth Flood Disaster by Eric R. Delderfield

Paulfozz wrote: "14. Pyramids by Terry Pratchett

Started re-reading this just after I found out Terry had passed away; very sad. Fantastic book, though I think Small Gods pips it as my ..."

Good to know Paul! I'll try Small Gods soon. I also have a copy of The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents that a friend gave me; so I'll be reading that too.

The Amazing Maurice is one of my other favourite Pratchett books - hope you enjoy them!

18. Seeds of Change: Six Plants that Transformed Mankind by Henry Hobhouse

19. Revolt in the Desert by T.E. Lawrence

Paulfozz wrote: "19. Revolt in the Desert by T.E. Lawrence"

Lawrence of Arabia?? I knew he had written some books - how was it?

Leslie wrote: "Paulfozz wrote: "19. Revolt in the Desert by T.E. Lawrence"

Lawrence of Arabia?? I knew he had written some books - how was it?"

He wrote quite a few I think. It was more accessible than Seven Pillars Of Wisdom (which I started but gave up on as it was rather too florid and confusing for my poor brain, though not as confusing as Mary Renault's biography of Alexander the Great!), and it's a detailed account of the Arab Revolt but I was confused by the numerous arab names and found it difficult to relate some of the descriptions of movements to the maps included so the events blurred together to some degree. I'm glad to have read it but I only really engaged with the writing in small sections.

20. The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll through the Hidden Connections of the English Language by Mark Forsyth

21. Village Books by Craig McLay

I finally finished it!

22. The Malay Archipelago by Alfred Russel Wallace

and, quite a rarity, felt strongly enough to write a review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Paulfozz wrote: "I finally finished it!

22. The Malay Archipelago by Alfred Russel Wallace

and, quite a rarity, felt strongly enough to write a review:

https://www.goodreads.com/re..."

This seems an interesting book and I've looked for an Italian translation but there isn't one. I wanted to read something about Malaysia seen that my son will go there for one year so I hope to find something else about this country available in Italian (otherwise I read some fiction set there).

There are probably better, more recent books on the area dely; this is around 150 years old now and very colonial!

Paulfozz wrote: "There are probably better, more recent books on the area dely; this is around 150 years old now and very colonial!"

Thanks for the advice. I would like to read everything I can find about it so also if dated I think it's fascinating.

23. At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson

He seemed to use the home as a springboard to discuss wider historical themes rather than focus on the home itself and its contents but it was a very interesting read.

24. Flight of the Storm Petrel by Ronald Mathias Lockley

25. Cities and Civilisations by Christopher Hibbert

26. Three Men in a Float: Across England at 15 mph by Dan Kieran and Ian Vince

27. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

28. The Museum: Behind the Scenes at the British Museum by Rupert Smith

29. Defining beauty: the body in Ancient Greek art by Ian Jenkins