Category: Books I’ve Read

The Serpent's Promise: The Bible Retold as Science by Steve Jones The Good Book is many things to different people. For believers, it is a guide to life whose every word was handed down directly from God and must therefore be treated as the literal truth. To others, the Bible is a historical record that … Continue reading The Serpent’s Promise: The Bible Retold as Science by Steve Jones

The Princess Bride Beautiful, flaxen-haired Buttercup has fallen for Westley, the farm boy, and when he departs to make his fortune, she vows never to love another. So when she hears that his ship has been captured by the Dread Pirate Roberts - who never leaves survivors - her heart is broken. But her charms … Continue reading The Princess Bride

The Lake District Murder (British Library Crime Classics) When a body is found at an isolated garage, Inspector Meredith is drawn into a complex investigation where every clue leads to another puzzle: was this a suicide, or something more sinister? A classic mystery novel set amidst the stunning scenery of a small village in the … Continue reading The Lake District Murder (British Library Crime Classics)

The Cornish Coast Murder (British Library Crime Classics) The Reverend Dodd, vicar of the quiet Cornish village of Boscawen, spends his evenings reading detective stories by the fireside – but heaven forbid that the shadow of any real crime should ever fall across his seaside parish. But the vicar’s peace is shattered one stormy night … Continue reading The Cornish Coast Murder (British Library Crime Classics)

The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution The renowned biologist and thinker Richard Dawkins presents his most expansive work yet: a comprehensive look at evolution, ranging from the latest developments in the field to his own provocative views. Loosely based on the form of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Dawkins's Tale takes us modern … Continue reading The Ancestor’s Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution

Paranormality: Why We See What Isn't There Have you ever seen a ghost? Spoken with a dead person? Had an out-of-body experience? These are just a few commonly reported experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" and thus, are inconsistent with the world as understood through empirical observation combined with … Continue reading Paranormality: Why We See What Isn’t There

Dictator The third part of Harris’s Cicero trilogy is a fine portrait of the great Roman’s last years. Dictator, the third instalment in Robert Harris’s trilogy of novels following the rise and fall of the Roman statesman and orator Cicero, marks the culmination of 12 years of work and a remarkable literary achievement in the … Continue reading Dictator

Capital Crimes; London Mysteries (British Library Crime Classics) With its fascinating mix of people - rich and poor, British and foreign, worthy and suspicious - London is a city where anything can happen. The possibilities for criminals and for the crime writer are endless. London has been home to many of fiction's finest detectives, and … Continue reading Capital Crimes; London Mysteries (British Library Crime Classics)

Can Reindeer Fly? The Science of Christmas An irresistible stocking-filler: a hilarious romp through the science of Christmas. How does snow form? Why are we always depressed after Christmas? How does Santa manage to deliver all those presents in one night? (He has, in fact, little over two ten-thousandths of a second to get between … Continue reading Can Reindeer Fly? The Science of Christmas

And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie Agatha Christie's world-famous mystery thriller, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers. Ten strangers, apparently with little in common, are lured to an island mansion off the coast of Devon by the mysterious U.N.Owen. Over … Continue reading And Then There Were None

A Scream in Soho (British Library Crime Classics) Soho during the blackouts of the Second World War. When a piercing scream rends the air and a bloodied knife is found, Detective Inspector MacCarthy is soon on the scene. He must move through the dark, seedy Soho underworld – peopled by Italian gangsters, cross-dressing German spies … Continue reading A Scream in Soho (British Library Crime Classics)

1788: The Brutal Truth of the First Fleet In 1788, 11 small ships set sail from England on an eight-month-long voyage over the roughest of seas, carrying 1,500 people, food for two years, and all the equipment needed to build a colony of convicts in a land completely beyond their experience and imagination. In Portsmouth, … Continue reading 1788: The Brutal Truth of the First Fleet

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818). The summer of 1816 was a washout. After the cataclysmic April 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora on the island of Sumbawa, part of what is now Indonesia, the world's weather turned cold, wet and miserable. In a holiday villa on the shores of Lake Geneva, a young English poet and … Continue reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)