The book publishes ‘amusing’ dispatches from ambassadors in posts around the world, mostly from the 1960s on. While in the introduction of the book, the editors talk about some of the racism that permeates some of these dispatches, sadly lacking is a similar apology for the rampant sexism. Continue reading
The plot of Sorcerer to the Crown is mainly straightforward. It’s early 19th century (or so I guess because of the references to Bonaparte) and there is a noticeable decline in English Magic. Zacharias Wythe, the Sorcerer to the Crown needs to discover what that’s all about. Continue reading
Like the two previous novels, the author takes elements of fantasy and mixes them in with the real word. In this case it’s Mayan gods alive in Mexico during the jazz age. Continue reading
Why Nations Fail is an interesting examination of the reasons why countries fail to build functioning democracies and economies. It’s ultimate argument is that it comes down to whether or not a state can build and maintain inclusive institutions – such as political representation and property rights Continue reading
The story is pretty straight forward: a rather blob like alien race had decided the best way to introduce themselves to humanity was through a film agent. Continue reading
So I picked this novella up for the Read Harder challenge, which was a book of romance by an author of colour. Romance is really not my bag, so it was dreading this category a little bit. I searched the Good Reads Read Harder recommendations and decided on The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo by Zen Cho Continue reading
So this is another one of the Read Harder challenge, this time reading a book about mythology or folklore. As A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes is a retelling of the fall of Troy but from a women’s perspective, I felt it fit the bill Continue reading
It’s at some distant point in the future, where ‘The Reckoning’ happened (which vaguely sounds like some catastrophic climate change and something else. It was a bit like Trail of Lightening in that it used (presumably) mythology from the Palyku people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Continue reading
I remember first reading Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang and being utterly amazed and blown away by it. I must have told lots of people about it and leant it out….and bought it again because I forgot who now had it Continue reading
For the uninitiated, Usagi is a ronin and travels throughout the land, often helping out those in need or just generally getting into trouble. It’s based on the Edo Period in Japan but all the characters are different animals (with most natives of Japan itself). Continue reading
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