I’m not sure I would have ever looked or found this book if it hadn’t been for the challenge. Dear Genius is a selection of letters to authors and other people from Ursula Nordstrom, head of the children’s book department for Harpers books from 1940-1973. Continue reading
So what is this book all about? I kind of think of it as a catalogue of how not to design, followed by the better way to design things. It’s about human-centred design or prototyping, testing, getting feedback and iterating. Continue reading
To call it well written would be an insult. It’s brilliant. It’s a compulsive read – which in other circumstances could be trying to other authors given the range of subjects covered, papers mentioned, people interviewed. The narrative is so beautifully crafted that its easily one of the most accessible and fascinating non-fiction books I’ve read in a long time. Continue reading
Short holiday review of The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher. Continue reading
What an angry book. No that this is a bad thing. I think there were two chapters that I found the most interesting and fascinating and one that I lost the plot a bit. The first chapter that I really liked was the whole exploration of nostalgia via things like ‘keep calm and carry on’. … Continue reading
Wow. So, I should know a lot about Moncure Conway, but I don’t. I’m rectifying that knowledge gap this year, for multiple reasons (one being PhD reasons). So I picked up Southern Emancipator: Moncure Conway: The American Years, 1832-1865 from the delightful library at Conway Hall (Conway Hall named after him, of course). It’s hard … Continue reading
I think if I needed to pick a single word to describe Kat Arney’s first (and fabulous) book on how genes work, it would be irreverent. And I mean that in the best possible way. Full disclosure, I know Kat and have brewed beer with her. To be fair, this is so far a one-off … Continue reading
