Sort of at the heart of the set of stories (it felt less like a novel and more link interrelated stories) is a machine that can tell you what will make you happy. The stories revolve around the machine and its operator, Pearl. Other stories involve her son, her boss, her ex-husband and her ex-husband’s new wife. Continue reading
So, basically, djinns are real, they have their own politics and rules and also power. They have human emissaries who deal with their earthly affairs (which sometimes is procuring human things as they don’t sully themselves with money. The novel revolves around three main people: Kaikobad, Indeled and Rais. Continue reading
Why I’m no longer talking to white people about race by Reni Eddo-Lodge looks at a variety of issues in modern British culture. I think what makes it particularly effective is that it doesn’t try to cover everything, it doesn’t go into theory or the history of race relations (though it does highlight some of them). Continue reading
Okay, mild rant over. What a delightful book! It was a time-traveller who-dunnit. It starts with the discovery of time travel by four women (yesssss) Barbara, Margaret, Lucille and Grace. However, very soon we are in 2018 where a young woman named Odette discovers the body of someone who has been murdered. Continue reading
Okay, this book was super stressful because it was largely about the impact of an idiot president can have on a country. It was also the third book in the Read Harder Challenge (book about journalism or book by a journalist). I loved it but bloody hell am I stressed and angry about the state of the world Continue reading
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, it’s the world as we know it, but suddenly people start losing their shadows (yes, physics etc, just go with it). But then they start losing their memories. And because they can’t remember things, they start to misremember things into reality. Like alligators that are the size of cruise ships, guns that fire lightening, or that you can’t actually talk to animals. Continue reading
This month we talk to Martha Wells, author of the Murderbot Diaries. We also get a potted history of space law by your very own podcast editor. 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
You know when you’re reading a book and it feels like the perfect book you could be reading at that particular time? I think this was the perfect book for this holiday. Maybe it would have been perfect no matter what the time or place, but for some reason I had some resonance with the universe to be utterly tickled by a novel Continue reading
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