Reading - February 2018

The Guitar Magazine (Vol 29 No 06)

A Short History Of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson (2003)

Granted there's a lot to condense into one book here, and full marks to Bill Bryson for not only trying, but making it understandable, readable and entertaining - but this is a long book and I'm afraid it drags a little in places. The facts involved are amazing, of course: it's impossible to really get your head around the timescales and distances involved in a universe, and there's plenty to get your teeth into (17 pages of bibliography if you're really interested). Unfortunately it all came at me so fast it seems to be leaking out again just as quickly.

A Snowball In Hell by Christopher Brookmyre (2008)

Just grabbed for something easy and entertaining to read.

Get Fit Running by Owen Barder (2005)

Always worth checking back. This time I'm reminded that I should be scheduling one easy week in every four in my planning, and an easy month once a year. My target, in getting back to running, is to be running a 5K in mid-March, but this might be a bit too soon.

Parker Pyne Investigates by Agatha Christie (1934)

Dated as anything - it is 84 years old - but a nice little collection of short stories. These feature "Parker Pyne" but could just as easily have been Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot.

Thing Explainer by Randall Munroe (2014)

A brilliant idea, done brilliantly and done amusingly. Not only does it sustain, as an idea, but it is also genuinely educational. My only gripe - and I don't see how it could have been avoided - is that, because of the format, much of the writing is very small (and I need reading glasses), and the book is large and so cannot be read in bed, which is where I do about 50% of my reading.