Reading - July 2024

Portable Magic by Emma Smith (2022)

An amusing and diverting history, discussion and discursion of books as physical objects, as opposed to their contents.  Although this is available via the library's (excellent) e-book service, I made it a point to reserve and then read a physical copy, as to do otherwise would seem wrong somehow!

50 Ways to Ruin a Rake by Jade Lee (2015)

I chose this mainly because of the amusing title. It's a regency romance, and in fairness, there's slightly more period flavour than you get with The Duke and I (the first Bridgerton novel). More of it is played for laughs than I expected, there's less romance and the ending is a bit sudden. Still, not a bad way to pass the time.

The Love Algorithm by Claudia Carroll (2022)

Not exactly a romance, more a gentle comedy about friendships. Ignore the vagueness about the central plot device (a dating app that seems to just magically work), and it's a sweet story.

White Picket Fences by Tara Taylor Quinn (2000)

Undemanding and familiar reading for when I'm feeling ill (which is now, just for clarity).

A Snowball in Hell by Christopher Brookmyre (2008)

Another book I know very well. I can see why the lengthy exposition might annoy some people but I like it.

Why Didn't They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie (1934)

One of the benefits of being ill is having lots of time to read and I finished this in a day - although in fairness, this is a very short book. (And in fairness to me, it was the second book I read that day!) A bit whodunnit, a bit thriller, not the most impenetrable Christie plot ever, but easy to read.

Good Pop Bad Pop by Jarvis Cocker (2022)

We join the patron saint of every indie misfit who dreams of stardom as he goes through a stash of his own memorabilia. There's nothing here of intrinsic value and much that it outright tat, but of course it's all rescued by the stories it prompts. It's all so very ... Jarvis. I don't have anything against him (I love Pulp's mid-90s albums and it's impossible not to admire his sheer persistence and individualism) but sometimes he feels like a cliché of himself. That doesn't stop this book being a fantastic, entertaining read. (side note: I got this from my Secret Santa last December and I feel slightly sheepish now at having waited so long to get round to it, so, if you're reading this, thank you very much and sorry!)

The Times Style Guide edited by Ian Brunskill (2017)

I don't write professionally as much as I used to, but even so I like a good style guide. This has much that is very sensible and even if I disagree with the occasional stylistic choice (e.g. I don't like "eg"), it would make a good ready-made basis for a team to use.

Crumb by Richard Bertinet (2019)

A new bread book! Well, new to me, anyway - and the first time I've read one for ages. I chose this because it was the only one available in the library, but Bertinet has done a few, and he also has videos on YouTube that are refreshingly straightforward (too many bread videos on YT are all clickbait titles and zero content). I like his approach and I might even try a sourdough again. However, as usual, most of the book is made up of recipes that are variations on the same thing. Bonus points for including a challah recipe, but minus points for adding butter to it (you can't add dairy to a bread intended to be eaten at a kosher table).