Reading - December 2016

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett (1991)

Early Pratchett and more interested in comedy than the later, more satirical books - in this case, what would happen if Death took a holiday? A short and easy read, although the last sections are a little vague.

The Week (3 December 2016 / Issue 1102)

Guitar & Bass (January 2017 / Vol 28 No 4)

The Week (10 December 2016 / Issue 1103)

1971 - Never A Dull Moment: Rock's Golden Year by David Hepworth (2016)

An engaging, entertaining read, choc-full of interesting titbits and trenchant observations. Hepworth's main contentions are that a) 1971 was never-equalled golden year for rock music; and b) that it was the start of the modern era in rock, which therefore strengthens contention a even further. Despite his amusing assertion that 1971 is objectively the best year ever ("The difference is this: I'm right"), it's obviously subjective and while clearly great music was made in this year, much of it sounds dated, regardless of how good it is. Contrast that with some of the biggest records from a mere six years later, such as Aja or Rumours, neither of which sound as of their time in quite the same way.

The Week (17 December 2016 / Issue 1104)

Guitarist (January 2017 / Issue 415)

The Week (24 December 2016 / Issue 1105)

Haynes Explains Teenagers: Owners' Workshop Manual by Boris Starling (2016)

A slim, 34-page, 20 minute read, this joke "manual" about teenagers is a classic stocking filler. It makes me wonder what percentage of those bought are actually read, versus those just parked on a shelf. Anyway, amusing in places, a little stereotyped in others, but a nice little present and appreciated as such.

Reading - November 2016

Midnight In The Garden Of Evel Knievel by Giles Smith (2000)

Collection of amusing television reviews, heavily in stylistic debt to Clive James's wonderful seventies columns (or more likely, the books - here's James himself on the same subject), but that's no bad thing at all. Since the remit is more limited (sport on television), the same subjects come up again and again - boxing, football, Formula 1 - but it's well observed and amusingly written, so doesn't become boring.

The Week (5 November 2016 / Issue 1098)

Guitar & Bass (December 2016 / Vol 28 No 03)

The Week (12 November 2016 / Issue 1099)

Guitarist (December 2016 / Issue 414)

The Week (19 November 2016 / Issue 1100)

A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen (and Garry Jenkins) (2012)

I hadn't heard of this at all until I saw a recent mention of the film that has just come out. Then I found it in our book exchange at work the other day; it has obviously been well read and done the rounds of many people - something I feel that the author would like. I can see why it's been so popular (over 3 million copies sold and translated into over 20 languages, apparently) - it's a quick, simple, pleasant read. Not much happens but there's a nice ending. From the look of trailer for the film, it looks like they feel they've had to invent some drama and a love interest, unfortunately.

Guitarist Presents 100 Great Guitars edited by Owen Bailey (2014)

Guitar porn, diverting for a few hours.

The Week (26 November 2016 / Issue 1101)

Reading - October 2016

The Rainmaker by John Grisham (1995)

Probably my favourite story of Grisham's, with lots of interesting twists and turns, a great verdict (of course) and a nice little romance on the side (I'm always a sucker for a romance). Oddly though, despite being narrated in the first person, you don't get a great sense of who the main character is.

The Week (1 October 2016 / Issue 1093)

Bedsit Disco Queen by Tracey Thorn (2013)

A charming account of Tracey Thorn and Everything But The Girl's unusual journey through pop music in the last thirty years. You get some sense of the oddity of being a pop star. I've come away from this and her other book, Naked At The Albert Hall, with a real respect for her and a wish to revisit some of their music.

The Week (8 October 2016 / Issue 1094)

Guitar & Bass (November 2016 / Vol 28 No 02)

Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (2008)

A really cool novel about hacking, security, encryption and the state. A bit lecturing at times, reflecting its target audience of "young adults" (teens, I suppose) and a clear attempt to make them care enough about the subject to get involved. I don't know if it's worked or been successful, but certainly I'd be keen for B to read it, and the others when they're old enough. It's also a good story (although the ending is a bit sudden and a tad inconclusive) and kept me reading (on my phone, since, interestingly, it's released under the Creative Commons license).

The Pelican Brief by John Grisham (1992)

A fun, if somewhat unbelievable thriller.

The Week (15 October 2016 / Issue 1095)

The Fermata by Nicholson Baker (1994)

When I first read this - probably 15 or more years ago - I thought it was very good, but now I'm not so sure. Nicholson Baker's ability to pick up on usually unobserved but common mannerisms, items and phenomena is still here in abundance but the subject matter - a man who can stop time and uses it to undress women for his own amusement - gives me a queasy feeling. His writing is superb and the more pornographic sections quite amusing, but maybe now I am more sensitive to the issues it raises.

Guitarist (November 2016 / Issue 413)

It's One For The Money by Clinton Heylin (2015)

I'm cheating a bit by including this in my list of books I've read, since I got less than a quarter of the way through before giving up, but I'd had enough (and the only reason I got that far was that I had nothing else to read during a train journey). A potentially very interesting history of music publishing is ruined by numbingly boring detail and the author's insistence on strict chronological sequence. Normally I prefer a history that starts at the beginning and doesn't jump around, but in this case I, like (I would bet) most people, would be primarily interested in the facts about publishing cases I know about; maybe the Northern Songs saga, or the fuss around "Bitter Sweet Symphony". Since the first half of the book barely takes us out of the fifties, there's a lot of tedious trivia about people even I have never heard of to wade through first. There's an interesting book to be written about the subject, but this isn't it.

The Week (22 October 2016 / Issue 1096)

How Music Got Free by Stephen Witt (2015)

Entertaining but over-simplified account of the rise of music online

Thud! by Terry Pratchett (2005)

Neil Gaiman says that Terry Pratchett's fury at the unfairness of the world  "[...] was the engine that powered Discworld." That anger is very evident in the first half of this book, which is as unvarnished a parallel as any I've seen in his books - in this case, of blinkered, inward looking, religious fundamentalists of all types. The rest of the book plays out in typical Discworld fashion, centering on Samuel Vimes this time, with cameos from Captain Carrot and Sergeant Angua, two of my favourite characters (from Men At Arms). 

The Week (29 October 2016 / Issue 1097)

How Music Got Free

Stephen Witt
2015

Entertaining but over-simplified account of the rise of music online

I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot, but don't feel it lives up to its own billing. The book jacket's intruiging strapline - "What happens when an entire generation commits the same crime?" - tempted me in but really, there's no further exploration of this. Although, to be fair, we know the answer: the music business goes into freefall. I guess the question I was interested in was the "why". We don't really get that either.

What we do get is the stories of three, largely unconnected, people: Karlheinz Brandenburg, the "inventor" of MP3 technology; Dell Glover, a music pirate; and Doug Morris, CEO of Universal Music. In telling their histories, Witt explains the initial technical catalyst for pirating, the reason why one person got involved, and the industry's response.

However, when it comes to a sociological phenomenon like the mass pirating of music that occurred in the early 2000s, then just looking at one or two individual stories is almost inevitably going to miss the point. It marked a complete shift in the public's experience and expectation of music consumption and so was fuelled by numerous factors - millions of individual stories, if you will - that cannot be easily condensed into those of three people.

Still, as I said - an enjoyable book, well-paced and interesting. Worth reading.

Reading - September 2016

The Science Of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart & Jack Cohen (2005)

Another entertaining slice of science leavened with humourous episodes with the wizards of Unseen University, although the Discworld bits and the science bits don't seem particularly connected up with each other.

The Week (3 September 2016 / Issue 1089)

Guitar & Bass (October 2016 / Vol 28 No 01)

The Week (10 September 2016 / Issue 1090)

Live At The Brixton Academy by Simon Parkes with JS Rafaeli (2014)

I've been to a couple of gigs at the Brixton Academy (The Ramones in 1987-ish and Goldfrapp sometime around 2006) but never knew much or even thought about its history as a music venue. As far as I was aware it was just always there. Simon Parkes is the man who made it like that, and this is the story of how he did it. Well told, in bite size chapters, we go from Parkes buying the venue for £1 in 1983 to him selling it twelve years later and cover just about every major name in rock music as well as some of the shadier and dodgier characters hovering around. I do find it ironic that having spent a lot of time worrying about how to fend off the Brixton underworld who were trying to take over such a lucrative venture, he eventually sold out to the real sharks of the music biz - the corporates. Still, a great adventure and a hugely entertaining book.

The Week (17 September 2016 / Issue 1091)

Guitarist (October 2016 / Issue 412)

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk (1996)

Such a stylish novel and a great (and unforgettable) twist. Obviously satire and not to be taken seriously as an aspiration, but nevertheless Palahniuk's afterword describes the ironically unstoppable after-life of the book as a manual for lost souls who just want to find the nearest fight club.

The Week (24 September 2016 / Issue 1092)

Computer Music (Autumn 2016 / Issue 235)

Bought because it had a free delay plugin, and then discovered that actually it has about 50 free plugins, plus samples etc etc etc - 8 GB of STUFF! Lots of interesting articles too. Not sure where I'm going to get the time to go through it all though ...

Naked At The Albert Hall by Tracey Thorn (2015)

A lovely, thoughtful, personal, informal discussion about singing as an activity, a job, as therapy and much more. Never boring, much to think about and interesting insights into a pop life from the inside. Very enjoyable. I should now go and read Bedsit Disco Queen, which I also own but haven't got round to reading yet.

Reading - August 2016

Adventures In The Screen Trade by William Goldman (1983)

Re-reading after recommending it to a colleague - although I had forgotten that I had only read it about a year ago (even though it's clearly there in my reading history). Enjoyable and interesting as always. I keep meaning to go and check on some his predictions (my knowledge of film history isn't good enough to know).

The Week (6 August 2016 / Issue 1085)

Guitar & Bass (September 2016 / Vol 27 No 12)

The Week (13 August 2016 / Issue 1086)

Whit by Iain Banks (1995)

No "M" in the name here so this is Literature, which means it must be About Something. Unfortunately, if it's anything other than a reasonably entertaining, diverting and slightly over-long tale about power struggles in a Scottish religious cult, then it's escaped me. In fact, I don't think it is "about" anything other than a story from an unusual viewpoint. Well told, of course, but the central character is not really engaging enough  to make me really want to know what happens. I made it to the end but still felt a bit "meh" about the whole thing.

The Consolations Of Philosophy by Alain de Botton (2000)

This was the first book by de Botton that I read, probably in 2001. His is a unique writing style, simple and yet rich, and well suited to potentially complex ideas - except they don't seem complicated when he describes them. As good a primer on the six included philosophers as can be found anywhere, I'll warrant, and full of food for thought.

Guitarist ( September 2016 / Issue 411)

The Week (20 August 2016 / Issue 1087)

The Week (27 August 2016 / Issue 1088)

Bread Matters: Why and How to Make Your Own

Andrew Whitley
2009

As the title makes clear, this isn't just a book about how to make bread at home, but also why you should consider doing so. A significant part of the book is devoted to explaining what's wrong with the loaf on the supermarket shelf: what extra ingredients go into a mass-produced loaf and why they are there. Most, it turns out, are not there for your benefit as a consumer but for the manufacturers' benefit - to make the bread keep better, look larger, fuller and more attractive and so on. I broadly knew this already but hadn't come across the detail that this book contains, which is all very interesting and in some cases, concerning.

Most interesting is Whitley's assertion (backed up by referenced studies) that much of what manifests as "gluten intolerance" in many people is actually an intolerance for inadequately fermented gluten. Modern bread is made as quickly as possible, of course, but although the manufacturers have found ways to artificially accelerate rising times, what they haven't done is replicate the more complicated fermentation process that breaks down indigestible proteins over several hours of rising and proving. The suggestion is that bread made more naturally - slowly - is better for us because it will have had a chance for the nutrients to develop properly, and in particular better for people who have had problems with mass-produced bread. (Note that he doesn't include coeliacs in this, who are actually allergic to gluten,.)

If you want to make your own bread, avoiding these unnecessary ingredients, it follows that you should use primarily home-grown yeast too, and most of the recipes are broadly "sourdoughs". I'm not a huge fan of sourdough but Whitley's approach to sourdough starters, leavens and so on (there are various names) is slightly different from any others I've read and so it's quite possible that the breads will be different too - I haven't tried to make any yet but I am keen to try.

This book is interesting, comes from a different perspective to any others I have read and is a worthwhile addition to any collection of baking books. I read this on loan from the library but will probably buy my own copy. However, it's not the right book for someone just starting out making their own bread, because it does suffer from two significant problems: first, it's too long, and second, it doesn't have enough pictures. I don't need glossy photos of nice looking loaves particularly, but illustrations of the process are invaluable to anyone starting out.

Reading - July 2016

The Week (2 July 2016 / Issue 1080)

Published only days after the referendum and already out of date. The perils of printed news.

Roarke's Wife by Beverly Barton (1997)

Kind of a combined romance/whodunnit. Appealing in places but a little unbelievable in others.

The Week (9 July 2016 / Issue 1081)

Guitar & Bass (August 2016 / Vol 27 No. 11)

At Home by Bill Bryson (2010)

I read once that Terry Deary (author of Horrible Histories) employed a team of researchers to find interesting facts, which he would then combine into books. I don't know how Bill Bryson works but given the "select" bibliography at the back - which is 26 pages long and contains over 500 books - I assume he does the same. The result is a loosely themed collection of always interesting and occasionally fascinating bits and pieces of information (I've been quoting them at people for days), but one that nevertheless feels like the information is driving the book rather than the other way round.

The Week (16 July 2016 / Issue 1082)

Apollo 13 by Jim Lovell & Jeffrey Kluger (1994)

Brilliant telling of the Apollo 13 story, which, by having a clear narrative arc, manages to bring in lots of other information about Apollo and NASA without being dull.

The Week (23 July 2016 / Issue 1083)

Guitarist (Summer 2016 / Issue 410)

The Week (30 July 2016 / Issue 1084)

Bread Matters: Why and How to Make Your Own by Andrew Whitley (2009)

Reading - June 2016

The Week (4 June 2016 / Issue 1076)

The Hunt For Red October by Tom Clancy (1984)

Classic technical thriller. Could easily have been half the length but the fact that it carries the story despite that tells you how good a yarn is spun.

The Hacker Crackdown by Bruce Sterling (1992)

Key historical document on the evolution of the internet and cyberspace and internet-related crime.

Guitar & Bass (July 2016 / Vol 27 No 10)

Not The End Of The World by Christopher Brookmyre (1998)

Hadn't read this for ages, for some reason. Great stuff as usual.

The Week (11 June 2016 / Issue 1077)

Guitarist (August 2016 / Issue 409)

Reading - May 2016

Guitarist (June 2016 / Issue 407)

Interesting article about Zemaitis guitars.

The Week (23 April 2016 / Issue 1070)

The Week (30 April 2016 / Issue 1071)

Serious by John McEnroe (with James Kaplan) (2002)

An easy and interesting read, but a little repetitive. He downplays how much effort and practice it must have taken him to reach the standard he did (all autobiographies do this, though) and the recitation of match after match gets a bit dull, although in this it probably reflects the reality of a touring life. The book could do with an update, since it's 14 years old and McEnroe is still very active on the circuit, both as a seniors player and commentator. (edit: the follow-up, But Seriously, is due in June 2017, according to Amazon.)

The Week (7 May 2016 / Issue 1072)

Guitar & Bass (June 2016 / Vol 27 No. 09)

The Week (14 May 2016 / Issue 1073)

Private Eye Annual 2009 edited by Ian Hislop (er, 2009)

I found this at the "book exchange" at work. It's been fine for occasional dips into when I have a few spare moments (it's taken me over a month to finish) but reminds me why I stopped subscribing to Private Eye - it's very repetitive.

The Man Who Sold The World: David Bowie and the 1970s by Peter Doggett (2011)

Well written, full of facts and insights ... and just a teensy bit dull.

Guitar Effects Pedals: The Practical Handbook by Dave Hunter (2013)

Effects pedals are a recent enthusiasm of mine (I had four at the beginning of 2014 and I now have sixteen, only one of which is one the original four). If you frequent the online forums, you'll see a lot of posts about Tube Screamer variants, specific op-amps and chips that supposedly contains the magic smoke needed to sound like SRV ... all very confusing to someone just finding out about these things. This book contains pretty much all you need to know to hold your own in these discussions - a history of how pedals came about, descriptions (including basic circuit diagrams) of the different types, in-depth discussions of classic pedals (like the aforementioned Ibanez Tube Screamer) and newer variants, and interviews with some prominent figures in the burgeoning world of "boutique" pedals. Great stuff for a guitar geek.

The Week (21 May 2016 / Issue 1074)

The Week (28 May 2016 / Issue 1075)

Bedlam by Christopher Brookmyre (2013)

Third time around, this is really starting to grow on me. Also, I now own it (£3 at Fopp, thank you very much).

Guitarist (July 2016 / Issue 408)

The Man Who Sold The World

David Bowie and the 1970s
Peter Doggett
2011

Well written, full of facts and insights ... and just a teensy bit dull

This book ticks so many boxes for me. David Bowie was the first "serious" artist I discovered as a teenager; I have known and loved all (well, most) of his seventies albums for as long as I have really loved music. Plus Revolution In The Head, to which this is explicitly a sequel/homage (apparently the late Ian MacDonald was intending to give the same treatment to Bowie as he had The Beatles), is one of my favourite books about music. If that wasn't enough, Peter Doggett wrote the fascinating You Never Give Me Your Money. And given its structure - essentially, short essays about every song - it should be perfect for dipping into whenever there is a spare moment.

Despite all those good things, I struggled with it, and I'm not entirely sure why.

The structure doesn't help actually; there's no easy flow through the book since it's always stopping and starting - I found the same with Revolution In The Head, if I'm honest. I also realised that there are larger parts of Bowie's seventies output that I am unfamiliar with than I thought (particularly Pin Ups, 'Heroes' and Lodger), so the discussions of those songs didn't engage me much.

However, where TMWSTW differs the most from the Beatles' book is that while MacDonald gives lots of interesting facts about the music (personnel, instrumentation, keys etc), Doggett concentrates on interpreting the words. I've said before that I don't listen to lyrics much. It's pop music, not pop poetry. I understand that it's much easier to write about what is said than what is not said; as the famous quote goes, "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture".

Nevertheless, it's incumbent on any music journalist to make the attempt, and while Doggett does so sometimes, it's not a particularly good or informed analysis. He admits in his introduction that he can't claim the same level of musical knowledge as MacDonald (a "trained musicologist", apparently) and so paid more attention to other aspects - to the detriment of the book, in my opinion.

I learned many things about David Bowie I didn't already know and it served me as a reasonable substitute for a biography (I find them pretty dull usually). It also gave me some interesting things to think about next time I listen to the albums. What it failed to do - and this is the fundamental test for any writing about music - is make me want to rush back and hear them again with new ears. And so on those grounds it must be judged as less than a success.

Reading - April 2016

The Week (2 April 2016 / Issue 1067)

Guitarist (May 2016 / Issue 406)

Guitar & Bass (May 2016 / Vol 27 No. 08)

The Science Of Discworld by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart & Jack Cohen (1999)

A great way of injecting science in the guise of entertainment. Given the age of the book (17 years!), it's possible that some of the facts and theories might be slightly out of date, but still as good a primer as any on the thinking around how did the universe start and how does evolution work. Very readable and amusing.

The Week (9 April 2016 / Issue 1068)

The Art Of Being Brilliant by Andy Cope & Andy Whittaker (2012)

Relentlessly trivial and shallow - although mercifully short - book on being happy. Could be condensed into about 2 pages.

Global Village Idiot by John O'Farrell (2001)

Amusing articles from a left-wing perspective, suffering from the usual problem that these kind of articles do - the perceived need to end on a joke. See Clive James's TV reviews for an object lesson in how to do it properly.

The Week (16 April 2016 / Issue 1069)

Lunarbaboon Vol. 2 by Chris Grady (2016)

Still by turns sweet, funny and whimsical, another lovely compilation of the best bits of Lunarbaboon. And (even better), this one has my name in it! (as a funder of vol 1)

Licence Renewed by John Gardner (1981)

The original relaunch of the James Bond "franchise" - in book form, anyway. being somewhat separate from the film franchise. As far as I know, none of the post-Fleming novels have become films (although some of the films have been novelised). I bought this from my local library while in my teens and still like it. It has all the right components, almost "Bond by numbers", but it's still a good read.

The Sacred Art Of Stealing by Christopher Brookmyre (2002)

My first Brookmyre and still a favourite.

Guitar Aficionado: The Collections edited by Tom Beaujour & Christopher Scapelliti (2013)

Lavish coffee table guitar porn. Beautifully photographed and presented, but difficult to read in practice without breaking the binding, putting fingerprints on the shiny pages or accidentally scuffing the jacket. Made worse by the fact that it was lent to me in pristine condition. Also, it turns out you can see too many pictures of '59 sunburst Les Pauls. Who knew?

Reading - March 2016

All Fun And Games Until Someone Loses An Eye by Christopher Brookmyre (2005)

Unbelievable and yet believable. Within its own world it all makes sense, but it's a completely Hollywood fantasy. Should totally be made into a film.

The Week (5 March 2016 / Issue 1063)

The Week (12 March 2016 / Issue 1064)

The Week (19 March 2016 / Issue 1065)

The Week (26 March 2016 / Issue 1066)

Reading - February 2016

Legends of Tone: Gibson (Guitarist special, 2015)

Guitarist (March 2016 / Issue 404)

Guitar & Bass (March 2016 / Vol. 27 No. 06)

Guitar porn blow-out at the beginning of Feb! It's interesting to note the differences between Guitarist house style and Guitar & Bass; the latter is a lot more technical and geeky. There's a whole article dedicated to the very technical ins and outs of an old 50s Fender amp, for example. It's nice to have the coverage but I can't really justify having both magazines. I'll need to decide soon ...

The Week (6 February 2016 / Issue 1059)

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding (1996)

This is twenty years old! Still, other than a few references that date it (trouble programming a video recorder, shopping at Cullens), it's pretty timeless, not least due to being based on Pride & Prejudice. It's funny, yes, and if the humour is a bit obvious sometimes it's probably worth remembering that it wasn't obvious until Helen Fielding made it so.

The Chandler's Ford Story by Barbara J. Hillier & Gerald Ponting (2005)

This was a lovely present for my birthday. It's a brief but interesting look into the origins of the small town where I now live. Since it only really goes back about 150 years, there's not that much to tell, but it's fascinating to see pictures of familiar sights in unfamiliar surroundings. There's a photo taken at the top of our road in 1930, just after the houses were all built (it literally was all fields before) and while the houses are clearly the same (particularly the post office), the gardens, the road and the cars are so different. Niche but nice.

The Week (13 February 2016 / Issue 1060)

Going To Sea In A Sieve by Danny Baker (2012)

A memoir from someone who was on the frontline of music journalism in the early 80s. Oh wait - except he wasn't. Yes, he was there, but his interest has always been more personal and eclectic and the NME was clearly just something he did for a while, rather than being "dedicated to the cause". And he's probably all the better for it, frankly (don't get me started about some of the other losers who wrote for NME). He's very full of himself but always entertaining.

The Perfect Neighbour by Nora Roberts (2000)

A sweet romance. Crying out to be made into a movie.

Ten Little N***s by Agatha Christie (1939)

You can't buy this book any more - or at least, not under this title. It's now called And Then There Were None and I believe all the other references to the unacceptable word in the title have been changed to "Indian". However, this is the copy I have and this is what I read, borrowed from the school library, when I was about 13. Different times, eh? A timepiece and very dated, but still a cleverly plotted whodunnit.

The Week (20 February 2016 / Issue 1061)

Country Of The Blind by Christopher Brookmyre (1997)

I wonder why Brookmyre doesn't write this kind of thing any more? Or why it hasn't been filmed? Fantastic stuff.

The Mighty Quinns: Brody by Kate Hoffman ()

The Mighty Quinns: Teague by Kate Hoffman ()

The Mighty Quinns: Cal by Kate Hoffman ()

Notionally three separate books, although clearly written at the same time, occupying the same fictional space and time, and cross-referencing each other. Brody, Teague and Cal are three brothers who live and work on an Australian cattle station, who all meet the women of their dreams in the same week. Modern romance with a higher than usual emphasis on sex; nice to see the women being (almost) as assertive as the men.

The Week (27 February 2016 / Issue 1062)

The Secrets Of House Music Production by Marc Adamo (2013)

This is a great starter reference to modern music production in general, not just dance music. A great companion piece to The Producer's Manual by the same publisher. There are loads of interesting walk-throughs of applied techniques, a load of audio examples that can be downloaded, and a whole bunch of cool samples - samples being Sample Magic's main product, of course. My only slight complaint about the book is the format: the A4 landscape format makes it difficult to hold on my lap!

Reading - January 2016

Guitarist (February 2016 / Issue 403)

I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59 by Douglas Edwards (2011)

A really interesting insight into Google transformation from startup to global force, The parallels with, say, Apple, are startling. Nothing in it disproves my basic theory about these organisations; they were lucky, lucky, lucky - staffed with enormously bright people and possessed of grand visions, but so were a hundred other startups you've never heard of. Not many of the high profile figures involved comes out well, I don't think. Sergey Brin and Larry Page have the arrogance born out of good luck and a failure to realise it. Marrisa Meyer has the same, plus a scheming, self-promoting character. I don't think Douglas Edwards intended the portrayals to be unsympathetic, but I have a low tolerance for this kind of pretension, which appears to be unique to highly intelligent, lucky people.

The Week (9 January 2016 / Issue 1055)

Wood & Steel (Autumn 2015)

Guitar & Bass (February 2016 / Vol 27 No. 5)

Recommendations in the guitar forum I frequent indicate that this is an interesting alternative to Guitarist - for "the more nerdy end of the guitar community" apparently. Well I'd classify myself as that. And Guitarist is getting a bit predictable. This is interesting and a good change, and has some different kit reviewed than the usual. I've now taken out a subscription.

The Week (16 January 2016 / Issue 1056)

Making Money by Terry Pratchett (2007)

The sequel/follow on to Going Postal sees the same main character, Moist von Lipwig, being put in charge of the Royal Mint and bank. Great fun to read as usual, with some points being made about money, people with money and so on, and some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments (memorably describing one character as being able to flounce "better than a fat turkey on a trampoline"), but somehow these feels a little insubstantial.

Legends of Tone: Fender (Guitarist special, 2015)

Super-glossy guitar porn about Fender's history, models, development etc. 

The Week (23 January 2016 / Issue 1057)

Guitar & Bass (January 2016 / Vol 27 No. 4)

End of year round up of best kit, some interesting reviews and a truly astonishing "reader's collection" of 80s synth guitars and other oddities. Bond Electraglide anyone?

The Week (30 January 2016 / Issue 1058)