Michael Pollan (2018)

Almost enough to make one want to try them, this is a fine description of the history, biochemistry, and cultural significance of psychedelics. It walks a fine line between the materialistic and the spiritual: what do psychedelic trips signify, are they “just” drug experiences or do they connect with something else?

It’s a book that’s worth reading for any of its component parts. The history sheds light both on the counterculture of the 60’s and on the genesis and evolution of moral panics of the sort that resulted in LSD being proscribed. The biochemistry does its best to reflect the latest scientific thinking, but also shows how much of neuroscience is still tied up with speculative and metaphorical models of what’s happening in the brain. And the personal history of the author’s own trips – carefully supervised and with plenty of trepidation on his part – go some way to showing how influential and persistent the effects of the drugs can be.

The book could do with some better copy-editing: it’s repetitive in places. But well worth a read.

4/5. Finished Sunday 23 February, 2020.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)

Charles Stross (2004)

What happens when it turns out the HP Lovecraft was right, and that the monsters from without can be summoned and (to some extent) controlled by a perfectly rational experimental science? That’s the premise of this book, the first of the “Laundry files” series, that combines horror, science fiction, comedy, and an exploration of the social hierarchies and deep plotting that turn up in civil service institutions.

5/5. Finished Wednesday 12 February, 2020.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)

Erica Benner (2017)

A different interpretation of Machiavelli than the common one, viewing him as a republican rather than as a supporter and facilitator of tyrants. It’s an attractive and quite compelling thesis, and surprisingly (to me, anyway) one that was common amongst early readers of The prince before his reputation changed in later centuries.

5/5. Finished Monday 10 February, 2020.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)

J.R.R. Tolkien (2007)

The long-form collected version of the tale from The Silmarion. It’s worth a read for a dedicated Tolkien fan (of which I am one), but in fairness doesn’t add a lot more in either detail or texture to the previous text.

2/5. Finished Saturday 11 January, 2020.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)

Emily Maitlis (2019)

A choice collection of anecdotes from one of the best-known faces on British TV, at times hilarious and at times somewhere between shocking and terrifying in terms of how some of the figures who make the news actually behave, and how shallow they often are when questioned by someone who knows their stuff.

4/5. Finished Thursday 2 January, 2020.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)