Laura Spinney (2017)

One of the only overview accounts of the 1918 pandemic, now fiercely relevant in the era of covid-19. This is a book that combines a fairly deep dive into the science with more speculative looks at the effects the pandemic had on art, psychology, and the emergence of worldwide disease surveillance structures. Some of the speculations are just that, and not especially convincing – the increased number of births isn’t necessarily a sign of increased “conception potential” because of w winnowing of the weaker individuals – but this is a minor complaint about a deeply researche, well-written, and timely work.

4/5. Finished Sunday 7 June, 2020.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)

Emma Hart

4/5. Finished Sunday 7 June, 2020.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)

Charles Stross (2006)

Another romp through the idea of computational demonology. It avoids the cliche of the spy novel by … making the notion of being a cliche into a plot device. As a homage to H.P. Lovecraft this entire series is hard to beat, full of knowing allusions handled deftly and with a touch of cyberpunk.

5/5. Finished Saturday 30 May, 2020.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)

Ryszard Kapuściński (2004)

many fabulous anecdotes to a life spent in travel reportage, accompanies and complemented by the Travels of Herodotus. The conjunction doesn’t sit quite comfortably for me: not enough Herodotus, and perhaps not sufficiently entangled into the autobiography, but still left me wanting to read the classic.

3/5. Finished Tuesday 26 May, 2020.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)

Jack Shenker

A very timely exploration of the left-behind of British society and how they’re coming to terms (or not) with late-stage capitalism. The actors range across the spectrum, as do the politics the various people embrace.

It’s such a current book, written just before the Conservatives’ crushing win in the 2019 general election, that it’s hard to assess some of the observations. Momentum, the left-wing insurgency within Labour, had a hand in massively improving the party’s showing in 2017, and Shenker clearly outlines their goals and strengths. But even with that, Labour didn’t win – and went on to lose even more severely in 2019. Perhaps it will take time to assess whether Momentum’s integration of party politics and activism can be properly harnessed to win power.

There’s also what feels like a curious, sharp, turn in the last chapter to include more consideration of climate change and climate activism. It’s closely argued and clearly very important, and that makes it surprising that it wasn’t woven more tightly inot the rest of the argument.

4/5. Finished Sunday 10 May, 2020.

(Originally published on Goodreads.)