Recent Books (Recenter Books Edition)

Since the end of November last year, I’ve done three things relevant to my reading: … struggled to get over a bad cold. … cut back on using social network sites (and especially cut back on wading into arguments with idiots). … made an effort to spend more time reading books instead of internet glop. The first was both involuntary and unpleasant, but has definitely helped with the latter two endeavours, which in contrast were a concerted effort (and were, obviously, quite linked to one another). On the other hand, I also traveled, which usually takes a bite out of …

Continue Reading

Fugue for a Darkening Island by Christopher Priest

See that image above? That’s a map of heavily populated places where, by 2050, it’s estimated mass flooding is very likely to occur on a yearly basis by 2050. (It’s taken from here.) The relevance to this book review will be clear, if you read on.  I will start by saying that I wrote this long reflection on what is ultimately an obscure novel about a refugee crisis in Britain back in November, when illness forced me to rest for a couple of days and I finally read it after having it around for literally decades and never having gotten …

Continue Reading