A history book that follows a bead that was found in a Viking grave in Repton across to Asia where it was likely made. The book details bioarcheology involving comparing the makeup of teeth and bones to show whether people in gravesites are migrants where they likely came from. I’d never heard of that before, and found it all very interesting.
A short story from 1909.
This was the Rieu translation, which apparently initiated the Penguin Classics series. It is in prose rather than attempting to translate into poetry. It was very clear and easy to read.
Jarvis Cocker having a clear out of his loft space talking through some of the things he finds. I didn’t know much about him really, but fancied something quite light to read and it was on offer. I’m glad I picked it, I found his perspective on life and music interesting as a fellow awkward nerd that seems to be in a slower gear than the rest of the world a lot of the time.
The first section details the authors time in Auschwitz, which of course was hard going and fascinating.
Very short and very silly. I have a real soft spot for Rincewind, and the early Discworld books.
I found the different perspectives on power interesting.
A book detailing how our food has been systematically replaced by food-like products.
It’s an easy read that draws a narrative through the whole of human history. It’s okay, and some ideas were interesting, but it’s full of opinion written as fact, bending things out of shape to fit in with an idea and I think quite a lot of inaccuracies.
This book feels like a long essay, it’s about how and why an uncompetitive introvert finds meaning in running every day. He ran almost every day for around 25 years at the time of writing, having run a marathon every year.
Tintagel Castle is a ruin in the town of Tintagel in Cornwall. The 12th century book Historia Regum Britanniae by Geoffrey of Monmouth says that it is the place King Arthur was conceived in it’s description of the legends.
This is the October pick for the Exeter Dystopian novels book club.
Boscastle Museum of Witchcraft is a fascinating place. It’s right on the harbour of Boscastle.
This is a simple banana bread recipe, I stole it from BBC Good Food. I increased the amount of bananas, and I don’t bother with the icing on top though since I think that makes it a bit too sweet.
A quick and simple dinner or tea.