Monthly Archives: July 2012

Lack of internet access means I will have to add some stats later. I hesitated a bit about categorisation of some of these. Leaves of Grass is clearly more non-fiction than fiction, but probably I should set up a special … Continue reading →

Picked this up at a bookshop in Broadstairs recommended by

NYT: Crash of the Bumblebee Krugman is pessimistic.(tags: euro ) Koch-funded climate change skeptic reverses course – latimes.com Heh.(tags: climatechange ) The Birth of the Internet From Two Present at Creation — Letters to the Editor – WSJ.com The role … Continue reading →

Staying overnight with cousins in Broadstairs, home of Charles Dickens and childhood home of Edward Heath; a pleasant and quiet resort town which is actually built around two sandy beaches on the edge of Kent. This book collects classic photographs … Continue reading →

I had never read a single one of these books before, and swiped this off my sister-in-law’s bookcase in a moment of experimentation. While it was probably not a great idea to start with the last of the series, I … Continue reading →

I thought I had read only one Lovejoy book, and that it wasn’t this one; but there was an incident with an undercover policewoman here which I definitely remembered reading before, though almost none of the rest of the plot … Continue reading →

Not quite a year after I read the first in this series, I’ve read the second, and have certainly worked up an appetite to read the rest now. Niccolò, the Flemish apprentice-turned-magnate of the first book, is sent on a … Continue reading →

If you can swallow the completely implausible geological setup for this story – a desert planet with an ice core (or at least a permafrost mantle) – it’s rather a good tale of the politics of a citadel society under … Continue reading →

I enjoyed the four plays in the fourth season of Big Finish’s series about Victorian adventurers Jago and Litefoot, but felt that they were not quite as brilliant as previous series have been. In particular, the linking narrative between the … Continue reading →

The Aleppo Codex Mystery An extraordinary story.(tags: books bible ) The Kremlin and Georgia – collusion or illusion? | openDemocracy Georgia’s politicians are hypersensitive to charges of collusion with Russia, the old imperial power. President Saakashvili denounces opposition figures for … Continue reading →

Top 20 des étonnantes sculptures sur pierre de Hirotoshi Ito Superb stone sculptures by Japanese artist.(tags: photos ) Why Moldova Has Turned Its Back on Russia How Moscow lost Chisinau – a liberal Russian perspective.(tags: russia moldova ) Mary Tamm … Continue reading →

The 94 books which have won the BSFA, Clarke and Tiptree awards in more or less chronological order.

Groups welcome passing of Bill on gender quotas – The Irish Times Hooray!(tags: elections ireland ) The Mayor of London’s introduction to the Olympics Marvelous.(tags: video funny ) A Syrian Stalemate? Looks at the cartographic history of the Syrian state. … Continue reading →

Probably the best known of many SF stories dealing with autism, this is a near-future novel told in the first person by an autistic man who is being pressured to try an experimental “cure” by his employers (who are in … Continue reading →

Hoe separatistisch of pro-Belgisch bent u? I come out 51%/49% – balanced or confused, rather than separatist or unionist!(tags: belgium ) Sally Ride has died 🙁(tags: space death ) The Top 50 ‘Pictures of the Day’ for 2012 Beautiful!(tags: photos … Continue reading →

A New Adventure with an impressively imagined setting, a possibly living cylindrical structure containing madly mutating mosses, monkeys, and massive trees, into which the Doctor, Benny and Ace arrive and get tangled up with terminal mayhem. I found it a … Continue reading →

CONSILIUM – Bloggers meet Cyprus Presidency #cy2012eublogs next Thursday.(tags: ) Georgia: Authorities must stop violence against opposition ahead of elections Latest Amnesty International statement(tags: georgia ) Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math May 2012 was “the 327th consecutive month in which … Continue reading →

How I Lost My Fear of Universal Health Care A conservative Republican is converted by experience of the Canadian system.(tags: ushealth ) Big Finish – Books Special Offers Big discounts this weekend only!(tags: books doctorwho ) Aurora: Nothing Wrong With … Continue reading →

The last of the run of Doctor Who novels set between The Power of the Daleks and The Highlanders takes the Doctor, Ben and Polly to San Francisco in 1967, where a flower child called Summer tells the story of … Continue reading →

A memorable short novel about a Caribbean teenager who comes to the US to look after a white American family’s children. Lucy is a little naïve, a little tactless, sometimes quite observant, and doing some rapid growing up in a … Continue reading →

Revising “Blogging”: blogs and journalism “One reason I blog and comment less on blogs is that I read mostly on my phone or iPad, and typing is a nuisance and linking is a pain.”(tags: blogging )

Homosexuality Explained To My Mother A Moroccan writes.(tags: morocco sexandgenderandsexuality ) Dumping Facebook: Why More People Are Leaving The slide begins to accelerate…(tags: facebook ) Rejoice Gods of Georgian Democracy! “Last year, the government of Georgia held a session of … Continue reading →

Euro Leaders Sleepless Summits Seen Prone to Mistakes Sorry about the crisis, time for bed!(tags: health hea eu ) 10 Major Blunders in Doctor Who I disagree with several of these!(tags: doctorwho )

What Central Europe thinks of Britain and why “the new member-states will have few reasons for wanting to spend political capital on supporting UK demands for exemptions from EU legislation”(tags: ukpolitics eu ) Right Said Blake A Blake’s 7 / … Continue reading →

A very enjoyable reread of the fundamental vampire novel, which I guess I read first when I was about 15 and again when I was about 30; I am now 45. It remains a rollicking good story, as our heroes … Continue reading →

What Google Is – TechCrunch Hmmm….(tags: internet ) Georgia’s New Public Center is its Crown Jewel “shiny glass buildings, sleek lime green waiting areas and touch-screen computers do not alone a democracy make.”(tags: georgia )

I used to confuse Walt Whitman with Wally Whyton, and was always vaguely puzzled as to why a performer of comic songs on 1970s British children's TV seemed to have some kind of iconic status in American literature. It may … Continue reading →

The great wedding present crisis of July 1981 Brings back memories!(tags: funny ) Walt Whitman – Court of Appeals to Common Sense How difficult it is to parody an absurd original.(tags: poetry ) Georgian politics: The Economist Georgia’s richest man … Continue reading →

From here, original here. As per usual, bold the ones you have read, italicise the ones you started but didn't finish. 1. Songspinners – Sarah Ash2. The Bloody Chamber – Angela Carter3. Rats and Gargoyles – Mary Gentle4. Outlander – … Continue reading →

I'm not quite up to date with Big Finish, as there are several Sixth Doctor audios which I have yet to write up, but I have now listened to the three most recent Fifth Doctor stories, featuring Turlough, Tegan and … Continue reading →