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Proper ludicrous fantasy/fiction here from JB – a deep-drilling oil rig somehow taps through to a banished demon horde civilisation, and a seemingly un-redemptionworthy everyman (Dave Hooper) finds himself imbued with superhero powers to combat them. Plenty of military operations & jargon, a rich fantasy demon-world setting, and all told with JB’s signature approachability &…
Following his Blackadder biography, Jem Roberts dips into detail on obvious heroes of his – Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie – in this examination of their comic partnership leading up to and focusing on “A Bit of Fry & Laurie”. It’s apparent that there was a great deal more to this story than I’d have…
Pete Brown goes into a detailed dive into the ingredients of beer in this piece following his wanderings around the world, where he tries to understand different global interpretations of beer and the disparate endpoints that will take you, from what’s nominally a simple list of the same ingredients. I love the way Brown writes:…
Bit of a baffling one this – it takes the chronological run of Star Wars (or, if you’re hung up on such things, “Episode IV: A New Hope”) and then each chapter of this book is a short story written from the point of view of a bit-part character. A sort of “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern…
John Birmingham’s latest dramatic fiction, told in a similar style to his Axis of Time trilogy but this time the setting is a future space colonial civilisation, where aristocratic family corporations run planetary systems, and they come under attack from a deep space movement of insurrectionists thought previously banished from the galaxy. Birmingham’s writing is…
The trouble with trying to be objective about Geoffrey Robertson is that I can’t do it. The man’s an absolute legend and hero. This autobiography covers his entire life to date, from growing up in suburban Sydney – to the move to England via his Rhodes Scholarship – through to his burgeoning legal career and…
Jem Roberts dives into the story & circumstances of the genesis and development of one of the finest British sitcoms ever produced, and one which taught me most of what I know about British history (I won a game of Trivial Pursuit once on the strength of the answer “a groat”). Being such a core…
The story of the rise & disappearance of inane & vulgar lo-fi singer of such minor internet classics as “Have a Wank”, “Gentleman’s Wash”, “I Shit My Pants”, “A Lonely Wank In A Travelodge”, and the anthem “Fucksticks” – penned by the author himself. A refreshingly honest story from someone who doesn’t feel like they…
Michael Lewis – mainstay of gripping Financial Services pieces like The Big Short, Liars Poker, Flash Boys et al – zeroes in on the story of Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, and how their theories on decision came to influence western society. Great story, great author.
I mistakenly bought this for Liz, and when I handed it over very quickly realised that *I’M* the one of us that likes serially uninformed but doggedly informative broadcaster Philomena Cunk. A tough read from end-to-end, because it’s literally a series of short pieces in alphabetically organised topics… but word-perfect for the character, and you…