Book Review: The Map of Knowledge by Violet Moller

Have you ever wondered where the original ideas in mathematics, astronomy, #science, medicine, #philosophy ever came from? The answers to these questions are in this remarkable #history book #nonfiction #philosophy

Book Review: How Not to Die by Dr Michael Greger MD

With its rather dramatic title ‘How Not To Die’ is a timeless guide to a lifetime of good health. If you only buy one book about health in your lifetime, let this be the one. How Not to Die’s scope is vast and covers all aspects of human health, disease and preventative medicine and provides an overwhelming amount of evidence about the simplest intervention possible – a plant-based diet.

Book Review: Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg

This is a book about the raw majesty of St Kilda as a place, and about the spirit, community bonds and resilience of its people. But it’s also a tragic tale about the devastation of colonialism and 19th century morality.

Book Review: A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

Hi, my name is Nao. I am a time being. Do you know what a time being is? Well if you give me a moment, I will tell you.

A time being is someone who lives in time, and that means you, and me and every one of us who is, or ever was, or ever will be.

Book Review: Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss

*No spoilers A book about experimental archaeology and family violence that’s brimming with glorious dread and that closes in around you like a vice. The novel’s short 160 pages are absolutely electrifying and seem far bigger. Best enjoyed during the witching hours of 11pm and 3 am. Ghost Wall opens with an ancient hair-raising scene,Continue reading “Book Review: Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss”

Book Review: Medieval Bodies Life and Death in the Middle Ages by Jake Hartnell

Art Historian Jake Hartnell takes us on a macabre and enthralling journey from head to toe in the medieval human body. This is fascinating because, even though we share the same bodies as our medieval ancestors, we had wildly diverging beliefs about the inherent symbolic power of parts of our bodies and what could heal, harm or kill us.

Book Review: To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey

Eowyn Ivey is a master craftswoman and her sentences are smooth and flowing like treacle. Her debut the Snow Child was one of my favourite novels. It told the magical tale of a child that emerges out of the icy Alaskan tundra and provides an ageing couple yearning for a baby, with the promise of a living child.

Comforting Thought: Whistling in the dark

“Art would not be important if life were not important. And life is important. Most of us, no matter what we say, are walking in the dark, whistling in the dark.” James Baldwin #quote #philosophy #art

Comforting Thought: The Light that Burns Bright

“There is something in the human spirit that will survive and prevail; there is a tiny and brilliant light burning in the heart of man that will not go out no matter how dark the world becomes.”

~ Leo Tolstoy
#Tolstoy #writing #books #bookquote #quote #philosophy #hope #healing #psychology #humanity #philosophy

Comforting Thought: Describing versus experiencing places

“Describing something is like using it – it destroys; the colours wear off, the corners lose their definition, and in the end what’s been described begins to fade, to disappear. This applies most of all to places. Enormous damage has been done by travel literature – a veritable scourge, an epidemic. Guidebooks have conclusively ruinedContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Describing versus experiencing places”