Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls — David Sedaris
The more I read him, the more I like him. I read his Me Talk Pretty One Day before this book, and they’re quite similar. His autobiographical episodes are wry and amusing and contain a lot of truth even though … Continue reading
The Pink Jumpsuit – Emma Neale
This is a collection of evocative, affecting, poetic, imaginative short stories. (Extremely short: microfiction, I think it’s called.) Some are slices of life, some are magical, some are funny, but they are all beautiful and satisfying to read. Continue reading
Reservoir 13 — Jon McGregor
This wonderful novel opens on New Year’s Day, and a girl has gone missing: the whole village has turned out to search for her. It seems that we are in for a missing person mystery, or possibly a whodunit. As … Continue reading
The Flame of Reason — Christer Sturmark
This is quite a well-argued and eminently reasonable defence of atheism. It’s much more measured and even-handed than the likes of Christopher Hitchens or even Richard Dawkins. It may still be preaching to the choir, but at least it’s a … Continue reading
Reality+ — David Chalmers
Reality+ is a compendium of half-baked speculation: part science fiction, part wishful techno-utopianism. The whole book is based on one very contentious, if not indefensible, premise: that it is possible for a simulated consciousness to actually be conscious. Continue reading
The Imaginary Museum — Ben Eastham
This is an essential essay on contemporary art. The author takes us on a tour through a fictional contemporary art museum containing real artworks. He talks a bit about the works, offering insights that allow us to appreciate them more. … Continue reading
300 Arguments – Sarah Manguso
Think of this as a short book composed entirely of what I hoped would be a long book’s quotable passages That’s one of the “arguments”, which neatly describes the book. It’s easy to review a book like this: all I … Continue reading
The Stanley Parable
This is the best computer game ever. And it’s much more than just a game. The Stanley Parable is a unique and brilliant game which is not a game. No guns, fast cars or abstract puzzles: the entire game is … Continue reading
Mystery & Manners – Flannery O’Connor
Flannery O’Conner was a 20th-century American writer who* I discovered through a cryptic reference in the computer game The Trolley Problem. This book is a posthumous compilation of her non-fiction writing, including some lectures she gave about writing (one of … Continue reading
A Children’s Bible – Lydia Millet
One of the blurbs describe this as a “funny dystopia” and I can see why, though I feel that would be a misleading way to describe the book. The setup is not dystopian – it seems to be the present … Continue reading