Highland Landforms by Robert Price

An authorititive short introduction to the underlying geology of the Scottish Highlands from the Grampians in the south north to Shetland and Orkney and east to St Kilda. 

Price begins with an chapter on the current shape of the land indicating the highest points and the differences between the water cycle (movement of water from the sea to the land and back to the sea) under glacial and non-glacial systems.  He then moves to the current geology of the area mapping the different rocks with an explanation of the formation of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks.  Next there is an extensive chapter on the effects of glaciation on the area, before individual chapters on the Grampians, the north-central Highlands, the Ancient Foreland (far west coast and Outer Hebrides / Western Isles), the North-East Highlands (Caithness), Orkney and Shetland and lastly Arran, the Inner Hebrides and St Kilda.  A chapter on coastal landforms follows next, of great importance within the area as the rise and fall of land due to weight of ice has created extensive raised beaches, abandoned forms such as cliffs and stacks as well as the Machair.

Finally there is a brief discussion of the land as resource, the different uses it is placed to by people and how geology plays a part in their use of it.

Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Taleb's book can be distilled into the single idea he gives in the conclusion: 'Everything gains or loses from volatility.  Fragility is what loses from volatility and uncertainty'.  There are things that are fragile, such as a tea cup, fragile because it breaks if you drop it.  Then there are things that are robust, like a skyscraper that can resist earthquakes.  And Taleb proposes a third category, things that actually benefit and grow from shocks and uncertainty, such as the human skeleton which strengthens when the stress of manual labour is placed upon it.  

His book expands on this theme through medicine, society and, most of all, Taleb's field of expertise, economics and the stock market.  He proposes a new way of looking at pretty much everything that I found enlightening and inspiring, and also daunting as our current economic structure is a fragile one.  Taleb's writing although opaque at times is beautifully crafted and structured.


A book that was hard work as I am not a natural numbers person, but so worth the effort.

Superman: Secret Identity by Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen

A book that restored my faith in reading in general and comics in particular

Clark Kent (not that one) is an ordinary midwest teenager living in small town Kansas in a world just like ours.  Superman exists as a comic character and cultural myth but humans are just that, there are no superpowers.  Clark's parents thought it would be cute to call him Clark, so for every birthday he gets Superman paraphanelia and every day is tormented at school.  His crush on girl next door Cassie is unrequited and high school is torturous. 

So to find peace of mind Clark takes himself off hiking in the hills at weekends.  Until the night he wakes up sleeping several feet off the ground and realises he can fly. The public wants to know who he is, the governement want to literally take him to pieces and people need him to save them, but he still just wants a quiet life. 

The pacing and artwork of this story is just beautiful, narration bubbles are in the style of scraps of manual typewriting, Clark needs to use something tangible and not hackable to record his story but it also speaks of an attachment to the visceral and traditional.  There are intermittent old style Superman comic panels with their high bright Warholesque colours and thick black lines which contrast with the subdued colour palatte and watercolour style renderings of Clark's story. 

It is just a beautifully put together story arc, an absolute pleasure, artistically and narratively satisfying, a rare thing.

The Dark Judges by John Wagner and Alan Grant (Judge Dredd)

The Dark Judges is a collection of the 2000AD magazine stories in which the four Dark Judges appear: Mortis, Death, Fear and Fire.  Their nemesis in the futuristic postapocalyptic metropolis of MegaCity One, psychic Judge Cassandra Anderson.  They have come from Deadworld, a dimension in which it was judged that since some humans are responsible for crime all humans have a criminal propensity and therefore must be executed. 

The joy of Wagner and Grant's writing is, as ever, their satirical contemporary references combined with Bolland, Ewins, Robinson and Smith's artwork.  Good fun

Slated by Teri Terry

Kyla is on her way out of New London Hospital to a new family.  Her memories and personality have been wiped clean.  She is a blank slate with no knowledge of the past that caused her to have her mind wiped, and whether it was voluntary or forced on her.  What she does know is that this is her last chance.  Attached to her wrist is her Levo, a device that measures her mood and renders her unconscious, even dead, if she becomes angry or agitated.

Kyla goes to school with her new sister Amy and tries desperately to adjust to life in a stratified society where Slateds are outcasts.  She makes a friend in Ben, also a Slated. But something is wrong, Kyla finds anger rising up inside her and her Levo unreactive.  Dreams and surfacing memories plague her, and even her new mum and dad are not what they seem.

Fast paced with a warm heart and thriller storyline.  The Slated idea is a natural extension of what most teens feel, that they do not fit in the world they inhabit.  A good read.

Elizabeth David on Vegetables by Jill Norman

I found this an interesting cookery book, definately a cookery book rather than a cookbook.  J

Jill Norman assembles here a number of David's writings about vegetables including history, personal experiences in Italy and inspiring recipes.  Here is a piece on the coming of potatoes to Europe and their one time status as aphrodisiac and expensive exotic, there how to cook a risotto properly.

The book is divided into sections on soups, small dishes, salads, pasta gnocchi and polenta, rice beans and lentil, main dishes, breads and desserts.  All the dishes are vegetarian although many can be accompaniments for meats.  There is also an introduction by Norman on David, her writings and influence on British food.

A book I will return to to improve my cooking skills, to make vegetables a tasty dish in and of themselves rather than just a side to meat.

Buddhism A Very Short Introduction by Damien Keown


This is an extrememly good book by an expert in the field of Buddhist studies.  It is the third in the extensive Very Short Introduction series of books by Oxford University Press which give well informed insight into complex fields of study.  Despite the compact size of the book it is packed with information and I came away feeling I had a grasp of what Buddhism is and that I was able to access to further information if I wanted it.

Keown opens the book with a set of useful maps showing where the Buddha lived and taught and where the different types of Buddhism are now found, followed by a note on pronounciation.

He follows this with 9 chapters, the first a valuable discussion on whether or not Buddhism can be classified as a religion.  Next come chapters on the life of the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, details of the essential Buddhist concepts such as karma, reincarnation and the written exhorations known as the Four Noble Truths.

In the latter chapters Keown follows the spread of Buddhism out of India and speaks about the place of mediation and ethics in Buddhism.  In the final chapter he discusses how Buddhism has had an impact in the West in the present day and its relationship to new findings in science.

Finally there is a timeline, further reading and index.  The further reading is particularly useful, Keown structures it by subject so, for instance, you know which book to read if you wanted to know more about Buddhism and neuroscience.

The only problem now is that I want to read all the 'Very Short Introduction' books and there are currently 344 of them!