For a slightly incomplete but annotated version of this, see my Twitter thread. Rings of Saturn, W.G Sebald The Cello Suites, Eric Siblin Handel In London, Jane Glover, Albert Speer: His Battle With Truth, Gitta Sereny, The Shortest History of Europe The Saturday Caller, Georges Simenon The Sleepwalkers, Arthur Koestler …

An unreliable reading memoir The Knowledge Illusion, Steven Sloman and Philip Fernbach. Cognitive scientists explain why everyone knows a lot less than they think. Good and chastening intro to the topic. Dreaming The Beatles, Rob Sheffield. Free-wheeling and uneven but overall really good with many brilliant, perceptive insights. The Shortest…

Fire me out of Christmas like a bullet from a gun Blast me out of Christmas on a rocket to the sun Pull me out of Christmas with a giant stage hook Smuggle me out of Christmas in the pages of a book A-choo me out of Christmas like a droplet from a sneeze Roll me out of Christmas like a round of English cheese Sneak me out of Christmas through a secret backdoor Write me out of Christmas at the end of season 4

I’m not very systematic about how or what I read, though I suppose this is a step towards that. Last year I left at least a couple of books I really enjoyed off the list by accident, so there may be one or two I’ve missed this time too. …

Reading is hard when you’re encumbered by children and Twitter. I was quite proud of having got through 20+ books in 2017 until I discovered that Sarah Ditum had matched that by June. Anyway here’s my paltry list, in order of reading: Wonderland, Steven Johnson. Maybe the best book yet…

Christopher Nolan’s epic is that rare thing, a blockbuster that doesn’t feature superheroes. I wanted to see it quite early in its run before my experience of it was skewed by the chatter but nonetheless I think I suffered from overly high expectations. As often happens with films/books/programmes that get…

Seven Ways to Make Twitter Safe for Politics — In proto-democratic Athens, there was a square called the Agora where citizens gathered after dinner to talk politics and ideas. A marketplace that was also a civic space, the Agora was where the social business of the city got done. News, ideas and gossip were exchanged. …

I’m not someone who keeps a catalogue of the books I read (though perhaps this is the start of one, in a half-arsed way). So I can’t say for sure that these are all books I read in the last year, though I think they are. It is certainly not…

A reading/listening list for understanding November 8, 2016 Probably like me you are still struggling to come to terms with the fact of President-elect Trump. Here’s a short list of articles and podcasts I’ve found most useful in doing so. …