Tagged “book”

I’ve just finished reading Bicycle Diaries City, by David Byrne. It’s a log of Byrne’s observations and insights as he pedals through major cities of the world including Istanbul, London, Berlin, Buenos Aires, San Francisco and Manilla.

It was an enjoyable read that ambled along pleasantly throughout but got much better in the final chapters as he describes his efforts to effect change and his thoughts about how things could be.

This was an interesting read, recommended by some experienced players at my table tennis club. (The book focuses on tennis but most of it is transferable). This tip came at a good time, as I’m looking to reduce tension from my game.

When chatting with a consellor in January about some bouts of low mood and mental fatigue, I described one symptom as a strange sense of disconnection. And while the recent lockdowns during the pandemic were obvious contributors to that, they didn’t feel like the full story.

It’s important to set the record straight. Normally when people talk about the early UK scene the same few things get mentioned. The real underground never gets talked about."

I’ve been listening to lots of jazz of late and loved seeing Herbie Hancock live in August 22.

So I thought I’d explore further and listen to the audio recording of Herbie’s autobiography Possibilities, narrated by the great man himself.

I really enjoyed it. Herbie’s story is really interesting and entertaining. He’s been at the forefront of so many iconic scenes – from playing in Miles Davis’s band, to writing many classics of his own, to breaking new ground with his Mwandishi sextet and the Headhunters.

I love his carefree and curious spirit and his willingness to experiment with technology (from the fender Rhodes, to other synths, to the internet) and take risks in other aspects of life.

What a talent and what a guy!

I’ve started reading The New Breed: How to think about robots, by Kate Darling.

I’ve started reading The 15 Minute City, by Natalie Whittle.

I’ve started reading Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel.

I’ve started reading Uncanny Valley, by Anna Wiener.

Thanks for the recommendation, @mrtomchurchill.

I’ve started reading Kindred, by Octavia E. Butler.

I’ve started reading Stories of your life and others by Ted Chiang.

I’ve just finished reading Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Isihiguro.

Afterwards I was also keen to see the film, which I enjoyed. It featured great performances by Carey Mulligan and Andrew Garfield in particular, and a haunting score. Although I enjoyed the book, I found it a little slow-paced and so watching the film helped bring it all together (despite taking a few liberties with the plot).

Lastly, I enjoyed this short interview with the author in which he interestingly remarked that the sci-fi element was just a device to support the primary topic of managing friendship and loving relationships within our short lifetimes.

I’ve started reading Exhalation by Ted Chiang.

I’ve started reading Recursion by Blake Crouch.

I’ve started reading The Rise of the Ultra Runners, by Adharanand Finn.

I’ve started reading Andrew Weatherall – A Jockey Slut Tribute.

I’ve started reading The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin.

I’ve started reading A Promised Land by Barack Obama.

My ebook boilerplate is a command-line script that uses Pandoc, wkhtmltopdf, and Calibre to compile all of the files, syntax highlight code snippets, and automatically generate all of the file formats.

The second Phillp K Dick I’ve read this year is his alternative-history sci-fi classic.

In my ongoing quest to catch up on books I should have read years ago, I recently finished reading “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” – the book on which Bladerunner was based.

A strange, otherwordly and often pretty funny tale of a Scottish minister’s dance with The Devil.

I really enjoyed this book, recommended to me by Gillian and Tom.

I’ll tell you wot – that woz a propa’ poolside page-turner and no mistake. Nice work Russ Forman.

I’ve just read 1984 by George Orwell. I know, I know… I should have done this a long time ago. Anyway, here’s what I thought.

I've just finished reading Stasiland by Anna Funder, having received the recommendation from a friend.

It tells a series of extraordinary and often heart-wrenching stories from the underbelly of the former East Germany. I thought it was fantastic and highly recommend it.