Harbour by John Ajvide Lindqvist ‘The sea has given and the sea has taken away.’ Harbour is Lindqvist’s third supernatural novel. This one is set on the fictional island of Domaro in the Swedish archipelago, where Anders and Cecilia have a holiday cottage. One winter day, the couple set out with their six-year-old daughter Maja …
Category: Books
A Matter of Time
The End of Eternity by Isaac Asimov The possibility that we might visit our planet’s history – and maybe influence it – is the most tantalising of all fantasies. Perhaps, instead, we might travel into the future and, as observers, discover whether our descendants are still reading books, or watching films. What new mythologies can …
‘Do you want to come in?’
Let The Right One In (Let Me In) John Ajvide Lindquist I was reminded of this post (written over three years ago) when I picked up a copy of another Lindquist novel at a book sale. Entitled Harbour, I'm about half way through and will post a review as soon as I can. No vampires, …
What Money Can’t Buy
The Moral Limits of Markets by Michael J Sandel 'Betting on when celebrities will die is a recreational activity.' I have been a fan of Michael Sandel for several years now, ever since I watched his Harvard lectures entitled Justice. Described variously as 'a great educator' and 'the most popular professor in the world', Sandel …
Conscious!
Emily Eternal by MG Wheaton 'I sweep across the world like the break of dawn.' Emily Eternal combines cutting edge technology, speculative science and scientific fantasy in a racy thriller that doubles as a crazy love story. At the same time, it digs into the human psyche searching for answers to age-old questions. Does free …
Witch Hunt
The Familiars by Stacey Halls A Review ' "The light and the darkness are equal forces - partners, if you will - then there is a moment, very quick and quiet, where you can see the day giving in to the night. That's when I know." ' [Alice Gray] We know about witches, don't we …
Unconfessed Sins
The Western Wind by Samantha Harvey A Review 'Father, I slept all day, I cut a hole in a wall to spy on a woman, I shovelled my no-good clay onto my neighbour's plot, I stole the last spoonfool of honey instead of offering it to my husband, I ate the lucky egg, I cursed …
A Modern Edmond Dantes
The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon translated by Lucia Graves The Prisoner of Heaven is the third book in Zafon’s cycle of stories set in Barcelona and featuring the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. It is much shorter than either of its predecessors yet lacks none of the intrigue of the earlier books. Nor …
And the Lesson for Today is ….
‘The bitter truth is that the world has simply become too complicated for our hunter-gatherer brains.’ 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari Disillusionment; Work; Liberty; Equality; Community; Civilisation; Nationalism; Religion; Immigration; Terrorism; War; Humility; God; Secularism; Ignorance; Justice; Post-Truth; Science Fiction; Education; Meaning; Meditation: What meaning do the words in this …
One Planet – One Human Race
Brief Answers to the Big Questions by Stephen Hawking ‘When we see the earth from space, we see ourselves as a whole …. with a compelling message; one planet, one human race.’ Stephen Hawking’s final book, Brief Answers to the Big Questions, makes a few optimistic predictions. It also hands out some chilling warnings. …
Magda Green Books 