I decided that I needed a new book to read and managed to find one on my bookshelf that I’d only half read so thought I’d finish it off: Tower, An epic History of the Tower of London by Nigel Jones. I just wondered what everyone else is reading at the moment? What does everyone else like to read?
Ages ago I bought a hardback book of short stories by Don Delillo in Poundland, of all places. I've been plucking up the courage to peruse it, he's not an easy read. Anyway I've just found a New Yorker podcast of one of the stories so this could be my starting point. I may even read along with the podcast. Haven't read along with someone since I was in junior school. 
Lol. Well, The Hungry Caterpillar for the litluns, I'm not sure that their reading skills are quite up to the level of The Gendered Brain just yet! I might have to get copy of the Tiger who Came to Tea too. My 5 year old would love it :-)
Rereading 'The Making of the British Landscape: From the Ice Age to the Present'
Nicholas Crane (2016) Weidenfield & Jackson
It has some similarities with Robert McFarlane's books. Crane is a geographer, but with obvious interests in flora and fauna. (This very morning there is a report in the Independent that UK and Belgian archeologists have dredged up further evidence of Stone Age settlement in the so-called Doggerland area now covered by the North Sea.) One of Crane's obvious objectives with this book is to chronicle and recognise numerous examples of global-warming and cooling events over the last twelve centuries and beyond. Interesting topic of great current significance, but not quite as infectious a read as most of the McFarlane stuff.
The above also kind of reminds me of the Ian Anderson Doggerland LP from a few years back, in which Ian pontificated greatly about the current (supposedly) parlous state of UK society and culture. (The title says it all, really!). I don't play that album very often. I have gotten just a bit jaded by Ian always being such a clever-clogs know-it-all. (But as some of his roadcrew have been known to opine, he always was pretty aloof. Many Scots would probably agree, having noted some of his salmon farming blunders.) He now sounds just a little bit too conceited for my liking. Shades of Johnson, Gove and Rees-Smogg!
And one almost every critical publication review says I should NOT be reading right now;
www.theguardian.com/.../the-victorians-twelve-titans-forged-britain-jacob-rees-mogg-review
It’s good and a very accessible read debunking old beliefs on intellect and gender differences in brain function.
its also interesting when put in the context of the male brain theory of autism. Gina uses modern neuroscience methods to re-examine old medical assumptions.
www.theguardian.com/.../the-gendered-brain-gina-rippon-review
Pompeii is amazing! It’s huge and so full of History! I hope that you get to visit it at some point. Italy in general has loads of really good historical architecture. I’d love to go back there. I’ve climbed Mt Vesuvius too! I wonder if a volcanic eruption and the heat of the lava could have been responsible for the Trinitite? Natural disasters certainly have a lot to answer for in terms of wiping out ancient civilisations!
I would love to visit Pompeii! I did get to Catania a couple of years ago though. And Etna.
The thing about the Trinitite is that this is the clue to what wiped that community out! The Bronze Age people certainly had some bad luck - Thera blew and wiped out the Minoan community there - some people say this might have gone a long way to being Plato's Atlantis - now there is this. The possible inspiration for the Sodom and Gomorrah story in Genesis.
I'm glad that you finished your book :-) I still haven't managed to finish the book 'Tower' which I started this thread about but that is unfortunately a hazard of having children, time consuming creatures they are! Thank you for the recommendation of Utopia, it sounds interesting. I will try to take a look at that, when I have the time!
The book about the archaeological dig near the Dead Sea seems really interesting! What else did they discover there? I wonder what they used to incinerate the pottery remains?
Have you ever visited Pompeii? It's very fascinating and surreal and full of so much history, I was astounded by the sheer size of it, amazing that so much remains! It does sound like a horrific fate though I would say the same about Herculaneum. Historically rich but it also exudes a wealth of human suffering, quite sad!
I do like reading about ruined settlements, hopefully once my youngest starts school in 3 years I will have more time to read. But I'm enjoying her being little and still at home so I won't wish that time away. Reading a whole book in a small amount of sittings can wait.
I have been reading a lot recently. I recently finished Sapiens, by Yuvul Noah Harari, who thinks that Science will sooner or later, virtual gods of us will make and beyond whether or not that doesn't smell a tad of Hubris, it is certainly worth questioning whether or not we have the wisdom to go there. Now I am reading Utopia for Realists - I definitely recommend that. A basic income would solve so much, interestingly Nixon very nearly made it so. It is easy to forget beyond the scandals and other of his less admirable traits, how humanitarian he could be.
Before that, I read a fascinating account of an archaeological dig - of a Bronze Age settlement found not far from The Dead Sea. Apparently it was incinerated by something so searing that some of the pottery remains found there was fused to create trinitite - a green glass found after a nuclear bomb was detonated off Trinity Island. Steven Collins is the archaeologist who commissioned this book.
It is suspected the culprit was not a nuke though, but rather a blast from an exploding meteorite. In that case, didn't we just dodge a bullet when one blew over Siberia recently.
The story of Lot's wife turning to a pillar of salt, retold so tersely, always did have the feel of an eye witness having recounted a massive tragedy. I was disappointed though that the writer, after all the science be brought to this discovery, then insists that Sodom and Gomorrah really did displease an alien god.
Did the people of Pompeii deserve what happened to them? Then again, if we ever do, do it to ourselves, who would need a vengeful Yahweh then.
Either way, it is a fascinating read and there is no doubt that Collins is onto something with his dog at Tall el Hammam and at other ruined settlements discovered nearby.
Sorry for the late reply to your post. I've just noticed it.
At school I took the A level, Pure maths with Statistics.
The pure maths teacher was fine and he was regarded as the best maths teacher in the school. One piece of advice he gave us was that when doing homework problems. Don't spend too much time worrying if you're stuck. Go out enjoy yourself get some fresh air. Try again tomorrow and the day after. After seven days he guaranteed we would solve the problem. If not,. ' then you're just plain thick and there's no hope for you'.
The Statistics teacher was very different. She started full of confidence , saying that this module was equivalent to just one of eight modules she took per year as part of her degree.
Her teaching was ok but her technical knowledge was lacking.
We started in September 1978 and the course went ok. By end of January 1979 she got stuck and started repeating material. In the end she confessed that she had taught what she understood and the rest of the course was unintelligible to her.
I lost confidence in her, got a copy of the official course syllabus from the local academic bookshop and a modern up to date textbook. And taught myself.
For the second year, starting September 1979, she was replaced by another teacher. Who was better academically. But he stopped teaching and starting revising in March 1980, for the June exam. About one third of the course was never taught in that school.
