Tidying up the bookshelves today, as it's been a while, so here's an overview of what I've read across the last 12 months, or a bit longer really;
John Peel - Margrave of the Marshes - Really could hear his voice in the first half. Quite emotional in places, but to be expected, given Peel was a man of passion, and that really comes across. A good read, and really shows the man. I really must get the olivetti chronicles.
Nick Hornby - How to be Good - Loved About a Boy by Hornby. Similar, if less funny story. Ok.
Karyo Magellen - By Ear and Eyes - A review of the Whitechapel Murders based on analysis of the wounds inflicted and a very interesting examination of some of the witness statements made at the time. Interesting and thought provoking, if I don't quite agree with all conclusions.
Richard Wiseman - Quirkology - Not the biography of a certain forum-ite, but an interesting, and frequently funny examination of many of the frequent yet unusual phenomena we experience as individuals, and as a society.
James Kelman - How Late it was - novel written in scottish dialect mainly, chronicling an episode where the main character wakes up following a long session, has a few interactions with the police that result in sight loss, and the start of attempting to come to terms with such a drastic change. Completely nuts.
Stephen Law - The Philosophy Gym - Series of thought experiments etc relating to various philosophy fields. Average.
Stephen King - Cujo - Must've had this book years! Only recently got round to reading it, and thought it was really good. Simple, effective plausible storyline and well done.
MJ Trow - Ripper Hunter: Abberline and the Whitechapel Murders - Biography, though far to brief, of Abberline. Whilst the subject is good, and it gives a kind of caricature of the man, mainly based around his career, it doesn't really offer a lot new, more suggests there is little available information on Abberline.
Kate Fox - Watching the English - Brilliant observation of some of the things people label as symptoms of English-ness. Alan, and any other non-UK forum-ites who are interested in english people, and especially the sense of humour really ought read this book. Found it an absolutely fascinating and occasionally hilarious read.
DJ Leighton - Montague Druitt: Portrait of a Contender - What could have been a really useful book examining Druitt, who came for a time to be suspect number 1 is spoiled by the fact that it is a completely unsourced book. A decent read, and if true has collected a fair amount of information on Druitt, giving grounds to potentially exonerate him from suspicion. However the lack of sourcing has resulted in some unanswered questions about some claims.
John Masefield - The Box of Delights - Watched the tv series as a kid, loved it, got the book, loved it, lost the book. Found the book in a charity shop or something and bought it to reminisce. Cracking read.
George Orwell - Down & Out in Paris & London - Another cracker, auto-biographical tale of Orwells experiences of poverty in the 2 cities. Gritty, but a reminder of why he's one of the UK's best writers.
Jim Bradbury - Stephen & Matilda: The Civil War 1139-53 - Talking to a friend who is a history buff, and realised I had no knowledge of this period of history. Book was an ok, but far too brief overview. Need to find something with more detail.
Donald Rumbelow - The Complete History of Jack the Ripper - Don was a police officer who identified some of the JtR crime scene photo's, that were due to be scrapped by the met police in the 70's. This was a re-published "fully updated" version of his original book. Apparently, there was significant new information. Sadly, there really wasn't. Still a good book, but actually, I prefer the original, as over time Don has changed a few opinions, and a few changes are (imo) mistaken.
Patrick Hughes - More on Oxymoron - My fave artist, and he's published a few books, mainly focussed on paradoxes and oxymoron.
Michael schermer - The Believing Brain - Stimulating read about how we construct belief systems. Not as good as why people believe weird things, but a good book.
Ted Hondereich - Philosopher, A Kind of Life - Auto-biography. Interesting look at academic life, but tough going in many places, and slow.
Alain de Botton - The News - I really like de Botton's work. In this age of rolling news reports, his examination of our fascination with, and also sometimes detachment from the news stories which fill our lives more and more. Superb.
Peter Ackroyd - Jack the Ripper and the East End - More an examination of whitechapel, and its inhabitants than about JtR. The book was a tie in with a docklands exhibition on the east end in 2008. A collection of essays really, generally showing a good insight into whitechapel at the time.
William Poundstone - Labyrinths of Reason - Recommended by a friend who know's I'm interested in paradoxes and so on. An ok book. Didn't really grab me.
P Begg/J Bennett - Jack the Ripper The Forgotten Victims - The original murders were labelled the whitechapel murders, and there were 11 deaths across 1887-1892. In addition, there are a couple of other incidents/murders that have been speculated to be linked to JtR. The so-called "canonical five" victims came about long after the end of the murders (more on this later...) This book examines the lives/known facts of the non-canonical five. Ok.
Tom Wescott - The Bank Holiday Murders - like the above, this is a book focussing on 2 murders not included in the canonical five. Wescott, in researching his own JtR book unearthed some research relating to 2 murders (Emma Smith & Martha Tabram) that sent him off on an interesting tangent. This research, and his conclusions resulted in him publishing this book, which I have to say is well written, and a powerful and very thought provoking book. The author certainly argues his position robustly. It definitely stopped me and made me think of a whole raft of issues that I haven't previously. It also is a brilliant way of examining some of the tight and close links that would have existed in 1888. Fantastic read, and I know a few posters who have a passing interest in JtR. I'd strongly recommend this book.
The Mammoth Book of King Arthur - essentially an exploration of the various myths/legends, with an accompanying examination of 4-6 potential candidates for who the mythical Arthur could be based on. Decent.
Robert Galbraith - The Silkworm - The second of JK Rowlings' Cormoran Strike detective novels. Loved the first, and have also recently read the third too. She really does know how to write a good novel.
Robert A Snow - in Pursuit of Jack the Ripper - Fairly standard overview of the crimes by a retired FBI agent. However, refreshing in its lack of shock factor, plainly dealing with and examining ascertainable facts, and reviewing primary evidence. Good at what it is, brilliant for a new-comer, but nothing new.
Jim Bradbury - The Battle of Hastings - Very average. I've better 1066 books tbh.
P Begg/J Bennett - CSI Whitechapel - An examination of how the crime scenes would have looked at the time, utilising some expert cgi images. Very detailed. In reality, this book is more about the images and pictures, than the words, as the graphics have been painstakingly created over years based on old plans, blueprints etc.
Tales from the secret footballer - First book was an ok read. This was meh.
Chris Scott - Will the real Mary Kelly... - Chris Scott was a researcher who passed away in 2014, and sadly he was about to publish an updated version of this book. And I'm sure that book would have been brilliant. Everything we know about MJK came from her then boyfriend, mainly from his statements at her inquest, and to the press shortly after. Virtually nothing he said is verifiable. And the only source of his information, is what she told him. This has led to/helped with some of the more lunatic conspiracy theories relating to JtR. To this day, MJK hasn't been positively identified. Scott was possible the best hope.
Dickens - Great Expectations - I read this, as I realised I'd never read any Dickens ever. I thought that was wrong. I was mistaken. I'm in no rush to try another.
Peter Stubeley - 1888 London Murders in the year of the ripper - It's a myth there were no other murders in London in 1888. True, most were domestics, but Stubeley examines other crimes in London in 1888 and shows a number of murders ocurred. A pretty good book, and like others above casts an interesting light on some networks and ways of life of the time. Didn't need the chapter it had on the ripper murders though.
D Hamilton-Williams - Waterloo: New perspectives - A good read, some superb maps of the site, as well as other battles, and a (for the time) new take on the role of the Prussians in the battle.
William Beadle - Jack the Ripper: Anatomy of the Myth - Beadles first book, prior to his "Unmasked" that introduces William Bury as his suspect. Not as good as Unmasked. Beadle is a valid suspect for me.
Russell Edwards - Naming Jack the Ripper - Nonsensical look at me aren't I clever tripe. Absolute doggy do-do.
B Hoff - The Tao of Pooh & The Te of Piglet - lovely relaxing relate-able exploration of zen.
Susan Greenfield - Wildly optimistic examination of people and technology concluding tech will change us but fix everything. Not sure it will.
Bruce Robinson - They All Love Jack - he of withnail and I publishes a 900 page diatribe against the system, ripperologists, the police, and various others. Make no mistake, it is a page turner, albeit a bloody big one, and Robinson has a lot of interesting insights and opinions, however sadly this gets lost in occasions where Robinson simply appears to rant for little apparent reason.
Robert Galbraith - Career of Evil - the best yet in the Strike novels.
Naomi Klein - This Changes Everything - I loved No Logo, and also The Shock Doctrine. This book was much harder to get into initially, which surprised me. Possibly the most serious message Klein has written about, and whilst the passion and investigation is there, she simply didn't grip me initially as well as previously. Worryingly, the book created a fair amount of despair for me in some ways. I try to be ecologically aware. The book highlights both how much, and how little difference we can/do make. Frightening.
David Peace - Nineteen Seventy-Four - The first of the Red Riding quartet. Really liked it. Read it in 2 days (christmas present). Can't wait to start the next one!
