March Reading List
I usually set myself the goal each year of reading (or listening to) a book a week (on average), mostly I fall short. Last year, even with the ‘benefit’ of lockdowns I came in at 32.
So with renewed vigour I’ve gone at the unread pile this year and I’m a little more on track (12 YTD). A change of routine in March has meant much more walking and as such I’ve been able to get through some of the Audible backlog ….
So here are March’s efforts:
Audiobooks
Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don't Know – Malcom Gladwell.
This review gives a good summary of what the book is about. It’s also a good example of how to do an audio book. Although Gladwell narrates, news items, interviews, court cases that form part of the text are played in the original or re-enacted where no original exists (court cases for instance). The last line of the book gives a good synopsis: “when things go awry with strangers, we blame the stranger”
Jews Don’t Count – David Baddiel
The Jewish Times sums it up well for me in it’s review of the book: “Despite its own omissions, this book is an engaging polemic, providing a witty and intellectually nimble riposte to those with a blind spot about Jews. Let us hope that for its progressive readers, it very much does count.” See also Baddiel’s twitter account
Think Like a White Man - Dr Boulé Whytelaw III (Nels Abbey)
The imaginary narrator is a professor of White People studies in what is a funny and interesting read whilst being serious and frankly unsettling if you’re a white man (I don’t think I quite reach White Man status). It’s tempting to correlate the points raised with issues of class and/or gender inequalities but that strays dangerously into ‘All Lives Mattter’ territory and more pertinently some of the points being made in the just released report from the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities which seems to go out of its way to be all ‘it’s not all that bad’
The Divided Mind – John E. Sarno M.D
One of those books you buy and then forget why you bought it (I’ve had it in my library since 2017). As an audio book it’s a little dry in its narration (compared to the previous 3) but it is still a fascinating look into psychosomatic disorders and the power of the unconscious mind.
Paperbacks
Agent Running in the Field – John Le Carre.
I’ve always enjoyed Le Carre and I always think of Alec Guinness as Smiley even though I recently listened to the whole of the BBC radio plays without him.
Never Let me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
Set in a slightly dystopian ‘alternative’ England, this is a beautifully written book which engages the reader in the lives of the protagonist just enough to outweigh the ‘bleakness’ of this alternative world (at least it did for me). Also – I think I was better off not having read about the book beforehand as much is revealed in reviews which would have taken away some of the enjoyment/horror of the ‘reveals’.