Books: Underlands (Robert Macfarlane)

I really enjoyed this book - Macfarlane's last couple of books have been good, but not as enjoyable as the first few. They seemed to lack the breadth and depth and philosophy. Whereas this deep time foray into the earth beneath is (literally) deep and often downright eerie. I was enamoured early on as the first chapter covers the limestone caves beneath the Mendips, but other chapters explored underground rivers, glaciers, and toxic waste storage plants, all with thoughtfulness and interest.

Borrowed it from the library, will probably get my own copy when it comes out in paperback.

Books - Stump, Niall Griffiths

I think the author was recommended to me recently by Serpentskiss (who I'm not sure is on here anyway). So I added a few of Griffiths' novels to my interlibrary loan list, and this one came up first. I liked it - as a story of a man who runs away from the Scouse mob to Wales with one newly missing arm, it's both funny and dark. Griffiths is compared to Cormack McCarthy a lot, which I didn't really see. To me, it was a cross between the regional humour and punchy plot of Irvine Welsh, together with the mad place-rooted bombast of Iain Sinclair.

One thing that really made it for me was that Griffiths has a deep sense of nature in his writing, and that gave the already good book a sense of depth.

Like I said, inter library loan, but I can recommend.

Books - Mythos, Stephen Fry

I got about a third into this retelling of the Greek Myths, and then decided to ditch it. It wasn't that it was poor - it was as smart and witty as you'd expect from Stephen Fry. It's just that it's a very big book, I'm already familiar with the Greek Myths, and if I wasn't or I wanted to brush up, I would go and read the Robert Graves version.

Having said that, it might be a good present for a smart kid. And other people may enjoy it more.

Books - Stuff Matters, Mark Miodownik

Borrowed this from my aunt, who likes popular science books. And it's very well written, cover the science behind different materials according to key qualities (the title of each chapter). I knew a lot of it, but silica aerogel (for example) was fascinating. And as well as describing the science and uses of each material, Miodownik also talks about the human aspects, and talks about it all in a very well written and engaging style.

I have to give it back to my aunt, but very recommendable.