February 14, 2019 I Am Dynamite! A Life of Friedrich Nietzsche by Sue Prideaux Review by Max Dunbar Alpha males in print tend to be omega males in real life. Friedrich Nietzsche was not rich during his lifetime….
November 27, 2018 Nine Pints: A Journey through the Mysterious, Miraculous World of Blood by Rose George Reviewed by Rebecca Foster Rose George is the author of three previous wide-ranging nonfiction books, about refugees, human waste and foreign shipping. In Nine…
November 1, 2018 The Light in the Dark: A Winter Journal by Horatio Clare Review by Peter Reason Reading the title of this book and seeing the book cover, the prospective reader might, as did I, expect a…
September 18, 2018 On Rape by Germaine Greer Review by Anna Hollingsworth To say that the statistics are grim is a blatant understatement. One woman in five will experience sexual violence, but…
August 9, 2018 How to Change your Mind: The new science of psychedelics by Michael Pollan Review by Peter Reason ‘The soul should always stand ajar.’ It is fitting that Michael Pollan introduces his latest book on the resurgence in…
April 12, 2018 To Be a Machine by Mark O’Connell Review by Annabel I loved this book from the front cover to the back, starting with its title – that capital ‘B’ is crucial…
April 3, 2018 Diary of a Bipolar Explorer by Lucy Newlyn Reviewed by Jean Morris This is both useful and beautiful. Lucy Newlyn, recently retired Oxford professor of English literature, author of a lovely book,…
February 22, 2018 From Here to Eternity: Travelling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty Reviewed by Rebecca Foster If you’ve read thirtysomething California funeral director Caitlin Doughty’s previous book, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, you’ll remember her account…
October 26, 2017 This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay Review by Annabel I love reading medical memoirs, we’ve featured neurosurgeon Henry Marsh’s two volumes here at Shiny (see my review of Do No…
October 17, 2017 I Am I Am I Am by Maggie O’Farrell Reviewed by Harriet I’ve always admired Maggie O’Farrell’s fiction, and greatly loved her most recent novel, This Must Be the Place, which I reviewed…
September 5, 2017 Admissions by Henry Marsh Reviewed by Rebecca Foster Brain surgeon Henry Marsh’s first book, Do No Harm, was one of my favorite reads of 2015 [reviewed by Annabel here]. In short,…
June 27, 2017 Popular: Why Being Liked is the Secret to Greater Success and Happiness by Mitch Prinstein Reviewed by Liz Dexter Mitch Prinstein is an expert on popularity, but he uses lots of other people’s experiments as well as his own…
March 16, 2017 Irresistible: Why we Can’t Stop Checking, Scrolling, Clicking and Watching by Adam Alter Reviewed by Liz Dexter Before: Phone on bedside table, checked for the time whenever I woke up and checked for emails / Facebook updates…
February 14, 2017 Heartthrobs by Carol Dyhouse Reviewed by Harriet Subtitled ‘A History of Women and Desire’, this book explores the fields of literature, film and popular romance. Ranging from the…
February 7, 2017 The Olive Oil Diet by Dr Simon Poole and Judy Ridgway Reviewed by Harriet When I was a small child my mother, who spent a lot of time in France and loved French cooking, used…
October 11, 2016 I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life, by Ed Yong Review by Terence Jagger This is a truly fascinating book, about the complex ecosystem of microbes that lives inside us, all other animals, and…
August 25, 2016 The Voices Within by Charles Fernyhough Reviewed by Anne Goodwin ‘Yeah, I put that in, surely!’ I laughed when I heard myself saying this the other morning as I stowed my…
August 22, 2016 But What If We’re Wrong? by Chuck Klosterman Reviewed by Simon How many non-fiction books do you come across which combine literature, music, television, sports, science, and aliens? Not that many, I’m…
August 16, 2016 The Middlepause; On Turning Fifty by Marina Benjamin Reviewed by Victoria When you think of all the great defining events of an ordinary life and how often they feature as the focus…
August 11, 2016 Metamorphosis; How and Why We Change by Polly Morland Reviewed by Victoria ‘Our culture is one in which,’ Polly Morland writes, ‘more than ever before, we feel entitled to change our experiences and…
June 14, 2016 The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone by Olivia Laing Reviewed by Marina Sofia There are some who crave solitude, others who fear it. There are those who crave some idealized version of solitude,…
April 13, 2016 The Outrun by Amy Liptrot Reviewed by Rebecca Foster The Outrun has recently been shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize, awarded annually to a work that engages with medical themes….
January 21, 2016 Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and How to Think Smarter About People Who Think Differently by Steve Silberman Reviewed by Liz Dexter This book, which won the 2015 Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction, goes into the history of autism, research on autism…
January 19, 2016 The Social Brain: How Diversity Made the Modern Mind by Richard Crisp Reviewed by Anne Goodwin In the decades following the end of the Second World War, social psychology was preoccupied with an attempt to explain…
July 14, 2015 The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson Reviewed by Rebecca Hussey Maggie Nelson has had what one might call a cult following ever since the 2009 publication of her genre-bending essayistic…
