March 17, 2022 The Man from the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann by Ananyo Bhattacharya Review by Terence Jagger This is a lively and compelling biography of one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century, who has somehow…
March 10, 2022 The Twyford Code by Janice Hallett Review by Terence Hallett This is an intriguing but also frustrating book. I did wonder if the Shiny editors would allow me to write…
January 25, 2022 A Fatal Crossing by Tom Hindle Review by Terence Jagger This is a modern murder mystery, but is set in 1924 and is explicitly in the grand manner of the…
August 24, 2021 Five Modern Noh Plays by Yukio Mishima Translated by Donald Keene Review by Terence Jagger This is a slightly misleading title for a new book, as the “modern” Noh plays were…
June 24, 2021 Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness, by Mark Solms Review by Terence Jagger This is a fascinating book, one I bought after hearing the author give an inspiring presentation to the Royal Institution….
May 27, 2021 Summertime, All the Cats are Bored by Philippe Georget Translated by Steven Rendall Review by Terence Jagger He moved cautiously forward through the tall grass, following a trail of broken stems. And it…
March 30, 2021 The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji Translated by Ho-Ling Wong Reviewed by Terence Jagger This is a very unusual book, and I initially disliked its artificiality – extreme, even by…
March 16, 2021 Cathedral by Ben Hopkins Reviewed by Terence Jagger The cathedral, and the difficulties building it, both physical, financial, and aesthetic, dominate the early parts of the book, and…
February 2, 2021 Reviewer’s Choice: A New Sublime – Ten Timeless Lessons on the Classics by Piero Boitani While Shiny New Books concentrates on the new, occasionally, we give our reviewers room to share previously published – ie: ‘not Shiny New Books’…
January 26, 2021 The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack Reviewed by Terence Jagger Katie Mack is an American astrophysicist, but her writing is very informal and almost journalistic or chatty – which is…
January 21, 2021 The Passenger: Japan Reviewed by Terence Jagger Early last year, Europa launched a new imprint “for explorers of the world”: The Passenger. Now, the list includes Berlin,…
August 27, 2020 The Changing Mind by Daniel Levitin Reviewed by Terence Jagger This is a wonderful book, and the real title is the sub-title: A Neuroscientist’s Guide to Ageing Well. It is…
June 18, 2020 The Inugami Curse by Seishi Yokomizo Translated by Yumiko Yamazaki Review by Terence Jagger This Japanese detective thriller is set in the 1940s and so is relatively ‘modern’, but only…
June 11, 2020 Wayfinding by Michael Bond Review by Terence Jagger I found this book absolutely fascinating. I have always been fairly confident in my abilities as a navigator (though with…
November 21, 2019 The Measure of a Man by Marco Malvaldi Review by Terence Jagger I was intrigued to see this novel on my doormat: Malvaldi is better known (to me at least) as a…
November 19, 2019 Your Duck is My Duck by Deborah Eisenberg Review by Terence Jagger This, in spite of its slightly silly sounding title, is an interesting and slightly mysterious collection of six short stories….
April 17, 2018 A Chill in the Air by Iris Origo Review by Terence Jagger This is a fascinating book, written during the year or so preceding Italy’s entry in to the 1939-45 war, when…
March 27, 2018 Dance of the Jakaranda by Peter Kimani Review by Terence Jagger This is a tricky book to read, though I enjoyed much of it. It is funny and observant, but painful…
March 22, 2018 Ghosts of the Tsunami Richard Lloyd Parry Review by Terence Jagger Japan suffers multitudes of earthquakes every year and is among the best prepared countries in the world. Tsunami, too, are…
January 18, 2018 In Search of Lost Books: The forgotten stories of eight mythical volumes by Giorgio van Straten Reviewed by Terence Jagger This is an engaging book about other books, but it makes no judgements on them, and nor can we express,…
January 16, 2018 Zen and the Art of Murder by Oliver Bottini Translated by Jamie Bulloch Reviewed by Terence Jagger We are not in Japan, but Germany; set in the snowy Black Forest, not far from…
December 6, 2017 Progress – Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future Johan Norberg Reviewed by Terence Jagger As Carly Simon sang in 1971, ‘These are the good old days’. This is a fascinating book, and one you…
December 5, 2017 Between the Wars 1919-1939 by Philip Ziegler Review by Terence Jagger So here I am, in the middle way, having had twenty years –Twenty years largely wasted, the years of l’entre…
November 16, 2017 Shadows and Sun by Dominique Sylvain Translated by Neil Caistor Reviewed by Terence Jagger I enjoyed this book, set amongst the French police in Paris and in Abidjan, but that’s…
June 6, 2017 Checkpoint by Jean-Christophe Rufin Translated by Alison Anderson Review by Terence Jagger The first character we meet is Maud, a young and naive Frenchwoman who is apparently badly…
