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Previous Reading (in reverse order):

Aldous Huxley – Brave New World amazon.co.uk

Lost in a taxi after 30 pages!!!

Haruki Murakami : A wild sheep chase amazon.co.uk

A great and intresting book set inthe 1970s in Japan following a strange mythoology, but wriritng very similar to that of Charles Bukowski (possibly to do with the translator as this orgianally in Japanese) a great read. not sure what happened at the end though – very strange!

Gluck & Myers : Gateway to memory amazon.co.uk

A fairly heavy book looking at how neural network computer models are being used to understand and theorise how the brain works. The book is a very good introduction to this field but not for the faint hearted. One amazing thing is how far the models can reproduce observed results for the hippocampus in animals and humans and how it is involved in memory and learning.

Martin Gardner : Hexaflexagons and other mathematical diversions amazon.co.uk

A nice diversionary read about some mathematical puzzles mostly to do with paradoxes, paper folding and games.

Walter J. Freeman : How brains make up their minds amazon.co.uk

A heavy read using chaos theory to look at how the brain works and theorise where the mind comes from and ideas on conciousness. Relying on the big picture of electrical signals from the brain that other research looking at working on conciousness from the low level this book uses chaos theory to try to explain where conciousness comes from. Interesting and hard work inplaces to read – not sure I agree with the conclusions though.

John Allman : Evolving Brains amazon.co.uk

This book is fascinating taking you through the stages of brain evolution from amoeba all the way up to the modern human. As you might imagine in a 208 page book it is hard to do justice to the story but Mr Allan manages it very well. With some suprising theories towards the end of the book about social networks and brain evolution and our close relationship with both dogs and wolves.

John Wyndham : Trouble with Litchen amazon.co.uk

Good science fiction – set in the near future with hardly any science in it – looking at the consequences of an idea and then taking to the authors opinion of it’s natural conclusion. The idea is that a drug is found that will extend peoples lives for up to 200 years – what would happen to society if this happened – and there was only a limited supply of the drug? A real thought provoker.

Stephen Pinker : The Language Instinct amazon.co.uk

Really interesting explanation of how our minds learn about language. Uncovers the complexity that goes into building an understanding of language in the brain from an early age and is full of interesting facts about how languges work. I learned loads about English by reading this book as it is the language used for a lot of the examples (as the Author is a native English speaker!) and it has helped me understand more about how to learn other languages. In addition Mr Pinkers understanding of grammatical structures and how the brain processes sentences mean that the book is easy to read and amusing.
After reading this I have been boring people with many anecdotes about other languages and the history of English.

Jared Diamond : Guns, Germs & Steel amazon.co.uk

This book gives a fascinating history of the human race for the last 13,000 years. Explaining the rise of agriculture in Fertile Crescent and then why only certain crops and animals were domesticated. The book sets out to prove that the reason Europeans have come to dominate the world (rather than aboriginals say) is down to geographical circumstances rather than anything genetic.
The reading is a little boring at points but worth getting through as the background provided by the book to prove the point gives a very interesting insight into the world.

Stephen Pinker : How the Mind works – amazon.co.uk

Starting from two basic ideas, that the mind is similar to a computer and that the way the mind works can be explained via evoultion, this book provides great insight into how the mind (might!) work.
Full of anecdotes, jokes and references to many films this is a really easy, interesting and though provoking read that has changed the way I think about the world.

Joseph Conrad : The Secret Agent amazon.co.uk

I had never read any Conrad before – this was really interesting set at the end of the 19th century it is interesting to read and realise that politics (and plots) now and then have hardly changed. After reading it I found out the Conrad was not a native English speaker, and spoke fairly bad English – you would not know from the book though as it was a pleasure to read.

Susan Greenfield : The Brain – A guided Tour amazon.co.uk

Based on the Royal Institute Christmas Lectures (aimed at children) given by the Author this is a really simple introduction to the brain. Ms Greenfield eases in ideas about consciousness and brain structure that create a desire for more in the reader.

George Orwell – Animal Farm amazon.co.uk

I had never read this before and got through it in 4 hours in Moscow – having already learnt a bit about 20th century Russian history this helped to cement some facts. I can only think of Stalin as Napoleon the pig now though!

Oscar Wilde : The Picture of Dorian Gray amazon.co.uk

This is not the greatest of books it has to be said but having read it and understanding it is of a slightly autobiographical nature made it quite interesting. It won few points on plot for me though and some was quite hard to get through – thank god it was his only novel (all the rest were plays).

Chaucer : The Cantebury Tales amazon.co.uk

Fascinating to read how the stories have little changed over 650 years – still about sex, lies and corruption. Was overwhelmed by the length of some of the stories and quietly glad that Chaucer did not have enough time to write all the tales. Was interesting to read after the Divine Comedy and see some of Dante’s influence.

Dante : Divine Comedy – Volume 1 (Inferno) amazon.co.uk

A great insight into the 13th century view of sin and punishment – also provides quite a history lesson as you meet all of the inmates of Hell. I hope to continue and read the next two volumes at some stage. N.B. This translation has very helpful notes and is fairly easy to read.

Tolstoy : War & Peace – Volume 1 amazon.co.uk

Tolstoy gets you to really understand the motivation and desires of each of the hundreds of characters in this epic. I enjoyed the writing but at times it was hard work! I am disappointed that I decided to discard Volumes 2 and 3 when I was cycling for weight considerations will get them back at some point and finish the set as I really enjoyed the first Volume.

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