Latest Reviews

March 10, 2020

 

This book urges readers to beware, but not despair about the threats, dangers and complexities that accompany the rewards of the expanding opportunities of pervasive data.

 

Then the author proceeds to go though the history of reasons to despair and then some suggestions for how the dangers may be mitigated.

 

Although two authors are credited for the book, the entirety is in the voice of Smith, a lawyer by training and the president of Microsoft.

 

October 19, 2019

 

 

'The Claws of the Panda:Beijing's Campaign of Influence and Intimidation in Canada” by veteran journalist Jonathan Manthorpe is a call to beware of the machinations of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to advance its interests and reputation in this country.

 

Manthorpe, with much experience in China, makes clear his target is the CCP and not China, the Chinese, Chinese immigrants or Chinese Canadians.

 

October 7, 2019

 

 

'The Future is Asian' by Parag Khanna is a comprehensive book reflecting the size and complexity of Asia and how inclusive he is in portraying it. The Arctic, Israel, Japan and Australia/New Zealand are on the margins of Khanna's Asia.

 

I would put this book in the top half dozen of the best in the last 100 I have read. Without excusing 'bad behaviour in western eyes' the author tries, and succeeds to a large extent, to explain it, and the characters involved, in an illuminating way.

 

April 22, 2019

 

 

'Deer Hunting with Jesus' is an evocative title and highlights two of a half dozen values held by the poor U.S. white underclass, whose voting patterns confound most liberals.

 

April 15, 2018

Review

'Younger Next Year for Woman' is more than a pronoun change and a pink cover from the original 'Younger Next Year'. That 'more' involves discussion of health issues more particularly related to women with a chapter on menopause.

 

The authors Chris Crowley, a retired lawyer, and Henry Lodge, an M.D., are the same with no addition of a female writer, but that doesn't deny that there is a slightly different orientation, although much of the text, as should be expected, is identical.

 

August 15, 2016

Review

Author Frans de Waal answers the question in the title early and in the affirmative. This is the latest offering of the animal behaviouralist, whose book 'The Bonobo and the Atheist' is profiled on this site.

But in this book, the scope of his insights and observations is broader. And maybe more importantly, his political challenge is more pointed. Those who still insist on measuring animals capabilities against those of humans in a human context have to deal with a twist.

April 1, 2016

 

 

You can make your 'own cheese', the 'ultimate selfie', with a swab from your armpit, navel and between your toes for an appropriate microbe sampling to apply to the milk.

 

And if you can get past this idea, the author, Tim Spector, a British professor of genetic epidemiology presents a subtle, comprehensive, imaginative, yet scientific look at a subject that many obsess over, their diet.

 

December 8, 2015

With a embossed colour cover and glossy pages, this volume has the look and feel of a textbook. The impression is further reinforced with a compartmentalized layout, large colour photos and the use of technical descriptions and terminology.

 

September 1, 2014

 

 

Chuvalo:A Fighter's Life:The Story of Boxing's Last Gladiator by George Chuvalo with Murray Greig, 2013 is an entertaining read.

Boxing, “the sweet science” has always had a select fan base and its popularity has been waning maybe partly because it is too violent, and in some camps recently, because it isn't violent enough.

This book is a window on a life few people know, and many don't care to know, through the eyes of one of the most violent and durable practitioners of the sport.

January 20, 2014

I don't recall ever having read a non-fiction book that was such a page turner. Part of that certainly is my personal interest in the subject, but David Epstein, a senior writer for the magazine Sports Illustrated, has not unexpectedly, a great storytelling knack. He employs it regularly at the outset of every chapter as well as within them to introduce heavier material more painlessly.