“Chocolate Nations” by Orla Ryan
This is a comprehensive view of the chocolate industry, following the chain from African farmers to European consumers and explaining exactly why the cocoa farmers receive just 4%…
Living like it’s 1972
Read an interesting article by George Marshall in the New Internationalist recently about cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 80%, a seemingly impossible…
“Incendiary” by Chris Cleave
A well-written, poignant look at terrorism, both cause and effect. [Warning: spoilers further down, don’t read on if you don’t want to…
“Making Inroads” by the Rowan Arts Project
I really enjoyed this free book put together by the Rowan Arts Project. It’s a series of interviews with people who live…
Coal funding hits record high
Was astonished by a recent snippet from Christian Aid: Christian Aid has criticised a record high of US$4.4 billion in World Bank…
Congratulations Sophie Duffy!
It was wonderful the other night to see the Luke Bitmead Bursary awarded for a third year, this time to Sophie Duffy for The Generation Game. The prize…
“The Buddha of Suburbia” by Hanif Kureishi
I grew up in Beckenham, the exact part of London suburbia in which this novel is set. To my knowledge it’s the…
“Lux the Poet” by Martin Millar
I thought I would like this book more than I did. It’s a comedy set in the Brixton Riots of the early…
RIP Prospero
I learned recently of the demise of Prospero’s Books, my local independent bookshop in Crouch End. It made me very sad –…