Head’s up: this review is by someone who really only knows the very bare basics of the French revolution. I’m basically heading into this as a newbie, and this is also why I found the book fascinating. Liberty, Equality, Fashion traces the path of three women who made an out-sized fashion (and societal) impact during… Read More Book Review: Liberty, Equality, Fashion by Anne Higonnet
One big change I noticed in myself in my second year in Japan (all those years ago), was that I became more and more reluctant to go to the neighbourhood convenience store in what I deem home clothes. And while I have pretty much steadfastly refused all forms of makeup (even after going through finishing… Read More Book Review: Flawless by Elise Hu
Let’s park this book review under “books that I was influenced to read from podcasts” (which should be a tag on this blog now that I’ve got two such books – the other book is Flawless and I’ll post my review next week!). I heard about Inventing the Renaissance from Ada Palmer’s interview on The… Read More Book Review: Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer
I chanced upon this book once and thought that it sounded interesting but left it like that. But after a friend of mine raved about the book, I decided to buy it if I ever saw it again – and I did! The Golden Thread is a book about the history of fabric, from its… Read More Book Review: The Golden Thread by Kassia St. Clair
It’s been a long while since I read anything by Malcolm Gladwell, but I own What The Dog Saw and Outliers, and I’ve definitely read The Tipping Point a long time ago, so I was intrigued by Revenge of the Tipping Point. As you can probably guess, this is a revisit of why epidemics occur.… Read More Book Review: Revenge of the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
I’ve had Man’s Search for Meaning on my TBR since a friend read and reviewed (on another platform), but as you know, my TBR is kind of unmanageable. But then The Orangutan Librarian talked about it in one of her recent posts and that motivated me into borrowing the book. I’m also linking to her… Read More Book Review: Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor E. Frankl
It’s been a while since I read a true crime book (I think) but I had Children of Darkness and Light on my TBR because I remember reading and enjoying Under the Banner of Heaven almost a decade ago (link to my Goodreads review because that review was from an even older blog!). Children of… Read More Book Review: Children of Darkness and Light by Lori Hellis
“What we may find exotic abroad may be what we hunger for in vain at home.” A long, long time ago, I had to read The Art of Travel for school. Expecting something on travelling, I remember feeling disappointed that it was more on the philosophy of travelling. But since I recently read The World… Read More Book Review: The Art of Travel by Alain de Botton
This post is a follow-up (of sorts) to my review of the book The New Tourist by Paige McClanahan. While The New Tourist took a broader look at the tourism industry, its impact, and how we view ourselves as tourists, The World in a Selfie takes an even broader look to consider what tourism says… Read More Book Review: The World in a Selfie by Marco D’Eramo
I first heard about Dr Gwen Adshead when she was the lecturer for the BBC’s Reith Lectures. Her four talks on the problem of violence were so insightful that after I immediately put a reservation for a copy of her book: The Devil You Know. For me, the book and the talks complemented each other.… Read More Book Review: The Devil You Know by Gwen Adshead