Permutation City Blog

Autobiography of Mo Mowlands during her period working in Northern Ireland. I found this very interesting. Not normally one for politics but it was good to see things from the other side. Creating peace was never going to be an easy process.

A collection of short stories. Can't really remember them.

I'm more familiar with the Wizard of Earthsea trilogy which has a lighter style. It played with an interesting idea or a unisex human society. I think the story was okay but my fuzzy memory of it suggests that it didn't capture my attention well.

Over the years I've read about a lot of coding system so not much in this book was a surprise. There where some new details about code breaking just before the 2nd world war. Although Britain had a huge roll we couldn't have done it without preparation by others. All in all this was a very well presented book. If you're interested in the subject, give it a go.

This is the author who wrote One Hundred and One Dalmatians (which I do enjoy.) In this book we see a teenage girl growing up in the ruins of a castle. Her father had money but this is soon gone and they must make do with almost nothing. Much of the plot deals with the arrival of some young Americans who inherit the local manor. Personally I was captured in the first few pages and really enjoyed this book.

I like Stephen Fry on the telly and I wasn't sure how I'd take to the book. I enjoyed the first two-thirds of the book dealing with a boy growing up in a public school and taking his first steps into adult life. The end was a disappointment as it seemed to turn into a secret agent book for no good benefit.

Looks at globalisation and the power that supermarkets have over us. It certainly can be an eye opener. The retail world has changed very quickly and I'm not sure I like where it's going. I'd like to support local retailers and farmers but it is less convent and more expensive. If you'd like to know what *may* really be going on then give this a go. If you'd prefer to live in blissful ignorance then stay well alone.

I'm a fan of Sandman and this work by Gaiman really worked for me to. It's not what I expected of a superhero story but that's a good thing. It looks nice and I'd recommend others check it out.

I really enjoyed the television series when it was repeated while I was growing up. The book (and the film) are slightly different. I'm less sympathetic to the "good" characters who do some questionable things to get there own way. It's an all right read but not as fun as the series.

If you like your physics this might be worth a go. These are definitely the "not-so-easy" pieces. I have to admit skimming over most of the equations.