senholto's reviews
32 reviews

Silas Marner by George Eliot

5.0

I read this book front to back in secondary school for the Junior Certificate and initially hated the book. This changed by the time I read the closing chapters of the book. The evolution of Silas was a thrill to follow and I now rank it as one of my favourite works of fiction thus far.

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien

5.0

Wow, what can I say. Preparation is everything, before you sit down to read this book. It can be an impenetrable read with the various genealogies and geographical landmarks. You get little bursts of intense scenes which are absolutely thrilling. Reviewing this book is a little different here, due to the fact, this book is basically a glorified collection of notes and world building. The title of the book is a bit misleading. The book contains a book called the Quenta Silmarrillion but there are four other briefer books. After reading this book, it is worth reading the stories of Luthien & Beren along with the fall of Gondolin. As these are updated material on the originals in this book. Incredible piece of work despite its unfinished status.

The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins

4.0

This is an incredible book. I would like to discuss some of the key aspects of the book that resonated with me. But before I do, I strongly recommend that your purchase the 2016 edition of the book. This edition not only includes edits from previous editions, but Dawkins also makes clear where he was wrong or misguided. He quite rightly, does not edit the core of the book, but inserts asterisks throughout the book, allowing you to refer to the substantial endnotes section at the end of the book. Which more than amply clarifies a great many things.

1. Plenty of case studies of the social organisation in the animal kingdom
2. I love his rants about E. O. Wilson's work
3. Dawkins makes clear what he has learned since publication of the book in 1976
4. The book contains the first reference to the word "Meme"
5. Chapter 13 summarises another book by Dawkins, The Extended Phenotype (1982)
6. Dawkins addresses a dizzying number of criticisms of The Selfish Gene (1976)
7. Dawkins somehow managed to write a book that was accessible to the general public, yet satisfy those of an academic background. Genius work.

The Way Home: Tales from a life without technology by Mark Boyle

5.0

This books remains one of the quickest reads I have ever achieved. But it was also one of the most equal parts painful and entertaining. If you are not fond of bad language this books is not for you. If you are not fond of hypocrites, this book is not for you. If you are not fond of preachy environmental activists, this book is not for you. If you are not fond of people who base their decisions on misinformation or worse yet, lies, this book is not for you. By the end of the book, I was rejoicing at the unfortunate events that befell Mark. Much like any leftist progressive, he seems to spend unecessary pages explaining things that should make plain sense, like why he had to type up this book in Microsoft Word. There were times, I felt like throwing the book out the window. Ultimately, the value I found in this book was in Mark's path to HoBo-heaven and his social interactions. It has also given me some insight to an off grid life, which I hope to borrow elements from in my own life. A great, if challenging read.

Thirty-Two Words for Field: Lost Words of the Irish Landscape by Manchán Magan

5.0

Excellent book that acts as a stepping stone into the diversity of phrases, sayings and words for aspects of the every day working life of the rural Irish over the last few thousand years. Full marks here

Ancestors: A prehistory of Britain in seven burials by Alice Roberts

4.0

Alice takes us on a journey through British and Iraq prehistory to illustrate a number of overarching themes through examination of a number of specific burials. When Alice was not up on a soap box, finger-wagging or wallowing in wokeisms, the book really shone.

Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art by Rebecca Wragg Sykes

3.0

Rebecca has provided an interesting read. Full of speculations to be sure, draped around the meagerest of evidence. The authors discussion of why Homo neanderthalensis became extinct was noticeably absent, despite an indepth examination of the latest appearances of the species. The book was driven more by #AllNeandertalsMatter than by a dispassionate examination of the evidence. The discussion of the Chatelperronian was the highlight of this book for me, along with the discussion of the mousterian. The book does have value, but it would take an experienced palaeoanthropology student to see how the author massages some of the evidence to fit their preferred conclusions. The discussion of "Neanderthal art" was particularly bad. At times the author had to throw a few depricating darts at Homo sapiens to make Homo neanderthalensis seem more cultured. The "Art" of Homo neanderthalensis is questionable at best. One particularly agregious moment was the authors reference to the Schoningen site as a "Neandertal site". No hominin remains have been found in Schoningen, but the author is not going to Iet that get in her way. I suspect that I was not the intended audience of this book, but the opening paragraphs of each chapter was pointless poetic filler. Dropping these could have substantially shortened the book. The final moments of the last chapter were cringeworthy. Overall, a interesting book drenched in unnecessary flowery prose and flaws galore.

The Mabinogion by Anonymous

5.0

Each story is given a little background before launching into the stories themselves.

Excellent book.

The Vikings in Ireland by Morgan Llywelyn

4.0

The book was bought as a present over two decades ago. It's not been read until now and I read it in three hours. Great mix of fiction and fact. The archaeology was interspersed with fiction about a number of imagined characters. Great introduction for young children to the history and archaeology of the Vikings.

Sounio, Laurio & Thorikos by Georgios Terlakis

3.0

This book was very poorly proofread prior to publication. Grammetical errors and choice of awkward words were distracting to say the least. Once you look beyond these, you see that the book is a great quick introduction to the Sounio peninsula, southern Greece.