Have you ever wondered why the rich are getting richer, and the poor poorer? Why is Lanark, like thousands of other towns, a shabby, forlorn place with rapidly deteriorating public services? The answers lie both far away and close at hand. Ultimately, it is due to the rapacious greed of the powerful, their lust for […]
Dark Money by Jane Mayer Read More »
A recent discussion on Radio 4’s “All in the Mind” programme concerned wisdom. Is wisdom a state of mind or a trait? The podcast is at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b083p88h. A central topic in philosophy and religion, obviously, there always seem to be new ‘takes’ on what actually constitutes wisdom. It reminded me what a rich vein of reading
Becoming Wise by Krista Tippett Read More »
Dilly Court has been enriching the lives of her readers with carefully crafted novels of great power and conviction for some time. Her 24th, The Christmas Card, is available now and her devoted readership can expect many a masterpiece to follow. Court writes Dillygently every morning before rewarding herself with a custard cream and a pot
The Christmas Card Read More »
It is entirely conventional now in crime and detective fiction for the setting of the events to be as much a character as the individuals playing out the narrative. So we think of Jersey as the backdrop to the police cases of Jim Bergerac, Oxford for Inspector Morse, Edinburgh for John Rebus, Glasgow for Jim
You may enjoy this compelling hybrid of memoir, narrative and philosophy. Previously the author of academic works (Thinking Through the Imagination: Aesthetics in Human Cognition, 2014, and others), John Kaag (http://scholar.harvard.edu/jkaag/biocv) here teaches philosophy through narrative. It concerns the discovery of 10,000 books in a neglected building on the rural New Hampshire estate of William
American Philosophy by John Kaag Read More »
Stephenie Meyer (http://stepheniemeyer.com/) is an American young adult fiction writer and film producer, best known for her vampire romance series Twilight. These novels have gained worldwide recognition, selling over 100 million copies, with translations into 37 different languages. This year sees the author venture into the adult action thriller with The Chemist. The summary is as follows. An
Anthony Horowitz (http://www.anthonyhorowitz.com/) is an English novelist and screenwriter specialising in mystery and suspense. His output is large across a range of genres. The summary of his latest, Magpie Murders, is as follows: When editor Susan Ryeland is given the tattered manuscript of Alan Conway’s latest novel, she has little idea it will change her
Ian Rankin (http://www.ianrankin.net/) scarcely needs introduction. The prolific Scottish crime writer has shared the cases of Inspector John Rebus with us for years now. The City of Edinburgh is the almost invariable setting for the dark crimes which he investigates. In this latest tale, Rebus investigates a cold case that has turned hot again. Incapable of
Rather be the Devil Read More »
Dilly Court has been enriching the lives of her readers with carefully crafted novels of great power and conviction for some time. Her 23rd, The Swan Maid, is available now and her devoted readership can fully expect more to follow before the year is out. Court writes Dillygently every morning before rewarding herself with a
