The Geek Manifesto by Mark Henderson

Here is a book to follow on from the election. It is written by a science journalist and administrator who has become disillusioned at the way politicians of all persuasions try to claim that their policies are evidence-based. He works for a medical charity at the moment and so is very well aware of the need for “double blind” trials. He is very critical of the methods used in government that fall short of these high standards. This book is partisan – it is a passionate defence of the role of science in our society. If that’s not your thing, you might consider it to be a polemic. But do try the book. You don’t have to read it all to get the flavour. He covers many different policy areas.

 

Borrow it from the school library and read it. I dare you.

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

This is fiction but it is based around a true event. In 1974, a tightrope walked set up a line and walked between the Twin Towers in New York, the buildings that were destroyed on 9/11. The book is written in the “point of view” style where each chapter is written from the view of a particular character. Witnessing the tightrope walking event is the thing they all have in common. The characters from very different backgrounds. There is a judge and a prostitue whom he has to try. There is a radical priest working to improve the lives of prostitutes in a poor area. There is a group of mothers whose sons have died in the Vietnam war. The tightrope acts as a metaphor for their lives. This is well-written and interesting. It’s particularly useful if you dream of being a writer.

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

I thought Robert Louis Stevenson was a writer of children’s books, but having discovered that he has a reputation as one of the first travel writers, I decided to have a look. I enjoyed this book a lot. Yes, there is a lot of travel. The hero, David Balfour, is kidnapped and put onto a boat to America in 1752. He is shipwrecked on the west coast of Scotland and walks back through the mountains to Edinburgh, getting accused of a political assassination along the way. There was still a civil war going on in northern Scotland in those days. David is naturally a supporter of King George but befriends one of the rebel fighters and they become best friends. It is these characters who are the strength of the book. Stevenson shows that it is possible to build bonds across a political divide. The two challenge each other and change each other by being people rather than caricatures.