The series must go on, this is Discworld N° 18. For the loyal DW reader this book holds no surprise. Main characters are witches Nanny and Granny, always good for surprises, as we know them. They dive into the world of opera, foreign to them as it is to me, I have to admit. For me this was none of the outstanding …

I bought this book with mixed feelings. For me it is evident that financial help to developing countries are a mixed blessing, at least.1 On the other hand I know how easy it is to shift polemics from one side to the other. Like ex-smokers who often fail to yield to reason. Perkins is solemn; that is a style that is …

The vampire genre was never one I was much attracted to. I have seen no vampire movie (save Roman Polanski's great 'The Fearless Vampire Killers'), the popular TV series I love to hate and I have never read a vampire story (save their appearance in Larry Niven's 'Ringworld'). But it had to end, when I saw the …

When I browse my buying history at the Amazon cartel website and go to the very first order, I see it was January 1999. I was working in Germany then, and it was my first commercial transaction on the internet. Amazon was still young, fresh and traded only books. It was easier, as well as cheaper, to get English books …

Well, it is done. I'm through with it. I have to admit is was somewhat of a struggle, but I do not regret anything. Like mentioned in a former post, the book really has its lengths. The book keeps its promise, it gives a historical digest of debt, and the concepts around. It covers philosophical, moral and financial …

A week ago I started reading this book; I am interested in the topic, since it is one of the topics that are central to the current crises, especially of European states. In my opinion a psychological and even philosophical issue, and David Graeber's book should give me some insights to this. Well, today I conquered …

Every other book I buy and read should be a classic; that's a rule of thumb I once started to apply on me, why exactly I really do not know: must be some kind of socialization. In advance I am not always happy with this self-regulation, but hardly did I regret afterwards to have read a classic, though.   Similar with …

Especially in my younger years I have been a dedicated fan of Ridley Scott's movie "Blade Runner". That might be because I liked the dark scenery, the dry acting style of Harrison Ford, and liked the music of Vangelis even more. But it was also the story that was not a usual good guys vs. bad guys stuff that …

It has been Discworld Novel #18 for me - I strictly stick to the proper sequence. I still suck the pages into the humour district of my brain, and quite often the areas of social criticism, history and science are also heavily used. Indeed, after quite a lot of stories I read about the Discworld, one or another …

I found this book by pure chance, and pure change is also one of the topics of this book. Is it pure chance that life looks like we see it? Or are there deeper laws (of mathematics, physics, chemistry, or God) involved we may do not know about? How on earth was life able to create more complex (and ordered) specimen …