Jayne’s Recent Reading List
Ancient Egypt: A Photographic History by Nigel Fletcher-Jones
First appearing around the mighty River Nile in the fourth millennium BC, Ancient Egypt is one of the great wellsprings of human civilization. Egyptian culture developed around a complex system of religious rituals tied to the agricultural seasons, with the pharaoh a living deity at the centre. Mighty pyramids, tombs and monuments were built to celebrate the pharaohs, many of which can still be seen in all their splendour today. Arranged chronologically, Ancient Egypt offers a compact photographic guide, from the 4000 BC Naqada culture to the end of the Ptolemy dynasty with the suicide of Cleopatra in 30 BC.,/p.
In between, discover the Narmer Palette, a 31st century BC stone tablet that records the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt by King Narmer; learn about Amenhotep the Magnificent, during whose reign Egypt reached the peak of its artistic and international power; marvel at the massive, rock-cut temples of Abu Simbel, dedicated to Pharaoh Ramesses II (“the Great”), marking the southern extent of the Egyptian empire and celebrating his victory over the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh; and discover how Egypt was ruled by Archaemenid Persia for almost 200 years, until the arrival of Alexander the Great and his all-conquering Macedonian army.
Colourful, engaging and illustrated throughout with more than 180 photographs, Ancient Egypt is a vivid pictorial introduction to 4,000 years of Ancient Egyptian civilization.
Review
The sheer amount of information, even pared down (though very easy to follow) is staggering. Fletcher-Jones succinctly covers over 4000 years of Egyptian history including all the little bits that don’t routinely make the history books. The information is organized well and allows an appreciation of not only Egyptian historical events but the root causes of what drove all the changes. He (obvs from the title) includes some absolutely gorgeous color photos to illustrate the places, temples, and people he talks about. This is definitely a book that I think warrants splashing out and getting the hardcover edition (though reading it on a tablet made it easier to zip back and forth, matching the descriptions to the photos). He includes picture credits and a list of museum locations for some of the items. B+
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Every Contact Leaves a Trace: My Life as a Crime Scene Investigator by Jo Ward
Enter the fascinating world of crime scene investigation with this chilling memoir from a senior investigator.
For most people, dead bodies are horrifying. They are the physical representation of everything we’re afraid of – our own mortality, the unknown, the inevitability, and lack of dignity of the end.
But for Jo Ward, a dead body is absolutely fascinating…
For Jo, a normal day’s work involves getting up-close and personal with the dead – generally the murdered dead – exploring every inch of their battered and bloody bodies and finding the clues that will lead the police to their killers.
Every scene teaches her something new. Every murder is a chance to obtain justice for the dead. Because every contact leaves a trace… Jo Ward is part of a generation of pioneering women who lead forensic investigation around the world. She investigates high-profile crimes – murder, domestic killings, infanticide, and rape.
If you’re a fan of Sue Black and Patricia Wiltshire, Every Contact Leaves a Trace is for you. It’s a rare glimpse into a formidable woman and the world of forensics, chronicling some of Jo’s toughest and most groundbreaking cases, and offering insight into how she copes despite seeing the most shocking excesses of humanity.
Review
I have read several books about forensic investigators and investigation. Many have been disturbing in content as would be expected. I thought I’d be okay reading this one but Jo Ward doesn’t sugarcoat her life or her job. She’s worked in the Midlands of the UK for about 25 years and in that time has seen more than humans should have to see. She’s seen what humans can and do perpetrate on others as well as suicides and natural deaths. Anyone thinking of reading this book needs to be prepared.
The entire book might be listed as CW/TWs. In addition to the crime scenes she has worked, Jo Ward talks about the personal issues she and her family have faced over the years. She and her husband (who sounds like a prince among men) have raised two children with severe ADHD as well as a daughter with long term health challenges. Jo was diagnosed and treated for breast cancer.
In addition to describing in detail some of the crime scenes, Ward sometimes gives an account of what she knows now about the crime, the victims and the perpetrators. Some are accidents, some are planned, some are committed in fits of rage, or due to drug use or are gang related. In addition to all this, Ward discusses the mental trauma that first responders are at risk for as well as her own PTSD.
Like most public services, in her time on the force doing this job she’s seen and been subjected to budget cuts and the directive to “do the same job but with less resources.” Those in the public who need more support – such as mental health or social services – are left with less and have sadly often been a victim of crimes or have committed crimes that might have been prevented. Fortunately, the police force is becoming more diverse thus allowing them to positively interact with the widening range of ethnicities in the UK.
Honestly there were some forensic scene descriptions that I skipped a paragraph or two. I am fascinated and grateful that there are people who can and are willing to do this job as I realize that I wouldn’t be able to cut it. Luckily for the Midlands, Jo and her team are there trying to ensure justice for victims and peace for loved ones and family members. B
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Untold Paris: The Secret History of the City of Light by John Baxter
Nobody knows the city of light like Paris resident and travel writer John Baxter – and nobody is able to write about its culture quite so intriguingly. Let him guide you around the Paris you’ve always wanted to know.
How was Ernest Hemingway received by the city he wrote so much about, and where did he rub shoulders with other literary greats? Are Parisian waiters really as rude as their reputation, and why do they race each other down the street in the annual Course des Garcons de Café? And where can you find fascinating remnants of the city’s history of violent revolution, jazz music, and bold artistic movements?
From the reality of the city’s café culture and its literary luminaries, to some of its more curious landmarks, obscure events, and unusual inhabitants, Untold Paris will give the first-time visitor a vivid impression of the city and offer seasoned travelers a new vision of the city they love.
The people, the quirks, peculiarities, charms, and eccentricities; the history and secrets. Welcome to the untold Paris.
Review
The book is divided into sections (Art and Culture, Food and Drink, History, etc) with subsections in each. The topics and information varies wildly: Famous people, laws about brothels, toilets, cemeteries, the site of the last remaining originally placed official meter measurement, where swimming pools (that the French apparently never actually swim in) are located. Bizarrely the book just ends after the author discusses the problems of dog droppings on the sidewalks. Most of the brief sections are interesting, some are fascinating, a few lost my interest before the two pages were finished. This is another book to either read straight through or dip in and out of as you please. There are also some lovely drawings scattered throughout. B-
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Woe: A Housecat’s Story of Despair: (A Graphic Novel) by Lucy Knisley
WOE! SCREAM! MEOW! …PURR? Join the hilarious and of course dramatic world of Linney the House Cat, as her webcomic antics are gathered into graphic novel for the very first time! This collection is perfect for cat lovers and Linney fans alike.
What if our cats could talk? Would they ask endless questions about why we haven’t given them wet food…again? Would they scream greetings at the first sign of life before the sun even rises? Linney certainly will.
Have you met Linney yet? If not, prepared to be blessed! Lucy Knisley’s online Linney comics are collected for the very first time in this gifty hardcover featuring the internet sensation, Linney. With all-new comics, this collection shows us just how amazing, and what a true gift, all cats are.
CW – This is Knisley’s tribute to Linney, who has sadly left us.
Review
I read through this so quickly, laughing at the same things my cats have done. And also laughing at things my cats have probably said in the past and are probably saying to me now. FEED ME, pet me, leave me alone, feed me, PUT THAT CARRIER AWAY, feed me, oh no you got a dog, DIDN’T YOU HEAR ME SAY FEED ME, another dog, you know this means war.
Linney controlled her household with an iron paw but occasionally would dole out purrs to her grateful cat servants. But beware of her wrath – or should I say her vibrating rage, growls, and glares when things were not quite as she wanted. Or the dog showed up.
Knisley knew her beloved cat well and has captured what most cat servants have probably seen or experienced at one time. While I think anyone could enjoy this book, I think cat lovers will understand it, and Linney’s actions, best. As the book progresses, it’s mentioned more frequently that Linney is aging. The last part of the story is about Linney being treated for kidney failure. I’ve gone through this myself as well as the ugly crying as I said my last goodbye to a beloved pet. I usually loathe the phrase “I laughed, I cried” but in this case, it’s true. A-
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How We Found the Mary Rose by Alexander McKee
In October 1982, Henry VIII’s flagship Mary Rose finally broke the surface off the coast of Portsmouth after more than 400 years on the seabed.
Her dramatic sinking during an engagement with the French fleet in July 1545, under the very eyes of King Henry VIII, had been a disaster at the time, but for the team that finally found the Tudor warship it was a scene of jubilation after long years of searching.
Here diver and author Alexander McKee details how he and a small team of dedicated amateur divers, all willing to work without pay at weekends, risked their lives diving under busy shipping lanes and in treacherous weather to painstakingly search for the ship that nobody believed was there — and found her, in what became the most important maritime archaeological project in British history.
How We Found the Mary Rose tells the remarkable story of the ship herself: her thirty-four years of service at sea and her final sinking during the Battle of the Solent; the subsequent attempts to salvage the historic wreck, and McKee’s own seventeen years of research and excavation in quest of a dream that came true.
Review
I was interested in reading this book because recently I saw some documentaries that mentioned the Mary Rose. Amazing things have been recovered from the sunken ship that give a picture of not only how the ship was built but also of life aboard ship and about those who were sailing on her when she sank.
The book starts with a couple of chapters about the history of the Mary Rose – when she was built, what Henry VIII was trying to do with the English navy, and how shipbuilding was rapidly evolving in that time due to the introduction of an improvement in naval weaponry. Before then, the “weapons” were archers and ships mainly carried them to land battles. Now ships were being fitted with increasingly sophisticated guns and battles were onboard ship. As the guns got larger, the shape and size of the ships had to be modified in order to decrease the chance of capsizing. The Mary Rose was retro-fitted at least once over the course of her life and though she was no longer the flagship of the navy, she was an important part of the English defense against the French in her last fight on 19th July, 1545.
Sadly though, before the eyes of the king and court, the Mary Rose, while sailing into battle, heeled over and suddenly sank, taking most of her officers and crew to their deaths. Attempts were made at the time to raise her and some of her guns were salvaged then and also later in the 1840s when she was found again but after she and a nearby late 18th C wreck (Royal George) were blown up to clear them as water hazards for shipping, the Mary Rose was lost again.
Alexander McKee had an idea that she was still there in the Solent and by a bit of stealth he got his diving club interested in finding her. Poo-pooed by historians who were sure that the ship had been totally blasted ~127 years ago or that the ship had decayed to nothing, as was thought happened to most ships up to that point by underwater archeologists, they stalwartly continued over the years to dive on their own time and often used their own money to finance this. Bit by bit, year after year more people became interested, money and equipment were donated, and the divers and underwater archeologists devised new ways to use equipment and basically invented a new form of archeology. Some of this section goes into a bit more detail than an average armchair reader might be interested in.
Setbacks – wretched weather, equipment failures, health issues among the divers (including one fatal and some near fatal events) bedeviled them but “Mac’s” determination kept things together, kept people enthused and interested, and increased the profile of the endeavour. Eventually the Royal family became interested with the Duke of Edinburgh visiting the rooms in a Portsmouth museum that was displaying their finds so far and Prince Charles became President of the Mary Rose Trust, speaking at many engagements to raise funds, as well as diving with the crew on site several times.
What really struck me, while reading, was when divers felt a connection to those long dead Tudors who had built and sailed the Mary Rose. A shipwright noticed how his Tudor forebear had made a mistake in cutting a piece of wood and how that man had skillfully fixed it. They saw marks from adzes and other ancient tools no longer used which told of the fine craftsmanship of the day. McKee, whose father had been a Surgeon Commander in the RN, explored the perfectly preserved doctor’s surgery complete with a little pot of ointment, medicine bottles, and instruments. They even recovered a bit of a book someone had been reading in 1545.
Because of her fate the Mary Rose actually survived. Had she not sunk, she would likely have eventually been broken up. But instead she has become an example of the then new shipbuilding techniques that were revolutionizing European navies. Her lost crew show how varied were those who sailed in Tudor England. The artifacts tell of shipboard life in the day. The book ends before the ship is raised (it was originally published in 1982) but there appear to be many more documentaries about the Mary Rose and I’m off to watch some of them. B
~Jayne
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What an interesting collection of books, Jayne! Thanks for sharing.
@Kareni: You’re welcome. I usually have a bunch of non-fiction books in my reading rotation as I’ve discovered I need a break from fiction every now and then.
All of your book choices sound so interesting, Jayne. I feel as though I would have to carve out time to broaden my reading, another topic(s) to bury myself under. You give me hope.
Oh! And I loved DOGLAND, also that beautiful cover. I showed my first Newfie as a puppy once and that was enough for both of us. The behind the scenes of dog shows was fascinating; what is being done to popular breeds is unconscionable and those are the reputable breeders. Go, mutts and rescues.
@Darlynne: Yay, so glad you enjoyed DOGLAND. I never showed or competed in anything – a friend did obedience – and I don’t think I would enjoy it. Too much standing around and travel.
Totally agree about some of the standards being bred to now. What has been done to German Shepherds is horrible. Some of them can barely walk. Many Dalmatian breeders refuse to test for deafness and eliminate partially deaf dogs from their breeding programs. #AdoptDon’tShop
@Darlynne: Hope on, hope ever. Sneak some variety in every now and then.