Feb 29, 2020A Year in Books, 2019A New Decade / The Radio Plays the Sounds we Made I read more books than usual this year, the average quality level was higher and there are two or three that I would press in to your hand right now. It was altogether, the most enjoyable year in reading…Reading5 min read
Feb 19, 2019A Year in Books, 2018I used to look for patterns in the books I read, as though each book was itself a chapter in another book, one that would tell the story of the year. But honestly, who would make up the story of last year? …Books5 min read
Apr 28, 2018On NoticingI’ve been working — or at the very least, sitting at various desks, typing — for about 18 years. Before I had a career, I thought what I would do was write literature, or at the very least, serviceable novels. Then I spent a few years as a technology journalist…Product Management5 min read
Feb 25, 2018On Stone Circles and building things1. It is fairly common in England to see small plaques set into the front of older houses with chiselled numbers saying when they were built. 1906, 1871, 1832. …Travel7 min read
Jan 23, 2018A Year in Books, 2017I’ve had trouble sorting out what I read last year. The books themselves aren’t sorted. We moved in November — so they’re still all piled up in the corners of the house, like snowdrifts. …Books14 min read
Dec 19, 2017Hanging aroundOn the occasion of the Rolling Stones’ 30 year anniversary, a journalist asked laconic drummer Charlie Watts, “what had it been like to spend three decades working with the band?” “Five years of hard work,” he replied. “And 25 years of hangin’ around.” Now Charlie Watts put the slink into…Productivity4 min read
Jan 28, 2017A Year in Books, 2016Early in the summer last year, we went on holiday to the south of France. The lanes around the house smelled of lavender and olives. We ate outside on the veranda, looking out over wooded hills, the day’s dry heat like smoke in the air. There was a swimming pool…Books10 min read
Jan 9, 2016A year in books, 2015I always seem to read the same number of books a year. A lot of things change, but not this. I’ve been recording it for ten years or so, and it’s always 24 or 25. It’s not one every two weeks; I cram at Christmas and in the summer. …Books7 min read
Jan 9, 201519 questions for media in 2015Just some of the things that have been sitting in my brain since Christmas. They’re not predictions, but contain some hopes. Mostly about the UK. — The Guardian’s membership drive. Launched in September last year, it’s distinctive and fits well with their overall strategy but how does it compares with a more traditional subscriptions approach? …4 min read
Jan 3, 2015A year in books, 20142014 was a year of commitment. I married, and had a child. I began a new job in earnest. And it made no difference, in one way, to the reading — I got through 25 books or so, mostly on the train in the morning, a few over the summer…10 min read
