Oh Books!

From Ramen to Putin, looking post corona, war and travel. Here are some good reads for 2021

Photo by Dovile Ramoskaite on Unsplash

Is it too early for a summer book list? Probably not, since this will be a bit of an on-off summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

• Rainy Day Ramen and the Cosmic Pachinko by Gordon Vanstone. A delightfully debauched, spiritual quest through a hallucinatory Japan of cursed gaijin houses, seedy hostess bars, a Beatles-themed McDonalds, mysterious internet cafe patrons, and one seriously pissed off cat.
• Team of Teams by General Stanley McCrystal. I like the way he describes holding on and letting go. Decisions, he says, should be made by those close to the situation and leaders should underwrite the risk of allowing those decisions to be taken.
• Everest 1953 by Mick Confrey. On the morning of 2 June 1953, Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, the news broke that a Commonwealth team had conquered Everest. A brilliant account of the expedition.
• I also like A Rumour of War by Philip Caputo. A challenging read about the Vietnam war.
• Post Corona by Scott Galloway is a good bet for a book that might predict the near future.
• Anything by Rupert Everett, he has written three volumes of his life so far. Deliciously rude and laugh out loud funny.
• Bill Gates has written a book on Climate Change. I’ve mentioned it before; it’s an interesting take from a confessed petrol head.
• Putin will be in the news this summer; if you’re not aware of what he’s up to, then read, The man without a face by Marsha Gessen and Nothing is true, and everything is possible by Peter Pomerantsev.
• One: Pot, Pan, Planet by Anna Jones. You can travel the world weekly from your kitchen with dishes such as Persian noodle soup, Korean carrot and sesame pancakes, African peanut stew; baked dahl with tamarind-glazed sweet potato; and halloumi, mint, lemon and caramelised onion pie. She also shows us how to save a little bit of the plannet with a mindful approach to our choice of ingredients and cooking methods.