Archive for the ‘Book of the Week’ Category
20 May, 2010
Alex in Numberland by Alex Bellos
With all the current talk of deficits, emergency budgets and public spending cuts, The Media Book Club is struggling to get to grips with all this fiddling of figures. If you’re in a similar numerical muddle why not check out, former Guardian foreign correspondent, Alex Bellos’ new book Alex in Numberland. Bellos takes a sort of sociohistorical-travelogue approach to the potentially drab subject of mathematics and succeeds in producing a thoroughly readable book. From the world’s fastest mental multiplication in Germany to fixing the odds of slot machines in Nevada, Bellos shares with the reader his personal passion for the fascinating world of mathematics.
Get 15% off Alex’s Adventures in Numberland by Alex Bellos at The Media Bookshop
Tags:Alex Bellos, alex's advntures in numberland, dispatches from the wonderful world of mathematics
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13 May, 2010
Cameron: the rise of the new Conservative
Well it certainly has been an exhausting week for British politics but at the end of one of the most extraordinary elections in recent years we finally have a new Prime Minister. David Cameron is a relatively new kid on the political block so if you feel you haven’t quite got to know him yet, Cameron: The Rise of the New Conservative by Frances Elliott and James Hanning, could well be the book to formerly introduce you. The Telegraph’s Andrew Gimson said of Elliot and Hannings biography, “anyone hoping to penetrate Cameron’s still rather opaque political personality will want to buy this book, which in readable though inelegant form offers much ammunition to both his admirers and his detractors”. Cameron: The Rise of the New Conservative is an all-round informative read for anyone interested in the future of British Government.
Get 15% off Cameron by Frances Elliott and James Hanning at The Media Bookshop
Tags:Conservatives, david cameron, frances elliott, james hanning, new Conservatives, the rise of the new conservative
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6 May, 2010
Mark Thomas presents The People's Manifesto
May 6th is finally here and if you’re fed up with all the election coverage and dizzied by that darn Swingometer, The Media Book Club offers you a little respite. Mark Thomas presents The People’s Manifesto is the culmination of a country-wide tour with the aim of bringing power back to the people. With such discerning proposals as: all politicians will be forced to wear the names and logos of the companies that sponsor them or with whom they have financial links; anyone who supports ID cards is banned from having curtains and anyone found guilty of homophobic hate crime has to serve their sentence in drag. All together 50 policies are presented alongside Mark’s hilarious commentary.”The People’s Manifesto” will provide either inspiration or comic relief to those of you that are sick to death with the current political quagmire.
Get 15% off The People’s Manifesto by Mark Thomas at The Media Book Club
Tags:election, mark thomas, people's manifesto, philosophy, political book, political humour, politics, society
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29 April, 2010
Me and My Web Shaddo by Antony Mayfield
While many of us are keen to embrace the world of online social media a little word of caution wouldn’t go amiss. Antony Mayfield’s Me and My Web Shadow aims to guide you through the pitfalls and problems of reputation management as our lives increasingly move online. Mayfield is vice president and head of social media at iCrossing, a search and social media-led digital company, so he is well placed to offer practical advice on controlling what the internet says about you. No need for technical ingenuity. Just a few ground rules and the knowledge that what you want to share with your friends and family might not be the best thing to share with the world and your boss. Mayfield offers tips for protecting yourself whilst harnessing the positive power of social networks and even creating new career and business opportunities in the process.
Get 15% off Me and My Web Shadow by Antony Mayfield at The Media Bookshop
Tags:antony mayfield, me and my web shaddow, online reputation management, social aspects of computing, Social Media
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22 April, 2010
Book Makers by Iain Stevenson
This week the Media Book Club is in a reflective mood and so today we bring you a book about books. Book Makers by Iain Stevenson surveys the history of the UK publishing industry over the 20th century. Stevenson is Professor of Publishing at University College, London and has worked for a variety of publishing houses over the last 30 years. Stevenson said “publishing people are fascinating, interesting, occasionally horrifying and astounding”. In this book he explores key figures like William Heinemann, Allen Lane and Robert Maxwell alongside less well-known characters all of whom contributed to the development of a now hugely influential industry.
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Tags:book makers, british publishing in the twentieth century, iain stevenson, publishing books
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14 April, 2010
The Age of Absurdity by Michael Foley
I think it’s fair to say that many of us are caught up in the pursuit of Happiness, but what if the modern world we live in stands in the face of that quest. The Age of Absurdity by Michael Foley is about just that. Great thinkers of Philosophy, Religion, Art and more recently Psychology and Neuroscience all have their ideas on happiness and how best to achieve it, but most of these ideas are positively discouraged by the trappings of modern life. Foley discusses modern phenomena such as consumerism, technology and the desire for perpetual youth and why they make it so hard for us to find happiness. He presents a refreshing approach on how to achieve happiness in the age of “absurdity”. Not just a simple self-help book but a thoughtful, humorous and insightful look about the world we live in.
Get 15% off The Age of Absurdity by Michael Foley at The Media Bookshop
Listen to Michael Foley’s podcast about The Age of Absurdity on The Simon & Schuster website
Tags:Michael Foley, pop psychology, the age of absurdity, why modern life makes it so hard to be happy
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7 April, 2010
Apathy for the Devil by Nick Kent
This week the Media Book Club brings you part-biography and part-music memoir of the 1970′s from the notorious NME writer, Nick Kent. Apathy for the Devil follows his rise and spectacular fall during a time of musical excitement and excess. Kent began writing for the NME as a university drop-out in his twenties and by the following year he was hanging out backstage with the likes of Led Zeppelin. As he followed his various subjects on tour his lifestyle began to emulate theirs and it wasn’t long before his career began to spiral and Kent retreated in to drug addiction. With his recovery and hindsight between himself and the past, Kent’s account of the 1970′s is both unique and entertaining.
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Tags:apathy for the devil, Biography, music journalism, music memoir, nick kent, nme
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10 March, 2010
It's Only a Movie by Mark Kermode
In honour of the Annual Academy Awards held this week, The Media Book Club (surprisingly) brings you a book about films. Mark Kermode’s It’s Only a Movie: Reel Life Adventures of a Film Obsessive is part-autobiography, part-sociological exploration of the films that changed Kermode’s life. If you’re a fan of his broadcasts then you are bound to like this book written in his humourous and self-deprecating style. Highlights include his musings on 70s horror classic, The Exorcist and his witnessing the shooting of German director Werner Herzog during an interview in the Hollywood Hills.
Get 15% off It’s Only a Movie by Mark Kermode at The Media Bookshop
Tags:Autobiography, cinema, Film Books, it's only a movie, mark kermode, movies, reel life adventures of a film obsessive
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