The feed of updates to Euan Lawson
Published 08 Dec 2025 I have given the site a slight refresh and changed the front page. It’s all a lot more minimalist but I have left most of the content from the past few years up. I stopped posting my monthly reading lists in July 2024. Of course, I am still keeping a note myself but I felt it was getting a little performative and I am more interested in writing some more detailed reflections…
Great Britain by Torsten Bell The Score by Richard Stark Bringing Down Goliath by Jolyon Maugham In My Time of Dying by Sebastian Junger Ten Myths About Israel by Ilan Pappe A Day in the Life of Abed Salama by Nathan Thrall The Art of Noticing by Rob Walker The Jugger by Richard Stark Always Take Notes. Edited by Simon Akam and Rachel Lloyd The Seventh by Richard Stark There is some good myth…
Another England by Caroline Lucas The Pathless Path by Paul Millerd Our Enemies will Vanish by Yaroslav Tromfimov Unreasonable Behaviour: An Autobiography by Don McCullin Don McCullin: The New Definitive Edition Cuckooland: Where The Rich Own The Truth by Tom Burgis Here I Am: The Story of Tim Hetherington, war photographer The Invisible Doctrine: The Secret History of Neoliberalism (& How It Came…
Philosophical. Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth by Ingrid Robeyns The Coming Wave by Mustafa Suleyman Another England: How to Reclaim Our National Story by Caroline Lucas Lord Foul’s Bane: The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant Book One by Stephen Donaldson The Illearth War: The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant Book Two by Stephen Donaldson The Power…
Substantial. The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time by Jeff Sutherland A World Without Email by Cal Newport Keir Starmer: The Biography by Tom Baldwin Dune by Frank Herbert Nuclear War: The bestselling non-fiction thriller by Annie Jacobsen Material World: A Substantial Story of Our Past and Future by Ed Conway April update I read the Sutherland book as I wanted an overview of the ‘…
The Man With the Getaway Face was also available as a 24-page $2 graphic novel/comic by Darwyn Cooke. The Last Colony by John Scalzi Slow Productivity by Cal Newport Hunter by Richard Stark The Man With the Getaway Face by Richard Stark The Wager by David Grann The Outfit by Richard Stark The Mourner by Richard Stark Deep Work by Cal Newport End of March update I just wasn’t in the mood for much…
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke Making Books by Simon Goode Artemis by Andy Weir Old Man’s War by John Scalzi So Good They Can’t Ignore You by Cal Newport The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson Starry Messenger by Neil deGrasse Tyson Mid-Feb update Time for a mid-month…
I’m just making a quick note of some recent writing. I published a new post on the Antidotum Substack which reported on a recent paper on urine drug testing in people who use drugs. Vol.9: Shall I get a urine test before you see this person? I’ve also had some new posts about colourblindness on my 1 in 12 Substack. Those are: * Everyday colourblindness: the blinking problem of red-green LEDs * Is…
Finding Your Comic Genius by Adam Bloom Dead in the Water: Murder and Fraud in the World’s Most Secretive Industry by Matthew Campbell and Kit Chellel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish by Douglas Adams The Three-Body Problem by Cixin…
Book of the month - brutal but brilliant The final list: Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World by John Vaillant Hiking with Nietzsche: Becoming Who You Are by John Kaag Subvert! A philosophical guide for the 21st century scientist by Dan Cleather How Big Things Get Done: The Surprising Factors Behind Every Successful Project, from Home Renovations to Space Exploration by Bent Flyvbjerg…
Follow the Money: How Much Does Britain Cost? by Paul Johnson Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry Politics on the Edge: A Memoir from Within by Rory Stewart Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life by Arnold Schwarzenegger A Heart That Works by Rob Delaney The Xmas Files: The Philosophy of Christmas by Stephen Law How to Resist Amazon and Why by Danny Caine Free For All: Why The…
Code of Conduct: Why We Need to Fix Parliament and How To Do It The Race That Changed The World: The Inside Story of UTMB by Doug Mayer We Can’t Run Away From This by Damian Hall The Future of Geography by Tim Marshall Shattered Nation: Inequality and the Geography of A Failing State by Danny Dorling
The Way of the Runner by Adharanand Finn Free and Equal by Daniel Chandler Debt by David Graeber The Internet Con by Cory Doctorow
Regenesis by George Monbiot Storyworthy by Matt Dicks Hiroshima by John Hersey Against Intellectual Property by N. Stephan Kinsella What Gandhi Says by Norman G. Finkelstein Midlife by Kieran Setiya Show Me the Bodies by Peter Apps
The Long View by Richard Fisher Iron Maiden Running Free by Garry Bushell and Ross Halfin ChatGPT for Creative Non-Fiction by Nova Leigh (+2 other books by same author on fiction/prompts) What Does This Button Do? by Bruce Dickinson The Spy Who Came in from the Bin by Christopher Shevlin Fluent in 3 Months by Benny Lewis Fluent Forever by Gabriel Wyner Ultra-Processed People by Chris Van Tulleken
Politics: A Survivor’s Guide: How to Stay Engaged without Getting Enraged by Rafael Behr Lawfare by Geoffrey Robertson Abolish the Monarchy by Graham Smith Written by Bec Evans and Chris Smith Exploratory Writing by Alison Jones Writing Landscape by Linda Cracknell What We Fear Most by Dr Ben Cave A Philosophy of Loneliness by Lars Svendsen What Is ChatGPT Doing… and Why Does It Work? by Stephen…
I don’t normally write about books until I have finished them but I wanted to raise an interesting concept in The Long View: Why We Need to Transform How the World Sees Time by Richard Fisher. I’m only about a quarter of the way through and he has raised the notion of the Buxton Index. 1 This is defined as the length of time (in years) over which the entity, be it a company, other institution, or…
This book is relatively brief and that, in itself, is commendable. Too often books have to be stretched out to the standard length of 80-100,000 words regardless of whether the content merits it. Publishers demand books of a certain length and it’s a pleasure to read books, such as this one, concisely written and just as long as they need to be and no more. It makes the message all the more…
I need to write a few catch up notes on recent books. Behr’s book on politics is excellent reading and he interleaves his experience with a brutal MI with great skill. He is particularly good on nationalism and populism and identity. The political scientist Benedict Anderson described nations as ‘ imagined communities’, which is to say their existence — real enough in the minds of those who feel…
Sandwood Bay on the final day. I am back from the Cape Wrath Ultra. It was an absolutely epic experience. Spending over a week in a bubble with like-minded people concentrating on doing one thing was very special. And I went better than I could have possibly hoped - I far exceeded my (low!) expectations. It was superbly organised by Ourea Events and the whole ethos in the camp and on the trail was…
Sludge by Cass R. Sunstein People Hacker by Jenny Radcliffe Swearing Is Good For You by Emma Byrne Becoming by Michelle Obama Ravenous by Henry Dimbleby Closer To The Edge by Leo Houlding A quiet month of reading - a lot of time was taken with the Cape Wrath Ultra. I listened to Closer To The Edge on the drive up and back to Scotland and it was a good choice for some inspiration. Dimbleby (of Leon…
Just finished 😀 A Little History of Philosophy by Nigel Warburton Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Everest the Cruel Way by Joe Tasker No Easy Way by Mick Fowler The Trolley Problem by Thomas Cathcart Marx: A Very Short Introduction by Peter Singer Unlawful Killings by Wendy Joseph Psychovertical by Andy Kirkpatrick Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much…
In my younger years I was a keen climber. I wouldn’t say I was obsessed with it, that’s too strong, but climbing, and especially winter climbing and mountaineering, is not the kind of activity it is easy to dabble in. It tends to be all in. I fed my interest by reading many of the classic books of the era. One of the most satisfying aspects of climbing and mountaineering (and especially the…
I’ve not got a long history of trying to read War and Peace but I do have a recollection that I tried to read it when I was 18. I was in Nepal at the time and I am fairly certain that I dragged the full paperback copy around the Annapurna circuit, including over the 5400m Thorung La in some stormy weather. I was wearing Doc Martens and a pair of cheap sportsocks on my hands as mittens. That’s…
“ Don’t jump to conclusions. Crawl to them, on your hands and knees, slowing checking every step of the way.” The Blazing World by Jonathan Healey Long Story Short by Margot Leitman This Mortal Coil by Andrew Doig The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre How to Think Like a Philosopher by Julian Baggini Unnatural Causes by Richard Shepherd What Does It All Mean by Thomas Nagel Philosophy: The…
The Five by Hallie Rubenhold Eat the Buddha by Barbara Demick The Life Inside by Andy West Getting Better by Michael Rosen Hidden Mountains by Michael Wejchert Zen and the Art of Dealing with Difficult People by Mark Westmoquette When the Dust Settles by Lucy Easthope Why Vegan? by Peter Singer If You Should Fail by Joe Moran Some excellent books here and a good month. It’s difficult to pick one…
A World Without Email by Cal Newport The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer Born Standing Up by Steve Martin Mythos by Stephen Fry Essentialism by Greg Mckeown The Hunt for the Silver Killer by David Collins The Perpetual Astonishment of Jonathon Fairfax by Christopher Devlin Evil Beyond Belief by Wensley Clarkson Jonathon Fairfax Must Be Destroyed by Christopher Devlin The Pursuit of Coconuts by…
December ’ 22 Billy No-Mates by Max Dickins The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell The Making of the Modern Middle East by Jeremy Bowen Safe Area Gorazde by Joe Sacco The Peter Principle by Laurence J. Peter & Raymond Hull Complicit by Max Bazerman The Moth and the Mountain by Ed Caesar The Vegan “ Beef” Guide by Lyanna K. Peterson Somewhat…
The temperatures have dropped and the morning fell run has been sub-zero but with the most stunning light to enjoy. Every day has been a treat. The photos below were all taken with an iPhone 11 Pro (and no filters). Indeed, the only editing at all was when I cropped the photo of the horses to a square format. That’s it! The viewing dial on the top of Winder at sunrise. Winter light as the horses…
November ’ 22 The Escape Artist by Jonathan Freedland The Last Colony by Philippe Sands A Man With One of Those Faces by Caimh McDonnell Mission Economy by Mariana Mazzucato The Great Mental Models: Vol 1 by Shane Parrish Letters to a Young Contrarian by Christopher Hitchens The Restless Republic by Anna Keay Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning Hitch-22 by Christopher Hitchens Recommended book…
Recommended book of the month October ’ 22 Flying Blind: The 737 MAX Tragedy and the Fall of Boeing by Peter Robison To Live by Élisabeth Revol Chums: How a Tiny Caste of Oxford Tories Took Over the UK by Simon Kuper Breaking the Social Media Prism by Chris Bail The Life of an MP by Jess Phillips The Little Black Book of Workout Motivation by Michael Matthews PhD by Published Work by Susan Smith…