Title: Great Civilisations: The Vikings
Author: Brenda Ralph Lewis
Type: Non-Fiction
Page Count/Review Word Count: 52
Rating: 4*/5
Brenda Ralph Lewis – Great Civilisations: The Vikings
This book was super cute. It’s basically a facsimile reproduction of an old ladybird book, and it’s beautiful. But it’s also very informative. A great way to learn.
Ladybird
Title: The Apology of Arthur Tresbit
Author: Robert Thayer
Type: Fiction
Page Count/Review Word Count: 282
Rating: 4*/5
Robert Thayer – The Apology of Arthur Tresbit
Disclaimer: While I aim to be unbiased, I received a copy of this for free to review.
This book is interesting because at first glance, I didn’t think I was going to like it. I’m not sure why – I suppose I made that age-old mistake of judging a book by its cover. Actually, I think that a trail of dominoes would have made a better cover image – it would be more visually appealing, and it would also directly reference the story. Although the current one kind of does the job, too.
This book is written in an interesting style – it’s humorous, but it’s also often informative. I feel like I learned a lot about the financial industry along the way, and Thayer actually did a pretty good job of deploying the technique of an unreliable narrator. Arthur Tresbit, the central character, is both believable and easy to sympathise with, even if he is also a bit of an idiot.
Loosely speaking, the book takes the form of Mr. Tresbit’s written apology after he accidentally brings down the global economy. I can’t actually say too much about how he does that without spoiling parts of the story line, but Thayer’s reasoning and his depiction are believable, whilst simultaneously being laughable. But the general gist is that he accidentally finds himself in the financial industry and that he brings down the entire system without meaning to. A bit like Arthur Dent, but with other people’s money to invest in pig’s teeth. Because hey – why the hell not, after all?
Austin Macauley
