Very funny! Well put together, worth it for a laugh
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"Why, yes, I am still upset that the Library of Alexandria burnt down"
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Murf's books
2025 Reading Goal
41% complete! Murf has read 10 of 24 books.
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Murf reviewed The Ladybird Book of Red Tape by Joel Morris (Ladybirds for Grown-Ups, #30)
Murf rated The Ladybird Book of The Mid-Life Crisis: 4 stars

The Ladybird Book of The Mid-Life Crisis by Jason Hazeley (Ladybirds for Grown-Ups, #22)
A book about going through a mid-life crisis
Murf reviewed How It Works: The Wife by Jason Hazeley (Ladybirds for Grown-Ups, #6)
Murf reviewed Velvet: The Secret Lives of Dead Men by Ed Brubaker (Velvet, #2)
Murf reviewed The Red Sea Sharks by Hergé (The Adventures of Tintin, #19)
Murf reviewed The Holcroft Covenant by Robert Ludlum
Review of 'The Holcroft Covenant' on 'Goodreads'
1 star
This is a book that has not aged well. I'm sorting out some old books and gave this a rerun as I'd remembered it being gripping enough twenty odd years ago. Not sure why I bothered! Story is far fetched and I found it hard to suspend my disbelief and get into the flow. There was also this odd italicising of words for emphasis, which just grated on my nerves. Persevered to the end out of sheer bloody mindedness.
Murf rated Only forward: 5 stars
Murf reviewed Why England lose by Simon Kuper
Review of 'Why England lose' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
More a collection of chapter-sized mini-books, this is well worth a read for the insights into the footballing world. 'Why England Lose' isn't answered so much as turned on it's head - the seem to do slightly better than they should due to population size and economic development. The chapter on the transfer market was probably the most interesting, especially the section on how managers are (not) chosen.
Overall, a good book deserving of a place on the bookshelf.
Murf reviewed They Do It with Mirrors (Miss Marple Mysteries by Agatha Christie (Miss Marple (6))
Murf reviewed Twinkle, twinkle little spy by Len Deighton
Murf reviewed Mortality by Christopher Hitchens
Review of 'Mortality' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
"I have decided to take whatever my disease can throw at me, and to stay combative even while taking the measure of my inevitable decline. I repeat, this is no more than what a healthy person has to do in slower motion. It is our common fate."
An amazing book from Hitchens, well written and easily read, impossible to forget. It's a short book, yet it benefits from a slow reading. There is plenty of food for thought on the process of dying, I'd strongly recommend this book. Carol, his wife, closes out the book with an incredibly sad final chapter.
Hitchens died before the end.
Don't we all, I suppose.
"Death has this much to be said for it:
You don't have to get out of bed for it.
Wherever you happen to be
They bring it to you - free."
- Kinglsey Amis
Murf reviewed Fatherland by Robert Harris

Truckers by Terry Pratchett, Mark Beech
Under the floorboards of the Store is a world of four-inch-tall nomes that humans never see. It is commonly known …
Murf reviewed The Wages of Destruction by Adam Tooze
Review of 'The Wages of Destruction' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
An absolutely fascinating history of the economics of Nazi Germany's war effort. Highly readable, it makes an excellent case which explains the rationale behind some of the decisions taken by Hitler and the basic economic issues that constrained the Nazi war effort and fed into such horrors as the Holocaust and the Hunger Plan. Fascinating and highly recommended.