An avid reader, I intended to regularly do book reviews on this blog. Somewhere along the way though I forgot to do so. The last review I see was posted on July 27. I thought I’d best try and post some brief thoughts on what I’ve read in the interim for anyone who might be interested (but more for myself, to be honest). So, in no particular order, here are my thoughts on the first chunk of books that I’ve jotted notes down about while eating my lunch: Anne Applebaum, Gulag A long history of the Soviet (and previously Tsarist) system of Gulags. Profoundly interesting and terribly depressing at the same time. I am grateful for the awful lot of original research that went into detail what is a sadly obscure piece of modern history. Recommended for anyone interested in this area. Antony Wild, Coffee: A Dark History A popular history of coffee. It has its moments of appeal, but a little to ideologically driven for mine. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting (nor in the mood) for a post-colonial,...