2023-02-01 08:00
“The songs of our ancestors are also the songs of our children”
― Philip Carr-Gomm
Nineteenth century Peru. A clandestine affair between a young woman, Nicolasa… Read More
Blog Directory > Arts & Entertainment Blogs > Jade the Obscure | “The person, be it gentleman arts-and-entertainment Blog >
Jade The Obscure | “the Person, Be It Gentleman Blog
jadetheobscure.com
Tags:
book
woman
moonflower publishing
write
forgery
peruvian journalist
necklace
jasmine
spanish
cheltenham literature festival
“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.†― Jane Austen
2022-11-21 08:00
“These so-called bleak times are necessary to go through in order to get to a much, much better place.”
— David Lynch
Welcome to my stop on The Coming Dar… Read More
2022-09-27 08:00
“I think you travel to search and you come back home to find yourself there.”
― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Another Spanish translation to add to the list –… Read More
2022-07-25 07:00
“We all live in a house on fire, no fire department to call; no way out, just the upstairs window to look out of while the fire burns the house down with us trapped, locked in it.&rdqu&hell…Read More
2022-01-08 21:25
New York Times bestselling cookbook author Mark Scarbrough lays bare on his complicated, near-obsessive relationship with books in his new memoir: Bookmarked: How The Great Works Of Western… Read More
2021-10-11 08:00
“Trauma is personal. It does not disappear if it is not validated. When it is ignored or invalidated the silent screams continue internally heard only by the one held captive. When som… Read More
2021-09-26 19:19
“Of course, the French have always had a certain… elegance in these matters, so it shouldn’t be a surprise how few of our jewellers measure up, but honestly you would thin… Read More
2021-09-16 20:26
At the very bottom of the garden, where the wild things grow, was a little peach tree. To reach it you had to push through the dangling branches of a particularly resistant willow, balance a… Read More
2021-09-09 21:10
The house was fantastic.
They arrived at the property just a few hours after leaving home but with the unpleasant feeling of fatigue and grime that only an international flight can… Read More
2021-09-08 20:51
Well hello.
It’s been a while.
I’m sure you can work out what’s been happening over the last 18 months.
Anyway… I have some new content to share! Better late than… Read More
2020-01-31 23:08
“The ghosts of things that never happened are worse than the ghosts of things that did.”― L.M. Montgomery
I really enjoyed this book.
The old saying goes you should never… Read More
2020-01-05 00:14
I used to pride myself in reviewing every single book I read. When I struggled to find the time to put pen to paper, because I was desperately and incessantly applying for new work, revising… Read More
2019-07-14 19:42
The first in a series of illustrated children’s books, aimed at encouraging children to take an interest in visiting museums, has been launched by an independent group of adventure-see… Read More
2019-07-14 19:32
I am delighted to be able to share with you my exclusive interview with Mark Wells, author of the new children’s series Hidden Tales.
The first book in this exciting new series, Riddle… Read More
2019-05-21 13:10
Authors and illustrators Celina Buckley, Jessica Meserve and Puck Koper came together to celebrate the publication of their new books ‘The Salmon Of Knowledge’, ‘What Clara… Read More
2019-01-03 23:40
I am a little late to the party with this one – but I love it all the same!
It was the cover that first drew me to this book. Some might call it clichéd, a sparse bedroom, compl… Read More
2018-10-25 17:33
A very short introduction to a very big subject, Big Data: A Very Short Introduction by Dawn E. Holmes is arguably the most topical of this book series. Big data is everywhere, and not just… Read More
2018-10-24 17:30
In this Very Short Introduction Andrew Davies delves into the world of projects. It may sound like a dry subject, but the history of projects is nothing short of fascinating &ndas&helli…Read More
2018-10-23 17:27
An attempt to analyse and condense something which encompasses everything that is yet to come feels like an exercise in failure, and yet I hold in my hands a book which does just this. A won… Read More
2018-10-22 15:36
“If you could have been around on a single say in the historical past – which day would it have been?” This question, posed by a BBC reporter, and answered… Read More
2018-10-18 15:12
Have you ever taken the time to think about how remarkable the Earth really is? “The big globe, floating in space, on which we live,” as Jeffers puts it, is an intr… Read More
2018-03-10 14:17
“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” ― Mark Twain
Billy and Ant Lie is the fourth book in James Minter’s ‘Billy’… Read More
2017-11-23 18:56
It’s that time of year again, and this one is a special one, because one of the world’s best-loved children’s Christmas stories is turning 60, and it’s had a special… Read More
2017-09-13 13:44
The last two weeks have been crazy – many a lost purse, blocked drain and sick cat to keep me busy, so I do hope you’ll forgive my radio silence.
Couple of pieces of good news fo… Read More
2017-08-31 13:17
I have a real soft spot for books about mice.
I’m sure it has something to do with how tiny they are – almost the perfect size for living in a doll’s house, and so somehow… Read More
2017-08-30 13:11
I was drawn to this book by the illustration on the front cover; there was something vaguely nostalgic about the big, scratchy blue bear that seemed to pull on a distant childhood memory and… Read More
2017-08-29 18:04
The perfect bedtime companion, this beautiful children’s book is soft, sweet, and magical.
So often it’s the words or images alone that make a children’s book, with the oth… Read More
2017-08-29 10:31
Social media is a powerful thing, even in a world where government-sanctioned firewalling attempts to keep it under wraps. In a place where public opinion is learned, not formed, and freedom… Read More
2017-08-28 11:18
I’m a sucker for a book with rhyming couplets.
Rhyme offers so much opportunity to explore the written word in children’s books – archaic and dated words fit right into the… Read More
2017-08-02 09:26
More than 100 years after it was first discovered, and following on from decades of research by scientists and theologians alike, author Alexander Jones reveals a new and unknown approach to… Read More
2017-07-19 09:40
There are plenty of predictions out there for what a future world filled with artificially intelligent machines might look like, from utopian visions of technological miracles and marvels, t… Read More
2017-07-03 09:36
A blend of science and philosophy teases out the paradoxes surrounding whether it will ever be possible to slip back and forth between the ages.
Time travel is a curious thing. Imagine hav… Read More
2017-06-14 09:32
Edited by David H Guston, Ed Finn and Jason Scott Robert
There are some books which, regardless of their age, continue to resonate with audiences, and of none is this so true as Mary Shelley… Read More
2017-05-05 09:28
Infinity is all around us. It helped to send man to the moon and underlines the very basic principles of mathematics, but remains a hugely misunderstood concept.
Picture this: I have a hote… Read More
2017-04-21 13:50
The feature films churned out by Hollywood studios today are a far cry from the pioneering motion pictures of the late 19th century. Technology is often highlighted as a key driver for inno… Read More
2017-04-10 09:17
There is such a thing as cat whispering and it’s really not that difficult. This new book by self-proclaimed cat enthusiasts John Bradshaw and Sarah Ellis outlines simple ways that own… Read More
2017-04-06 14:01
‘Visions of Numberland’ by Alex Bellos and Edmund Harriss takes the reader on a mystical journey through the mysteries and of mathematics in a fun twist on the bewildering adult… Read More
2017-04-03 13:56
In December 2016, I attended the opening at London’s Science Museum of ‘Mathematics: the Winton Gallery’, an inspirational exhibition which seeks to highlight how mathemat… Read More
2017-03-29 13:52
From over-the-counter medicines to the corrugated cardboard sleeve on a Starbucks coffee cup, intellectual property law hides in plain sight behind a surprising array of everyday objects, an… Read More
2017-03-06 14:47
By definition, revolution means covering new and unknown territory and the ‘fourth industrial revolution’ is no different. What can we expect and how can we best utilise the new… Read More
2017-03-04 14:40
Pyjamarama Funfair and Pyjamarama Fever, two fun new books from Thames and Hudson, introduce children to the wonder of animation in non-digital form.
In response to changing times, and… Read More
2017-03-02 14:35
A fascinating historical analysis of the emergence and development of video games in America.
Retro video games have developed a real cult following over the years. In a time when on-scree… Read More
2017-02-24 12:27
Being constantly connected to digital devices can sometimes be more of a hindrance than a help, as Orianna Fielding discusses in this elegant new publication from Carlton Books.
I once met… Read More
2017-02-21 23:15
Science is exciting and at no point is this more apparent than when viewed through the eyes of a child, as this fun-filled new publication from Mike Barfield goes to show.
As an impression… Read More
2017-02-19 15:01
Yet another book I wish I had known about when I was a child. I’m absolutely thrilled to know there are more in the series – I just need to find the time to read them!
This is t… Read More
2017-02-12 23:07
An enlightening journey through history’s many attempts to secure and protect what is beautiful in the world.
Beauty is a complicated subject. We all know what it is, but as time goes… Read More
2017-02-07 22:51
Science and science fiction may seem like two sides of the same coin, but much of the genre gracing bookshelves and cinemas today is actually missing an integral piece of the puzzle –… Read More
2017-01-31 22:57
From British feudalism to the Internet of Things, this concise analysis of the Industrial Revolution provides the perfect introduction to one of the most complex times in human history.
Loo… Read More
2017-01-22 14:54
Asteronyme is the word for a sequence of asterisks used to hide a name or password. I wonder what this book of poetry is hiding.
Poetry is a like a window into a person’s soul, but no… Read More
2017-01-22 14:20
You have probably wondered what happens to us after we die – is there a heaven or hell? Can we expect to be reincarnated into something very distinct from our human selves? Do we beco… Read More
2017-01-18 22:42
A new biography of one of Britain’s greatest engineers, whose work is still with us today.
If ever a man could give hope to those of humble origins it is Thomas Telford. Born into a lo… Read More
2017-01-15 22:33
If you buy a book at the book shop, you own it, and are free to do exactly as you wish with it. You might be surprised to hear that the same is not true of ebooks and other downloaded media… Read More
2017-01-10 14:01
It occurred to me yesterday that 2016 was a terrible year for my personal book reviews. I read and reviewed 28 books for E&T – and loved every second of it I might add – but… Read More
2016-12-27 14:50
A few months ago I came into work to see a news story left on my desk. It was inconspicuous, a small sheet of thin paper roughly torn out of a little pamphlet, and it told me they The Little… Read More
2016-12-02 17:28
Equality, prosperity and power are just some of the aims of feminists past and present – but what would a world controlled by women actually look like? In her fourth novel, author Nao… Read More
2016-11-23 17:27
Whether surprising, creepy, or downright weird, we all love to hear about coincidences, but just how usual are these seemingly uncanny events that so often creep into our daily live… Read More
2016-11-22 17:22
I wouldn’t call myself a climate enthusiast – mainly because I find the term itself a bit troubling – but low-carbon energy and sustainability are high up my list of work-r… Read More
2016-11-01 17:57
GPS is changing the way we live our lives, with more people using satellite technology to find their way around, track daily workouts and even catch fictional creatures out in the wild. In… Read More
2016-10-31 17:41
With Nasa’s new lander, InSight, due to launch in 2018, and the Mars 2020 Rover set to touch down just two years later, all eyes are on Mars. Rod Pyle traces the history of the Red Pla… Read More
2016-09-19 17:31
Measurement may not sound like the most exciting topic to sink your teeth into as it takes a certain type of person to become excited by a ruler. Yet this book has much more to offer t… Read More
2016-09-02 17:28
When they first met at an arts festival, Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec realised that they had been living oddly parallel lives:. Both were residing in a foreign country – Giorgia… Read More
2016-09-01 20:01
It’s today! It’s today!
I was unbelievably excited to wake up this morning to an email informing me that The Tale of Kitty-in-Boots would be waiting for me when I returned from… Read More
2016-08-09 17:28
For millennia people have been fascinated by the stars, looking up to the sky at night to search for answers, look for peace, and predict the future. As human beings we often forget our pla… Read More
2016-08-08 17:28
It is often cited that we are living in an information age. Gone are the days of trawling through text books and library archives to find the material to complete your latest homework assig… Read More
2016-08-07 17:18
Computer science as a discipline first emerged in the 1960s and was perhaps somewhat neglected as a field of study, hidden as it was behind the shadow of the Iron Curtain, surpassed by the… Read More
2016-08-06 17:17
In its rawest form, a material is simply useful matter, which pretty much includes anything that can be utilised in some way, ranging from steel and concrete used in construction, through t… Read More
2016-08-05 17:16
Last year, I took the elevator up 108 stories to the top of the International Commerce Centre in Hong Kong, a skyscraper so huge that it is often obscured by the clouds. Sitting in the skyb… Read More
2016-08-04 17:13
‘Humans were born armed’ is the premise to the next of our Very Short Introduction series of reviews, War and Technology, which seeks to trace the combined history of, you g… Read More
2016-07-21 17:39
In 1976, Raymond Williams published his world-renowned reference book Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, a text that would go on to change the way society approaches language, a… Read More
2016-07-20 17:25
There’s a well-known saying, ‘it takes a village to raise a child,’ and in Cambridge, you could say ‘it takes a cluster to raise a company.’
For nearly 40 year… Read More
2016-07-05 10:49
Another month has passed, you know what that means? Not only are we over halfway through the year – scary huh? – but I have another bookish treat to share with you.
More splendi… Read More
2016-06-20 16:45
Ever wondered what a world inhabited almost entirely by intelligent machines might look like? Or even, what smart robots might look like and what their uses, design, attitudes, strengths a… Read More
2016-06-17 16:40
In June 1816 on a rainy evening by Lake Geneva a young girl created a story about an enthusiastic young science student who developed a technique to bring life to non-living matter, with de… Read More
2016-06-16 16:37
In the not-too-distant future, Latin Americans have pioneered faster-than-light space travel, as have six other ‘intelligent’ races – unfortunately – and the galaxy… Read More
2016-06-15 16:50
The first thing that attracted me to this book was the cover; I saw it on a vintage book website and fell completely and utterly into love with the artwork. There is something so natural an… Read More
2016-06-14 19:43
Well hello there friends. Today marks exactly three years since I decided to put my love of reading to good use and start a book blog. What started with a fairly mediocre review of Jude the… Read More
2016-05-20 17:05
There was a time when being called a ‘nerd’ could have been considered an insult, but today what was once considered nerd culture – think thick glasses, spaceships and ba… Read More
2016-03-29 08:28
“Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Let me start by saying that I have not yet read We are all… Read More
2016-03-28 16:26
Another month, another treat!
This month brought with it the beginning of spring. I know storm Katie has given the countryside a battering this weekend, but between the wind and the rain the… Read More
2016-03-24 19:54
If you are on social media you may have already heard about the #savetheculture movement. If not, never fear, I am here to tell you all about it.
Basically, it’s a way to share books w… Read More
2016-03-13 21:57
“Writing a NYT bestseller was a delightful experience. But there are many books which are read by few that should be read and reread by many, as well as books bought by many that are h… Read More
2016-03-02 19:19
This has been a very long time coming.
Norwegian Wood was recommended as a book club read about ten months ago, but our group fell into absolutely chaos not long after and we haven’t… Read More
2016-03-01 23:09
I know, I know, February ended yesterday. In my defence I have been incredibly busy – there was this trip to Germany, multiple training courses and then I got obsessed with a computer… Read More
2016-02-23 18:01
“If I was feeling depressed or frustrated about my lot in life, all I had to do was tap the Player One button, and my worries would instantly slip away as my mind focused itself on the… Read More
2016-02-19 17:27
“In ancient Rome, the highest priests held the title of pontifex, which means builder of bridges. By providing a link between gods and men, these pontifices were indeed builders… Read More
2016-02-10 17:43
“The storm starts, when the drops start dropping. When the drops stop dropping then the storm starts stopping.” ― Dr. Seuss
Ivy Press, 160 pages, ISBN: 978-1-78240-310… Read More
2016-02-01 13:30
“I believe in everything until it’s disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams and nig… Read More
2016-01-25 19:26
January is by far my least favourite month, I try not to be so negative but, it really is just awful. It’s long and gloomy, and spring is still months away. I hate it.
I know material… Read More
2016-01-22 17:30
“I predict we will abolish suffering throughout the living world. Our descendants will be animated by gradients of genetically pre-programmed well-being that are orders of magnitude ri… Read More
2016-01-17 23:59
“Nothing whets the intelligence more than a passionate suspicion, nothing develops all the faculties of an immature mind more than a trail running away into the dark.”
―&nb&hell…Read More
2016-01-10 16:50
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” ― Pablo Picasso
I met up with Search Press at last year’s London Book… Read More
2016-01-07 13:59
“Trees are poems the earth writes upon the sky, We fell them down and turn them into paper, That we may record our emptiness.” ― Kahlil Gibran
However uninspiring the title… Read More
2016-01-04 17:21
“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
In Design Meets Disability… Read More
2016-01-03 13:28
Hi boys and girls!
I hope you all had an amazing Christmas and New Year with your loved ones.
I know, I know, I suck! I’ve been really rubbish the last month and haven’t posted a… Read More
2015-11-24 17:50
“The separation between the cyber and the physical worlds was disappearing. Cyberbullying was just bullying, and cyberwar was just war – the true age of cyber began when we start… Read More
2015-11-10 19:07
“But these backwaters of existence sometimes breed, in their sluggish depths, strange acuities of emotion” ― Edith Wharton
I’d never heard of this book, or… Read More
2015-11-07 17:18
“A clockwork heart can’t replace the real thing.” ― Dru Pagliassotti
I received this book in my August Prudence and the Crow box, the book selection was a f… Read More
Subscribe to Jade The Obscure | “the Person, Be It Gentleman
Get updates delivered right to your inbox!