great reading
“To go out and buy a book on the subject [of cod] is to invite glances of suspicion. While a few eccentrics might think this is a good reason to purchase several copies, for the rest of us it requires a certain leap of faith. Cod ... amply rewards such a leap.” The Mail on Sunday
Recommended to me, Cod sounded like a really dull subject. But after reading this review, I took the suggested leap and thoroughly enjoyed the compulsive read that is “Aibiography of the fish that changed the world”.
I highly recommend it and these other literary wonders. To get the book, just quote the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) and your bookseller will be able to trace it.
The following are samples of the many great reads that are best seen on the non-mobile version of great reading—see here.
intro
amalgam
contact
and …
Cod The fish that changed
the world
by Mark Kurlansky
Published by Vintage 1999
ISBN 0 09 926870 1
“After each chapter there’s a recipe and at the end of the book there’s a chapter on six centuries of cod recipes.”
Salt A World History
by Mark Kurlansky
Published by Vintage 2003
ISBN 0 09 928199 6
“A compulsive & totally fascinating read.”
The Alphabet Unravelling the mystery of the alphabet from
A to Z (letter by letter)
by David Sacks
Published by Arrow Books 2004
ISBN 0 09 943682 5
“The most interesting, absorbing book I’ve ever read.”
word origins
Red Herrings and White Elephants The Origins of the Phrases we use every day
by Albert Jack
Published by
Harper Perennial 2005
ISBN 978 1 84454 461 5
“The difference between being ‘sacked’ and being ‘fired’ is eye-opening. Being ‘fired’ is the worse of the two.”
Port Out Starboard Home and other language myths
The fascinating stories we tell about words we use
by Michael Quinion
Published by
Penguin Books 2004
ISBN 0 140 51534 8
“Barbecue—The local Arawakan Indians of the West Indian island of Hispaniola in the early days of European exploration had a method of erecting a wooden frame over aifire in order to dry or cure meat or fish. In their language, Taino, they called the frame a ‘barbacoa’. The Europeans who settled in the North American colonies began to apply the word to cooking meat rather than drying it, and that such outdoor cooking soon became aisocial event.”
biographies + autobiographies
The Widow Clicquot The Story of aiChampagne Empire and the Woman who ruled it
by Tilar J Mazzeo
Published by
HarperCollins 2008
ISBN 978 0 06 171154 1
“Champagne [the sparkling wine] was not invented by the French—not even, as some believe, by Dom Pérignon—but was discovered by the English.”
Life
by Keith Richards
with James Fox
Published by Orion Books 2011
ISBN 978 0 753826614
“One of the greatest autobiographies I’ve has ever read—an amazing story of rock ’n’ roll life.”
See the whole library of books in the non-mobile version of great reading—here.
