Neil Hopcroft

[Audiobook] Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre “Told through the fictional Larry Livingston—inspired by legendary trader Jesse Livermore—the book chronicles decades of Wall Street triumphs and disasters” This book, over a hundred years old though it may be, is still referred to by many investors as a classic, an inspiration for their careers. […]

[Softback] AA Concise Road Atlas: Britain 2026 OK, so I didn’t actually read this book, as such. I bought it as part of a personal mitigation against the effects of Kessler Syndrome. I have loved maps for many years, and can spend hours lost in daydreams about journeys I might take or places I might […]

[Hardback, read aloud to Adelle] The Blanket Cats by Kiyoshi Shigematsu is another charming Japanese fiction about therapeutic cats. The cats here are available for loan for three days to the residents of Tokyo and we have the stories of seven recipients of their therapy. In contrast to We’ll prescribe you a cat, the stories […]

[Paperback – borrowed] Incompetence, Bad is the New Good, by Rob Grant I was slightly disappointed to discover this was a work of fiction rather than a study of incompetence. It is set in a near-future world where the European Union has turned into the United States of Europe and become overrun with red tape […]

[audiobook] Knowing what we Know, the Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic by Simon Winchester This is a slightly incoherent book, it covers a lot of topics mostly around the creation and transmission of knowledge, somehow without a continuous thread through the book. It jumps around exploring the history of education, the […]

[Hardback, read aloud to Adelle] Moonlight Express, Around the World by Night Train, by Monisha Rajesh We have long thought about going on sleeper train services, circumstances have conspired to make that impractical for us. This book was a way for us to experience some of the romance of overnight train journeys without leaving our […]

[Audiobook] A field guide to Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit, read by Rebecca herself. She has a lovely voice, calm, melancholy, soporific, and absolutely dreadful to listen to while driving. I have listened again because her words got lost in the sound of the diesel engine first time around, it will get another listen too, […]

[Audiobook] A history of the Amish by Steven M Nolt (available from archive.org) A colleague told me about an Amish supermarket, which didn’t fit with my understanding of their culture. So wanting to find out some more I listened to this book. It contains a detailed history of the origins and migration of the Amish […]

[Audiobook, listened with Adelle] Eagle Dreams, Searching for Legends in Wild Mongolia by Stephen Bodio Wanting more writing about travels in tundra I chose this book – it recounts a fascination with falconry from childhood and a desire to visit lands where nomads use eagles for hunting. Once Mongolia started down the path to independence […]

[Softback, read aloud to Adelle] Notes from an Island by Tove Jansson and Tuulikki Pietilä This is a short book, part diary, part memoir, about the settling of Tove and Tooti on the island of Klovharun, and their subsequent life there. It starts with the discovery of a desolate island and their choice to move […]