Reading update

The trouble with term-time is that I'm often so tired that reading is quite difficult to sustain. Not reading, like not listening to music, tends to make me unhappy. The last five weeks have been quite hectic, yet I have managed to make a little progress with a few books.

Thomas Hardy: A Laodicean was a gripping read, rather different from other Thomas Hardy novels that I've encountered. The notes in my copy suggest that the central character (George Somerset) was, in part, modelled on Hardy's own life. Unusually, this novel has a happy ending, although it is tempered with some sadness. I think it is perhaps the Hardy novel that Austen fans would most enjoy.

F. W. Taylor's Planetary Atmospheres started well, but I've found myself rather bogged down in the mathematics of the Physics. I'm persevering, though, because between the equations there is a great deal of interesting descriptive material. I do feel I've developed a better understanding of atmospheric temperature gradients and the section I've now come to is much more chemical than physical.

Elizabeth Grossman: Chasing Molecules was something that I picked up in Foyles in early January. It describes the dangerous chemicals used in modern materials as well as giving a view of the promise of Green Chemistry. The chemical industry comes in for some pretty hard criticism and she seems to assume that if a study is industry-funded it must  be biased. However, it has made me think a little more about the materials with which I'm in contact and reminded me that chemical exposure is not only found in laboratories. I will write more about this book when I've finished it (I'm currently about half-way through).