Lazy Sunday Service

Somewhat coincidentally I ended up reading two books set in Japan last week - one immediately after the end of the war (Tokyo Year Zero by David Peace), and one set in present day but in the long shadow of the dropping of the atomic bomb (Hiroshima Boy by Naomi Hirahara). A huge contrast in styles: hardboiled literary noir and cozy mystery.

My posts this week

Review of Brothers in Blood by Amer Anwar
It was a bust!

Lazy Sunday Service

Unusually for me I've started three books in a row where I've got fifty pages in and put the book to one side. I think I'll eventually finish all three, but I'm just not in the right mood for them right now. I'm not sure what I'm in the mood for, but perhaps it's Don Winslow's The Force, as that's next on the list.

My posts this week
Review of Sirens by Joseph Knox
Review of A House of Ghosts by W.C. Ryan
One job

Lazy Sunday Service

Always good to read fiction set where I'm visiting. I spent Tuesday to Friday in Cardiff, so read Harry Bingham's This Thing of Darkness, much of which was set in the police headquarters, which was the building next door to where I was attending a conference. Nice to match up the geography of the book with the city.


My posts this week
Review of The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
Review of Maximum Bob by Elmore Leonard
Home truths

Lazy Sunday Service

The world cup has become the moving wallpaper in the background at home. I'm not sure I'm going to win the fantasy football league at work. My six teams are France, Argentina, Portugal, Iceland, Serbia and South Korea. The points system works on wins and goals scored equals points, losses and goals conceded losing points. So far, two wins, three draws, and one still to play. Main thing is I need all of them to get out of the groups to stand any chance. Come-on Iceland!

My posts this week

Review of Traitors by Josh Ireland
Own goal

Lazy Sunday Service

It's been a bit of a hectic week of travel, with a couple of days in Liverpool and London, giving talks and meeting folks. Between reading drafts of academic chapters, I did manage to work my way through Walter Mosley's The White Butterfly and Vaseem Khan's The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra. Reviews soon. I also managed to pick up a copy of Philip Kerr's Greeks Bearing Gifts in Gatwick Airport, which has gone to near the top of the to-be-read pile.

My posts this week
Review of Dark Town by Thomas Mullen
Review of The Twilight Warriors by Robert Gandt
House call

Lazy Sunday Service

After a long battle with cancer my father died peacefully on Friday evening. It was a tough old day, but he still found ways to make us all smile at the end as well. I'm going to miss him a lot. The video below was made a couple of months ago to help promote the work of Maggies at Clatterbridge. Both Dad and Mum found Maggies to be a wonderful resource and made some good friends there.

Mervyn Kitchin (19 Nov 1944 - 24 Nov 2017).



My posts this week:
Review of Codebreakers by James Wyllie and Michael McKinley
Review of Ten Dead Comedians by Fred Van Lente
New paper: Algorhythmic governance: Regulating the ‘heartbeat’ of a city using the Internet of Things
Donuts

Lazy Sunday Service

I managed to forget to bring a second book with me on a trip, so had to duck into the airport bookshop to pick up a new read. Took about ten seconds to spot Tana French's new tome, The Trespasser. Now 150 pages in and enjoying it. A police procedural that focuses on the minutia of an investigation.

My posts this week

Review of Out of Bounds by Val McDermid
Review of Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany by Norman Ohler
Roses

Lazy Sunday Service

Last week was one of running around after two weeks away in Boston and Korea. This one coming is trying to get myself sorted for a week in Russia.  I've managed to line up two books to take: Martin Cruz Smith's Polar Star and R.N. Morris' The Gentle Axe, the first set in the 1980s and the latter in 1866.  I wanted to find one set in contemporary Russia that wasn't some kind of political/spy thriller, but didn't manage to come across one, though I'd still be interested in recommendations.

My posts this week:

Review of Oblivion by Arnaldur Indridason
Big data and the city
Review of Slicky Boys by Martin Limon
September reads
Gut instinct

Lazy Sunday Service

I arrived back from five days in Boston yesterday morning and this morning I set off to Korea.  I've just realised that Korea Statistics have booked me premium economy and I'll be flying right at the front of the plane on the lower deck of one of the double-decker A380-800s. I've not flown on one of these before, so I'm quite looking forward to it.  Accompanying me on the journey is Martin Limon's 'Slicky Boys' set in Korea in the 1970s.

My posts this week
Review of A Man With One of Those Faces by Caimh McDonnell
Review of A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute

Lazy Sunday Service

I don't want to repeat a work week like last week any time soon.  Besides work the only thing I managed to do was read The Constant Soldier by William Ryan, the review of which I'll hopefully post in the next few days.  I've now just made a start on Nevil Shute's 'A Town Like Alice', which I decided to track down after reading 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North' by Richard Flanagan.  All three books have very similar themes of imprisonment, survival and love in a time of war.  As did Claire McGowan's 'The Silent Dead', which is the next review up. Clearly there's an unplanned theme for my present reading.

My posts this week
Review of Dark As My Heart by Antti Tuomainen
More with less

Lazy Sunday Service

Last week was exhausting, especially the trip to the Netherlands.  I barely got to see The Hague, but did manage to explore Rotterdam a little and really took to the place.  An old industrial, port city that was flattened during the Second World War and is still being re-developed, especially around the old docks.  It has some very striking modern architecture.  I stayed in the Hotel New York, the old offices of Holland Amerika Lijn building, and had a great room full of character and a view of the harbour (with a bathroom that was in the old service elevator).  When I wasn't busy meeting people or giving talks, I spent time reading Benjamin Black's Elegy for April, an atmospheric tale set in 1950s Dublin.

My posts this week:
Review of Stalin’s Gold by Mark Ellis
Review of A Killing Winter by Tom Callaghan
Review of The Blood Strand by Chris Ould

Questions and doubts

Lazy Sunday Service

I'm off to Naples for a couple of days next week to deliver a lecture.  It'll be my first visit to the city in person and I've only read one book set there: I Will Have Vengeance by Maurizio De Giovanni.  I've just discovered that I don't have any books set in Italy on my to-be-read pile so my plan is to have a browse in the airport bookshop to see what I can find.  I'm looking forward to having a brief look around between engagements.

My posts this week
Review of World of Trouble by Ben H Winters
Cork as a smart region?
Review of Snapshots by Michael O'Higgins
The body in the bench

Lazy Sunday Service

Two weeks ago I got invites to give talks in Moscow/St Petersburg, Singapore, London and Lancaster. Last week has been invites to Shanghai and Barcelona. I've said yes to Moscow/St Petersburg, no to London, Lancaster and Barcelona (they clash with other ones I've already agreed to do), and am mulling over Singapore (June) and Shanghai (Sept).  On the plus side I'd get to look around both cities.  On the negative side, they'll take up a week each, with 13 hour return flights, and all for giving a single 30-45 minute talk at events I probably wouldn't go to otherwise.  And I'm trying to cut back on talks, having given around 40 so far this year. A very privileged kind of problem, I know. Hmmm.

My posts this week
October reads
Review of The Long-Legged Fly by James Sallis
Flash mob robbery

Lazy Sunday Service

Arrived back in Ireland this morning after just over a week in Nova Scotia.  Was a little alarmed to see out the window that the wing was pocked with holes.  Thankfully it seemed to make no difference to the flight.  I enjoyed my time on the East coast of Canada.  And I found time to read two Canadian based novels, which I'll review in the coming week. 


My posts this week
Review of The Pale House by Luke McCallin *****
Review of Blizzard of Glass by Sally M Walker ***
Twentieth anniversary of PhD viva
Review of The Girl in Berlin by Elizabeth Wilson ***
Lighthouse blues

Lazy Sunday Service

This time next week I should be boarding a plane for Chicago where I'll be attending a conference for a week.  With that in mind I've pulled Fool Moon by Jim Butcher, the second in the Harry Dresden series which is set in the city, off the shelf and also ordered Barbara Fister's In the Wind.  The latter has already been in the post for over two weeks, so I'm hoping it will drop through the letterbox shortly.  I must also remember to look out for a Sara Paretsky, V.I. Warshawski tale, whilst there.  If anyone has a recommendation for a good Chicago bookstore, then please share.  I always leave some space in the suitcase to bring a haul of books back.

My posts this week
Review of California Thriller by Max Byrd
Review of Gun Street Girl by Adrian McKinty
Review of Calling Out For You by Karin Fossum

'Would suit a DIY enthusiast'

Lazy Sunday Service

Twenty months ago I started a large five year project entitled the 'Programmable City'.  I thought that I would be out and about doing fieldwork, catching up on reading, and writing empirically based papers.  Instead I mostly spent that time setting things up, supervising other researchers or running training courses, reading and editing their stuff, writing contextual and more theoretical papers, giving talks, and working on other projects.  One of my new year's resolutions was to change that and I've spent the last four weeks out and about doing fieldwork.  I've conducted 30 interviews so far with key informants from city authorities, state agencies, companies, and civic groups, for a project entitled 'Smart Dublin', with another 15 or so to go.  It's been a real joy.  And the whole process has shifted my thinking on the notion of smart cities somewhat.  The key thing now is to make sure I continue to find the time for this.  I've already blocked off six weeks later in the year when I hope to doing a similar set of interviews in Boston.  The next challenge is to try and block-off time to process and analyze the material and write-up the findings!


My posts this week
February reads
Review of Red Joan by Jennie Rooney
Reviewing reviews
Review of The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin
Two 3 year postdocs on the Programmable City project
The red section

Lazy Sunday Service

I launched Stumped and The Data Revolution on Thursday at an event in Maynooth University Bookshop.  Of course, I managed not to take a single photograph!  Oh well.  I always feel somewhat out of place and uncomfortable at these events, but I enjoyed this one.  And for once, I think I managed to thank all the people I was meant to.  I've spent part of the weekend working on the next two in the pipeline, both of which are edited collections - Code and the City and Understanding Spatial Media - and are scheduled for publication in 2016.  At some point I need to get back to the fiction.  Usually I'm pretty good at making time, but it's difficult when it's already being used!

My posts this week

Fifty shades of black and blue
Review of The Yard by Alex Grecian
Review of The Informant by Andrew Rosenheim
Chinese translation in the works
Video: ProgCity at Smart City Expo and Congress