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Remarkable black-and-white photographs of structures reduced to rubble by the temblor and subsequent fire. As a map geek, I would have liked more maps, but the endpapers are large maps of the shaken and burned area.

This bloke spent the first chapter arguing that the kids in the streets didn't matter, it was really old guys in boardrooms that effected change. I admit to shutting the book before giving him the chance to convince me.

My library loan expired just as Bono was sitting in No 10 marvelling at the important people he knew and the import of the history he was witnessing. U2 have always been a cherished band for me. I returned the book before that could change.

This is a well-written, opinionated guide to the eastern portion of the Pyrenees mountain range dividing France and Spain. It's a good overview if you're thinking about the area, which is poorly covered by most tourism books. It loses a star just because it's rather old, and as quite a small book, it's poor value for money as a general guidebook.

If you're already considering a trip to this area, I do highly recommend it.

Hmm, same author has a book titled 'How to Protect Bookstores and Why', and I can't sort out whether it's largely the same book with a new cover.

I learned a good deal from this book - I'm no prepper but I live in an area prone to earthquakes and power and water problems. Some of the advice here is eye-opening (e.g., 'don't store emergency water in flimsy store-bought gallon jugs'). My main issue is that whenever the author mentions another group of humans, he's doing so to take potshots - at the CDC, at other preppers, at CB and ham radio operators, just to name the most recent three. The narrative becomes 'only I know what I'm talking about' and then I go looking for receipts. Footnotes are thin on the ground and often support these group snarks.

So if you know something, you can learn often-important nuances. But if you don't know it, taking his word as authoritative is difficult.

A very good overview of Boeing's history particularly after its merger with McDonnell Douglas, which the author argues was a turning point from an engineering worldview to one of bean-counting. It chronicles the spinoff of engineering functions and the way the American FAA allowed Boeing to be its own regulator and inspector. It was written in the wake of the twin 737 Max tragedies, which are a primary focus, but the seeds are sown for all the bits falling out of the sky that we've seen of late.