The September Reading List... A Quiet Relaunch

Hello hello... Long time no see. Very quietly I have decided to start re-launching the reading lists. The reason why it's going to be a soft launch is simple... I am not yet sure whether I'll be able to commit to it fully, but for the time being at least, I found a bit more spare time on my hands, and I am going to start re-publishing and sharing what I've been reading. 

Relative to my history, the ambition of these reading lists is going to be slightly less grand. I am aiming for a mere 3 books per month, for a total of around 1500 pages (so often I was tripped up previously by choosing weighty tomes...) which makes for a quite manageable 50 pages a day. The other big shift is I now have to read at least one of them given I have joined a new Book Club (happy to share details for those interested) which emphasises non-fiction. Anyhow, enough chit-chat... September took me to "Ultra-Processed People" which is a rather scary book on processed food, Stanley Tucci's "Taste" - which serves as a rather nice counterpoint using all natural ingredients-, and lastly, and most bizarrely "A Scheme of Heaven - Astrology & the Birth of Science". 

"Ultra-Processed People - Why do we all eat stuff that isn't food and why can't we stop?" Chris Van Tulken Link

This was the book club book, and it's among the scariest books I've actually ever read. It centres around the role of the ultra-processed food in the modern diet. UPF is best defined as an industrially-formulated edible substance derived from natural food or synthesised from other organic compounds. "Industrially-formulated edible substance..." - doesn't sound great, but what is it? Everything from flavoured yogurt to Pringles to cheese crackers to ready meals to protein bars is technically within the matrix of UPF. Most of its soft foods which have a huge range of flavour additives, preservatives and other chemicals, many of which have undergone relatively limited testing. 

Now it might not seem like a problem at first but the consequences are well documented despite the thousands of different additives which can be used.
UPF tends to have high calorie density, which helps with weight gain, and low in fibre. It itself displaces other whole foods from the diet which are catalogued to have numerous benefits. It creates mismatches between the taste buds and the stomach which makes it very hard to feel full (hence why it's easy to devour a 1000 calories bag of crisps). And it includes a whole range of stuff on which there has been relatively limited testing. None of this would be a problem but for the price, everything about UPF has been designed to make it as cheap as possible to manufacture - so that it can be industrially produced. 

The book is excellent, scientifically based, and goes into a range of different studies while not trying to fearmonger. Removing all of the UPF you consume is impossible, particularly in the UK, but is has certainly made me stop and pick up foods and check the ingredients lists before I buy them. I highly recommend the book! 

"Taste - My Life Through Food." Stanley Tucci. Link

A very special thank you to the person who bought me this book. They clearly knew a lot more about what it meant to be healthy than I did, and this has certainly been a nice counterpoint to have on the reading list to the first rather more traumatic read (which by the way person in question... I will give to you in return). I will keep this review relatively short though. 

It's a wonderful and wholesome story of one man, the actor Stanley Tucci's journey through life and what he was eating at various points, starting in New York and rising through the ranks to becoming an A-List celebrity (of which my favourite role of his in the Devil Wears Prada... which I'm seeing in November on stage and must confess I am immensely excited for). It's also filled with a whole range of recipes (though is not in any sense a recipe book) some of which I think are probably within my capabilities to try. For those who are reading my reading list with no intention to read... I would also highly recommend his show "Searching for Italy", which goes through much of the material! 

"A Scheme of Heaven - Astrology & the Birth of Science" - Alexander Boxer. Link

Unfortunately for my sister... who has just started Freshers Week at Imperial... This is not a map of a famous London nightclub for their big Tuesday out, but nonetheless, f
or those of you who I had confided in that there would be a relaunch of the reading list, I would be surprised if any of you had guessed that an early feature would be a book which attempts to give some credibility to a science which I hold in as much disdain as astrology. Nevertheless, in a brief argument earlier this year I was told to stop being so disregarding, and go and educate myself. And so, I did. Yes I know, very demure... very mindful.  

Admittedly, I did it in a typical fashion for me which was to go and start with history rather than go and get my psychic readings done... but still I actually found this one really rather fascinating. The book serves as a good chronology through the early phases of the science and is truly fascinating into what was at the outset an incredible mathematical challenge for the ancient world which he considers effectively the world's oldest data science project. As a complete novice who knew literally nothing on the subject (other than the fact I'm a Pisces... I could hardly name the other star signs though...), it's a compelling entry, and one which I am glad I read. Safe to say, I still don't feel the need to read my daily horoscopes, but I do at least now know what people are going on about when they say Mercury Retrograde, and a bit of the history about why that may not be considered so good! 

The main lesson from this one, even if you're skeptical, go and read something on it. You might just find it interesting! And in that vein, I will be doing much the same in the October reading list. I'm going to be reading JD Vance's book The Hillbilly Elegy (yes... this is the one I'm skeptical about), Nexus - The latest from Yuval Noah Harari -, and Haben - which is a story of remarkable accomplishment against the odds (and the book club read of the month). 

Please do send your suggestions in... my book pile is still looking a bit small and I'd like to get it back up to the 20 or so which used to be in it back in the day! 

Best, 

Luke