I spent the 2024-25 academic year in Sheffield, England, conducting my sabbatical research. It was my third year living there, but my wife’s first, and I was thrilled to share a place completely new to her. At the top of my list was showing her the Peak District. She loved our hikes through its rolling hills, but something I never expected happened: she fell in love with the sheep. Every ram, ewe, and lamb we passed delighted her, and when we later hiked in the Lake District, her affection only grew. Watching her joy made me fall even more in love with her.
For her birthday, I searched for a book about sheep in northern England and discovered James Rebanks’ The Shepherd’s Life. I was captivated by it, not only because it echoed my wife’s newfound passion, but because Rebanks transported me into the rugged, beautiful world of Lake District shepherds. His portrait of a man whose practical brilliance led him from farm life to Oxford reminded me that intelligence takes many forms, and each deserves admiration.
'Affectionate, evocative, illuminating. A story of survival - of a flock, a landscape and a disappearing way of life. I love this book' Nigel Slater
'Triumphant, a pastoral for the 21st century' Helen Davies, Sunday Times, Books of the Year
'The nature publishing sensation of the year, unsentimental yet luminous' Melissa Harrison, The Times, Books of the Year
Some people's lives are entirely their own creations. James Rebanks' isn't. The first son of a shepherd, who was the first son of a shepherd himself, he and his family have lived and worked in and…
My second favorite read of the past year was deeply personal, much like my first. Whereas The Shepherd’s Life connected me to my wife’s love of sheep, Jane Eyre connected me to my younger daughter, who studied the Brontë sisters for an entire semester at university. Having already read Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights the previous year, I was eager to experience Charlotte Brontë’s masterpiece alongside my daughter. Discussing it with her was pure joy.
What most struck me about Jane Eyre was its powerful tension between feminist ideals and personal choice, faith and hypocrisy, love and independence, all expressed through Brontë’s exquisite prose. Some argue that Jane “sold out” by choosing Rochester, binding herself to him for life. To me, that choice was the very essence of autonomy. She wasn’t coerced or confined by circumstance; she chose freely, out of love and conviction.
Context matters. In mid-19th-century England, Jane’s independence and moral strength were revolutionary. Jane Eyre is a profoundly human story, thoughtful, emotional, and beautifully written.
Introduction and Notes by Dr Sally Minogue, Canterbury Christ Church University College.
Jane Eyre ranks as one of the greatest and most perennially popular works of English fiction. Although the poor but plucky heroine is outwardly of plain appearance, she possesses an indomitable spirit, a sharp wit and great courage.
She is forced to battle against the exigencies of a cruel guardian, a harsh employer and a rigid social order. All of which circumscribe her life and position when she becomes governess to the daughter of the mysterious, sardonic and attractive Mr Rochester.
Starting a book by a Nobel Laureate in economics might seem intimidating, but no one should shy away from Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom. Like many titles on my long “to-read” list, I wish I had opened it decades earlier. Though published in 1944, its insights remain as vital today as during the turmoil of World War II. Whatever one’s political leanings, there are passages that make any reader nod in agreement, and pause in reflection.
One line I underlined captures Hayek’s warning: “… in the disciplines dealing directly with human affairs … the disinterested search for truth cannot be allowed in a totalitarian system.” Those words resonate powerfully today when science is doubted, opponents demonized, and truth itself contested.
Much has been written in both praise and criticism of Hayek’s work, but its enduring value lies in provoking thought. Whether one is an economist or a curious reader seeking clarity amid political noise, The Road to Serfdom challenges assumptions and invites conversations that matter.
An unimpeachable classic work in political philosophy, intellectual and cultural history, and economics, "The Road to Serfdom" has inspired and infuriated politicians, scholars, and general readers for half a century. Originally published in 1944 - when Eleanor Roosevelt supported the efforts of Stalin, and Albert Einstein subscribed lock, stock, and barrel to the socialist program - "The Road to Serfdom" was seen as heretical for its passionate warning against the dangers of state control over the means of production. For F. A. Hayek, the collectivist idea of empowering government with increasing economic control would lead not to a utopia but…
My first book unites two of my lifelong passions: science and sports. With a physicist’s eye, I explore some of the most breathtaking moments in athletic history: Bob Beamon’s record-shattering long jump at the 1968 Olympics, Doug Flutie’s miraculous Hail Mary, Taiho Koki’s sumo dominance, and more. Using the laws of physics that constrain us all, I reveal how athletes achieve the seemingly impossible.
Gold Medal Physics may support an entry-level “Physics of Sports” course, yet it’s no textbook. Written for any curious reader, I use only basic algebra and trigonometry to make the equations of motion come alive. Though equations may intimidate some, they are simply the language of the universe, and physics its poetry. Embrace them, and discover that learning is exhilarating fun.
