A fun read and I enjoyed it very much. a lot of fictional characters together like Jack (The Ripper?), Jill, Great Detective, Dracula. involving an opening/closing on Halloween.
It is a book I have to read again, I read it as an October challenge with 31 chapters I read one each day so that I finish it today on the 31st. It made for a slow start as some chapters are very short so you don’t get into it properly until 2 weeks in. Next time I read it I will read it normally.
I do love the very last line, perfect haha. I was hoping it would be in the book.
A wonderful read and a great history of the World Cup, not just the football side of it but the socio-political and economic side.
Each chapter details the build up to each World Cup and how it came to bed and the politics and personalities. Yes the football is the star of the show but the supporting cast are no less enjoyable (sometimes for the wrong reasons).
Politics and using the World Cup as a vehicle to put on a front has never been changed only the Mussolinis, Juntas of yesterday are today’s sportswashing with the recent Qatar and upcoming Saudi World Cups. With all the money spent on World Cups they are essentially white elephants after the Greatest Show On Earth leaves the staidums remain and all the problems of the people and millions (now billions) of debt remains. Especially as the World Cup has gone to countries like South Africa and Brazil where people are dispalced for the stadia and nobody really cares what happens afterwards.
Reading the book the interesting thing for me is two World Cups 1970 and 2002. 1970 was when football and the World Cup went colour and commercial and 2002 is when footballers were truly global.
2002 also happened to be my first World Cup where I paid attention to football and I can remember becoming a teenage expert in the metatarsal bone, loving the Fevernova ball, Anh Jung-Hwan’s goal against Italy, Ronaldinhos free kick and Rivaldo’s play acting. Until 2022 being a Welshman we only saw the World Cup here in the UK through the rose tinted glasses of England. Though as an adult I dislike international football and feel no connection to it.
I digress but the book highlights to me that football has changed as technology and globalisation grows and improves but the politicking and corruption has been ever present. The names change Rimet, Rous, Havelange, Blatter, Infantino but the self-serving rot is always there.
Its almost a year with the Amazon Kindle Colorsoft Signature Edition and I thought I would do a quick review of how I have found it so far. I say almost a year as it has been 9/10 months since I received my Colorsoft just after Christmas. Prior to the Colorsoft I was using the original Paperwhite Signature Edition.
Compared to last year my reading output has increased, I wouldn’t say it was helped by the Colorsoft but I have read only using the Colorsoft. I do notice compared to the Paperwhite the Colorsoft lacks clairty in some aspects but it is not detremiental to the reading experience, I am not a picky person but I know some are. The difference is the screen and how the nature of Coloured e-ink screens means there is an extra layer to the screen that affects the crispness.
I was very lucky that my Colorsoft was one of the first of the non-yellow band batch, I do notice something but I have concluded its the LEDs at the base. There is no sign of yellow and being a frequent visitor of Kindle forums it is a paranoia you can’t shake off.
Home Screen
Inside Book
Image
Zoomed In
Normal Text
Kindle Screenshot
The images above show the device as I see it, I did include a screenshot from another book. The Kabuki book had stylised pages which didn’t make it seem fair for comparison. I also included an in-kindle screenshot.
Does Colour or lack of change the Kindle experience? Im my opinion it hasn’t made it any better or worse. It is wonderful to see covers and images in colour, along with notations but 99% of the time you are reading and text is in black and white. Depending on what you’re reading some of the pictures may be published without colour so there is no difference at all. I was excited to read a Manga on the Colorsfot but then realised only the cover was coloured and the content black and white. It really shone through with comics and I had read a series called Gun Honey and that really popped.
I do think colour is the future and for the first iteration of coloured e-ink Kindles, this is a fine entry and better it will get. Already there are a 16GB model Colorsoft and a Kids version and recently announced Colorsoft Scribe. I am happy with mine and it will do me for many years, perhaps if there is a big jump in quality and features down the line I would get another.
Perhaps they will add features like change of font colour, or page background colours. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here. A slight disappointment for me is the lock screen, I know for longevity and battery it is limited in brightness, but it would be nice if it was backlit a little to be more vibrant at the expensise of battery.
Lock ScreenDevice On
All in all colour or no colour it makes little difference but it is nice to have the choice to enjoy the option of colour. Is it a necessity no, but it is a pleasure and great to have the choice. Though the question with Amazon getting more restrictive is to try a new e-reader or stick. Kobo, Boox, Pocketbook all provide alternatives to Kindle. I would be interested to see the next colour offerings from Kobo and see how they update the Libre Color, that would be what I would go for next, if they make improvements to the device and build quality.
I found this to be a very pleasant surprise and I was honestly expecting it to be a little underwhelming and too similar to David Mitchell’s Unruly, but what a thoroughly enjoyable romp between 1000 years of English/British Monarchs.
Very readable and approachable and full of humour and interest. Is it clonclusive or detailed? No but there is enough for each Monarch to get a lot out of this book. Even the boring ones or who did little of note.
It is a book I would love to read again and I loved the illustrations by Jim Moir (Vic Reeves), especially the one of Wat Tyler and Richard II, and the one of Simon de Montfort with his balls on his nose!
Valley Reviews 