Betty's blog

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre. I whizzed through this book, which was actually quite entertaining, as well as thought-provoking. Essentially, he explains the 'bad science' behind alternative remedies/medicine, the dubious credentials of some famous providers of health and nutritional advice, and discusses the media storm around healthcare stories, such as the MMR vaccine's link (or not, as it turned out) to autism. I felt like I was already vaguely familiar with a lot of the information on how scientific research is conducted (although the last time I did anything even close a scientific experiment was about 10 years ago, at A-Level) but there was a lot that I have forgotten, or was not familiar with in such depth. This was a very accessible book, which didn't treat the reader as stupid. It has given me a healthy suspicion of health/science stories as reported in the media...I suppose I always thought there were a lot of dubious/exaggerated stories which may have mis

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother- The Official Biography- William Shawcross   Generally, I found this an interesting book. The first fifty years of the Queen Mother's life were interesting as I didn't know that much about her life during that time, and indeed my knowledge of that period of history is a little vague. The last ten or so years were interesting, as I remembered some of the events quite clearly, and it was interesting to contrast the world as it was then with the world she was born in to. I did find the long lists of charities she supported and official engagements a bit dull and repetitive. I also felt that, as it was an official biography, it was a bit...sanitised. (This could also be because Princess Margaret burned a lot of her mother's letters- if they had been in the royal archives, perhaps there would have been some more revealing insights. Also the QM seems to have been quite discreet, so it is probably impossible for anyone outside of her

Following Dar's post over at An Exacting Life, I thought that it was high time to revisit my (unread!) book collection, which I listed, err, some time ago here . I have actually managed to reduce the book collection quite significantly...but sadly not by actually reading them! I went through them recently and decided that I was very unlikely to actually read or use many of them again- especially books of seventeenth century documents! (Only really useful if you are doing a degree in history). Many of the books are now waiting in a cupboard for someone to buy them from Amazon... I'm going to make a concerted effort to finish at least one physical book per month- and those that are worth selling will be listed on Amazon and join their friends in the cupboard! There may be some that I decide are not worth ploughing through- straight to the cupboard with them... So, here is the updated list: Physical books (all non-fiction) 1. The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne

Here are my New Years resolutions- hopefully nice and specific, not impossible and fairly easy to tell if I have done them...they also may change as the year goes on, if I realise that they are impossible or foolish. 1. No alcohol. It may be a sign of age, but over the past couple of months I have had a headache and then felt sick for about a week after even one modestly sized glass of wine. As I rarely drink, this should not be a problem...maybe. I drink in the English style- nothing for months, and then a party with much, much wine- i.e. binge drinking. Yey! 2.  Horse riding- pass ABRS Equitation 5 and Stable Management 7 and 8. (Information  here  and  here , if you are interested). Update- since I made this list, I've passed Equitation 5- just about. Not going to aim to pass 6 this year though, as I don't think I will improve enough. 3. Exercise- do more. Nothing crazy- yoga twice a week (yes, that is  exercise!), swimming twice a week, walking twice a week. So far I