The Swedish Presidency of the EU came to a grand finale this month, with lots of work, controversies, trips abroad and high level meetings and summits – and a bizzare episode which saw me taking a whizz in a small bathroom while the Swedish prime minister was brushing his teeth over the sink next to me. Such are the vagaries of life as an interpreter, I suppose.

None of it distracted me from my reading, however. Four books made it onto my list this month:

Bad Science (Goldacre) – an eye opener on the shortcomings of media, Big Pharma, snake oil merchants and others with regard to how scientific data is used and abused. (4.5/5)

Dollars and Sense (Ariely) – on money management. I honestly cannot remember a single thing that this book taught me. The title is probably the best thing about it. (2/5)

The Art of Learning (Waitzkin) – an autobiography more than anything, it charters the author’s path from chess wunderkind to martial arts champion. Some interesting insights into meta learning. (3.5/5)

Pathogenesis (Kennedy) – This was gifted to me, and I loved it! How germs have shaped the course of history. Insightful, surprising, learned and easy to read – everything a book should be! (5/5)

And now, finally, holidays! Time to do some serious reading…! 😄