The Book Worm has turned

Books of the Month - June thru August

2009-09-03T10:54:00.004+01:00

June Book of the Month
The Other Hand by Chris Cleave
I was lured in by the vague, air of mystery blurb on the back of the book from the publisher, about not telling us what it is about. It may seem like a pretty silly tactic but to be honest I probably wouldn't have bought it if it had said "this is a story about a middle-class English woman's friendship a Nigerian refugee". That is what it is about, but if I had ignored it on that summary, I would have missed out on a wonderfully written book, that was beautiful and moving. I may have also been put off by a story told from the perspective of two women that was written by one man, but again this was done brilliantly. It has some very bittersweet bits of humour in here.

July Book of the Month
Willard and His Bowling Trophies by Richard Brautigan
A short, surreal story from Brautigan who most famous works (In Watermelon Sugar and Trout Fishing in America) I wasn't so impressed with. But I loved this one. It is about two couples living in the same apartment block, and three brothers who are looking for their stolen bowling trophies. The Willard of the title is a papier-mache bird - its that kind of book!

August Book of the Month
Riven Rock by T C Boyle
My new favourite Boyle book. This one is loosely based on the true story of Stanley McCormick who spends most of his adult life locked away from society due to his mental illness. The book charters his treatment by various doctors, which at times descends into farce, but other parts of the book were genuinely moving. I was reduced to tears by the end.

999 Challenge Update: End of August

2009-09-03T10:46:00.003+01:00

I've not posted in ages due to a new job and various other stresses. I've also lapsed on the 999 challenge reviews over on the challenge website, so this update is merely a list for now. I'm quite close to completing the challenge with four categories completed, although it now getting tougher to get hold of books to fit the categories.

1001 Books to Read Before You Die
1. Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates
2. The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien
3. Slow Man by J M Coetzee
4. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M Cain
5. Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham
6. Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
7. The Successor by Ismail Kadore
8. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
9. Mr Vertigo by Paul Auster

Fiction Authors that are New to Me
1. Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann
2. Underground Man by Mick Jackson
3. The Flood by David Maine
4. The Man who was Thursday by G K Chesterton
5. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
6. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
7. The Girls: A Novel by Lori Lansens
8. When I was Five I Killed Myself by Howard Buten
9.The Other Hand by Chris Cleave

Crime and Detectives around the world (each one from a different country)
1. Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg (Greenland)
2. Real World by Natsuo Kirino (Japan)
3. Ice Moon by Jan Costin Wagner (Finland)
4. Right as Rain by George Pelecanos (Washington DC, USA)
5. Messenger of Athens by Anne Zouroudi (Greece)
6. The Snack Thief by Andrea Camilleri (Sicilly)
7. Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith (Soviet Union)
8
9.

Theme: Dystopia
1. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
2. The Declaration by Gemma Malley
3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
4. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
5. Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
6.Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
7.The Giver by Lois Lowry
8. We by Yevgenry Zamyatin

Retro: Beats, Hippies, 1960s and Counter-Culture (fiction and non-fiction)
1. Retro Retro: Fictional Flashbacks by Amy Prior
2. 1968: the year that rocked the world - Mark Kurlansky
3. Hippie by Barry Miles
4. Trout Fishing in America by Richard Brautigan
5. I think therefore who am I by Peter Weissman
6. When I Was Cool - Sam Kashner
7. In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan
8. Willard and his Bowling Trophies by Richard Brautigan
9. Hippie Hippie Shake by Richard Neville

Around the World (fiction set outside of the UK and USA - each one from a different country)
1. Cloudstreet by Tim Winton (Australia)
2. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini (Afghanistan)
3. Distant Star by Roberto Bolano (Chile)
4. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Dominican Republic)
5. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria)
6. Tropical Fish: Tales from Entebbe by Doreen Baingana (Uganda)
7. Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah (Zimbabwe)

Non-Fiction
1. Shakespeare by Bill Bryson
2. Los Angeles without a Map by Richard Rayner
3. The Natural History of Unicorns by Chris Laver
4. The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale.
5. Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell
6.The Last Shot by Darcy Frey (sports related book picked by my OH)
7. Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
8. Hippo Eats Dwarf by Alex Boese

Complete Works of - T C Boyle
1. East is East
2. Inner Circle
3. A Friend of the Earth
4. Talk Talk
5. Budding Prospects
6. Riven Rock
7. World's End

Themed Titles - Animals (a different animal in each title)
1. The Boy Who Kicked Pigs by Tom Baker
2. White Tiger by Aravinda Adiga
3. Giraffe by J M Ledgard
4. Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks by Christopher Brookmyre
5. The Book of Chameleons by Jose Eduardo Agualusa
6 The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa
7. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
8. Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall
9. Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman

Books of the Months - March thru May

2009-06-18T20:56:00.003+01:00

I forgot entirely about this. (I pretty much forgot about the whole blog). So to catch up:

March Book of the Month
The Road by Cormac McCarthy - absolutely amazing. A deceptively simple narrative about a man and his son, making their way through a post-apocalyptic world. Sparse text, with minimal punctation, but genuinely moving and disturbing. I had to stop reading it on the train because I was going to cry - recommendations don't come higher than that!

April Book of the Month
Talk Talk by T C Boyle - A woman, who is deaf, is the victim of identity theft and takes the law into her own hands to seek revenge on the criminal. This is a book about identity and communication, thought-provoking and with great characters.

May Book of the Month
The Last Shot: City Streets, Basketball Dream by Darcy Frey - my surprise hit! Borrowed (under duress) from the OH, I wasn't particularly interested in the plight of basketball playing kids from Coney Island before reading this, but was so engrossed in it. Basketball obviously does feature, but it as much about the poverty trap and the ridiculous college sport system. This one made me angry and sad at the same time. I'm not sure if I set myself any rules about the book of the month being fiction, but this one is a non-fiction book.

999 Challenge: Update End of April

2009-05-01T17:11:00.002+01:00

I didn't update at the end of March as I was away. My reading has slowed but I'm still on target to finish and not doing too bad a job at keeping the categories balanced.

1001 Books to Read Before You Die
1. Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates
2. Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien
3. Slow Man by J M Coetzee
4. The Postman Always Rings Twice - James M Cain

Fiction Authors that are New to Me
1. Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann
2. The Underground Man by Mick Jackson
3. The Flood by David Maine
4. The Man who was Thursday by G K Chesterton
5. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin
6. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

Crime and Detectives around the world (each one from a different country)
1. Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg (Denmark and Greenland)
2. Real World by Natsuo Kirino (Japan)
3. Ice Moon by Jan Costin Wagner (Finland)
4. Right as Rain by George Pelecanos (USA)
5. The Messenger of Athens by Anne Zouroudi (Greece)

Theme: Dystopia
1. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
2. The Declaration by Gemma Malley
3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
4. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
5. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham

Retro: Beats, Hippies, 1960s and Counter-Culture (fiction and non-fiction)
1. Retro Retro edited by Amy Prior
2. 1968: The Year that Rocked the World by Mark Kurlansky
3. Hippie by Barry Miles
4. Trout Fishing in America by Richard Brautigan
5. I think therefore who am I by Peter Weissman

Around the World (fiction set outside of the UK and USA - each one from a different country)
1. Cloudstreet by Tim Winton (Australia)
2. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini (Afghanistan)
3. Distant Star by Roberto Bolano (Chile)
4. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Dominican Republic)
5. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria)
6. Tropical Fish: Tales from Entebbe by Doreen Baingana (Uganda)
7. Elegy for Easterly by Petina Gappah (Zimbabwe)

Non-Fiction
1. Shakespeare by Bill Bryson
2. Los Angeles without a Map by Richard Rayner
3. The Natural History of Unicorns by Chris Laver
4. The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale.
5. Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell

Complete Works of - T C Boyle
1. East is East by T C Boyle
2. The Inner Circle by T C Boyle
3. A Friend of the Earth by T C Boyle
4. Talk Talk by T C Boyle

Themed Titles - Animals (a different animal in each title)
1. The Boy Who Kicked Pigs by Tom Baker
2. White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
3. Giraffe by J M Ledgard
4. Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks by Christopher Brookmyre
5. The Book of Chameleons by Jose Eduardo Agualusa

Charity Shop Watch: April 2009

2009-04-19T20:38:00.003+01:00

I'd not been on my charity shop run for quite some time, but came back with quite a haul today. I did my bit for heart disease, spending £10 on four books in the British Heart Foundation Shop. The most expensive of the charity shops on my run, they seem to have upped their prices since my last trip, with many books now on sale for £3 a go. But they do have a good selection and the four I bought could easily have been doubled.

I bought:

The Book of Chameleons by Jose Eduardo Agualusa
You Cannont Live as I have Lived and Not End up Like This - The Thoroughly DisgracefullLife and Times of Willie Donaldson by Terence Blacker
The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham
The Girls by Lori Lansens

Once more proving that last year's best seller is this year's charity fodder, there were four copies of No Time for Goodbyes in the BHF shop and another one in the YMCA shop. How long before multiple copies of The Suspicions of Mr Whicher start to appear there?

Holiday Reads

2009-04-10T23:17:00.002+01:00

I love browsing other people's bookshelves, so I was delighted to find that the apartment we had rented in San Francisco had a small library of books.

It was an eclectic selection, I presume comprising of books belonging to the owners and things left behind by previous holiday-makers.

It included the quintessential San Francisco book "Tales of the City" by Armistead Maupin which I'd been meaning to read so was pleased to discover here. I also read "Down and Out in Paris and London" by George Orwell, the poverty and misery providing a nice contrast with Californian sun. I started "A Short History of Nearly Everything " by Bill Bryson but it wasn't short enough and I abondoned it when I realised that I wouldn't be able to read 600 pages in the remaining time.

The collection had something for all tastes:

White Teeth by Zadie Smith
Virago Woman's Guide to San Francisco
Treasury of Poetry
Its Not About the Bike by Lance Armstrong
Charlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulk
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Complete Book of Horse Care
3 books by Anne Rice
Several Alexander McCall Smith books
Multiple books by Nick Bantock (who?)

and my absolute favourite "There and Back Again" by Sean Astin, which I did try to read aloud from once, but found so dull I couldn't continue.

Reading Borges

2009-03-24T08:30:00.004Z

Jorge Luis Borges is one of the greats. One of those writers that you really must read.

I've been carrying "Fictions" around in my bag for two weeks now. I've managed to read two stories from it.

I just can't read it. Perhaps if I'd come to Borges while I was younger and studying literature then I would have had the mental agility to read it, but not now when I primarily read for pleasure. I do like to feel challenged occasionally in my reading and certainly to learn something new, but this is too much. It is impenetrable.

The note from the translator says it all:
"I have presumed the reader to possess more or less the range of general or world history or culture that JLB makes constant reference to, or to have access to such reference books and other sources as would supply any need there".

It may be worth trying to find my way through, so that I too love Borges, but I'm just not in the right mindset at the moment.

I think Borges in going back to the library unread.

Favourite Passage: "The Man Who Was Thursday" by G K Chesterton

2009-03-12T20:34:00.003Z

A description of the lead character, Gabriel Syme's family:

"He came from a family of cranks, in which all the oldest people had all the newest notions. One of his uncles always walked about without a hat and another had made an unsuccessful attempt to walk about with a hat and nothing esle. His father cultivated art and self-realization; his mother went in for simplicity and hygiene. Hence the child, during his tenderer years, was wholly unacquainted with any drink between the extremes of absinthe and cocoa, of both of which he had a healthy dislike. The more his mother preached a more than Puritan abstinence the more did his father expand into a more than pagan latitude; and by the time the former had come to enforcing vegetarianism, the latter had pretty well reached the point of defending cannibalism.

Book of the Month: February 2009

2009-03-05T20:14:00.003Z

Rather late but I've been deliberating.

After much thought, February's Book of the Month is "Tropical Fish: Tales from Entebbe" by Doreen Baingana.

The book consists of eight connected short stories about Christine and her two sisters, coming of age in Uganda. A full review can be found here, but in brief, I read it in the space of a few hours and felt the deepest empathy for the characters.

Connections: "Giraffe" and "Natural History of Unicorns"

2009-03-03T15:09:00.001Z

"Giraffe" by J M Ledgard is a fictionalised account of a real life incident involving giraffes in a Czechoslovakian zoo in the 1970s.

“The Natural History of Unicorns” is a non-fiction book looking at the origins and persistence of the unicorn myth.

What connects these two books?

Before I read “Giraffe” I had never heard of the Okapi, the closest relative of the giraffe, but without the long legs or neck. And then, I encountered it again in “The Natural History of Unicorns” as one of the possible candidates for being the source of the unicorn.

999 Challenge Update: End of February

2009-03-01T12:56:00.002Z

My aim at the beginning of the month was to have read three books in each category by the end of the month. This plan went awry. Numbers-wise I'm still on target, but I have been enticed by books in the Around the World category at the expense of others.

1001 Books to Read Before You Die
1. Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates
2. Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien
3. Slow Man by J M Coetzee

Fiction Authors that are New to Me
1. Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann
2. The Underground Man by Mick Jackson

Crime and Detectives around the world (each one from a different country)
1. Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg (Denmark and Greenland)
2. Real World by Natsuo Kirino (Japan)
3. Ice Moon by Jan Costin Wagner (Finland)

Theme: Dystopia
1. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
2. The Declaration by Gemma Malley
3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Retro: Beats, Hippies, 1960s and Counter-Culture (fiction and non-fiction)
1. Retro Retro edited by Amy Prior
2. 1968: The Year that Rocked the World by Mark Kurlansky

Around the World (fiction set outside of the UK and USA - each one from a different country)
1. Cloudstreet by Tim Winton (Australia)
2. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini (Afghanistan)
3. Distant Star by Roberto Bolano
4. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
5. Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
6. Tropical Fish: Tales from Entebbe by Doreen Baingana

Non-Fiction
1. Shakespeare by Bill Bryson
2. Los Angeles without a Map by Richard Rayner

Complete Works of - T C Boyle
1. East is East by T C Boyle
2. The Inner Circle by T C Boyle
3. A Friend of the Earth by T C Boyle

Themed Titles - Animals (a different animal in each title)
1. The Boy Who Kicked Pigs by Tom Baker
2. White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
3. Giraffe by J M Ledgard

File Under: A Rant

2009-02-27T13:08:00.000Z

I had heard good things about Doreen Baingana's book "Tropical Fish: Tales from Entebbe" and was pleased that my library had a copy in stock.

On my first attempt to find it, I drew a blank, but this is a common problem in my library - many books are listed as in stock, but are not be found on the shelves.

On my next visit, I looked for it again on the Fiction shelves where it was categorised as being, but again to no avail. Then I had a thought occurred to me and I looked on the Black Writers shelf, and there it was.

Doreen Baingana is a black writer in so much as she is black and a writer, but I still think the catalogue's record of the book being in the General Fiction section is more accurate. For me the Black Writers section has connotations and I as a white woman would normally have no interest in those books and would feel somewhat of a fraud in that section (in the same way that I enjoy the beats of NWA, but know that "911s a Joke in Your Town" is not aimed at me).

At what point does a writer who is black cease to be a Black Writer and just become a Writer?

Having taken the book home, I read "Tropical Fish" in one evening. It was fantastic. Set mainly in Uganda, some of its themes were very specific to that place, but other parts of it were universal. It is a wonderful book, and not one that should be marginalised in the Black Writers shelf.

So the lessons learnt are once more to not trust the library catalogue and to look in the Black Writers section again because who knows what other gems might be tucked away there.

Book Award Challenge: Completed

2009-02-25T10:48:00.001Z

I have completed the challenge!

1. Stuart: A Life Backwards by Alexander Master - Guardian First Book Award 2005
2. Last Orders by Graham Swift - Booker Prize 1996
3. The Sea by John Banville - Man Booker Prize 2005
4. The Gathering by Anne Enright - Man Booker Prize 2007
5. Boy A by Jonathan Trigell - John Llewellyn Rhys Prize 2004
6. Shipping News - Annie Proulx - Pulitzer Prize
7. Whatever - Michel Houellebecq - Impac Prize
8. The Accidental - Ali Smith - Whitbread Prize
9. White Tiger- Arvinda Adiga - Man Booker Prize 2008
10. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Pulizer Prize 2008

10 books across 6 prizes.

Book Prize

2009-02-25T10:44:00.002Z

I like Sky Arts’ Book Show. I think Mariella Frostrup is a great host. I like the format of the show. I think the show pitches a good balance between intellectual and accessible.

However, one element disturbs me each week.

The competition prize.

You can win each of the books that the guests have picked in answer to the question about the character in literature they would most like to be. But you also win this Book Chair.

I love books. I quite like chairs. But this is just wrong. Hideous.

Which character in literature would you be?

2009-02-18T07:54:00.002Z

Every guest on The Book Show (on Sky Arts) is asked this question. There have been various approaches to it. The character who is most like yourself. The character with the most enviable life. The character who is nothing like yourself who you'd like to feel things through for a time.

I've been pondering this for a few weeks now. I've struggled to think of many female characters who I'd like to be, so I'm putting aside gender. Someone else on the show picked this character, but I keep coming back to it.

I would be Arthur Dent from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

He is English, he is often confused, he wears a dressing gown and he gets to travel.

Favourite Passage: "Underground Man" by Mick Jackson

2009-02-16T09:43:00.001Z

About twenty years ago, on my birthday, good Lord Galway of Serlby presented me with a beautiful basset-hound pup... Immediately recognizable by their stout little legs, concave back and baggy ears, something about their appearance suggests they have been knocked together out of odd bits of other dogs. The simplest task - such as walking - can prove very troublesome for a bassset-hound. It is as if they had been poorly designed. Their coat is always most generously tailored and none more so than the pup handed to me that day. He had on him enough flesh to adequated clothe another two or three dogs besides - the majority of it hanging of his face - and though he was at the time no more than a few months old he wore the immutable basset expression of Lifelong Woe.

Book of the Month: January 2009

2009-01-30T13:06:00.001Z

Each month I'm going to pick my Book of the Month. Strictly one book, no matter how hard a decision that might be.

This month's choice is Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

A classic book that I can't believe it took me so long to get around to reading. It was thought-provoking as all good dystopian literature should be, but it was still a relatively easy read, and I was surprised by how humorous it was.

999 Challenge: Update End of January

2009-01-30T12:52:00.005Z

Quite a good start to the year. I’ve read at least one book in each category plus I’ve even read a few things outside of challenge.

My reviews are can be read on the 999 Challenge blog by clicking on the titles below.

1001 Books to Read Before You Die
1. Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates
2. Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien

Fiction Authors that are New to Me
1. Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann

Crime and Detectives around the world (each one from a different country)
1. Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow by Peter Hoeg (Denmark and Greenland)
2. Real World by Natsuo Kirino (Japan)

Theme: Dystopia
1. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
2. The Declaration by Gemma Malley

Retro: Beats, Hippies, 1960s and Counter-Culture (fiction and non-fiction)
1. Retro Retro edited by Amy Prior
2. 1968: The Year that Rocked the World by Mark Kurlansky

Around the World (fiction set outside of the UK and USA - each one from a different country)
1. Cloudstreet by Tim Winton (Australia)
2. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini (Afghanistan)
3. Distant Star by Roberto Bolano

Non-Fiction
1. Shakespeare by Bill Bryson

Complete Works of - T C Boyle
1. East is East by T C Boyle

Themed Titles - Animals (a different animal in each title)
1. The Boy Who Kicked Pigs by Tom Baker
2. White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

Book Award Challenge: Update January 2009

2009-01-22T11:29:00.000Z

1. Stuart: A Life Backwards by Alexander Master - Guardian First Book Award 2005
2. Last Orders by Graham Swift - Booker Prize 1996
3. The Sea by John Banville - Man Booker Prize 2005
4. The Gathering by Anne Enright - Man Booker Prize 2007
5. Boy A by Jonathan Trigell - John Llewellyn Rhys Prize 2004
6. Shipping News - Annie Proulx - Pulitzer Prize
7. Whatever - Michel Houellebecq - Impac Prize
8. The Accidental - Ali Smith - Whitbread Prize
9. White Tiger- Arvinda Adiga - Man Booker Prize 2008

Number of book: 9
Number of prizes: 6

The Thrill of the Chase

2009-01-16T08:38:00.002Z

I love reading. I really do. But I think I enjoy the acquisition of books just as much. The thrill of finding a gem in a charity shop, the atmosphere of the independent bookstore, the swapping process on ReadItSwapIt and the wealth of books for free from the library. All of these are great, but I still love browsing in the large bookshops, even if I rarely buy anything there these days.

Yesterday, I called into Borders on Oxford Street. Just because it was there really. So many books. It was wonderful. I was close to climbing onto the 3 for 2 table and rolling around amongst the books, I was that overcome with joy.

They had such a great selection. But still common sense prevailed and I left empty-handed. I need to reduce the "To Be Read" pile significantly before I can buy anything more.

Although swapping is an entirely different matter...

Charity Shop Watch Part 2

2009-01-12T15:08:00.002Z

I returned to the shop that had the three copies of "The Five People You Meet in Heaven". No copies of it remained but instead there were three copies of "The House at Riverton" by Kate Morton. Very odd.

Also is it weird of me to feel slightly offended when I see copies of books I love in charity shops? Its not as if I'm the author, but I still feel a bit put out that someone wants rid of something that is a favourite of mine.

For the second week running I didn't buy anything. I was tempted by a copy of "The Artist in the Floating World" by Kazuo Ishiguro, but I'm on a temporary book buying ban, having bought three books last week. I will lift the ban once these are read.

Favourite Passage: "The Boy Who Kicked Pigs" by Tom Baker

2009-01-06T19:06:00.004Z

(this is a conversation between two reporters on the local radio discussing the huge catastrophe on the road)

"Was there anyone in the cab"? asked David revealing again there wasn't much inside his cab.

Cassandra pushed on. "Well David it seems there were two people in the car, a man accompanied by another man. They were twins, both of them. Twin brothers. At least that's what they told Mr Crump, who is good on details and picked all this up while trying to save the little car. Both the men were of the male sex and aged seventy-three. It would appear that they were on their way to the birthday party of their old headmaster, but as I said their number was up. Their name was on the bullet"

"Oh my God" responded David the brain who would have said the same thing if Cassandra had told him it was raining.

"We rang the old headmaster", said Cassandra, "to tell him of the tragedy and to spoil his party"

"Oh my god" groaned David. "And what did he say?"

"Well, David it seems he was too upset to talk coherently. All he kept saying was the twins were good at geography and nothing like this had ever happened before."

Charity Shop Watch

2009-01-06T17:31:00.002Z

On my regular Sunday jaunt to what I refer to as the Charity Shop Mile (which isn't anywhere near a mile long, but does have 5 charity shops), I spotted that one shop had three copies of the same book. Clearly a book that was briefly a "must read" book, but is over-rated.

It wasn't the Da Vinci Code, although that would fit my analysis and there is usually a copy of this in the Charity Shop Mile.

The book was:

The Five People You Meet in Heavenby Mitch Albom

I've read it myself a few years ago, that it was only just ok.

Top Five Fiction Books of the Year

2008-12-31T16:55:00.004Z

A very difficult choice to make to keep it to just five, but limited it to fiction to make it slightly easier.

In order read, rather than preference because that would be way too hard

Fup by Jim Dodge
A fable simply told about an old man, his life-giving whisky, his grandson and their enormous duck! Beyond that it is hard to describe. It won't take more than a couple of hours to read, which is good because I'll definitely want to read it again and again.

Naive, Super by Erlend Loe
This was a recommendation from Amazon, based on other books I'd bought and viewed. It turned out to be a great suggestion. I loved it. It is about a 25 year old who doesn't know what to do with his life and is looking to feel connected with the world. The main character is not a cynic as is usually the case in these types of books, but lovely if a little odd.

Three to See the King by Magnus Mills
I just discovered Magnus Mills this year and of his four novels I read, this was my favourite. A strange but brilliant little book. A man lives a simple but happy life in a house of tin, until a woman unexpectedly comes to stay and his distant neighbours start to start about a wonderful man called Michael. It is a parable about religion, society and desires, but it is also very funny.

Light of Day by Graham Swift
Playing with the conventions of the detective story, we find out almost immediately who committed the crime, and the rest of the book is about piecing together the events that led up to it. It is all seen from the point of view of a detective, who has fallen in love with the murderer. That summary doesn't really do it justice. It is about relationships, secrets and love - all big themes, but it is beautifully written and griping.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
I was immediately drawn in by the narrator, intrigued with the impending sense that something wasn't quite right in her world. I loved the way the situation was slowly unfolded through memories from the past, and the big revelations just slipped in. The skewed version of England is like science fiction, but this surpasses most books in that genre by having totally believable characters and in particular the portrayal of school day friendships is so accurate. There were certain parts of the book that were very moving, towards the end but also little touches throughout that nearly brough me to tears. This is a book I'll want to read again.

All of my top five books are a bit odd. The first three are very short and the latter two aren't particularly long. I like short, quirky books and 2008 was a great year for them.

A Note on the Type: "Explorers of the New Century" by Magnus Mills

2008-12-20T16:32:00.003Z

The text of this book is set in Linotype Janson. The original types for which were cut in about 1690 by Nicolas Kis, a Hungarian working in Amsterdam. The face was misnamed after Anton Janson, a Dutchman who worked at the Ehrhardt Foundry in Leipzig, where the original Kis types were kept in the early eighteenth century. Monotype Ehrhardt is based on Janson. The original matrices survived in Germany and were acquired in 1919 by the Stempel Foundry. Herman Zapf used these originals to redesign some of the weights and sizes for Stempel. This linotype version was designed to follow the original types under the direction of C H Griffiths.

Bloomsbury paperback 2006.

Favourite Passage: Timbuktu by Paul Auster

2008-12-08T16:39:00.002Z

"But the truth is, friend, that dogs can read. Why else would they putthose signs on the doors of post ofifices? NO DOGS ALLOWED EXCEPT FORSEEING-EYE DOGS. Do you catch my meaning? The man with the dog can'treadit, who else is left? THat's what they do in those seeing-see schools. They just don't tell us. They've kept it secret and bynow it's one of hte three or fourvbest-kept secretes in Amercia. forgood reason, too. If word gotout, just think of what wouldhappen. Dogs as smart as men? A blasphermoussasertion. There'dbe riots in the streets, they'd burn down the WhiteHouse, mayhem wouldrule. In three months, dogs would be pressing for theiindependence.Delegations would convene, negotiations would being, and hteend they'dsettle the things by giving up Nebraska, South Dakota and half ofKansas."

Willie G Christmas in Timbuktu by Paul Auster.

Reading around the USA

2008-12-05T12:59:00.001Z

The map on my Reading Globally post is rather misleading when it comes to the larger countries of the world. I haven't read something set in every region of Russia, India or Canada. The same is true of the USA. I have read a lot of books set in New York and California and not much in between.

Despite my aim to travel the world through reading, it is inevitable that I will still visit the USA, so I've started a map to show my travels through the States.

Alaska - Drop City by T C Boyle
California - recent reads set here include Post Office by Charles Bukowski, Tortilla Curtain by T C Boyle, The Graduate by Charles Webb
Florida - All Families are Psychotic by Douglas Coupland and Darkly Dreaming Dexter books by Jeff Lindsay
Maine - the books of Stephen King
Maryland - Timbuktu by Paul Auster
New Hampshire - Hotel New Hampshire and other books by John Irving
New York - lots but recent reads set here include Flowers for Algernon, Naive Super by Erlend Loe, Third Brother and Twelve by Nick McDonell and East Hampton in New York state in My Life at Grey Gardens
North Carolina - The Minotaur takes a Cigarette Break by Steven Sherrill
Wyoming - in Miss Wyoming by Douglas Coupland
Texas - Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre
Vermont - The Secrety History by Donna Tartt
Virginia - Timbuktu by Paul Auster

create your own personalized map of the USA

999 Challenge: I'm in!

2008-12-02T14:45:00.000Z

Having enjoyed the 888 challenge so much, I was pleased when the 999 challenge was proposed.

The rules are much the same as last year, but with 9 books in 9 categories with 9 overlaps allowed.

A 999 challenge blog has been started for participants to chart their progress and post their reviews, so I'll be posting over there too.

My categories for the challenge will be as follows:

1. 1001 Books to Read Before You Die
2. Fiction Authors that are New to Me
3. Crime and Detectives around the world (each one from a different country)
4. Theme: Dystopia
5. Beats, Hippies, 1960s and Counter-Culture (fiction and non-fiction)
6. Around the World (fiction set outside of the UK and USA - each one from a different country)
7. Non-Fiction
8. Complete Works of: T C Boyle
9. Themed Titles: Animals (a different animal in each title)

Reading Globally: Pakistan

2008-11-30T15:11:00.000Z

Then on Pakistan with The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid.

A young Pakistani man talks to an American stranger in Lahore, telling him about how he became disillisioned with the American way of life. It is a monologue, we never 'hear' the American's words. It is simple, but effective and the tension is built up to the brilliant ending.

A lot of the book was about American culture from the viewpoint of an outsider, but still some great detail about Pakistani culture, in particular the descriptions of food and nature. I was struck by how important food is, both in this book and in The Blood of Flowers, perhaps in the West, we take it too much for granted.

Reading Globally: Iran

2008-11-29T15:05:00.000Z

Next on my travels was Iran in The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani.

This book was a huge departure from my usual reading, not just because of the country (which I'd not been to before on my reading travels), but becuase it was set in the 16th century. I very rarely read anything that is set further back than the last century.

I really enjoyed this. The writing was very accessible, the main character had enough modern-day feist to make her interesting, but learning about the traditions of the era was fascinating. The descriptions of places, food and the rugs were brilliant.

Very frightening to think about how women were treated and how precarious their position in society was.

Reading Globally: Haiti

2008-11-26T15:01:00.000Z

My first new country was Haiti in The Comedians by Graham Greene.

Quite a typical Graham Greene novel - exotic location, infidelity, religion and the absurdity of politics all there. The novel had a strange structure in that it you were told that one of the main characters was going to die at the start and the blurb on the back of my copy mentioned a letter from the doctor which is only received in the finally pages.

Set during the dictatorship of Papa Doc, the book gave an idea of some of the horrors of his reign but from a detached outsider's perspective. Nonetheless it was fascinating to read about the turbulent era in the country and despite the seriousness of the circumstances, there were some good bits of humour in the book too.

It has left me interested in reading more and I will try to get hold of a book from a native writer to see how this compares.

888 Challenge - Completed

2008-11-25T17:43:00.001Z

1001 Books to Read Before You Die
1. Hideous Kinky - Esther Freud
2. Saturday - Ian McEwan
3. Choke - Chuck Palahunik
4. Drop City - T C Boyle
5. The Outsider - Albert Camus
6. The Third Man - Graham Greene
7. Light of Day - Graham Swift
8. The Secret History - Donna Tartt

Non-fiction
1. The Hypocrisy of Disco Clane Hayward (memoir about growing up in seventies communes
2. Pies and Prejudice Stuart Maconie (journey around the north of England)
3. The White Album Joan Didion (essays and articles)
4. The Film Club David Gilmour (film history mixed with father/son relationship)
5. Elephants on Acid Alex Boese (weird experiments)
6. Stuart a Life Backwards Alexander Masters (biography of a homeless man)
7 A Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion (memoir about grief)
8. My Life at Grey Gardens - Lois Wright (memoir)

Fiction authors that are new to me
1. The Russian Debutante's Handbook Gary Shteygart
2. The Best Thing that can happen to a Croissant Pablo Tusset
3. Post Office Charles Bukowski
4. She's Come Undone Wally Lamb
5. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
6. Replay - Ken Grimwood
7. The End of Mr Y - Scarlett Thomas
8. Fup - Jim Dodge

Crime & Detectives
1. The Naming of the Dead Ian Rankin
2. The Big Blowdown George Pelecanos
3. Exit Music Ian Rankin
4. The Shape of Water - Andrea Camillieri
5. The Return of the Dancing Master - Henning Mankell
6. King Suckerman - George Pelecanos
7. The Sweet Forever - George Pelecanos
8. Shame the Devil - George Pelecanos

As seen on Screen (books with films or television series)
1. The Graduate - Charles Webb
2 Darkly Dreaming Dexter Jeff Lindsay
3. 84 Charing Cross Road - Helen Hanff
4 Dearly Devoted Dexter - Jeff Lindsay
5. Hallam Foe - Peter Jinks
6. Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne
7. The Last King of Scotland - Giles Foden
8. Fight Club - Chuck Palahnuik

Prize Winners and Nominees
1. The Restraint of Beasts - Magnus Mills, McKitterick Prize & Booker Nominee
2. Last Orders - Graham Swift, Boooker Prize Winner
3. The Sea - John Banville, Booker Prize Winner 2005
4. The Gathering - Anne Enright, Booker Prize Winner
5. Boy A - Jonathan Trigell, John Llewellyn Rhys
6. Shipping News - Annie Proulx, Pulitzer
7. Whatever - Michel Houellbecq, Impac winner
8. The Accidental - Ali Smith, Whitbread Prize/Booker Nominee

Book Club reads
1. Uncommon Reader Alan Bennett
2. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things - Jon McGregor
3. The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch
4. City of God - E L Doctorow
5. Book of Things Lost - John Connolly
6. Norwegian Wood - Hanuki Murakami
7. Two Caravans - Marina Lewycka
8. Never Let Me Down - Kazuo Ishiguro

Books by authors whose other books I've enjoyed
1 Glyph Percival Everett
2. So Many Ways to Begin - Jon McGregor
3. A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon
4. All Families of Psychotic - Douglas Coupland
5. The Third Brother - Nick McDonell
6. Three to See a King - Magnus Mills
7. The Body - Hanif Kureishi
8. Tortilla Curtain - T C Boyle

Book Award Challenge: Update November

2008-11-07T15:17:00.000Z

Number of book: 8

Number of prizes: 6

Reading Globally

2008-11-02T12:47:00.001Z

I realised that my reading tends to be set in the UK or the USA, and since I don't have the time nor the money to travel the world, I thought I'd expand my reading horizons.

So far as I can recall my reading travels in the past have taken me to these countries:
Africa
Uganda - Last King of Scotland by Giles Foden
Botswana - No 1 Ladies Detective Agency books by Alexander McCall Smith
Morocco - Hideous Kinky by Ester Freud

Asia
Tokyo - Norwegian Wood by Hanuki Murakami
Singapore - The Third Brother by Nick McDonell
Thailand - The Third Brother by Nick McDonell and The Beach by Alex Garland
India - The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, Life of Pi by Yann Martel and God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Europe
Austria - The Third Man by Graham Greene
Germany - The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
Norway - Naive Super by Erlend Loe
Sweden - Return of the Dancing Master by Henning Mankell
Prague - The Unbearable Lightness of Being and other books by Milan Kundera
Sicilly - The Shape of Water by Andrea Camilleri
France - The Outsider by Albert Camus and Whatever by Michel Houellebecq
Russia - Dynamo by Tariq Goddard, The Russian Debutante's Handbook
Ukraine - Death and the Pengiun & Penguin Lost by Andrey Kurkov and A Short History of Tractors in the Ukraine by Marina Lewycka
Spain - Homage to a Firing Squad by Tariq Goddard
Hungary - Under a Frog by Tibor Fischer
Poland - The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
Ireland - The Gathering by Anne Enwright and The Sea by John Banville

South America
Cuba - Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene
Argentina, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama - all visited in The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto Che Guevara

visited 31 states (13.7%)
Create your own visited map of The World

888 Challenge: End of October

2008-10-31T17:30:00.001Z

Just two books to read to complete the challenge with the allow overlaps, then a few more to rid myself of the overlaps.

1001 Books to Read Before You Die
1. Hideous Kinky - Esther Freud
2. The Graduate - Charles Webb (overlap)
3. Saturday - Ian McEwan
4. Choke - Chuck Palahunik (overlap)
5 . City of God - E. L. Doctorow (overlap)
6. Drop City - T C Boyle
7. The Outsider - Albert Camus
8. The Third Man - Graham Greene

Read so far: 8
To Read: 2 overlaps

Non-fiction
1. The Hypocrisy of Disco Clane Hayward (memoir about growing up in seventies communes
2. Pies and Prejudice Stuart Maconie (journey around the north of England)
3. The White Album Joan Didion (essays and articles)
4. The Film Club David Gilmour (film history mixed with father/son relationship)
5. Elephants on Acid Alex Boese (weird experiments)
6. Stuart a Life Backwards Alexander Masters (biography of a homeless man)
7 A Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion (memoir about grief)

8. My Life at Grey Gardens - Lois Wright (memoir)
Read so far: 8
To Read: 0

Fiction authors that are new to me
1. The Russian Debutante's Handbook Gary Shteygart
2. The Best Thing that can happen to a Croissant Pablo Tusset
3. Post Office Charles Bukowski
4. She's Come Undone Wally Lamb
5. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
6. Replay - Ken Grimwood
7. The End of Mr Y - Scarlett Thomas
8. Fup - Jim Dodge
Read so far: 8
To Read: 0

Crime & Detectives
1. The Naming of the Dead Ian Rankin
2. The Big Blowdown George Pelecanos
3. Exit Music Ian Rankin
4. The Shape of Water - Andrea Camillieri
5. The Return of the Dancing Master - Henning Mankell
6. King Suckerman - George Pelecanos
7. Dearly Devoted Dexter - Jeff Lindsay (overlap)
8. The Sweet Forever - George Pelecanos
Read so far: 8

To Read - 1 overlap

As seen on Screen (books with films or television series)
1. The Graduate - Charles Webb (overlap)
2 Darkly Dreaming Dexter Jeff Lindsay
3. 84 Charing Cross Road - Helen Hanff
4. Choke - Chuck Palahnuik (overlap)
5. Dearly Devoted Dexter - Jeff Lindsay
6. Hallam Foe - Peter Jinks

7. Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne
8. The Last King of Scotland - Giles Foden

Read so far: 8

To Read: 2 overlaps

Prize Winners and Nominees
1. The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch, Booker Prize Winner 1978 (overlap)
2. The Restraint of Beasts - Magnus Mills, Booker Nominee
3. Last Orders - Graham Swift, Boooker Prize Winner
4. The Sea - John Banville, Booker Prize Winner 2005
5. The Gathering - Anne Enright, Booker Prize Winner

6. Boy A - Jonathan Trigell

7. Whatever - Michel Houellebecq

8. Shipping News - Annie Proulx
Read so far: 8

To Read - 1 overlaps

Book Club reads
1. Uncommon Reader Alan Bennett
2. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things - Jon McGregor
3. The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch (overlap)
4. City of God - E L Doctorow (overlap)
5. Book of Things Lost - John Connolly

6. Norwegian Wood - Hanuki Murakami
Read so far: 6
To read: 2

Books by authors whose other books I've enjoyed
1 Glyph Percival Everett
2. So Many Ways to Begin - Jon McGregor
3. A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon
4. All Families of Psychotic - Douglas Coupland

5. The Third Brother - Nick McDonell

6. Three to See a King - Magnus Mills

7. The Body - Hanif Kureishi

8. Tortilla Curtain - T C Boyle
Read so far: 8
To read: 0

Book Award Challenge: Update

2008-10-23T17:05:00.000+01:00

Books read - 7 out of 10
Awards covered - 5 different awards

50 Book Challenge - Late October

2008-10-22T16:13:00.000+01:00

That didn't turn out to be too difficult at all as I got my reading mojo back in style.

1. The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
2. The Naming of the Dead - Ian Rankin
3. Glyph - Percival Everett
4. The Big Blowdown - George P Pelecanos
5. Post Office - Charles Bukowski
6. She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb
7. Hideous Kinky - Esther Freund
8. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
9. Film Club - David Gilmour
10. The Graduate - Charles Webb
11. The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch
12. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things - Jon McGregor
13. Exit Music - Ian Rankin
14. Restraint of Beasts - Magnus Mills
15. So Many Ways to Begin - Jon McGregor
16. Replay - Ken Grimwood
17. Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon
18. Elephants on Acid - Alex Boese
19. Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay
20. The End of Mr Y - Scarlett Thomas
21. Saturday - Ian McEwan
22. Fup - Jim Dodge
23. The Shape of Water - Andrea Camilleri
24. Stuart A Life Backwards - Alexander Masters
25. A Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion
26. Return of the Dancing Master - Henning Mankell
27. 84 Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff
28. All My Friends are Superheroes - Andy Kaufman
29. Last Orders - Graham Swift
30. King Suckerman - George P Pelecanos
31. All Families are Psychotic - Douglas Coupland
32. Choke - Chuck Palahniuk
33. Dearly Devoted Dexter - Jeff Lindsay
34. City of God - E L Doctrow
35. Drop City - T C Boyle
36. The Sea - John Banville
37. Naive Super - Erland Loe
38. The Gathering - Ann Enright
39. Hallam Foe - Peter Jinks
40. Book of Lost Things - John Connolly
41. The Outsider - Albert Camus
42. The Third Man and the Fallen Idol - Graham Greene
43. The Third Brother - Nick McDonell
44. The Sweet Forever - George P Pelecanos
45. Three to See the King - Magnus Mills
46. The Body - Hanif Kureishi
47. Boy A - Jonathan Trigell
48. Whatever - Michel Houellebecq
49. Norwegian Wood - Hanuki Murakami
50. The Tortilla Curtain - T C Boyle

50 read. Challenge completed!

“Boy A” by Jonathan Trigell

2008-10-09T16:46:00.000+01:00

“Boy A” by Jonathan Trigell won the 2004 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize.

The subject matter of this book does not make for comfortable reading. Two boys are found guilty of murdering another child and become national hate figures. The child known in the court case as Boy A serves the sentence given to him and is released from prison with a new identity.

The book jumps between the present day as Jack (as he is now known) tries to cope with the outside world and the past, his time in various institutions, his family life and finally his crime. We are also given brief glimpses of other people’s perspectives on the events; including his father, his case-worker, his psychologist and his former friend Boy B.

The characters and their actions do not inhabit a black and white world. I did find present day Jack a bit too good to be true at time and the good deeds he was able to do a bit unbelievable, but at least the author didn’t offer easy excuses for his past. The conclusion of the book had an awful inevitability about it, but I was still quite surprised at how it came about.

Given its topic, its not something that you could describe as an enjoyable read but it was brave enough to tackle a difficult subject.

888 Challenge: End of September

2008-09-29T08:38:00.001+01:00

1001 Books to Read Before You Die
1. Hideous Kinky - Esther Freud
2. The Graduate - Charles Webb
3. Saturday - Ian McEwan
4. Choke - Chuck Palahunik
5 . City of God - E. L. Doctorow
6. Drop City - T C Boyle
7. The Outsider - Albert Camus
8. The Third Man - Graham Greene
Read so far: 8
To Read: 0

Non-fiction
1. The Hypocrisy of Disco Clane Hayward (memoir about growing up in seventies communes
2. Pies and Prejudice Stuart Maconie (journey around the north of England)
3. The White Album Joan Didion (essays and articles)
4. The Film Club David Gilmour (film history mixed with father/son relationship)
5. Elephants on Acid Alex Boese (weird experiments)
6. Stuart a Life Backwards Alexander Masters (biography of a homeless man)
7 A Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion (memoir about grief)
Read so far: 7
To Read: 1

Fiction authors that are new to me
1. The Russian Debutante's Handbook Gary Shteygart
2. The Best Thing that can happen to a Croissant Pablo Tusset
3. Post Office Charles Bukowski
4. She's Come Undone Wally Lamb
5. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
6. Replay - Ken Grimwood
7. The End of Mr Y - Scarlett Thomas
8. Fup - Jim Dodge
Read so far: 8
To Read: 0

Crime & Detectives
1. The Naming of the Dead Ian Rankin
2. The Big Blowdown George Pelecanos
3. Exit Music Ian Rankin
4. Darkly Dreaming Dexter Jeff Lindsay
5. The Shape of Water - Andrea Camillieri
6. The Return of the Dancing Master - Henning Mankell
7. King Suckerman - George Pelecanos
8 Dearly Devoted Dexter - Jeff Lindsay
Read so far: 8
To Read: 0

As seen on Screen (books with films or television series)
1. Hideous Kinky - Esther Freud (overlapping two categories)
2. The Graduate - Charles Webb (overlapping two categories)
3 Darkly Dreaming Dexter Jeff Lindsay (overlapping two categories)
4. 84 Charing Cross Road - Helen Hanff
5. Last Orders - Graham Swift
6. Choke - Chuck Palahnuik (overlap)
7. Dearly Devoted Dexter - Jeff Lindsay (overlap)
8. Hallam Foe - Peter Jinks
Read so far: 8
To read: 0

Prize Winners and Nominees
1. The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch, Booker Prize Winner 1978
2. The Restraint of Beasts - Magnus Mills, Booker Nominee
3. Last Orders - Graham Swift, Boooker Prize Winner (overlap)
4. The Sea - John Banville, Booker Prize Winner 2005
5. The Gathering - Anne Enright, Booker Prize Winner
Read so far: 5
To read 3

Book Club reads
1. Uncommon Reader Alan Bennett
2. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things - Jon McGregor
3. The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch (overlapping two categories)
4. City of God - E L Doctorow (overlap)
5. Book of Things Lost - John Connolly
Read so far: 5
To read: 3

Books by authors whose other books I've enjoyed
1 Glyph Percival Everett
2. So Many Ways to Begin - Jon McGregor
3. A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon
4. All Families of Psychotic - Douglas Coupland
Read so far: 4
To read: 4

"The Gathering" by Anne Enright

2008-09-23T16:51:00.000+01:00

"The Gathering" by Anne Enright won the Man Booker Prize in 2007.

My second Booker Prize winner in a week, and this one again left me indifferent. I really couldn’t see what all fuss was about. Admittedly I haven’t read anything else on the long or shortlist for 2007, but surely something better could have been found?

Veronica’s brother commits suicide, he had become a drunk, but the root cause of his problems may have been being abused as a child, by a man deemed to be in love with their grandmother. She is bringing his body back from Brighton to Ireland for a funeral with the rest of the family. Gradually details are revealed about the abuse, about death and ultimately about his life.

My problems with this book are ones which individually would not be such an issue, but collected together made it hard to really involve myself with the book. Firstly I did not warm to the narrator at all, but added to that I don’t feel that any of the other characters felt real enough. I struggled to remember which of the brothers and sisters were which, and who was dead and who was alive. It was mentioned that the brother who’d committed suicide was charming but nothing in the anecdotes about him revealed him as such.

The idea of a family coming together at a funeral is a well-worn path and I’m certain it has been done better than this many times before.

"The Sea" by John Banville

2008-09-23T16:47:00.001+01:00

"The Sea" by John Banville won the Man Booker Prize in 2005.

Writers love using The Sea as a metaphor, a symbol and location. This isn’t even the first Booker Prize winner with the words “The Sea” in its title, (“The Sea, The Sea” by Iris Murdoch having also won this award).

Having lost his wife to cancer, the main character, an art critic, retreats to the seaside resort where he spent childhood summers. The book jumps between his recollection of these holidays and his wife’s illness. Nothing actually happens in the course of the novel. At one point he mentions what an eventful day a certain day had been, but it isn’t anything particularly dramatic. There is what I take to be a slight twist in the tale towards the end, but I’m not sure if perhaps I’d skimmed over some vital information earlier.

Despite the lack of action, it is not to say that I disliked this book. Compared to “Saturday” by Ian McEwan (which was long-listed for the same prize in the same year), another book where the reader is forced to spend a lot of time in the mind of a self-absorbed male, I found this one much more engaging. I don’t know whether I’d go so far as to actively seek out another book by John Banville, but the prospect wouldn’t send me screaming from the room.

A Note on the Type: "City of God" by E L Doctorow

2008-09-23T08:26:00.002+01:00

This book was set in Galliart, a typeface designed by Matthew Carter for the Merganthaler Linotype Company in 1978. Galliard is based on the sixteenth-century typefaces of Robert Granjon.

Random House, First Edition.

50 Book Challenge: Late September

2008-09-22T10:41:00.002+01:00

1. The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
2. The Naming of the Dead - Ian Rankin
3. Glyph - Percival Everett
4. The Big Blowdown - George P Pelecanos
5. Post Office - Charles Bukowski
6. She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb
7. Hideous Kinky - Esther Freund
8. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
9. Film Club - David Gilmour
10. The Graduate - Charles Webb
11. The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch
12. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things - Jon McGregor
13. Exit Music - Ian Rankin
14. Restraint of Beasts - Magnus Mills
15. So Many Ways to Begin - Jon McGregor
16. Replay - Ken Grimwood
17. Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon
18. Elephants on Acid - Alex Boese
19. Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay
20. The End of Mr Y - Scarlett Thomas
21. Saturday - Ian McEwan
22. Fup - Jim Dodge
23. The Shape of Water - Andrea Camilleri
24. Stuart A Life Backwards - Alexander Masters
25. A Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion
26. Return of the Dancing Master - Henning Mankell
27. 84 Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff
28. All My Friends are Superheroes - Andy Kaufman
29. Last Orders - Graham Swift
30. King Suckerman - George P Pelecanos
31. All Families are Psychotic - Douglas Coupland
32. Choke - Chuck Palahniuk
33. Dearly Devoted Dexter - Jeff Lindsay
34. City of God - E L Doctrow
35. Drop City - T C Boyle
36. The Sea - John Banville
37. Naive Super - Erland Loe
38. The Gathering - Ann Enright

38 down, 12 to go.

888 Challenge: Mid September

2008-09-15T10:21:00.002+01:00

I've now completed two categories, although the second Crime & Detectives has a couple of overlaps so I may come back to this category to get rid of the overlaps later.

1001 Books to Read Before You Die
1. Hideous Kinky - Esther Freud
2. The Graduate - Charles Webb
3. Saturday - Ian McEwan
4. Choke - Chuck Palahunik
5 . City of God - E. L. Doctorow
6. Drop City - T C Boyle
Read so far: 6
To Read: 2

Non-fiction
1. The Hypocrisy of Disco Clane Hayward (memoir about growing up in seventies communes
2. Pies and Prejudice Stuart Maconie (journey around the north of England)
3. The White Album Joan Didion (essays and articles)
4. The Film Club David Gilmour (film history mixed with father/son relationship)
5. Elephants on Acid Alex Boese (weird experiments)
6. Stuart a Life Backwards Alexander Masters (biography of a homeless man)
7 A Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion (memoir about grief)
Read so far: 7
To Read: 1

Fiction authors that are new to me
1. The Russian Debutante's Handbook Gary Shteygart
2. The Best Thing that can happen to a Croissant Pablo Tusset
3. Post Office Charles Bukowski
4. She's Come Undone Wally Lamb
5. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
6. Replay - Ken Grimwood
7. The End of Mr Y - Scarlett Thomas
8. Fup - Jim Dodge
Read so far: 8
To Read: 0

Crime & Detectives
1. The Naming of the Dead Ian Rankin
2. The Big Blowdown George Pelecanos
3. Exit Music Ian Rankin
4. Darkly Dreaming Dexter Jeff Lindsay
5. The Shape of Water - Andrea Camillieri
6. The Return of the Dancing Master - Henning Mankell
7. King Suckerman - George Pelecanos
8 Dearly Devoted Dexter - Jeff Lindsay
Read so far: 8
To Read: 0

As seen on Screen (books with films or television series)
1. Hideous Kinky - Esther Freud (overlapping two categories)
2. The Graduate - Charles Webb (overlapping two categories)
3 Darkly Dreaming Dexter Jeff Lindsay (overlapping two categories)
4. 84 Charing Cross Road - Helen Hanff
5. Last Orders - Graham Swift
6. Choke - Chuck Palahnuik (overlap)
7. Dearly Devoted Dexter - Jeff Lindsay (overlap))
Read so far: 7
To read: 1

Prize Winners and Nominees
1. The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch, Booker Prize Winner 1978
2. The Restraint of Beasts - Magnus Mills, Booker Nominee
3. Last Orders - Graham Swift, Boooker Prize Winner (overlap)
Read so far: 3
To read 5

Book Club reads
1. Uncommon Reader Alan Bennett
2. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things - Jon McGregor
3. The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch (overlapping two categories)
4. City of God - E L Doctorow (overlap)
Read so far: 4
To read: 4

Books by authors whose other books I've enjoyed
1 Glyph Percival Everett
2. So Many Ways to Begin - Jon McGregor
3. A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon
4. All Families of Psychotic - Douglas Coupland
Read so far: 4
To read: 4

"Last Orders" by Graham Swift

2008-09-08T14:42:00.000+01:00

"Last Orders" by Graham Swift won the Booker Prize in 1996.

I saw the film version of Last Orders years ago at a screening at the London Film Festival and enjoyed it, so when I was looking for prize winning books to read, I thought this would be a good one to read.

Sometimes books written from multiple perspectives can be difficult to follow or at least disjointed, but this one pulled it off well. It helped, of course, that each chapter was headed with the name of the person, so you didn’t have to spend a paragraph trying to work that out!

The story involves a journey from London to Margate to scatter the ashes of Jack, a butcher. The group involved in this seemingly easy mission are his old friend Ray who he meet in the war, Vic the undertaker, former boxer Lenny and Jack’s adopted son, Vince with whom he’d had a difficult relationship. Jack’s widow Amy doesn’t join them on the journey but her perspective is also given.

It did start slowly, even for someone who already knew the basic premise from the film, but after not too long I was gripped and felt empathy for the characters and a real sadness for the wasted opportunities in their lives. In comparison with the film, as is often the case, the book is much bleaker – there is no obvious happy ending here, and despite scattering the ashes, they don’t automatically achieve resolution.

Highly recommended.

Decades Challenge

2008-09-05T15:44:00.005+01:00

The Rules:

1. Read a minimum of 8 books in 8 consecutive decades in ‘08.
2. Books published in the 2000’s do not count.
3. Titles may be cross-posted with any other challenge.
4. You may change your list at any time.

As not much of 2008 remains, I'm going to make it as easy as possible so I'm taking the 8 most recent eligible decades and including the books I've already read this year as the challenge was supposed to begin at the start of 2008. I've already completed the four most recent decades, so just the early four to go.

1990s: Last Orders by Graham Swift (1996)
1980s: Replay by Ken Grimwood (1986)
1970s: The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch (1978)
1960s: The Graduate by Charles Webb (1963)
1950s: to read The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway (1952)
1940s: to read The Outsider by Albert Camus (1942)
1930s: to read The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammet (1930)
1920s: to read Steppenwold by Herman Hesse (1927)

"Stuart: A Life Backwards" by Alexander Masters

2008-09-05T14:21:00.005+01:00

"Stuart: A Life Backwards" by Alexander Masters was the winner of The Guardian First Book Award in 2005.

It is the true story of a erractic, ex-addict, ex-homeless man, Stuart Shorter, told by Alexander Masters.

As the title suggests, the tale is told in reverse, starting with Stuart in his sorry state in his 30s and working backwards to his childhood, with Masters attempting to piece together where it all went wrong. It isn't strictly told backwards as there are passages throughout the book from the latter part of his life surrounding his relationship with the author and the process of writing the book.

It is certainly a worthy subject, but I was left rather disappointed by the book itself, having read the lavish praise heaped upon it by various reviewers. My main problem with it was that there is a lot of Masters in there, and frankly I didn't like him. I found him rather irritating. I found it rather patronising to the subject that he thinks it is astonishing that he was found this homeless man with a personality and wants to share his story with the world. If Stuart was remarkable, then Masters fails to do him justice in this book.

His story is a tragic one (the issue of his childhood abuse was handled well) and there were moments of humour in there (the farcical nature of the British justice system raised a wry smile) but it didn't deliver the emotions promised by the cover reviews.

Book Award Challenge

2008-09-05T13:51:00.003+01:00

I thought I'd sign up to the Book Award Challenge too.

Rules:

Read 10 award winners from August 1, 2008 through June 1, 2009.
You must have at least FIVE different awards in your ten titles.
Overlaps with other challenges are permitted.
You don't have to post your choices right away, and your list can change at any time.
'Award winners' is loosely defined; make the challenge fit your needs, keeping in mind Rule #2.

This does overlap with my 888 challenge but is over a different timescale.

I'm already doing Prize Wiinners and Nominees as part of the 888 challenge, but so far that is dominated by the Booker prize and having nominees in there makes it easier.

It will definitely include the Man Booker Prize, the Pulitzer Prize and The Guardian First Book Award. It will perhaps also included the Crime Writers Association "Daggers" awards and the Orange Prize.

I'm not sure I can face the Bad Sex in Fiction Award winners, but I am drawn to the "Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year" although I'm not so sure how easy these books will be to obtain (and I would definitely sound silly asking for them).

84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

2008-08-31T19:02:00.004+01:00

As Robert Evans wrote in his autobiography "there are three sides to every story; yours, mine and the truth". It seems there are three sides to the story of 84 Charing Cross Road.

The Book
Unusually for me, I'd seen the film of this first, and have only this week managed to find a copy of the book to read in my local library. The book is short and an epistolary. It is a touching memoir of a friendship, and it reduced me to tears.

The Film
I loved this film. I'm not one for romances normally, but this story of unfulfilled love amongst old books appealled to the disappointed romantic in me that people so often mistake for a cynic. Of course, now having read the book, I know that the film turned what was more a friendship into a romance. They made Frank Doel's marriage seem cold when there was nothing to suggest that in the original letters. But that's Hollywood for you. I still love it though. London looks beautiful. New York looks beautiful. I still want to sit in a Brownstone apartment reading English literature and writing letters.

The Present
"If you happen to pass by 84 Charing Cross Road, kiss it for me" writes Helen near the end of the book. I walked along Charing Cross Road last week and thought I'd see what was at number 84. There are still lots of books shops along there so even though I knew it wouldn't be Marks & Co. I was horrified to find that it is now a Pizza Hut. A Pizza Express I could have coped with, but Pizza Hut! What a fate.

888 Challenge: End of August

2008-08-31T18:05:00.001+01:00

One category completed but I need to do some more reading in the 1001 and Prize winners categories if I'm going to succeed in this challenge.

1001 Books to Read Before You Die
1. Hideous Kinky - Esther Freud
2. The Graduate - Charles Webb
3. Saturday - Ian McEwan
Read so far: 3
To Read: 5

Non-fiction
1. The Hypocrisy of Disco Clane Hayward (memoir about growing up in seventies communes
2. Pies and Prejudice Stuart Maconie (journey around the north of England)
3. The White Album Joan Didion (essays and articles)
4. The Film Club David Gilmour (film history mixed with father/son relationship)
5. Elephants on Acid - Alex Boese
6. Stuart a Life Backwards Alexander Masters (biography of a homeless man)
7 A Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion (memoir about grief)
Read so far: 7
To Read: 1

Fiction authors that are new to me
1. The Russian Debutante's Handbook Gary Shteygart
2. The Best Thing that can happen to a Croissant Pablo Tusset
3. Post Office Charles Bukowski
4. She's Come Undone Wally Lamb
5. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
6. Replay - Ken Grimwood
7. The End of Mr Y - Scarlett Thomas
8. Fup - Jim Dodge
Read so far: 8
To Read: 0

Crime & Detectives
1. The Naming of the Dead Ian Rankin
2. The Big Blowdown George Pelecanos
3. Exit Music Ian Rankin
4. Darkly Dreaming Dexter Jeff Lindsay
5. The Shape of Water - Andrea Camillieri
6. The Return of the Dancing Master - Henning Mankell
Read so far: 6
To Read: 2

As seen on Screen (books with films or television series)
1. Hideous Kinky - Esther Freud (overlapping two categories)
2. The Graduate - Charles Webb (overlapping two categories)
3 Darkly Dreaming Dexter Jeff Lindsay (overlapping two categories)
4. 84 Charing Cross Road - Helen Hanff
Read so far: 4
To read: 4

Prize Winners and Nominees
1. The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch, Booker Prize Winner 1978
2. The Restraint of Beasts - Magnus Mills, Booker Nominee
Read so far: 2
To read 6

Book Club reads
1. Uncommon Reader Alan Bennett
2. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things - Jon McGregor
3. The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch (overlapping two categories)
Read so far: 3
To read: 5

Books by authors whose other books I've enjoyed
1 Glyph Percival Everett
2. So Many Ways to Begin - Jon McGregor
3. A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon
Read so far: 3
To read: 5

Shiny New Library

2008-08-31T18:00:00.001+01:00

The main library in my borough has recently reopened after a major refit. A £2million refit. I didn't really need any more books as I have quite a pile to read already but I was curious to see what £2million had done to the place.

The old version of the library was drab with beige carpets and opaque tinted windows. The books were piled high but rarely where they were supposed to be.

The new version is so much brighter. The old windows have been replaced by ordinary glass so the room is filled with natural light. Everything has been painted white. There is now a cafe and a specific quiet room. The main room is no longer particularly quiet.

You can scan your own books to check them out and you receive a printed receipt that tells you when the book is due for return. It is quick and efficient, but there is no chat with a librarian about the subject of your book, and the book isn't stamped. So in a new library where mobile phones, personal steroes and screaming children are allowed to make their noise, it is missing the reassuring sound of books being stamped.

But this is just dressing, but matters is the books. By the windows the old high bookcases have been replaced with low level cases, which adds to the feeling of light and space, but detracts from the number of books they can store. The books seem now to be in the right places too, but there really aren't that many of them.

So that £2million has been spent on paint, glass and computers, but seemingly not a pound on books.

50 Book Challenge - Late August

2008-08-28T08:00:00.000+01:00

Nearly the end of August and I've reached the half way point.

1. The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
2. The Naming of the Dead - Ian Rankin
3. Glyph - Percival Everett
4. The Big Blowdown - George P Pelecanos
5. Post Office - Charles Bukowski
6. She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb
7. Hideous Kinky - Esther Freund
8. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
9. Film Club - David Gilmour
10. The Graduate - Charles Webb
11. The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch
12. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things - Jon McGregor
13. Exit Music - Ian Rankin
14. Restraint of Beasts - Magnus Mills
15. So Many Ways to Begin - Jon McGregor
16. Replay - Ken Grimwood
17. Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon
18. Elephants on Acid - Alex Boese
19. Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay
20. The End of Mr Y - Scarlett Thomas
21. Saturday - Ian McEwan
22. Fup - Jim Dodge
23. The Shape of Water - Andrea Camilleri
24. Stuart A Life Backwards - Alexander Masters
25. A Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion

25 down, 25 to go.

Book Review: "Saturday" Ian McEwan

2008-08-26T14:01:00.000+01:00

I persist in reading the novels of Ian McEwan, although I'm not sure I actually like his work. I think I like "The Cement Garden" and "Black Dogs", I can't remember much about "Amsterdam" and "Endearing Love", and I thought "Atonement" was over-rated.

It took me three attempts before I finally finished "Saturday". I felt hugely satisfied upon completing it, not because I enjoyed it, but because it felt like an achievement to have stuck with it.

The book forces us to spend a day in the company of Henry Perowne, a successful neurosurgeon with a beautiful clever successful lawyer wife, a beautiful talented poet daughter and a beautiful talented musician son. It isn't written in the first person, but we see and hear what Henry does and are subjected to his thoughts and detailed observations.

Unfortunately, Henry isn't much fun. I've nothing against unlikeable central characters, but this one is a smug, humourless sort, and his family aren't much better. I found myself hoping that something really bad would happen to the lot of them. Something does happen, but it isn't bad enough and they still emerge with their self-satisfaction in tact.

Of course, McEwan is a great writer so it isn't all bad. There are a few passages that drew me in and gave old Perowne a glimmer of humanity, for example his recollection of how he met his wife and his visit to his mother's care home. But for the rest of the book, I don't care about him or want to be part of his world.

Connections: "The End of Mr Y" and "Elephants on Acid"

2008-08-26T13:55:00.000+01:00

"The End of Mr Y" by Scarlett Thomas is what is decribed as meta-fiction. It is the story of a woman who finds an rare book, and learns the secret of how to travel through the minds of others.

"Elephants on Acid" by Alex Boese is a non-fiction work. It is a collection of descriptions of weird experiments.

What connects these two books?

Both mention Dr Duncan MacDougall and his experiments to discover of the weight of the soul.

Inspired By: "Replay" by Ken Grimwood

2008-08-21T08:50:00.000+01:00

Another foray into Science Fiction, a genre I had normally avoided. This time "Replay" by Ken Grimwood.

Jeff Winston dies suddenly in 1988 at age 43, discontented with his life.
He immediately reawakens in 1963 at age 18, in his college dorm room.
Disoriented and confused, he discovers that he gets to live his life all over
again. And again. And again.

It was (to use that over-used phrase) a thought-provoking read. I enjoyed the earlier part of the book a lot, seeing what the effect of different choices on the way life turns out. The second part of the book, with ideas about aliens and dolphins didn't interest me quite so much.

So I've been thinking about what I would do if I was given the chance to replay my life. A few things I'd change depending on how far back I was sent:

I would pick the other dolls house for Christmas when I was 8.
I wouldn't do French A Level. I'd do German instead and I would keep it up afterwards.
I would study harder for the Oxford exam
I wouldn't take the first job I'm offered and move to London.
I'd take a year off and travel to South America
I'd make a move to work in the theatre industry sooner
I'd find a way of buying a property before the price rises and sell before they dropped

Given the chance to "Replay", what would you do differently? (You can't influence major world events though unless you were involved in them originally)

888 Challenge: Mid August

2008-08-18T08:56:00.000+01:00

I need to do some more reading in the 1001 and Prize winners categories if I'm going to succeed in this challenge. The Authors New to Me category is the easiest, not much of a challenge there at all.

1001 Books to Read Before You Die
1. Hideous Kinky - Esther Freud
2. The Graduate - Charles Webb
Read so far: 2
To Read: 6

Non-fiction
1. The Hypocrisy of Disco Clane Hayward (memoir about growing up in seventies communes
2. Pies and Prejudice Stuart Maconie (journey around the north of England)
3. The White Album Joan Didion (essays and articles)
4. The Film Club David Gilmour (film history mixed with father/son relationship)
5. Elephants on Acid Alex Boese (weird science experiements)
Read so far: 5
To Read: 3

Fiction authors that are new to me
1. The Russian Debutante's Handbook Gary Shteygart
2. The Best Thing that can happen to a Croissant Pablo Tusset
3. Post Office Charles Bukowski
4. She's Come Undone Wally Lamb
5. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
6. Replay - Ken Grimwood
Read so far: 6
To Read: 2

Crime & Detectives
1. The Naming of the Dead Ian Rankin
2. The Big Blowdown George Pelecanos
3. Exit Music Ian Rankin
4. Darkly Dreaming Dexter Jeff Lindsay
Read so far: 4
To Read: 4

As seen on Screen (books with films or television series)
1. Hideous Kinky - Esther Freud (overlapping two categories)
2. The Graduate - Charles Webb (overlapping two categories)
3 Darkly Dreaming Dexter Jeff Lindsay (overlapping two categories)
Read so far: 3
To read: 5

Prize Winners and Nominees
1. The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch, Booker Prize Winner 1978
2. The Restraint of Beasts - Magnus Mills, Booker Nominee
Read so far: 2
To read 6

Book Club reads
1. Uncommon Reader Alan Bennett
2. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things - Jon McGregor
3. The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch (overlapping two categories)
Read so far: 3
To read: 5

Books by authors whose other books I've enjoyed
1 Glyph Percival Everett
2. So Many Ways to Begin - Jon McGregor
3. A Spot of Bother - Mark Haddon
Read so far: 3
To read: 5

50 Book Challenge: Early August

2008-08-08T22:42:00.000+01:00

Still enjoying reading and this challenge isn't looking so difficult now - I could have it finished by the end of 2008 at this rate. The 888 Challenge is certainly going to be harder to complete. More on that later...

1. The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
2. The Naming of the Dead - Ian Rankin
3. Glyph - Percival Everett
4. The Big Blowdown - George P Pelecanos
5. Post Office - Charles Bukowski
6. She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb
7. Hideous Kinky - Esther Freund
8. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
9. Film Club - David Gilmour
10. The Graduate - Charles Webb
11. The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch
12. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things - Jon McGregor
13. Exit Music - Ian Rankin
14. Restraint of Beasts - Magnus Mills
15. So Many Ways to Begin - Jon McGregor

15 down, 35 to go.

Compare and Contrast: "The Sea, The Sea" and "If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things"

2008-07-31T17:23:00.000+01:00

This week I’ve read two very different books, “The Sea, The Sea” by Iris Murdoch and “If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things” by Jon McGregor.

“The Sea, The Sea” was set on the English coast, populated with eccentric characters from the theatre world and was written in the 1970s. It is told entirely from the point of view of one character. “If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things” is set in what sounds like a northern industrial town, populated with students and “ordinary” working class people and was written and set early this decade. It is told from various view points.

So on the surface they were very different books, but when I finished them both, I realised that they both had a similar ending, based around the same idea.

[SPOILER ALERT – DON’T READ IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW HOW THESE BOOKS END]

In “The Sea, The Sea”, James, the cousin of the narrator Charles, saves Charles from drowning using what he describes as a Buddhist ‘trick’ but this leaves him drained and he dies. In “If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things”, the boy from number 18 runs to try to save the child, but get there too late, however he goes back to his house and starts to die. At the same time, the child miraculously recovers in the ambulance, so the boy from number 18 has sacrificed his life in return for the child’s in much the same way that James did for Charles.

50 Book Challenge: Progress End of July 2008

2008-07-31T11:18:00.000+01:00

Reading pace slowed down somewhat by the very long "The Sea, The Sea".

1. The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
2. The Naming of the Dead - Ian Rankin
3. Glyph - Percival Everett
4. The Big Blowdown - George P Pelecanos
5. Post Office - Charles Bukowski
6. She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb
7. Hideous Kinky - Esther Freund
8. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
9. Film Club - David Gilmour
10. The Graduate - Charles Webb
11. The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch
12. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things - Jon McGregor

12 down, 38 to go.

888 Challenge: Progress End of July

2008-07-29T13:22:00.000+01:00

1001 Books to Read Before You Die
1. Hideous Kinky - Esther Freud
2. The Graduate - Charles Webb
Read so far: 2
To Read: 6

Non-fiction
1. The Hypocrisy of Disco Clane Hayward (memoir about growing up in seventies communes
2. Pies and Prejudice Stuart Maconie (journey around the north of England)
3. The White Album Joan Didion (essays and articles)
4. The Film Club David Gilmour (film history mixed with father/son relationship)
Read so far: 4
To Read: 4

Fiction authors that are new to me
1. The Russian Debutante's Handbook Gary Shteygart
2. The Best Thing that can happen to a Croissant Pablo Tusset
3. Post Office Charles Bukowski
4. She's Come Undone Wally Lamb
5. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
Read so far: 5
To Read: 3

Crime & Detectives
1. The Naming of the Dead Ian Rankin
2. The Big Blowdown George Pelecanos
Read so far: 2
To Read: 6

As seen on Screen (books with films or television series)
1. Hideous Kinky - Esther Freud (overlapping two categories)
2. The Graduate - Charles Webb (overlapping two categories)
Read so far: 2
To read: 6

Prize Winners and Nominees
1. The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch, Booker Prize Winner 1978
Read so far: 1
To read 7

Book Club reads
1. Uncommon Reader Alan Bennett
2. If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things - Jon McGregor
3. The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch (overlapping two categories)
Read so far: 3
To read: 5

Books by authors whose other books I've enjoyed
1 Glyph Percival Everett
Read so far: 1

To read: 7

A Note on the Type: "If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things" Jon McGregor

2008-07-25T12:28:00.000+01:00

The text of this book is set in Berling roman. A modern face designed by K. E. Forsberg between 1951-58. In spite of its youth it does carry the characteristics of an old face. The serifs are inclined and blunt, and the g has a straight ear.

Bloomsbury Paperback Edition 2003.

Book Review: "Flowers for Algernon" Daniel Keyes

2008-07-22T17:30:00.000+01:00

I'd never even heard of this book until two weeks ago when I saw it mentioned on someone's All Time Favourite list. I liked a few of their other choices so thought I'd give this ago. I bought a copy online for 33p plus postage.

The simple story is about Charlie, a 30-something man with a low IQ but desparate urge to improve himself. He is chosen for experimental surgery to make him more intelligent, a procedure that so far has only been done on animals. The surgery is a success, Charlie becomes a genius, but doesn't gain emotional intelligent to match his knowledge. Then the other successful recepient of the surgery, a mouse called Algernon starts to behave oddly so Charlie sees his fate to come.

It is beautifully written, and incredibly moving. I read it in one train journey and was close to tears by the end.

This was written in the 1960s and was considered a work of Science Fiction, but then in a weird coincidence, I read an article in the Sunday Times magazine about the trend for taking "smart pills", drugs designed for people with ADHD or nacrolepsy that are now being taken by people without these conditions for their brain improving powers. Unfortunately the article wasn't that in-depth (it was in the Style section!) and the pharmaceutical company refused to comment on their use for outside of their original use. But I wonder if anyone is testing the possibilites of using them to make people cleverer?

On a personal note, I've often thought that I'd be happier if I was stupider. Not that I'm a genius, but I do tend to over-think everything and I've wondered if my life would have been easier and happier I was different.

50 Book Challenge: Progress Late-July 2008

2008-07-21T11:05:00.000+01:00

A couple of long train journeys this week has resulted in a few more books being added to the list. I doubt this rate of reading will continue though.

1. The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
2. The Naming of the Dead - Ian Rankin
3. Glyph - Percival Everett
4. The Big Blowdown - George P Pelecanos
5. Post Office - Charles Bukowski
6. She's Come Undone - Wally Lamb
7. Hideous Kinky - Esther Freund
8. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes

8 down, 42 to go.

Book Review: "She's Come Undone" Wally Lamb

2008-07-17T17:44:00.000+01:00

This book was the first book that I received through the website ReadItSwapIt. I swapped a copy of "A Child in Time" for it. I wasn' that interested in it, but I was just so pleased that someone wanted to swap something with me that I didn't like to say no. The book arrived and the picture of a lady's dress on the cover put me off, so it remained on my shelf until this week.

I have started frequenting the forums of ReadItSwapIt and there was a thread on there about reading your earliest unread swap. I posted that mine was "She's Come Undone" by Wally Lamb and someone replied that it was very good and pointed me to a whole thread praising it.

So on Sunday, I dug it out from behind a row of other books. I read the first page and was confused as to why I'd not given it a go in the first place. The first page was great - I'd obviously not got passed the cover before.

It is the tragic, but often funny tale of Dolores Price. It starts in the 1950s with the day her family get their first television, and follows her life through difficult teenage years, mental breakdown and recovery, marriage and adulthood until the 1980s. It was at time traumatic, and Dolores wasn't the most sympathetic character in places (sometimes you just wanted to give her a good shake), but it was compulsive reading. I particularly liked the way that television was a constant throughout her life and its trails.

All in all, I'm glad I dusted it off and finally got round to reading it. I hope that my other great unreads will be as enjoyable.

My "To Be Read" Pile

2008-07-17T12:43:00.000+01:00

Its actually not that big a pile, but some of the books have been on the pile for quite some time.

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
GB84 - David Peace
Saturday - Ian McEwan
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Robert Prisig
If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things - Jon McGregor
Hideous Kinky - Esther Freud
Hell to Pay - George P Pelecanos
Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett
The Sea, The Sea - Iris Murdoch
Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes

888 Challenge: Mid July 2008

2008-07-16T20:52:00.000+01:00

As I said, I've read shamefully few books so far this year, I was sure I must have read more but couldn't see them on my shelves and the library is closed for refurbishment so I couldn't have been there either. So I've a long way to go with this challenge.

1001 Books to Read Before You Die
Read so far this year: 0
To Read: 8

Non-fiction
1. The Hypocrisy of Disco Clane Hayward (memoir about growing up in seventies communes
2. Pies and Prejudice Stuart Maconie (journey around the north of England)
3. The White Album Joan Didion (essays and articles)
Read so far: 3
To Read: 5

Fiction authors that are new to me
1. The Russian Debutante's Handbook Gary Shteygart
2. The Best Thing that can happen to a Croissant Pablo Tusset
3. Post Office Charles Bukowski
4. She's Come Undone Wally Lamb
Read so far: 4
To Read: 4

Crime & Detectives
1. The Naming of the Dead Ian Rankin
2. The Big Blowdown George Pelecanos
Read so far: 2
To Read: 6

As seen on Screen (books with films or television series)
Read so far: 0
To read: 8

Prize Winners and Nominees
Read so far: 0
To read 8

Book Club reads
1. Uncommon Reader Alan Bennett
Read so far: 1
To read: 7

Books by authors whose other books I've enjoyed
1 Glyph Percival Everett
Read so far: 1
To read: 7

888 Challenge

2008-07-16T17:44:00.000+01:00

Again on Library Thing, I came across another reading challenge. This one more difficult but more interesting than the 50 Book Challenge.

It is entitled the 888 Challenge, because in the year 08, you have to read 8 books from 8 different categories. Which means 64 books in one year but you can have up to 8 books that span more than one category, thereby reducing the total to 56.

This is a bigger challenge, especially since its already July and as mentioned before I'd hardly read anything in the first part of the year. But I'm in.

I've picked my categories as follows:

1. 1001 Books to read before you die
2. Non-fiction
3. Fiction authors that are new to me
4. Crime & Detectives
5. As seen on Screen (books with films or television series)
6. Prize Winners and Nominees
7. Book Club reads
8. Books by authors whose other books I've enjoyed

I'll chart where I'm at in another post.

1001 Books to Read Before You Die

2008-07-15T17:51:00.000+01:00

I love lists. I love ticking things off lists. And at the moment, I'm loving reading. So I was delighted to hear about the book "1001 Books to Read Before You Die" by Dr Peter Boxall.

I've not seen the book itself, but have found a spreadsheet version of it and it is listed on Lists of Bests, so I've taken great pleasure in ticking off the ones I've read.

It was shockingly few. Especially considering I spent three years at university "doing" literature.

Apparently I've read 92 of the books, just over 9% which means that given my age and gender, if I live to the average age in western society, I will need to read 19 of the remaining books per year to complete the list.

I don't think I'm going to be able to do this. There was books on the list that I really have no interest in reading. But the list does give me some inspiration for other things to read, especially as I'm keen to read some more "classics". So I'm keeping the spreadsheet and the online list going and hope I can mark a few more off. A round 10% would be nice.

50 Book Challenge

2008-07-14T17:38:00.000+01:00

Now we come to it. One of the main reasons for setting up a reading blog.

I've got myself involved in a challenge on the Library Thing website. The challenge is to read 50 books in one year. (Actually you can set your own target but that is the name of the group and the most common challenge). Since I'd couldn't count 10 books that I'd read before July, I thought I'd give it a go.

So I've started this challenge in July so have until next July to read 50 books. If I continue at the rate I've been reading recently, this won't be too difficult, but life often gets in the way and I'm likely to get distracted by something else. So I thought I'd track my progress here.

1. The Uncommon Reader - Alan Bennett
2. The Naming of the Dead - Ian Rankin
3. Glyph - Percival Everett
4. The Big Blowdown - George P Pelecanos
5. Post Office - Charles Bukowski

5 down, 45 to go.

Holiday Reading

2008-07-13T17:29:00.000+01:00

I went on a brief holiday to Spain. I didn't get to read quite as much as I thought I would - people kept talking to me.

I took four books with me.

"Naming of the Dead" - Ian Rankin
"Glyph" - Percival Everett
"The Big Blowdown" - George P Pelecanos
"One Hundred Years of Solitude" - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I read the Rankin on the train and finished the pool. Then I started Glyph by the pool and finished on the plane. I started "The Big Blowdown" on the train and finished at home.

"One Hundred Years" remains unread. I've now attempted to read it three times.

Whilst on holiday, we talked about books by Virginia Andrews and Stephen King.

Review: "The Uncommon Reader" Alan Bennett

2008-07-12T17:12:00.000+01:00

My first Handbag Book Club Book. I procured a copy quickly through ReadItSwapIt and took it with me for a day out at the Sanctuary Spa. I was half way through it before I even arrived at the spa, so decided to by another book in the WH Smiths in the station to see me through the day. The bookworm in me was back!

I'd never actually read any Alan Bennett before. I had enjoyed the "Talking Heads" series on television when I was younger though, so assumed that I wouldn't have a problem with his writing (unlike my OH who has taken against him based on the "Cracker under the Sofa" episode).

"The Uncommon Reader" is a very slight book, a novella I believe it is called. I liked the premise. The Queen becomes an avid reader which causes problems for her position as the monarch. However, the book didn't quite go in the direction that I'd imagined. I'd envisaged her getting revolutionary ideas, having her mind opened up to republicanism, feminism and all sorts of other isms that aren't becoming for a Queen.

But, this was Alan Bennett, and he isn't a satirist. Gentle humour is much more his thing. It is more about the joy of reading itself, and it was a great way to re-ignite my love of books. I had a vague plan to try to follow the Queen's reading, but I'm not sure I will pursue this.

I would have been very interested to read a short story by other authors, taking the same starting point and seeing where it goes. I'm thinking someone like Will Self could produce something very different.

"Looks like we've got ourselves a reader"

2008-07-12T16:54:00.000+01:00

I hadn't been reading much. Not books anyway. I was reading the free newspapers on my way to and from work, and when the news of the credit crunch and knife crime got too much, I exercised my brain with a sudoku puzzle. But I hadn't finished a book in a long time. I'd started plenty, but lost interest after a page or two. This was a sorry state of affairs for someone with a degree in English Literature.

Then I came across the Book Club thread on a forum I frequent and thought that might be a way to kickstart my reading again. So I joined up, voted and was pleased when the book I'd wanted was the book of the month.

The book was Alan Bennett's "The Uncommon Reader" (more on that later) which I read in an afternoon, and then I was off again, reading like a woman possessed.

Of course, this obsession may not last. I was similarly obsessed with exercise in June, so this may just be July's fixation. I'm hoping it won't be and am, in the modern way, creating a blog to share my reading experience.