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Currently Reading…
How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran. It's funny cos it's true.
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. Stuck half way, but it's true, her eyes do change colour. Like David Bowie. Or a Blythe doll.
Recently read…
Gumble's Yard by John Rowe Townsend.
Noah's Castle by John Rowe Townsend.
The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness. Grim, but brilliant kids' book.
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. Brilliant dystopian book for teens. The short prequel is a free Kindle download.
Seven Types of Ambiguity by Elliot Perlman. 607 pages, seven viewpoints of the same extraordinarily inter-twined events. Clever, full of good ideas but I didn't warm to the main character and didn't love it anywhere near as much as A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz.
The Fear by Charlie Higson.
Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson. I HATED this book - which was a surprise as I really liked the previous 3 Jackson Brodies, esp the previous one. Why? Too many characters I didn't care about. Not enough Jackson Brodie. And I know it's grim up North - but just too, too grim. Forced myself to finish it, but only because I bloody paid for it.
When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson. MUCH better than the TV adaptation, which I found very confusing. Very readable - some of the turns choices made by the main characters have had me going 'whaaat'? but it's all the more believable and enjoyable for them.
One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson. Good, but didn't enjoy it as much as Case Histories.
Case Histories by Kate Atkinson. Bliss.
Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi by Geoff Dyer.
Solar by Ian McEwan. Good holiday read but not stunning literature.
One Day by David Nicholls. I am officially the last person-but-one in England to read this. Loved it, though. Bastard.
Moonraker by Ian Fleming. Ah, another improbably-named young woman to see you, Mr Bond. (Like I can talk).
Obstacles to Young Love by David Nobbs. This lad Nobbs will go far. Funny, touching, very occasionally annoying, but a damn fine novel.
The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim by Jonathan Coe. Hated the ending. Sorry. Sure it's been done elsewhere. My first, and probably last, Coe.
Hungry the Stars and Everything by Emma Jane Unsworth. Delicious!
The Crimson Petal and the White by Michel Faber. It's Dickens with swear words. In a good way.
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. From 1949. Perfect. It's so good, I love it so much. Cannot believe I've never read this before.
Jar City by Arnaldur Indriðason - bit disappointed. Just a police procedural. Not that odd. No big DNA conspiracy.
The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford - I proof-read a neighbour's uni essay on this and had to read it. Bleak it is, so bleak - especially for a man of my age and circumstance. Almost gave up but half way through I 'got it' and glad I finished it. But grim. Grim.
The Game by Jack London.
The Man Who Went Up In Smoke by Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö. 2nd Martin Beck novel from the original masters of the modern (1960s) police procedural.
Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks writing as Ian Fleming. I enjoyed this WAY more than Engleby. Really good, flavour of Bond captured very well indeed.
Dead Man's Cove by Lauren St John. Great children's book, set in St Ives, Cornwall. If the Laura Marlin Mysteries continue like this, I might have to write my own Caitlin Ros Mysteries. (Geddit?!)
Sweet Desserts by Lucy Ellman.
Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming.
Engleby by Sebastian Faulks. My first Faulks - he's too damn popular with the ladies for my liking. I almost gave up on it on page 85. Luckily something happens on page 86. Blog post coming...
Street Kids by Chandrika Kaviraj. Excellent unpublished story for older children set in Pakistan and India during Partition.
The Sacred Art of Stealing by Christopher Brookmyre.
Casino Royale by Ian Fleming. My first Bond. It's just as I would have hoped and expected. And me oh my does Vesper Lynd remind me of someone.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. There's a stunning novel in here, struggling to get out. Just spare me the state of Russian agriculture, Leo, I beg you...
Nemesis by Jo Nesbø - this is shaping up very nicely, up there with The Snowman and The Redeemer.Calendar
Monthly Archives: November 2006
Bad Parenting Tips
No.2 in an occasional series If you are bothered by your small children insisting on climbing into your bed in the middle of the night, deter them with water pistols. I mean, it works with cats…
Posted in children, family life
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A blogger blogs, always
Well, actually no. It strikes me that many bloggers feel they must Blog Come What May, even if that means that most of their posts run to this format: person A has done something cool; person B has noticed this … Continue reading
Posted in internet
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Ha!
Originally uploaded by oliorchard. The comments on this photo on Flickr had me sniggering into my Waitrose Côtes du Rhone… (I found this when surfing for photos taken with a Fuji A607 – thanks to Euan I discovered you can … Continue reading
Posted in media
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Blintsday
Today is the 17th of November. It’s my eldest son’s birthday. But also his class mate Molly’s birthday, and the birthday of Hugh, who he plays rugby with. They were all born on the same day, but Hugh is as … Continue reading
Posted in children, Uncategorized
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Shallow age
I’m pretty sure that when I watched the TV adaptation of the Iain Banks novel The Crow Road when it first aired in 1996, I fancied the intelligent, feisty Ashley Watt (played by Valerie Edmond). Watching it again tonight on … Continue reading
Posted in literature, TV
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BNP vs BBC
So, the BNP two have been acquitted of inciting racial hatred. Some commentators have drawn comparisons between this and the case of Mizanur Rahman, who was recently found guilty of inciting racial hatred at a rally against the Danish cartoons. … Continue reading
Posted in internet, TV
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Wikipedia: Written By Morons Like You ™
Finally someone has come up with a solution to the chief problem with Wikipedia – namely, that anyone, any stupid moronic fool (like you, like me) can edit stuff. And hence, just as people cannot resist scratching windows on public … Continue reading
Posted in internet
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I am the Prince of Wales! I am the Prince of Wales!
Am totally hooked on ‘The Decision’ by a band called The Young Knives. Can’t get its pleasingly bonkers riff and lyrics out of my head. I wore the blue with the green I wore the blue with the green I … Continue reading
