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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
February 2012 M T W T F S S « Jan 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
Category Archives: newspapers
I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times
Ian Jack has written a very interesting piece about the death of newspapers – in The Guardian. Printed papers, he argues, are going to become a niche, luxury product like artisanal (awful word) cheese. I’d prefer to think of them … Continue reading
Posted in media, newspapers
Tagged Death of Newspapers, firewall, Guardian, kindle, newspapers
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The Guardian on the Kindle: Review
I’m just over a week into my 14 day free trial of The Guardian and The Observer on the Kindle, and here’s what I Reckon. I know there’s no reason why anyone should give a damn about what I Reckon, … Continue reading
Pass the paracetamol
I’m not sure which depresses me more; this, or this? The former shows how many colour printers secretly print yellow dots to tell The Man the serial number of your printer and the time and date of printing. In the … Continue reading
Posted in grief, newspapers
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Charlie Brooker and the Spooky Coincidence
I got Dawn of the Dumb, Charlie Brooker’s collection of Guardian columns for Christmas, and I’ve been chuckling my way through it since the big day. This despite the fact that I’m clearly the sort of person Mr Brooker would … Continue reading
Posted in children, Christmas, media, newspapers, TV
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Ming Could Not Klingon
Will be disappointed if I don’t see this headline today.
Posted in newspapers
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…made me smile
I’ve been slightly delirious since my visit to the hospital this morning, and lots of small things have made me giggle. Best was on the way home this evening… an Evening Standard placard reading: DEADLY SKUNK FLOODS LONDON. It really … Continue reading
Posted in asthma, newspapers
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Smile
Who was it who said, of literary criticism I think, “we murder to dissect”? Who said that writing about music was “dancing like architecture”? Well in the Guardian Guide on Saturday, Tim Jonze wrote about the comedian Josie Long. He … Continue reading
Posted in newspapers
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Jon Ronson… going up
Who’d have thunk it? Guardian magazine columnist Jon Ronson, who normally winds me up every Saturday morning, has shot up in my estimation. Apparently he recently told mad shyster David Shayler to ‘fuck off’. On Radio 4.
Posted in media, newspapers
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My name is Jon Ronson, I live in Wisconsin, I work in the lumbermill there
Our friend Georgina and I both love to hate Jon Ronson. His Guardian column makes us both scream and yet we always read it, week in week out. That and Charlie Brooker’s TV review are the only things I always … Continue reading
Posted in internet, media, newspapers
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