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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
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Category Archives: Uncategorized
Fantasy Celebrity MPs’ Question Time
You know what you have to do, Mr Speaker. You need to call all the following MPs to speak in one day, and we can have the bestest celebrity edition of Today (and Yesterday) in Parliament ever: Richard Bacon, (Con) … Continue reading
Where did you get that hat?
I never got hats. For starters, I look a right tit in any hat, so that rules out me ever wearing one. Women’s hats were equally baffling to me. The word ‘fascinator’ only entered my vocabulary during the recent royal … Continue reading
A load of balls
I’m not sporty – and I always had sympathy with the small child in the Alan Partridge sports headlines on The Day Today and On The Hour who caused turmoil at major sporting events by pointing out that golf, for … Continue reading
New neighbours
Two removal vans have carted our old neighbours’ possessions off in two separate directions to two different houses, and later today we’ll be getting new neighbours. I just dropped a welcome card through their letterbox. I did consider writing another … Continue reading
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Political Nirvana
The coalition is such a success, I think this is not the New Politics – it’s the End of Politics. The lion lies down with the lamb. There is peace, unity and all is good. It’s such a triumph that … Continue reading
Ironic
Hey Alanis, now this really is Ironic: the party that said it wouldn’t do a deal with a party that came third in the popular vote, and which says the electoral system is unfair, came in third place in popular … Continue reading
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Cunning plan
Labour candidates crashing cars, getting arrested, slagging off pensioners and now seemingly breaking electoral law. On Twitter. What next ?!? I’m starting to think it’s all a cunning ruse by Labour after that alleged Mervyn King comment about the party … Continue reading
Random Tannoy announcements
“Attention please, the sandwich man is in the main newsroom.” “Sandwiches are now in the newsroom.” “There are now two sandwich men in the newsroom.” (At which point I shout ‘FIGHT!’) “There is now mayonnaise on the carpet of the … Continue reading
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Ultimate Guide to xkcd, part 2
Choice strips from numbers 301-601. xkcd.com/308/ – interesting life xkcd.com/314/ – dating pools xkcd.com/323/ – ballmer peak xkcd.com/327/ – exploits of a mom xkcd.com/334/ – wasteland xkcd.com/349/ – success xkcd.com/363/ – reset xkcd.com/374/ – journal xkcd.com/377/ – journal 2 xkcd.com/378/ … Continue reading
The ultimate guide to xkcd, part 1
Life is short, xkcd is long – over 700 strips and counting. What to do? Fear not – I’ve picked the best ones for you, starting with numbers 1 to 301… the ones that made me laugh out loud and … Continue reading
