My mate's Iliad came with 50 classic old books already on it...mostly excellent ones too, and he's already downloaded plenty of others. I wouldn't bother downloading books, either, unless you've got one of these things to read them on.

I'm re-reading The Hobbit after a good decade and a half. It's a nice wee book and my images of the story haven't changed that much, if at all. The scenary still reminds me of going on childhood walks with my family in Snowdonia. Without Goblins, of course.

Aye, tis a very good book. If you enjoyed that, I would also recommend The Kraken Wakes (which is another "End of the World" story) and The Midwich Cuckoos.



I tried reading The Hobbit off the back of Lord of the Rings and I just couldn't get on with it. With the increased level of Hobbit and Elf singing it was all a bit twee, and it felt like I was reading Tolkien Lite (I know it's only a kid's book, but I was still surprised by the contrast between the two).

I fully intend to. I really like the film 'Village of The Damned', so I'd be interested in seeing how the book compares.



I think that's probably the wrong way to read them, to be honest. I read The Hobbit years before I read Lord of the Rings, and seeing the progression from one to the other was quite astounding to me. I imagine that doing it the other way around would be underwhelming.

That makes me wonder, will the same problem afflict the film version? I know that Jackson, Walsh, Boyens and del Toro will probably rein in the elf singing stuff since it doesn't quite fit into the world of the film trilogy, but they've also said it'll be reasonably faithful in tone.

The film - provided you are talking about the original black and white version and not the US remake - is a fair adaptation, but the book is much better (by the way, should you feel so inclined as to watch the movie version of Triffids, skip it and watch the BBC version instead, it's a gazillion times better).



As long as that tone isn't "twee" I don't mind what they do.

(actually, I could probably object to quite a bit they could do, but such is life!).

Aye, the original. I've not seen the John Carpenter version. I'm not too keen on seeing any film versions of Triffids, it's too perfect a sci-fi story and I'm not sure any film could do it justice (unless you count 28 Days Later, which borrows a lot from it).

The TV series is a very good adaptation, I highly recommend it!

Agreed. There are dark bits in The Hobbit too - notably Gollum's cave and the Goblins eating ponies. But the singing has been reigned in all-round in the Tolkein adaptations so far. I expect new film will be the same.

Human Punk by John King
The story of a suburban punk teen and his friends in the 70's and later 80's and 90's, and how one event during that time impacts on his life. Good, nostalgic, and slightly angry, stuff.

After Dark by Haruki Murakami
More sleep, more music but slightly fewer cats than usual. Like many of Murakami's books, you are sometimes left wondering what it was all about, and like many of his books, I can't pinpoint why, but I loved it.

Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now by Andrew Collins
The second volume of Collins' autobiography/memoirs. Very entertaining stuff.

Just sarted American Gods by Neil Gaiman, which seems good so far. Only my second Gaiman novel after Anansi Boys, which I found a bit of a let down.

Just bought the Alex James autobiography and That's Me In The Corner by Andrew Collins

What other Murakami books have you read that you would recommend?

I'm nearly through Sputnik Sweetheart at the moment, and although I have a couple of books already lined up to read, I'm interested in getting some more Murakami.

Kafka On The Shore is probably my favourite. Norwigian Wood is considered his best. I'd recommend them all, and bar the short story collections, have read them all. Though I do have some problems differentiating between some of them.

Cheers for that!

Both of those were already at the top of my list, so it will probably be them that I buy.

I think Anansi Boys is better if you've read American Gods since they do share a continuity. That's what I found, anyway, since Anansi Boys on its own would be a pretty thin read.

I'd recommend Neverwhere if you like American Gods. It's a great little fantasy book.



On top of Sostie's suggestions, I'd highly recommend the Wind-Up Bird Chronicles and Dance Dance Dance, both of which are fantastic.

I much prefered American Gods to Anansi Boys, but it's in the short stories that he really kicks off. Sometimes.

Actually Neverwhere is the best.

edit: I've just discovered that the Marquis de Carabas was played by Johnson from Peepshow in the original TV series.

I've got that on video somewhere, it's alright, but the book is better.

I watched that for the first time last year and his first appearance took me completely by surprise. I was waiting for him to start talking about velvet gloves.

I love Neverwhere both in book and TV format - I still love to watch the show, even though it does look very dated these days.

Just finished it. Beautifully written and very moving, I'm going to have to read it again one day.

I'm trying to start Romola by George Eliot, but I'm finding it really hard. Mainly because I keep using it as a method of getting to sleep.

My two favourites of the ones I've read.

I'm really tempted to buy the series on DVD, but I promised myself not to spend all of my money on DVDs.

The Crow Road - Iain Banks

Probably the first proper book I've read in a couple of years (after Dracula).

Pretty enjoyable overall, now have a bit more of a desire to read more. Am carrying two books in my bag at the moment. The first is Jaws, which I read about 15 years ago and loved, and the second is Fantastic Mr Fox, which I need to read before my teacher training starts.

Oh, and Fischer's book is out.

Wiffle Lever to Full!

Not only is he signing at Forbidden Planet tonight in London, he's also appearing on Steve Wright's show tomorrow on Radio 2. He's fucking shameless. I might well be e-mailing Steve Wright to tell him about the realllllll Bob Fischer.

I'll be there.

It got a 4/5 review in Metro this morning.

It's got 5/5 on the Waterstones website as well.

I'll text him and let him know you'll be there.

Sales are sure to rise from the current spot of 3901 in the bestsellers list on Amazon.

Very good turn out. Very enjoyable reading of extracts.

Tainted only by Bob's farewell shout of "You look nothing like Dom Deluise in the flesh". Gah!

He was hoping to slap you round the chops like he was Burt Reynolds.

You mean it was planned? The gauntlet is down now.

The Dom DeLuise taunt? You betcher. He told me he was going to do it when I texted him, but then we got bogged down in needless sex based drivel. Like the radio, but in text form.

Well I hope you're happy. Everyone. Everyone, turned and pointed and laughed at me. Not just strangers but people who work in the shop. People I have to face every week when I buy my comics. I ran crying from the store, recalling the years of bullying I received at school. Bullying I thought had finally ended. But no. And my crime? Buying a book. A book I dropped in my mad rush to escape the ridicule of strangers.


Wait til you see the nice gift Bob was given. It's spiffing.

Brilliant!

I'm currently reading the penultimate Rebus novel. I'm going to be very sad when I finish the last one. I've become totally addicted to them, I keep meaning to take a break from them and read something different but they always draw me back in!

I don't think you look anything like Dom DeLuise. It's all Bob Fischer's fault. He's drunk on success. I'll be giving him a reprimand when I see him. He'll probably have his own posse by then seeing as he's on Steve Wright's show this afternoon.

Christian Bale was meant to be on too, but I fear that might get pulled in the wake of his recent kerkuffle.

My bad. He pre-recorded it today and will be on the show next Friday.

Finished A Wizard of Earthsea yesterday and I liked it a lot. Great characters, hugely imaginative and it was interesting to read a fantasy book that steers away from a lot of the tropes of Western fantasy. Can't wait to read more Earthsea books, but I'll have to as I'm now starting on The Trial by Franz Kafka.

Just finished The Zombie survival guide by Max Brooks, not as funny as i thought it might be but funnier if you imagine Dr Russell Fell from Danger 50,000 zombies narrating
The tiger in the well by Philip Pullman, good gothic victorian feel
The Freelance writers handbook by andrew crofts, some useful ideas
Books i keep picking up and reading randomly - (damn you tempting charity shops,making me buy more than i can read)
The proud highway by Hunter S Thompson
Global village idiot by John O Farrell
Glue by Irvine Welsh
All families are psychotic by Douglas Coupland
White Line Fever, Lemmy from Motorheads autobiography

I've recently finished Wish You Were Here, by Mike Gayle.

I've been reading Mike Gayle's books since his first one, My Legendary Girlfriend, was featured on Bookworm some ten years ago. They started off by being what is probably best described as light-weight Nick Hornby novels, but as he's published more - Wish You Were Here is his seventh novel - I've been getting the distinct impression they have been veering more towards the "chick-lit" end of the spectrum.

Wish You Were Here tells the story of three thirty-something friends who go on an ill-advised holiday together to the 18-30 party resort of Malia. One has just been dumped by his girlfriend of ten years, one needs a break from his wife and kids and the third is trying to take a break from his fiancé, a task that proves difficult when she turns up . . .

Whilst I liked it, I can't say this is one of Gayle's best. The story ambles along well enough, and although it's a good light-weight holiday read, it is fairly predictable and I couldn't help feeling, come the end of the book, that life just isn't that neat and tidy.

Just finished Knife Edge by Malorie Blackman this morning. Not quite as good as Noughts and Crosses, but still a brilliant read.

I'm also currently halfway through Fearless by Tim Lott, and then I have Good Omens to read when I'm finished. Yay to books!

Finished Fearless this afternoon. Such a strange book it was as it seemed to be aimed at younger readers but would sometimes surprise me with something that I thought would be more suited for an older audience.

And now I'm onto Good Omens, which I'm enjoying tremendously despite only having read five pages so far.

This will likely continue to the last page.

I'm currently enjoying Pies and Prejudice by Stuart Maconie, a search for the true north of England. I had to stop reading it on the train because I got a fit of the giggles. A lighter version of Bill Bryson I think.

Today in the post I got A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane, the first book in the series that contains Gone Baby Gone. Someone on here mentioned that Gone Baby Gone was the fourth book in the series so I looked up the first one and thought I'd give it a go, despite the fact I never got round to seeing Gone Baby Gone at the cinema.

One of my absolute favourite books that is. It's like a mix of Monty Python and Terry Pratchett, and despite both of those things it's a brilliantly funny piece of work.

It's odd that you should mention Monty Python, as Terry Gilliam has been trying to make a film version for a good few years now. Apparantly there's a script written but it's stuck in development hell. Wikipedia mentions that Johnny Depp and Robin Williams were rumoured as Gilliam's ideal choices to play Crowley and Aziraphale respectively. Sounds kinda cool but nothing's come of it yet.

It is a fantastic book though. One of my favourites.

Oh, God, don't let Robin Williams anywhere near it - everything he's been in recently has tanked.

Nonononono! Aziraphale has to be played by David Hyde Pierce.

Read his Cider With Roadies a wee while back - it was far better than I expected.

Yes.

Ooh, nice choice.

We'll probably never see the film but it's nice to speculate. With Stardust doing so well you never know though.

Both great books. I wish Collins & Maconie Movie Club would come back

I think how well Coraline and The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus do. Coraline would vindicate Gaiman as a profitable source of stories and Parnassus could give Gilliam the leverage that he's been lacking since Twelve Monkeys.