And it did! I kept getting weird looks off family members for laughing so loudly at a book, hehe.

Finished this today and it was a spellbinding read. A murky, terrifying yet hilarious world of paranoia, self-destruction and the absurdity of existence, it's an oddly prophetic book that interestingly predicts and prefigures the notion of a terror state. That it isn't really a ''finished'' book, as defined by Kafka, made it all the more fascinating, as I couldn't help but wonder what else would have been included had he finished it and deemed it fit for publication during his lifetime.

I'm now starting The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove by Christopher Moore.

Yay!

Yay! indeed. Finished it last night after I realised that I couldn't put it down and wouldn't be able to sleep until I'd found out how it ended. As always, a wonderfully daft, supremely clever fantasy that delights in the absurb whilst also offering up interesting truisms. Had me laughing pretty much all the way through, except the end when I had a smile of joy on my face, and I think I'll have to read Practical Demonkeeping soon so that I understand what all the references to previous events in Pine Cove relate to.

I've now gone onto What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami.

I spent half an hour looking at his books in Waterstone's on Saturday, trying to work out which one to read next. It will probably be Norwegian Wood, but I quite like the sound of South of the Border, West of the Sun, (the only copy they had there had a huge crease in its cover though). In the end I didn't buy anything, but I don't think it will be long before my next purchase.

I needed something to read during my lunch break yesterday so I bought myself Seagalogy: A Study of the Ass- Kicking Films of Steven Seagal. It's an odd one to be sure.

Finished this last night and, even if it wasn't as satisfying as his novels, it was still a fascinating read. The parallels he draws between writing and running, whilst initially a bit spurious, become clear and well-defined as the book progresses, giving a real sense that he wouldn't be the novelist he is if it weren't for his long-distance running. Some things could have been expanded on, I'd really have liked to have heard more about his run with John Irving, but it's never dull and really made me want to give running a try. Though it'll be a cold day in Hell before someone got me to run an ultramarathon; Murakami's description of that makes it sound truly terrifying.

I've now started Neuromancer by William Gibson. So far, so great.

Yaaaaaaaaay! Hope you enjoy it.




ETA - I read Wonder Boys a couple of weeks ago. Thoroughly enjoyed it, I really like Chabon's style and the cover is very pretty. Am torn as to whether I should watch the film now - anyone seen it?

I have! It's very good, though I haven't got around to reading the novel yet so I don't know how it compares. I liked it a lot when I saw it, though.

Hm. In that case, maybe I will watch it.

I'd be inclined to agree Ed. Ellie, the film is absolutely wonderful (no pun intended), it's got a few really good performances and the script is lovely. Highly recommended by yours truly.

Possibly my favourite book of all time.

I've read some cheap fantasy lately. The Chronicles of the Raven (Dawnthief, Noonshade, Nightchild) by James Barclay. A bit meh though it had it's moments. It was pretty brainless swords and sorcery stuff.

Then on holiday I read Eve: The Empyrion Age. As far as books about games go, this was pretty good, although there was no ending to speak of, it was all set up and no pay off. Makes me want to try and get into EVE Online though.

I also read Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross and really enjoyed it. It reads like a comedic cross between James Bond, magic and the BOFH from The Register. Really enjoyable and ticked all my boxes.

Currently reading The Book of Words (Baker's Boy, A Man Betrayed and next Master and Fool) by J V Jones. Not sure if I really like it that much, but it's filling a gap.

I've just finished reading Chocky, by John Wyndham, for the first time. As with a lot of Wyndham's work it's all very Middle England, and although it wasn't as good as Triffids or Cuckoos, it was an enjoyable enough story with some interesting ideas.

I'm really enjoying A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane. It's really nice to read something that's the first in the series when there's another four books that have already been published. I think I'm going to be working my way through all of them.

I can see why. It says something about a book that even after its ideas have been pillaged relentlessly for over 20 years, both in fiction and reality, it still manages to feel fresh, exciting and completely unique. I loved it.

Got my holiday reads sorted:

Cider with Roadies - Stuart Maconie Already read Pies and Prejudice and thoroughly enjoyed it, so hoping for more of the same
The Call of the Weird: Travels in American Subcultures by Louis Theroux
I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak - The Book Thief by the same author was absolutely brilliant.
An Utterly Impartial History of Britain: (or 2000 Years of Upper Class Idiots in Charge) by John O'Farrell take your brain out material - just what you need for holiday
Long Way Down Ewan and Charlie's ride to the tip of South Africa - I kinda liked the TV series so thought this'd be a good read
The End Of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas No idea about this but read the blurb and sounded ok.

That should keep me going for a fortnight! (Along with my PSP!!!)

I'd be interested to hear what you think of Cider with Roadies, I've just finished Pies and Prejudice and thought it was a good light read - if you liked that you might also want to try Where did it all go right? by Andrew Collins.

The Call of the Weird is definitely a good holiday read, there's a few chapters in there where I remember from the tv show and it's a good addition to that.

Very nearly chose that too

The Call of the Weird is a good, interesting read, but to get the most out of it you need to have seen the TV episodes it follows up.

Then Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now and That's Me In The Corner. A great trilogy.

Those are on my list to read, I don't have time for a job, there are so many books to read.

Just ordered 2 more of Amazon

The Book With No Name andThe Eye of the Moon by Anonymous - both look very weird!

Absolutely - it's hard to believe it'll be 25 years old next year (and it's a shame that the film was never made although, if it ended up as poor as Johnny Mnemonic, maybe that's a good thing). I assume you're going to pick up the other two books in the Sprawl Trilogy?

It'd have been interesting if they'd decided to go with Gibson's script for Alien3...

I'm currently reading The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by carson McCullers. so far it's been quite wonderful.

Definitely, though maybe not for a while since I've been a bit mad on books this week, to the tune of 23 new ones bought in the last 7 days. I shouldn't be allowed in book shops.

I'm now dividing my time between Don Quixote (I will finish it one day) and Soon I Will Be Invincible.

I just received a lovely gift in the mail.

On Being Human - Where Ethics, Medicine and Spirituality Converge
Daisaku Ikeda et. al.

I'm very much looking forward to reading it!

Hurrah! That only took about three weeks to arrive. Bloody USPS.

I finished Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman last night and I liked it a lot. However, I didn't love it as I had hoped I would until the last 50 pages or so, though I think this is more because I was expecting something a bit more raucous and less of a character driven tale about two misfits on the opposite sides of the never ceasing war between heroes and villains. Doctor Impossible, in particular, was a wonderfully sympathetic character and I found myself hoping that he would conquer the world at the end.

The Time Machine.

I found this quite difficult to get into at first, the preamble about the nature of time and how it was perceived by The Time Traveller was just a slog to get through, but once he actually started travelling things started to pick up.

The traveller's ruminations about the split that caused the rise of the Eloi and the Morlocks was interesting, in so far as it said more about the social thinker at the turn of the century than it actual progressed the plot.

I was also surprised at how the character of Weena was handled.

Overall it has some good ideas, and I like the ambiguity of the ending, but it felt to me as though it had been made up as it went along.

War of the Worlds is a much better novel.

Almost a quarter of the way through The End Of Mr. Y by Scarlett Thomas, and thoroughly hooked. Its various themes include homeopathy, theology, language and thought, plus quantum theory, and various other levels of physics that I don't fully understand. Oh, and a smattering of sex... it's all rather absorbing to say the least. I'll report back with a full verdict once I've finished it.

^ have that on my holiday reading list, really looking forward to it!

Sarah is trying to get me to read that but now that I have a recommendation from Ade I may give it a read. I really need to finish the book I'm currently reading first though.

Bit Of A Blur - Alex James
An excellent autobiography by Blur's foppish bass player. An unapologetic recount of his (often) hedonistic life whilst in the band, and beyond. Siimply and well written, and pretty funny.

I got five books out of the library on Wednesday and, for some reason, seem to be pretty determined to finish them all before the weekend is over. Maybe it's just because I haven't spent much time reading over the last year and am trying to make up for it.

On Wednesday I read Malorie Blackman's Checkmate, the last in her Noughts and Crosses series. Super, as always, and made a great conclusion to the series.

Yesterday I read A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I'd been quite desperate to read it after watching the film and was quite happy to find it in the library. Anyway, though I love the film to pieces, the book is so much better.

This morning and some of this afternoon, I read The Hunted by Alex Shearer. I wasn't all that keen on it, despite it having a rather good idea for the plot. There was too much repetition of certain ideas, worded in pretty much exactly the same way each time, and it annoyed me after a while. Yes, I bloody well got it!

I am now best part of the way through Louisa May Alcott's Little Women (which I haven't read since I was about eight or nine) and am thoroughly enjoying it.

Finished The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy yesterday, his fictional account of the investigation into the real-life murder of Elizabeth Short, albeit with some considerable dramatic license taken.

My first dip into Ellroy's actual novels, despite being a fan of L.A. Confidential (the film) for some time. A very interesting, complex novel with a compelling mystery at its heart, a well-realised love triangle and a psychological interesting main character in Dwight Bleichert. The psycho-sexual undertones of both Bleichert and Blanchard's obsession with Elizabeth Short's murder also had similarities with Vertigo, and anything that reminds me of Vertigo has to be a good thing.

Spooky, I was thinking of seeking out the book while I was watching L.A. Confidential again last night. God I love that film.

The novels of The Black Dahlia and L.A. Confidential go for £3 each at hmv these days.

That's my Saturday morning stroll sorted then. Magic.

Brilliant book,quite gothic in parts, i read that and pullmans 'The Tiger in the Well' and had a great urge to read some Conan Doyle, then found the Hound of the Baskervilles and A Study in Scarlet (quite appropriate) in a charity shop.

Have just started reading I Am Legend and something just really bugged me about it. Robert Neville knows that the world is now full of vampires. He seems fully aware of vampire lore - knowing that mirrors, garlic, crosses and stakes to the heart all have an affect on them. He even knows lesser known myths about vampires such as transforming into wolves. Yet, despite all this knowledge, and the fact that the vampires only come out at night, it's only by accident that he concludes that sunlight can harm them. I Am Dufus more like.

I'd say stick with it, it's a good story overall.

Oh I will. Just that bit bugged me a little.

As mentioned elsewhere, I've just finished reading Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and Through The Looking-Glass And What She Found There by Lewis Carroll, having been inspired to pick them up after reading Bryan Talbot's Alice In Sunderland. I was certain I'd never read Wonderland before, but I quickly realised that I must have because I remembered the illustrations and particularly the way in which the mouse's tale is written. Anyway, I loved it, and it was great to relive all the nonsense whilst actually understanding the clever wit that runs throughout. I'd definitely never read Looking-Glass before, so that was all new to me and I loved it as well, though I do think the first book is probably the stronger of them.

I just finished Choke by Chuck, and I can't quite decide how I felt about it.

I really like Choke. Not sure what that says about me as a person, though.

I really liked Choke too, I thought it was funny. That, and somewhat perverse and twisted. But certainly funny.

I was talking to someone at a party the other day about Palahniuk books and said that I thought it was strange that, of all his books, Choke is the second one to be made into a film, especially considering how unfilmable it would seem on paper. Then they, quite rightly, pointed out that probably the most unfilmable (nowadays) would be Survivor. I reckon Lullaby would work quite well.

Hmm. I haven't read either of those. Or Invisible Monsters. Maybe I should.


eta: Yes, I definitely should - I already own two of the three after all.

I think Diary would be a pretty good film.

I can't mention anything about Palahniuk anymore without pointing out that he's a dick. He earned that distinction. And in case you're interested in how Palahniuk is pronounced, it's Pall-ah-nick, the stress on the first syllable.