Have you met him, Craig? He's a bit of a one trick pony but I'm a sucker for the trick, I really love his stuff. That said, Diary is probably my least favourite. Survivor, Choke and Invisible Monsters totally rocked me the first time I read them.

I've never had an issue with his name because I did a module on forensic geology at university and the king of that science is a guy called Skip Palahniuk.
Best.name.ever.

Over the last few days I've read Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase For Abraham Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson, a point-by-point account of the hours leading up to John Wilkes Booth's assassination of Lincoln, as well as a bit of background relating to Booth's previous attempt to kidnap Lincoln, and then detailing the actions of the U.S. government in trying to apprehend Booth but more importantly a fairly comprehensive account of how Booth was able to elude capture for almost two weeks after killing the Great Emancipator.

I'm always interested in anything that tries to bridge the divide between academic history and popular history, and Swanson's book is, in essence, history as thriller. The 'chase' in the title gives a good indication of the direction of the book, as it has a very focused, driven narrative at its heart that keeps the reader enthralled but without sacrificing an almost painful attention to detail, with every event, person and place recreated superbly by Swanson's crisp, illuminating prose. It takes 150-odd pages for Lincoln to actually die, that being the most heavily studied and documented part of the story, so it does feel a bit top heavy in some respects. That's not really Swanson's fault, he's just working with the documents he has to hand and the accounts of those who helped Booth escape, so he can be forgiven for playing to the strengths of the documents in forming his narrative. It does lead to a few too many moments where Swanson tells us what Booth might have been thinking and, whilst they do serve the narrative and, when corroborated with other evidence, offer a unique insight into his mind, a lot of the time they just come off as portentous at best and preposterous at worst.

What's most interesting about the book, though, is Swanson's portrayal of Booth and, towards the end of the book, his all too brief examination of Booth's legacy. Swanson notes that the mystique that has grown around Booth over the years is somewhat strange, wryly noting that pictures of Booth can be found in Washington indicating the way to Ford's Theatre, but pictures of Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas or James Earl Ray in Memphis would be deemed obscene, but also plays into the mythology because he himself portrays Booth as the antihero he has become in popular myth. Booth is shown to be a charming, talented actor with a terrifying belief in his principles and, however strongly you may disagree with them, it's hard not to be taken along for the ride and to empathise with him, even if his single bullet may have not only caused the exact opposite effect that he wanted, turning a controversial, often unpopular president into a secular martyr, and in the long term had terrible ramifications that are still being felt today in America.

Certain parts of it are shallower than they could be or deserve to be, but it's a really terrific read that highlights a particular aspect of one of the most important events in American history and does so with verve, a fine eye for detail and which maintains a fine balance between accessibility and a rigorous, scholar pursuit of its subject.

Yeah, I hosted a signing for him about a year and a half ago. We did it in a theatre so we could screen Fight Club afterwards. He was such a neurotic little dickface that I had to reconsider whether I really liked his books that much. Turns out I do (with the exception of Haunted, which is fourteen kinds of shit). Anyway, he's got some serious issues and he truly is as weird as you imagine he might be. I'm pretty patient with weirdos and especially forgiving of someone who makes something I like, but he's on my permanent shit list. Such a dick.

I love Choke and Survivor too.

Ha. I am amused and disappointed that he is a badfreak.

I really love Choke. One of my favortie Palahniuk books. It really teached me some sex-vocabulary. But the twists are maybe a little too many in the last third of the book. I prefered Rant on that respect, since it too got many sick and strange twists but the genre of oral history fits the story so well, that I bought all of them. I also think it could make an interesting movie.

I finished Little Women a couple of weeks back and I loved it. I think Jo was my favourite character when I was little, but now it's Laurie.

I also read a rather strange novel called Shamanka by Jeanne Willis. It was quite interesting, and I liked how the author had put in notes on how to do magic tricks before each new chapter.

I'm now reading Shade by Neil Jordan, which I started a few months back and quite forgot about.

Little Women is one of my favourite books. I was sorting my books last night and it reminded me that I've not read Little Men yet.

I have just read the last 180 pages of Atonement and it was wonderfully written, but equally makes me hate Mr. McEwan a bit for making me sad. As soon as I saw "BT London 1999" at the end of part three, I knew the next section was going to be designed for the purposes of tear enducing. It's rather late, so I shall watch the film tomorrow and see how it compares (especially the ending).

But now I must sleep.

The queues are forming now - for the book burning . . .

I don't think enough copies will be bound for that.

Urgh. Just... Urgh.

That makes me angry for so many different reasons.

Read "Hey Nostradamus!" I didn't really like the first part, but from then on it was a pleasent read. I liked it, but not as much as "Microserfs."

Holy shit, The Watchmen is awesome!

That was my first reaction when I read it.

Finished The Yiddish Policemen's Union (not, as I keep calling, The Yiddish Policeman's Ball) by Michael Chabon and I'm in two minds about it. I really like any kind of alternate history that is done well and this was a particularly interesting example since it created an alternate history that I had never considered (what if Israel had been destroyed two months after its creation in 1948 and Jews were forced to settle in Alaska) and there are plenty of insights into Jewish culture throughout. However, it might be just a bit too Jewish, as I felt there was a wall of understanding that I just couldn't get through, so it all felt rather frustrating.

Not terrible, but not Kavalier and Clay.

You've taken your first step into a larger world

New Hitchhiker's author announced.

WHAT?!!!

I thought all the characters were supposed to have died at the end of Mostly Harmless (apart from Zaphod)

Yeah, but Adams was supposedly working on a sixth book when he died, so clearly he had an idea about where he could take the book and, assumingly, the characters after their ''deaths''.

Despite telling myself that I needed an early night, I found myself staying up until 2 in the morning reading Nation, Terry Pratchett's first non-Discworld book in over a decade and bloody marvellous it was.

The story revolves around two characters; Mau and Daphne. Mau is a member of a community on an island in the South Pelagic Ocean some time in the mid-19th century. A huge wave destroys his home as he is taking part in the rites of passage ritual of his culture and also washes Daphne aboard, who is the daughter of an English governor and who would be Queen if 139 people died. Cultural misunderstandings abound as the two get to know each other, but both are beset by questions of a metaphysical nature.

It's described as a book for 'young adults' but Nation is probably Pratchett's most mature book to date and deals with a lot of weighty themes. Chief amongst these is the crisis of faith Mau undergoes after the destruction of his home and family and as he comes to think that the gods his tribe worshipped must not exist if they would allow such a terrible thing to happen. Rather than just saying ''Woo, Atheism!'', which would seem to be the way you would expect the story to go, Pratchett tackles belief, or the lack thereof, in a more nuanced way, showing that belief is more complex than simply a case of God does exist/God doesn't exist and, for a book which does have such an atheistic plot, it's surprisingly spiritual.

Pratchett also tackles cultural differences and how they can be reconciled and the idea of empire building, through his usual focus on ordinary people and how they really are the important ones in the end, but doesn't let this overshadow the story, which maintains the perfect balance between light and dark that you would find in the best children's literature and his inimitable grasp of language is on full display.

A wonderful book.

I finished this last night, and I didn't find the overt Jewishness of it to be a barrier. I suppose there might be bits in there that I didn't understand as well as someone who knows/follows the religion would do, but there wasn't anything that I felt was really lost on me. I found it to be mostly just a very engaging murder mystery, albeit with an unusual and interesting backdrop.

Towards the end I certainly found it a lot less frustrating as I got to grips with the language more, but I think that the early part of the book, which I struggled through, has coloured my experience of reading the book more than the last part, which I really enjoyed. I do think it's good, I just was expecting something better. I also think the comparisons that some have made between Chabon's style and story to that of Raymond Chandler set my expectations higher than they might otherwise have been.

Oooo, what's this?



Out next Friday!

I know, I know! Can't wait, frankly.

Is that a typical book price in UK? Seems expensive.

Well, it is a hardback, and - typically for Hamilton - very thick. Most places will offer discounts, so it shouldn't be difficult to pick up for £11-£12, and the price will probably drop to about £7 when it comes out in paperback.

It is for a new hardback, though it is at the higher end of that particular scale. Depends where you shop, really. I got ''Nation'' by Terry Pratchett in hardback for £8 thanks to a half-price offer, and that sort of offer is quite common for a book that the shop knows will sell well.

Have you read it yet? I will likely pick it up anyway, but just wondering howit is.

I have, and I liked it a lot:

Read a couple of books over the last few days:

Basket Case by Carl Hiaasen. I hadn't really shown much interest in Hiaasen's writing until recently, when the prominence of his quotes on Christopher Moore's books, a recommendation from my dad and an interview with Terry Pratchett in which he said that Hiaasen was one of his favourite authors convinced that maybe it was time to give him a look, and I'm glad I did. A hilarious, sleazy tale of an obituary writer at a Florida newspaper who, whilst writing up the obit of a rock star he was a fan of, discovers that there may be more to the story than he had previously thought. Throw in some great music references, a frozen lizard and a compelling story about avarice, combined with a relentless attack on the state of modern journalism, and you've got a great read. Recommended for the aforementioned Messrs Moore and Pratchett.

A Drink Before The War by Dennis Lehane. Having already read Gone, Baby, Gone, the fourth book in Lehane's Kenzie and Gennaro series, I was worried that I might have ruined a lot of the plot twists for myself but was pleasantly surprised to see that this wasn't the case, though it did make me think that this would have probably have been the right book to adapt into a film since Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan would have been pretty much exactly the right ages for it.

Anyway, as with Gone, Baby, Gone, this proved to be a hugely entertaining book that nimbly mixed hip (well, by 1994 standards) dialogue, music and movie references with some really dark subject matter, psychologically fascinating characters and angry ruminations on religion, destructive relationships and humanity in general, with particular emphasis on the marginalisation of black people and the prevalence of racism throughout American society. No wonder Lehane fitted so well into the writing staff of The Wire. Very good and very fun.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Something I got to read for homework for my course.

I found it ok, but a bit meh... I have been told to read the second one. Hmmm.

It's one of the rare cases that I found the cover more fullfilling than whats between it.

It must have been your recommendation of Gone, Baby, Gone that made me pick up the first one in the series (I'm a sucker for order). I didn't realise he'd written for The Wire, maybe that'll make my Dad read it (rather than leave it languishing on the bookshelf as it is now).

Just finished "No one belongs here more than you." A lot of sick stories and some interesting stories and some rubbish stories. I've never been a short-story man and I probably will never be. It was okay overall.

Now it's time for me to start with "How to loose friends and alienate people." Looking forward to it.

Yaarg! Woop!! At last. Ordered it from Play. £11.99 with free delivery.

It seems to have come out surprisingly quickly for PFH. I'll be picking it up but don't rate my chances of finishing it soon. Sometimes I miss commuting!

It seems like a long wait. I've been reading Charles Stross lately, who's sci-fi with a varying degrees of comedy thrown in, depending on the story. Both the books I've read have been pretty good though.

Almost finished Crime and Punishment. It's taken me a month though.

Just finished Elfhunter by CS Marks. It's Tolkienesque in its approach (grammer and syntax etc) but very modern and brutal in it's delivery. It has a serial killer who it targetting elves. Great read, inspiring read.

Dave

That's the first book I read cover-to-cover without putting it down.

The Prestige by Christopher Priest.

I got the original version, not the movie tie-in one. So very, very different to the film but I still absolutely loved it. I tried to read it very slowly; however, as I got closer to the end I found it harder and harder to put it down. A very good read indeed.

I've almost finished my re-read of The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. It's a great book, but goes a little bit too much into complicated back-history sometimes.

Next up are three books I bought at Barnes & Noble yesterday. Two are from the Barker & Llewellyn mystery series, which I adore, and Human Traces by Sebastian Faulks. Some nice holiday reads that I'll probably have ploughed through before I even get on the plane.

That's on my pile of books to read, did you re-read it because you enjoyed it or because it needs a second read to understand? I'm not trying to imply you're thick but I can't think of a better way to phrase it.

Heh - no worries! I really enjoyed it the first time around, but it's a massive book and a lot of information to take in so it's definitely good for a second read. I also haven't read it in over a year so I'd forgotten a lot of it. I definitely recommend it though!

Just finished Salmon of Doubt again after only reading it two months ago. Wonderful, hialrious, inspiring and just brilliant in every possible way. Aside from that, bloody frustrating as DNA talks so much about how he was full to the brim with ideas after such a long period of having nothing to write, and now it will never see the light of day.

I read Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attacks and The Japanese Psyche by Haruki Murakami and Tell No One by Harlan Coben over the last few days.

The former was endlessly fascinating and quite terrifying as well. It's Murakami's attempt to get to grips with the attacks on the Tokyo subway system on March 20, 1995, in which members of the Aum cult released Sarin gas throughout the subway system, causing the deaths of 12 people and injuring thousands more. The first half of the book comprises interviews Murakami conducted with victims and relatives of victims of the attacks. Through these, Murakami creates a picture of an extraordinary event as told through a number of different perspectives, with each building on, and occasionally contradicting, those that went before until something resembling a complete account emerges, one that puts the reader underground with hundreds of people and a sickly sweet smell permeating the stations.

Murakami remains mostly hidden during these interviews, allowing the interviewees to speak for themselves and keeping any editorialising down to a bare minimum, apart from his afterword. He also uses them to present an interesting look into the Japanese psyche, and how the society as a whole had become so work obsessed that people with serious sarin poisoning would go to work, rather than go to a hospital for treatment, and how completely underprepared the emergency services were for a disaster of this magnitude.

The second half of the book, which was actually published separately in Japan as a response to criticisms that Underground itself was somewhat one-sided (which was the point, really) contains eight interviews with former and current members of Aum, in which Murakami takes a more active role in order to probe why people would become involved and whether or not they were aware of what was occuring in the cult at the time that it became so violent. These are just as fascinating as the others, if only because they seem to highlight Murakami's idea that the real danger is not so much Aum itself but the fact that so many people had become disenfranchised by Japanese society that they would be willing to surrender themselves to a group that seemed to offer them some sort of spiritual aid. Chilling stuff, especially when you get to accounts of bullying and torture within Aum that some of the interviewees had to endure.

Although I'd recommend it, I wouldn't recommend reading it on any form of public transport. It's just not good for the mind.


Even though I'd seen the film of Tell No One, I was interested to see what the book was like as I wanted to check out Harlan Coben's work in general and thought that approaching a story I already knew might offer an easy indicator of whether or not I'd like his stuff. The fact that I've already started another of his books says volumes about what I thought to his writing.

Crisp, sharp prose combined with a tense plot that blends mystery, suspense and a paranoiac fear of pursuit. It also differs from the film in a number of ways that I found quite interesting, particularly the messier and quite different ending, which even Coben has admitted was done better in the film. Still, it's a very good crime thriller and I was gripped throughout.

I've been reading the Philip Pullman Sally Lockhart mysteries. I'm on The Tiger in the Well at the moment. This third book is the best so far. I'm really anjoying it. I would highly recommend any book by Philip Pullman. I hope they do a t.v adaptation of the The Tiger in the Well and the next one The Tin Princess.

My copy of The Temporal Void was posted yesterday. Hopefully should arrive tomorrow. Yay!

I really must pick up a copy of that.

Finished Stuart Maconie's Pies And Prejudice, which was pretty entertaining (although slightly marred by some poor editing), and started David Simon's Homicide : A Year On The Killing Streets - so far, it's been excellent.