I loved Lamb as well, but I think Dirty Job just shades it. I've also only read one other (Lust Lizard) but I'm ploughing through quite nicely.

Just started The Eyre Affair to be followed by The Road. And then George's Marvellous Medicine (in school).

I think it may just shade Lamb for me, as well. Interestingly enough, those were the first three of his that I read as well. I may have to re-read Lust Lizard, though, since I've now read Practical Demonkeeping, which is the first of the Pine Cove books. I don't think it makes all that much difference in terms of the plot, but I'd like to re-read it with a fuller knowledge of the returning characters.



All ace. The Eyre ffair is another book I should re-read since I hadn't actually read Jane Eyre when I first read it. I might get a bit more out of it now.

It's the best one so far, in my opinion.



Fforde will make you hhappy.



I've attempted to read Jane Eyre at least a dozen times, the latest time was just after The Eyre Affair came out. I just don't connect to it, and that didn't change for me after The Eyre Affair.

I really liked Jane Eyre, though I'm at a loss as to explain why. I found it to be a fairly easy read, not something that I can say about allc classics, and quite engrossing. I'll probably never read it again, but I did like it.

I found the Eyre Affair to be my least favourite. Fforde is great but tends to only pick up only a third of the way in.

The next books are better (haha - Next books.)

Finished this a couple of days ago and I loved it (unsurprisingly). From the early scene in which Tucker Case's penis is impaled on part of an airplane's cockpit controls, post-coital and post crash, all the way through the cannibalism, cargo cults and conspiracies, Moore's writing kept me entertained and engrossed.

I've also read Fluke, Or, I Know Why The Winged Whales Sing and The Stupidest Angel, A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, both by Moore. Fluke was great for the most part but I felt that it had the most rushed and unsatisfying conclusion of any of his books and, even by his standards, it did get a bit silly. But good silly.

The Stupidest Angel was just fantastic. I love The Pine Cove series since, for me, it has some of Moore's strongest characters. That he brought Raziel from Lamb and Tucker Case from Island of the Sequined Love Nun in to the mix only sweetened the deal. The zombies helped, too.

Just finished The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. Although I think I was a bit too harsh about it when I was discussing the upcoming film version a couple of days ago, I still feel that the criticisms that I have of it remain pretty valid. It's an ungainly mix of dull, prosaic descriptions and overly flowery pseudo-profundities, best illustrated by the explanation of the title in the final chapter, which is terribly clunky. The second half is much stronger overall than the first, with the chapter ''Snapshots'' being a particularly strong section. Once it moves past the initial aftermath of Susie Salmon's murder and follows the characters over the subsequent years of their lives it becomes more interesting since it moves from examining the sudden shock of loss to the more long-lasting effects of it and how it can have positive effects in unexpected ways. And at its heart is a really good idea and the notion of personal heavens in one that I find interesting, so whilst the execution really grated on me, the central concept is one that I found reasonably engaging.

Which I finished a couple of days ago and thoroughly enjoyed. I'm starting to get quite addicted to the Discworld series now.

I'm now trying to work out a way of getting the second in the series without having to pay a wee sum to order it at my local library. Mmmmm.

I liked The Eyre Affair, but it did require a little bit of back-tracking when I forgot who certain people were.

Is it wrong to fancy Thursday?

It better not be.

It is not.

That is a mighty relief.

Thursday is sexxor. It's not wrong. I like her lots.

Brand new Doug Coupland today!

I'm very excited to start reading.

Picked up the new Nick Cave novel, "The Death Of Bunny Munro" today. 20 years since the first novel. I guess he has been busy.

Definitely not. She rocks. I want to play her when they make the film.

I got further with Jane Eyre than I did with The Eyre Affair, but I still failed to finish either.

I'd like to give the former another stab at some point, as I originally tried reading it a decade or two ago and I'm a bit more disciplined with my reading now, but I'm not that interested in The Eyre Affair, I just couldn't get into it.

I must try to finish volume one of The Forsyte Saga before I go on holiday.

I've been reading A Supposedly Fun Thing That I'll Never Do Again, a collection of non-fiction essays by David Foster Wallace, this week.

It's a real testament to Wallace's skill as a writer that I was able to forget about him and the sad circumstances of his death whilst reading it. Often if I read a book by someone who has died at their own hand that knowledge can seep in and colour my perception of their work, but that was not the case here since as soon as I started reading I forgot about Wallace, the man, and found myself laughing away at the work of Wallace, the writer.

Wallace had a tremendous ability for writing in a highly articulate and intelligent way (I don't think I've ever encountered someone so fond of gestalt and synecdochic) whilst displaying humility and a real warmth towards his subjects (be they State Fairs, the work of David Lynch, amateur or pro tennis or a week long cruise), eschewing the archness that could very easily have been applied to his subjects. He was a very, very funny man.

I've never read any of his work before, but this has certainly given me a taste and I imagine that I'll try to scale the heights of Infinite Jest at some point in the future, though I'm on to Vonnegut's Welcome To The Monkey House for the moment.

Got me and my Dad one of these



Really cool, actually. Lots of interesting things in there.

I am reading Terry Goodkinds new book Law of Nines.

I adore his Sword of Truth series but wasn't particularly interested in his new modern thriller book venture but when I read it had connection to the characters and the world of SOT I simply had to buy it out of sheer curiosity.

So far it has been decent, if a bit predictable, though I am not sure if this is because I have read the SOT books or because it is. The connection to SOT is alot more full on than I thought it would be, which is no bad thing as a fan but I can't help but feel that people picking it up having never read those books will be really missing out on all the nice little references. It will make sense to them I am sure but with all the references I can't decide whether that will make some things being mentioned a tad confusing or accepted simply as being part of the new story.

Anyway, I am enjoying it so far, it has me curious.

I also bought some childrens books for Nathaniel; Where the Wild Things Are; The Gruffalo; captain Flinn and the Pirate Dinosaurs and a illustrated version of Fantastic Mr Fox. My Mum hs dug out all of my old ones at home and there are some great ones there inclusing The Jolly Postman and the full collection of Beatrix Potter and Roald Dahl. I really must start reading to him soon. I'd love to read him bedtime stories but he is not used to going to sleep on his own in his big cot yet so we have to settle him with us and bring him through when he drifts off. I think I will start doing it after his night bath.

Just finished Thursday Next - First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde. Enjoyable for me as always, and I'm now on Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler - it's a series of novels, this being the first, about a paranormal investigation unit in the London police force during the Second World War. So far, so interesting.

Quite enjoyed that. Not only does he write some very entertaining books, he always fills them with some interesting historical nuggets about London.

Yes, it's one of the things I am liking most about the book. I also like this one because of the theatrical nature of the crimes - very melodramatic.

Well after Pride Prejudice & Zombies, the next in the "series" seems to have hit the shelves - Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters. On the evidence of the first book, no thanks.

Currently reading Inkheart.

It's slow going. I wish I'd not seen the film beforehand.

Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut

A collection of Vonnegut's short fiction, all of which was written in the 60s and 70s and which was published in a variety of magazines. There are some stories that are in keeping with the moralistic sci-fi that Vonnegut is most often associated with - such as the story Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow which details what would happen to humanity if people stopped dying of old age - but for the most part the stories are not science fiction based, instead being concerned with more realistic (though no less heartwarming/breaking) stories about ordinary people, be they a soldier returned from Korea who berates a beautiful woman or conecentration survivor awaiting the birth of his first child. Each of the stories is a beautiful, self-contained gem that can make you laugh, make you thing and tugs at the heartstrings in just the right way. Some of them do all three.

Dubliners by James Joyce

A collection of short stories about the lives of middle-class Irish people at the turn of the 20th century. Each of the individual stories is a sombre, heartbreaking dissection of everyday desperation, but the collection as a whole is greater than its constituent parts. There are a number of different themes that run throughout that colour all the stories, themes of national identity, the loss of Irish culture and a general disillusionment with society as it existed at the time (with the notable exception of the final story, The Dead, which has a more romantic notion of Ireland). Joyce has a very straightforward, neutral style that seems more concerned with documenting minutiae than great themes, but it is through the tiny details that the themes are illuminated and characters are drawn.

Having a bit of a nightmare at the moment, so thought I'd try my luck here!

Basically I'm trying to find a book I read about 5 or 6 years ago- but I don't know the title or the author! It was a collection of short stories, I think all of which were based in the UK. One of the stories was about a girl who falls in love with a man with mental health problems, and he eventually kills himself and they find him on his knees in shallow water either by the sea or some kind of harbour.

The front cover I remember vividly, it was sunlight shining through yellow curtains onto a bed.

If this happens to ring any bells with anyone- let me know!

I read this years ago, beautifully written and absorbing, but definitely a little depressing. Although The Dead was a little different from the other stories, I seem to remember it encompassing many of the themes explored in the rest of the stories and being a very melancholic and definite 'ending' to the tales. Might have to dig this out again, actually.

Absolutely. I've read that Joyce assembled the collection in such a way that, as you progressed through them, the stories became about the concerns of increasingly older characters; the first few are about children, the next about adolescents, then adults, then the elderly. The culmination of the collection with The Dead ends up being both poetic, in that it rounds out the stories emotionally, but also logical since it is the obvious endpoint for the progression of the collection.

That sounds like it could be 'First Love, Last Rites' by Ian McEwan. There are a bunch of really weird fucked up stories in that and there have been a few different covers.

Handling The Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist (him what done Let The Right One In)

Not a book about necrophilia as the title might suggest but a rather surprisingly sweet yet chilling take on the Zombie genre.
Rather than the newly risen dead being being flesh hungry ghouls, they are echo's of their former selves wanting nothing more than to go home.

This causes all types of horror and angst for the people of Stockholm when dead relatives start turning up on doorsteps and scaring the bejesus out of folk.
This is a story about how people might react if their loved ones really did start returning from the grave, the feelings of hope mixed with horror mixed with the practicalities of how to handle such a situation.

A national emergency is declared and the dead are rounded up by the military and eventually housed in a specially emptied and prepared ghetto where their loved ones can visit them.
People soon start to realise that in close proximity to the dead there is some strange kind of psychic link meaning the living can read each other's mind's which becomes pretty disturbing given all the conflicting emotions flying around and not only that but the dead seem to be animated by the will of their former loved ones which at first is quite positive, born of the hope that the dead can return to some state of living and one or two even show signs of improvement and even speech.

Human nature being what it is though soon see's certain members of the community turning against the dead and being as the dead borrow their will and animation from the emotion's of the living, when the living turn nasty well, it becomes more of a classical 'Zombie' situation.

The ending seems a bit abrupt and personally i think it could have been a much longer book but i guess that would have turned it into the type of 'Zombie' story the author was trying to avoid, this is more of a human story.
Fantastically written, well translated and a book i couldn't put down, so i read it in two sittings, highly recommended

The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave

Nick Cave writes songs in a decidedly eloquent and lurid way, and he applies the same ethic to his second (or third, not sure which) novel, The Death of Bunny Munro, a book that details the last days in the life of his anti-hero, Bunny Munro, a philandering beauty products salesman who, after the suicide of his wife, goes on a hellish roadtrip with his son, Bunny Junior.

A leery and sleazy tale, it's also great fun. Bunny Munro is a repellent character who is also quite tragic and sympathetic, or at least pathetic, qualities that suit him well as a traveling salesman. Cave's observations are lyrical and grotesque (I'll certainly never view eating a Big Mac in quite the same way again) and the story zips along to its obvious (given the title) conclusion. The ending would probably be my only problem with the story since it feels a little rushed and undercooked, though certainly not dissatisfying.

I wonder if Cave has ever met Avril Lavigne? If not, I doubt she'll be all that eager to meet him now.


I've also been reading through some Joseph Conrad short stories, most notably Heart of Darkness, which was every bit as good as I hoped (and interestingly different in its message when compared to Apocalypse, Now, the version of the story with which I am most familiar) and An Outpost Of Progress, which is one of the darkest farces I've ever read.

Really quite powerful stuff. I studied this at uni and really liked it although, unfortunately, I've never got round to reading any other Conrad. May have to remedy this.

The stories that came with my edition of Heart of Darkness are similarly themed and very good. Karain: A Memory is kind of like a dry run for Heart of Darkness since it is also about a man singlemindedly pursuing a goal to his detriment, and An Outpost of Progress is very dark and funny, being a scathing dissection of how companies will place in charge of territories the people who are the most ill-suited to do so. I've not read any other of Conrad's work, but those two stories (which are probably online somewhere) are very strong.

Ooh, thanks Ed! Will look into it.

Finished The Death of Bunny Munro by Nick Cave. Like everything the man does, top notch. Certainly a much lighter read than And the Ass Saw the Angel.

A friend of mine now works in the Book Review department at the New York Times, which means free books for me! He gave me a book called 'Hidden Oasis' by Paul Sussman, which is a fun romp so far but FULL of typos. Really really bad ones as well. Apparently all my free books are coming from the 'discard' pile of books they won't review. Figures.

I bought Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier as I haven't read it since I was at high school.

Great choice.

You might also want to check out Youth: A Narrative, which is another short one that is told by Marlow. It's not as dark or deep as Heart of Darkness but it's a very entertaining read built around poignant core.

Cheers! Will add it to the list. (A list which gets longer every day. *sigh*)

I read The Fall by Camus the other day and I found it much more enjoyable than I expected. Unliek The Stranger, which is more of a conventional novel, The Fall consists of a series of monologues delivered by Jean-Baptiste Clamence to a man he meets in a bar in Amsterdam, though the lack of any other voice in the text means that he is talking directly to the reader. Clamence talks of his time as a lawyer in Paris and a series of personal crises that befell him some years before, using the opportunity to expound his own personal philosophy of life.

As with all of Camus' fiction, the story is really just dressing for the philosophy and as a means of laying out absurdism as a belief to a reader. However, because Clamence is such an engaging character and his story is quite digressive the book does not feel like it is haranguing you so much as engaging you in a, admittedly one-sided, conversation about life.

I found it really fascinating. It managed a balance of intelligence and profundity with an engaging story and style.

I'm taking a break from serious books now and am going to indulge with some horror and sci-fi. First up, One of Us by Michael Marshall Smith.

It's quite good. As are all Michael Marshall Smith's books.


Picked up The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks graphic novel today.

That they are. Have you read much of his non-science fiction work, published as Michael Marshall? Overall it's variable in quality, but his novel The Straw Men is one of the best crime novels I've ever read.

Is it basically illustrated versions of the cases in the survival guide? Any good?

A friend gave me a book called The Skating Rink by Roberto Bolano. There are four or five main characters in the story and each serves as narrator for part of the book, dividing up a chapter at a time. I quite enjoy that style of narration and it's an absorbing book that slowly draws you in.

That's exactly what it is. Yeah it's good, but at £12.99 I'd wait for it to drop in price. Or pop to a bookshop and read it in a lunchtime.

Fopp had a few nice "coffee table" books on sale today. Picked up

To Infinity & Beyond: The Story Of Pixar Animation Studios (was £50, now £10)
Delicious: The Design & Art Direction Of Stylorouge (was £32, now £5)

I have that Pixar book. £10 is a steal.