Apparently JK Rowling failed the teacher training course that I'm on. And it was one of my tutors that failed her. Therefore if I pass the course then I win!

I don't know what I win, but I do. That's the main thing.

I've always felt Ismay was a bit hard done by, but he was being judged by the standards of his day, and given that most of the male gentry went down with the ship - and he owned it - I suppose it's only natural he got the vilification he did.

Today I bought The Prefect, the latest baroque SF novel by Alastair Reynolds.

Not only that, but I met him and got my book signed!



Nice chap too.

Very nice! Must not give in to jealousy...

I must say I thought of you when I got there. But then, I often think of you.

Quite right too; I'm a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.

I've got to say, I'm wondering why you didn't get more of them for the rest of the Sci-Fi fans on the forum. I'm sure Al wouldn't have minded if you'd just handed a few more to him and said 'Oh by the way, you couldn't sign these for my friends on the internet could you? It's the future you know *wink wink*'.

Like I said, I was surprised by my change in opinion. The book really just laid out the facts & it's clear to see what's what. Like today, the media took only part of the story & made your opinion for you.

Have you read A Night to Remember?

No I haven't. Oddly just last night I thinking that it's about time that I did.

Do, it's probably one of the best - if not the best - account of what happened.

Just trawled through this thread, and I've never heard of The Time Traveller's Wife, but I'm definitely going to do some research. Thank you, forum.
In other news, I recently read Trainspotting, then American Psycho, promptly followed by On The Road - I agree with some other posts, it was dead boring and I didn't finish it. I doubt my preceding reads helped much. But after putting it down I felt like a perk, so I jumped back into Terry Pratchett. Not literally. Literarily.
Has anyone read other Irvine Welsh books? I loved Trainspotting, and am looking for a hint on where to go next...

I loved it too, but in my opinion, Trainspotting is the only thing he's written that's worth reading.

Yeah, I'm sorry, I shoud have. But I didn't have much money on me, and the new one is bloody pricey at £17.99!

Can you take some solace in the fact that I thought about getting you and Jon one?

It's rather sad that his death finally propelled me to pick it up, but I bought (and read most of) Man Without A Country by Kurt Vonnegut yesterday. It's essentially a series of incredibly funny and eloquent rants but it holds together very well. My particular favourite sections so far has been his line graph evaluations of the plots of great literature, and his attack on the use of semicolons in creative writing.

I thought I was the only person that thought he was a one trick pony.

Just finished The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss. A rollicking good little read with a moment of staggering "matter of factness" which is both a little shocking and very funny.

In the tradition of rollicking adventures next up is the first in the Flashman series.

im studying English literature and i havent finished a book in two months...

ed. i did read one called the year 1000 about anglo-saxon life actually... forgot about that, but otherwise...

Just picked up a copy of The Children of Hurin and a copy of Watership Down - not sure which to read first.

When did he die?

My English teacher gave me a Kurt Vonnegut book to read a few weeks back but I haven't got around to it. Slaughterhouse Five, I think it's called.

Anyway, on holiday I somehow managed to get through the entire Braided Path trilogy in about four and a half days in between sunbathing, eating, sleeping and going to the bar on a night. Not easy considering the size of it (plus I gave myself a bad shoulder lugging it around in my bag all the time).

It was even better second time around. So much so that I was tempted to see if I could read and finish it again before I came home, but sense made me decide against that. But I am getting an craving to read it again right now just talking about it.

A couple of weeks back.

Currently reading Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. I didn't really think I would enjoy it but I must agree with one of the reviews: "Bizarre, bonkers, rather brilliant." The story is colourful, funny, and above all, has kept me eager to keep reading. And gives me a fond reminder of the stories I read as a kid, of Brear Rabbit and the tar baby. Smiles all round.

Well bugger me. A blast from the past, if ever there was one.

Chuch Palahniuk's new book is out next week and early reviews indicate it's perhaps the best thing he's ever written, and a return to form after the pooptastic Haunted. Already pre-ordered my copy.

Have just given up on The Interpretation of Murder. I'd renewed it about five times. It's not that it was a bad book. It just wasn't good enough that I felt compelled to finish it.

I have a stack of books to choose from now. Lolita, The Big Sur, Hell's Angels to name but a few. Not sure where to start.

Thought this might interest some of you- The Complete Calvin and Hobbes for £40.

I love Lolita.


Hmmm... that didn't sound right.

Picked up a paperback edition of the Watchmen collection, because it's high time I quit procrastinating and get down to reading it.

Me want!

I warn you- it weighs a ton. No idea how much it would cost to ship to the US, but I'm guessing a lot. Although it isn't as heavy as this beast which also graces our bookshelves.

Me too - squee! Actually, that'd make an ace present for one of my friends. If she doesn't already have it.

I was just looking at that, and wondering if I needed to eat again this month . . .

What Happens Now by Jeremy Dyson

It was okay although I was a bit disappointed. I really love Jeremy's screenplays, but his prose always leaves me a bit flat. Nothing really happens until the very end except lots of teen angst which was bad enough to live through, I don't really need to read about it. It does pick up in the end in everyway, but it's just a little too late for me.

When I was younger, about 10 years ago, my grandparents got me two books for my birthday. They were books 4 and 5 of the "Star Wars: Young Jedi Knights" series, by Kevin J. Anderson. I remember really enjoying them, and I still have them though they've been untouched for years.

On a whim one evening when they popped into my head, I looked on Amazon and lo: all 6 books in 2 volumes, for a mere £7 together! So they'll be with me in a week or so, and I'll finally get to read the events leading to and after them. I'm really excited.

There have been a fair number of instances lately in which something that hasn't been seen or heard in a while is mentioned (Volvo estates, for example) and then is suddenly all around me.

During SONY, some of us were talking about Jasper Fforde and I mentioned that I knew he had a new book coming soon, but that I hadn't seen an advance copy, which was unusual. Well, one was sent to me today and I can't wait to start reading it. Review to come.

Anyone? Anyone at all seen this book anywhere that I can buy it. THIS edition, so don't say Amazon because they just share a common ISBN number and have different covers.

I checked a few sites, I can only find that listed on Amazon Marketplace, but you would either have to contact the seller directly or just order and hope. There are none on Ebay either, shame there doesn't seem to be somewhere you can get it brand new, because that is such a better cover than the one that seems to be widespread.

Storm Thief

Another delicious fantasy novel by Chris Wooding. Not as good as some of his other books, but still better than most other books I've read. It's just amazing how original his stories are.

Storm Thief is set on an island, Orokos, which is ravaged by probability storms that can turn move streets, turn people into glass and completely change anything or anyone on the entire island. When two thieves from the ghetto, Rail and Moa, discover a magical object that can open doors anywhere, they see a chance to try and change things for the better. However, they don't realise just how many people want that object that they have, or what they will do to get it ...

I only bought it yesterday, but have finished it last night. I just couldn't put it down.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I was so enthralled by it, I read it in 8hrs, I couldn't put it down. Which is pretty fast for me as I'm such a slow reader usually. The story grabs you from sentance 1 and I can't say I enjoyed it but I did, even thought the subject is pretty horrific.

10/10

New Peter F Hamilton book due out in August:

I'm not certain I can wait that long.

I Am Legend

Thought I'd best read this as I had heard that they were going to make it into a film starring Will Smith (how the hell they'd cast Will Smith as Robert Neville I have no idea but hey) and I wanted to read it before my imagination was tainted by Hollywood.

Great book which I whipped through pretty quickly although I'm sure it has turned into numerous film adaptations over the years and I can now recognise parodies of it in a number of popular TV shows.

Obviously didn't like the ending as I was rooting for him the whole way through but it was a fantastic role reversal that I didn't see coming.

It has rekindled my love of reading which has taken a knock since I started my new job. Next book, Dune, which I have started twice already.

That's timely, since I've just finished Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained. Obviously, it would be more timely if it was already August.

Looking forward to that. I read the timeline from his website and it looks like Gene Yahouli will be back in it, as will Ozzie and his new Gaianet thing. Plus, it looks like people are going to even more tooled in this, with bionomic implants, including weapons.

I finished reading Trainspotting yesterday, and it was rather excellent. I'll certainly seek out the film so that I can compare the two, and I was just wondering whether or not it's worth looking into any of Welsh's other stuff.

I'll start reading The Last King of Scotland today then...

Not in my opinion.

Nice one Chappers, thanks for posting. I didn't realise it was coming so soon.

In other news: Richard Morgan's Black Man is due out this Thursday (17th).

Jimmay, Dune is quite hard work, but not as hard as the five books which follow it.

Did you guys click on that Peter F Hamilton link?

The following message has been added:

EDIT: It appears the Del Rey site has updated the release from December 2007 to March 2007 (?) - surely they mean 2008?

EDIT No. 2: Del Rey have now removed any reference to The Dreaming Void from their site....

It's still listed at the Pam Macmillan site for publication on August the 3rd. Maybe the US publication details are still under negotiation.

Finished The Crow Road by Iain Banks on the train today. What a marvellous book, far better than The Wasp Factory in terms of characterisation, plot and style with a whole family of believable and sympathetic characters. The switch near the end from family saga to murder mystery seemed a bit odd but was in keeping with the general air of mystery, longing and indecision that characterised the rest of the book. Very good indeed.

After my copy of Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut was nearly destroyed whilst filming in the rain yesterday I think I'll crack on with that, lest something else awful happen to it.

Hmm, I may have to wait until the end of the month to buy Black Man, just so I have something to read on the train down to Christchurch. Then the train to Derby. Then the train back to Edinburgh.