It could be that as using Google on "give me back my hand" only brings up Evil Dead links!

I know the story you mean, but I didn't realise it had a name. Thought it was just a campfire ghost story.

They're a pair of cnuts.

I much prefer the Tess style of romance, all self-sacrifice and big milky jugs.

Hardy was talking about her eyes when referring to "huge orbs", right?

I think I read it pretty quickly myself, and I must give that another go at some point.

As for Pratchett, after you have finished with The Light Fantastic, the next book - Equal Rites - features one of the Discworld's best characters - Granny Weatherwax!

Ah, to be starting all over once again!

I've recently finished reading After Dark by Japanese author Haruki Murakami.

I've not read any of his books before, and ended up picking this up after becoming intrigued by the cover synopsis whilst trying to find a book to pad out a Waterstone's three-for-two offer.

The story takes place between midnight and dawn and tells of a girl called Mari and of her relationship with her sister Eri, who has been in an unnaturally deep sleep for the past two months. It's not very long, and is fairly gentle in the way it is told, but it has an intensity to it that makes you want to read on.

I also like the way it describes the night life of a Japanese city, and it also has some interesting and memorable characters.

I liked it, especially the way it was written, and I will be looking up more of Murakami's books in the future.

Finished reading Neverwhere yesterday and I absolutely loved it! I was actually kind of disappointed when I finished because I wanted there to be more.

I think I might go and buy American Gods now...

Very good book. Quite different in tone to Neverwhere and Stardust, though.

I finished The Lonely Dead by Michael Marshall. It wasn't as good as The Straw Men, probably because it's much less structured and kind of goes all over the place, it also sees one of the best characters from the first book become increasingly sidelined and undergoes a character transformation that I, personally, did not like. Still, Marshall brings his usual wit, biting social commentary and sense of humour and things go along at a very quick pace. It's just a shame that it didn't live up to its predecessor.

Over two days I ploughed through Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay, and what a marvellously bloody (or bloodless) romp it was. I liked the fact that it was much leaner than the TV series, focusing more on Dexter's search for the Tamiami Killer than on his relationship with his foster father and only occasionally taking a detour allowing for Dexter to kill other serial killers. I understand that the TV series had to pad out the basic story somewhat, but a lot of the stuff that irks me about it were handled much better in the novel. Great stuff.

Bought a book on low budget film making by Josh Becker (worked on Evil Dead). More money I don't have.

Just finished Matter. An enjoyable Culture romp, with a particularly sad ending, and a particularly dull epilogue. Normally the epilogues are where Banks ignores the 'hold information back from the reader' rule and reveals all in a few pages, but this one was... not so interesting. Up to that point though the book (and the character in the eiplogue) had been rivetting.

I'm still working my way through this, and have found my interest wains every so often. The cutting between story threads really upsets the pace and flow; each time we swap to another set of characters it takes a while to adjust. And it feels padded out at times, like Banks is making a concerted effort to create something 'epic', a Tolkien space-opera. I'll finish soon enough but I'm much more excited about Al Reynolds's 'House of Suns', due next month.

It certainly isn't anything on that scale at all. Taken on it's own. I suppose he does chuck a fair bit of Culture and pre-Cultre history in this one, which if you take the Culture books as a whole could mean he's fleshing out the canon.

I finished reading the Vesuvius Club over the Easter Weekend and thought it was a decent mystery sleuthing book. I might give the second one a go at some point but I've finally gotten hold of a copy of Slaughterhouse 5 which I've wanted to read since I read and subsequently fell in love with Sirens of Titan over Christmas so it will have to wait.

I didn't think the second one was anywhere near as good. I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it to anyone. If you do read it (or if anyone else has) I'd be interested to hear what you think of it.

I enjoyed it, although it certainly isn't up there with his best stuff. I did dig out Consider Phelbas for a re-read afterwards, mind you - I don't think I've read that for about 15 years.

Talking of Iain (not M.) Banks, I've got The Steep Approach to Garbadale in my reading pile, after I'm done with The Flat Earth News.

I've just bought that - looks very similar to Crow Road (probably my favourite Banks).

It's pretty good, if a little meandering at times.

So I finished this and I am glad I didn't give up. I found out that the problem with the whole first half of the book is that there is no conflict. It's just elaborate tales of the (fairly stupid) things he does in the name of Yes. Finally about halfway through, there are a few conflicts and decisions, etc. It becomes a lot more personal and a lot more interesting.

I read Stardust last week, which was fun.

Now I'm reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which a friend has lent me. With Oscar, a young geeky Dominican growing up in New Jersey, as its focus, it flits about on its timeline of the history of his family and the way the 'fuku' (an alleged ancient curse) has played a damning part in all their (love) lives. Littered with Spanish words and phrases, footnotes giving mini lessons in DR history, and plenty of geeky nods (the opening quote is from Fantastic Four: "Of what import are brief, nameless lives...to Galactus??"). Enjoyable so far.

EtA ^ author is Junot Diaz.

It's on my wishlist, but I'm way too skint right now.

(If graphic novels don't count as books, feel free to move this...)

DC - The New Frontier - Darwyn Cooke

Sometimes a comic comes along that is so beautifully written, so well crafted, that I fall in love with it. About a year ago, some lovely people (on here) introduced me to Alan Moore's Watchmen - brilliant stuff, even though I was initially resistant (mainly because I'm not a fan of Moore the man).

DC: The New Frontier is an Elseworlds work, set in an alternate universe. Like Watchmen, it works off the premise that most costumed heroes are now outlawed, McCarthy and Nixon deeming them 'un-American'. Most give up the hero business, some (Superman and Wonder Woman) sign up to work for the US government, and some decide 'screw it, no-one's telling us what to do' (Batman).

Now, threats are taken care of by the Blackhawks and Sea Devils, covert operatives comprised of normal humans, with Supes and Diana fighting the wars in 'Nam and Korea.

Sadly, a threat to Earth has come that they cannot take care of. This, along with a strange visitor from Mars, is set to change the world forever...

The New Frontier is not only wonderfully written, it's beautifully illustrated, the stylised artwork of the 50's and 60's it's obvious inspiration. The care and love for the subject matter (which is surprisingly adult in tone, with civil rights, McCarthyism and even race murder on the agenda) is present in every frame.

The heroes depicted in the book are often morally ambiguous, Wonder Woman in particular, who decides that training Vietnamese women to kill the soldiers that slaughtered their children is the right thing to do, against Superman's wishes.

Batman is a bastard; that's as it should be, after all, his is a mission of revenge, it shouldn't be taken lightly, as is often the case in comics.

The light relief comes from J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter, brought to Earth by mistake, he has to find his way in a world he finds odd in many ways. A highlight comes when he watches a B-Movie flick, 'Invasion of the Martians'. While the Earthers recoil in horror and disgust at the movie monster, J'onn genuinely believes that this must be a comedy; after all, the effects are terrible, and Martians don't look like that.

It's a work of genius, that every comic book fan should read.

That sounds pretty damn awesome.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

This is the story of a 15 year old autistic boy that starts off when he finds his neighbor's dog dead. I found this quite interesting in places because of some of the things that the character says that I can total identify with. The author is very skillful in understanding how autistic people think.

Finished Carrie by Stephen King last night and very enjoyable it was as well. A bit rougher round the edges than some of his other books but the strength of the story and King's fluent language is still very engaging, particularly once he gets to Prom Night, which is a lot more violent than the version depicted in the (also great) Brian DePalma film. The framing device was also quite interesting and reminded me of World War Z.

Persepolis: A Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi

An absolutely spellbinding account of Sartrapi's life as a young girl growing up in Iran during the cultural revolution, the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and the Iran-Iraq War told through the medium of the graphic novel. Sartrapi's simple visual style helps to undercut the harsh reality of her story and makes the experience easily understandable even for readers who have no prior knowledge of the period.

Wonderful.

I managed to pick up a copy of World War Z for £1.70 - before I read it, any good?

It's marvellous. You'll hate it

I bought this on Saturday and devoured it in a matter of hours on the bus to and from work on Monday. I loved it, and will be buying the others very soon.

I also love the TV series, I fancy Dexter... it is all wrong.


Also; World War Z is great, I picked it up in Waterstones and at the till discovered it is a signed copy, which was an extra bonus.

It's really grown on me but there are moments that test my patience. Mainly the flashbacks, many of which kind of feel like padding. I still find it hugely enjoyable, though, and I can't wait to see what they do with Season 2 when they move away from the books.

From what I have heard, getting away from the later books is a good thing.

Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes.

^ What he said, squared.

Ok, I'm not sure I get what you mean - is that a yes?

I don't think I've mentioned Tokyo by Mo Hayder, which I read a few weeks ago.

I'd highly recommend it. More than a thriller it's a fantastically written novel, with wonderfully evocative prose, fascinating characters and compelling pacing.

It's about a young English girl, who's led an incredibly sheltered life, so obsessed with the horrors of the Japanese invasion of Nanking she travels to Tokyo in search of missing cinefilm footage of the atrocities. Whilst trying to pry the information out of an academic, she winds up working in a hostess club and is drawn into a dangerous world of the Yakuza.

For what's listed as 'crime fiction' the book is suprisingly multi-layered, full of strong themes and the exploration of big ideas. It's genuinely chilling in places, and has many striking images, that stay with you long after you've put the book down.

It reads like a film, in the best possible way, and would transfer to the screen brilliantly (though the final reveal might be a little too graphic for even the most hardened viewer).

Then again, I thought 'The Ice Harvest' would make a great film...

Sounds interesting.

*Looks at piles of unread books*

Maybe I should read some of the books on my 'too read' list before adding new ones.

Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes.

I imagined that in the voice of Zanta.

I agree, even before I read it I found some of the flashbacks a bit pointless.

Are the following books not meant to be up to scratch, then?

I moved all my books into the spare room so they could lay the new carpet. Now I want to paint the walls before putting the bookshelves back, but there's this yearning to get at my books and find something to read ...

... then again I have to go into Blackwells later to pick up a text book so maybe I'll just buy some more

Finished The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith today and what a wonderful read it was. Tom Ripley is one of the great literary creations of the twentieth century; a complex, sophisticated and studiously amoral man whose thought processes are thrilling to observe. I spent a bit too much time thinking about how it compared to the film version, which I also love, but that didn't really impact upon my enjoyment of it, particularly since it took only 10 or 20 pages for me to realise how hugely different the two were.

Since I can't sleep and don't have work tomorrow I stayed up and finished Black Swan Green by David Mitchell which, although I was initially unsure of, I wound up liking very much. It's a bildungsroman of sorts about Mitchell's own childhood in the early 80's and covers a year and a month in the life of Jason Taylor, stammerer and secret poet of Black Swan Green in Worcestershire. It very nicely captures what it is like to be 13 years old and conveys the odd mix of naivety, fear and filthy-mindedness that that age tends to involve and I found myself identifying a lot with Jason. I particularly liked how Mitchell used Jason's naivety to hide the darker aspects of the story but while still allowing them to creep in, giving the reader ample clues as to what was going on in the background. The stuff about The Falklands War was also very interesting since, due to my age and education, it's one of those aspects of recent British history that I know next to nothing about, so getting a perspective on it from a contemporary standpoint was very interesting to me.

I did find that some parts of it were over-written and unnecessarily flowery, especially considering the fact that the book was meant to be the first-person narrative of a 12/13-year old, albeit an erudite one, but these moments didn't distract from what was a really enjoyable read.

I love David Mitchell, and felt pretty much the same as you about Black Swan Green. Have you read any of his other books? Ghostwritten is fantastic, Cloud Atlas is challenging, but worth it, and I think I've said this before but Number9Dream will make you want to chain-smoke.

I read Cloud Atlas last year (and was very pleased to spot the references to it in Black Swan Green) but haven't investigated the others yet. If they've got either in the local library tomorrow I'll pick them up since I really like his stuff.

I stopped and started Cloud Atlas three or four times before I finally finished it.

I managed to get through it all in one go but I did have a week's break at the halfway point. The far future chapters were really tough going.

Agreed, that was a bit of a slog. Great stuff, though, and ditto for Ghostwritten. Not got round to others yet.

You did - and you were right.

Finished The Steep Approach to Garbadale yesterday - very, very good indeed. Now starting a science fiction classic - Stranger In A Strange Land.

The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling- Imagine a 1850s where Charles Babbage had perfected his Difference Engine and then his Analytical Engine, making 'computers' commonplace. Central Police and State databases, credit systems, and intrigue. It's well written and for the first 350 pages. Sadly in the last 30-40 pages, it sort of runs out of steam, if you'll pardon the pun. The storyline that runs through the whole book doesn't really go anywhere, eclipsed by the second storyline of Edward Mallory, and is either not explained, or too obscure for me to work out what it was supposed to be about. And the final few chapters are made up of intercepted letters, observations and after the event facts, many of which leave you thinking, what was the point of telling me that. And the final page makes no sense at all. I think there's some suggestions of an AI evolving out of the gears and cogs of londons massive computers in 1996 (although this is the first time 1996 is ever mentioned, the rest of the book is entirely focussed on pre 1900s, largely 1855) and seems to be completely irrelevant. A shame, as up to that point it's quite an engaging read.

A book that ends

The Eye at last must see itself
Myself...
I see:
I see,
I see
I
!

When the 'I' in question hasn't previously been involved in the story, or even hinted at except as the paranoia of a man with advanced Syphilis 150 years before it actually manifests.

It's been many years since I read The Difference Engine, but like many Gibson books it seemed to be more about the setting than the 'plot', which in the end is pretty irrelevant. I remember quite enjoying it but very little else.

I read Charles Stross's Halting State over the weekend, and heartily recommend it to anyone who's a bit of a technology or gaming geek. It's a near-future thriller that deals with D&D, MMORPGs, ARGs, LARPing, distributing processing, quantum computing, cryptography and espionage in a very enjoyable, tightly plotted fashion.