I'm reading The Sea by John Banville (a Christmas present) It is really beautifully written e.g. "A steep-slanted flash of sunlight fell along the beach, turning the sand above the waterline bonewhite, and a white seabird, dazzling against the wall of cloud, flew up on sickle wings and turned with a soundless snap and plunged itself, a shutting chevron, into the seas's unruly back " The problem is that the story is a bit pedestrian for me. Has anyone else read it ? [:-|]
Finsihed the NATO book, Am now reading Tolkien and the Great War by John Garth. Its really interesting
Just finished reading Stephen Collins' book on the history of the PDs. I used it to help me sleep at night. Half way through "Is It Just Me Or Is Everything Shit?" by Alan McArthur and Steve Lowe. Just a couple of chapters into "Bringing Down the House: How Six Students Took Vegas for Millions" by Ben Mezrich. *edit* Just got "The Whole World Was Watching - Living In The Light Of Matthew Shepard" in the post today...so will start that over the next few days. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/15...ref=sr_1_3/103-8747507-3911860?_encoding=UTF8
Finished 'Knife of Dreams' by Robert Jordan Fantastic absolutley fantastic, Jordan is back on track. It's so good to see the series (The Wheel of Time) ressurected from the pit that it dug itself into. You can effectively ignore books 9 and 10 in the series, i'll give you a brief 2 minute synopsis of it if you are desperate The story advanced, new plot, people died, others are being brought back. I did find some of his discriptions of the signs for Tarmon Gai'Don (the last battle) a little creepy, but that is exactly what he as an autor should be doing, moving his audience. He is wrapping up plots nicely for the end. This book was just a precursor to the end of the series and by the Gods it does it very very well. I actually found myself wanting more at the end of the book, something I haven't experienced in his previous 2 or 3 books. It was definatly worth the 2 1/2 year wait for this. If your a fan of high fantasy then this is a must read. 8.5/10
Am tearing through memoirs of a geisha i know its a cliche but i literally can't put it down. matsumomo is such a cunt
Just finished "Roman Song" by Brian Kennedy - the follow up to "The Arrival of Fergal Flynn" - Not the greatest of writers, very simple writing and the print is huge for some reason, reminds me of primary school english books! But a total breath of fresh air and a lovely,soppy,happy love story, had both me and the beau in tears by the end of it - well worth a read.
the ancestor's tale by richard dawkins. it's a bit dense but he has a gift for explanation and it's really interesting. after a month i'm finally nearly finished it.
'My Way Of Life' by Joan Crawford. Did you know that it's a good idea, when roasting chicken for a party, to leave it a little underdone, as things always naturally cook a little more during the freezing and thawing process? I did not.
I'd love to know just how many guests Joan offed in a drunken stupor with salmonella-soaked poultry! I was waiting for a chapter entitled "Duck and A Hot Windowsill: Twenty minutes for rare perfection! ".
mostly doing academic reading right now (european legislation on urban wastewater regulation standards....how exciting) but have been trying to get a few pages read of Pynchons 'Vineland' here and there.. leafing through the Sandman series (again) as a buddy bought the middle few books of them for christmas....i promptly lost them amongst my belongings whilst moving flat, but found them two days ago, and am using them as an escape from the drudgery of study..
Just finished Memoirs of a geisha. i enjoyed it but i can't help feeling cheated somehow especially after reading the authors note which they stick at the back of the book baaaaaaaaaaah
I wouldn't feel so cheated had he not made such a huge deal at the start of the book "Yes she's a real person, no really, yeah really, no seriously she's real, we just changed the names to protect identities", then at the very end "actually she's not real". Grrr..
Oh come on! He used a Translator's Note to make the whole thing seem more authentic; how can we complain if we fell for it hook, line and sinker? If anything, it makes the experience better, we realise we've been reading something by someone with a very great talent for fiction!
I have to agree. If he hadn't backed himself into such a corner proving he was telling the truth I wouldn't have been so insulted when he admitted at the end he'd been lying. Just finished a book called "Pooh and the psychologists". The writter argues that Winnie the Pooh is the greatest therapist known to man and realised theories before their creators did. What makes it good is that he actually thinks he's onto something. Silly rabbit.....
