And how's the reading challenge going?

See here for an explanation.

I finished the Jeffery Deaver. Pretty typical stuff. The Skin Collector references his arguably most successful title The Bone Collector.

Ironside: Subliminal racism? 

(It was made into a film starring Denzel Washington after all. Nothing intentionally racist - but I never imagined Lincoln Rhyme as black. I could see Thom, his assistant, as black though. I suspect I saw too many episodes of Ironside when I was a kid.  And while we're on the topic of casting book characters for movies.... Angelina Jolie?  Really?")

I digress.

If you've read many Deaver you'll know the formula and you'll be able to work out whodunnit. Or at least it won't come as a big surprise because there's always a twist in the tale isn't there? And this one was a bit predictable really. I guess the real fun in the series is JD's creative ways of killing people, rather than the Holmesian ways he solves the crimes.

(Rhyme is very arrogant in the same way Sherlock was, and I'm not sure which I find most irritating: the gloating, or the conviction that no-one else could do it.)

Anyway, using a tattoo machine to inject poison is a novel way to kill someone and the murder is beautifully described in Deaver's unique and detailed style. A very good start that draws you in, particularly if you are inked yourself.

Currently on  a YA novel that I'll tell you more about another time. I'm still not sure why it's defined as 'YA' (Young Adult fiction) other than it's about a shooting at a US high school and written from the perspective of one of those involved. Of course I'm not a 'YA' and I suspect the author isn't either, so I have no idea how authentic it is, but it's not a bad read so far.

Watch this space. 

World Book Night - a retrospective

As you know I picked up a book on World Book Night, and I've been looking into what the scheme is all about and how it works ever since. As a result of the find I not only read the book itself, but I also tried another of the titles (one I've been meaning to read for a while). So, I thought I'd have a look at the other books on the list and consider whether or not I'd have enjoyed them.

It was interesting that the UK and US lists were different - although they shared one book, which is now on my planned reading list.

KEY
Read it
Read it because of Book Night
Want to read it
Maybe not

Here's the lists:
UK
Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice
Read this at school. I can't say it made me want to read any more of her work. I was always much more of a Bronte girl.

Iain M Banks The Player of Games
I quite enjoyed this when I read it but I much prefer Ian Banks (who is the same person, of course).
Mark Billingham Sleepyhead
Looks like a nicely creepy crime novel.
Bill Bryson Notes from a Small Island
Read it. Hated him.
Paulo Coelho The Alchemist
I like the looks of this one.
Martina Cole The Take
I've tried a couple of her novels and don't really get on with them.
Bernard Cornwell Harlequin
Not really my kind of thing but I'm not ruling it out.
Roald Dahl Someone Like You
Not sure what colour to make this. Mostly blue. I've read a lot of Dahl's short stories but not this complete collection. They're good.
Charles Dickens A Tale of Two Cities
Another one from my schooldays - but I quite like Dickens, and Two Cities is one of the better ones.
Emma Donoghue Room
Never heard of it before. Looks good.
Daphne du Maurier Rebecca
What can you say about poor Mrs DeWinter? Wonderful, atmospheric, recommended read.
Kazuo Ishiguro The Remains of the Day
Tried it once. I just couldn't get into it.
Stephen King Misery
I don't do Stephen King. Too gory.
Sophie Kinsella The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopoholic
I have read some of her books but they didn't grab me enough to read any more.
Andrea Levy Small Island
Looks very interesting. Post war Britain. Socio-political novel.
John Ajvide Lindqvist Let the Right One In
12-year-old boy and a vampire. Maybe not.
Cormac McCarthy The Road
Its own blurb calls it 'bleak'. Life's too short to read bleak novels.
Audrey Niffenegger The Time Traveller’s Wife
Oh but this was one of the nicest books I've read in a long time and it made me cry at the end.
Maggie O’Farrell The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
I've got a 'non-existent' family member and it's too late for me to ask questions now. I think I might enjoy this one.
David Pearce The Damned Utd
It's football. Maybe not.
Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman Good Omens
The first thing by either of these gents that I ever read. If you haven't read it, go find it now. Even if it's only for their explanation of the purpose of the M25!

Meg Rosoff How I Live Now

Not really sure but I'm not ruling this out.
Joe Simpson Touching the Void
I'm not sure I'll enjoy some of the detail in this. But I've wanted to read it for a while.
Dodie Smith I Capture the Castle
Another I'm not sure about. But I think I SHOULD have read it by now.

Markus Zusak The Book Thief

The shared book. Now on my want list.

US

Sherman Alexie The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian
Coming of age book. Not sure it’s high on my list.
Laurie Halse Anderson Wintergirls
Seems to be about teenage girls and anorexia.
Maya Angelou I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
I have at least heard of this. I might try to track it down.
H G Bissinger Friday Night Lights
American Football. Maybe not.
Octavia Butler Kindred
Now this looks like a good book. I really must track that down

Orson Scott Card Enders Game

It's science fiction and I'm not a huge fan.

Chris Cleave Little Bee

I'm fascinated by the reviews of this, which seem to be determined to tell you nothing about it.

Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games

The movie trailers have put me off this.

Michael Connelly Blood Work

I don't read Michael Connelly - too blood thirsty.

Junot Diaz The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

I'm not sure why I want to read this. But the blurb is interesting.

Kate DiCamillo Because of Winn Dixie

I loved the Tale of Despereaux so I think I'd like this too.

Dave Eggers Zeitoun

I've tried Dave Eggers before but not enjoyed his writing style.

Leif Enger Peace Like a River

Definitely fancy this one.

Robert Goolrick A Reliable Wife

Sounds good

Sue Grafton Q is for Quarry

I'm fond of a bit of crime fiction.

Khaled Hosseini The Kite Runner

Has a good reputation but I just don't fancy it somehow. I'm prepared to be persuaded.
John Irving A Prayer for Owen Meany
One of my all time favourite books. I love it.

Stephen King The Stand

I don't like Stephen King. Too scary.

Barbara Kingsolver The Poisonwood Bible

I've got this on my 'to read' list

Nicole Krauss The History of Love

I like the look of this one.

Jhumpa Lahiri The Namesake

It hasn't grabbed me from the blurb.

Tim O’Brien The Things they Carried

Vietnam wasn't my war but the stories behind it are probably still relevant.

Ann Patchett Bel Canto

Interesting idea. Love among the terrorists.

Jodi Picoult My Sister’s Keeper

They need to change the cover on this because I wouldn't pick it up in a bookshop. But the subject matter is something that I care about.

Marilynne Robinson Housekeeping

The blurb gives this a sort of John Irving feel so I might enjoy it.

Alice Sebold The Lovely Bones

I'ne seen the movie. It might have spoiled it for me.

Rebecca Skloot The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Definitely a subject that's close to my heart.

Patti Smith Just Kids

To read biography I have to care about the subject. And I don't.

Jeannette Walls The Glass Castle

'A memoir'. That phrase deters me.

Markus Zusak The Book Thief

See above.

Thursday extracts. Terry Pratchett on books and libraries

Where to begin with Terry Pratchett? Practically any sentence he wrote could be given as a fantastic example of great writing, amazing humour, wonderful imagination, or just the vast range of knowledge the man has to apply from Roundworld to his creation.  Six-foot dwarves, gargoyles on stake-outs, dragons as pets, an orang-utan librarian, almost everything he writes is a fresh view of a potentially tired topic.

I figured the best thing would be to use part of his view on books, and more particularly, his concept of L-space, the mysterious effect that large collections of books can have on the world around them.

The following extract comes shortly after a discussion of the dangers to be found in the magical library at Unseen University, but demonstrates perfectly how Pratchett's Discworld relates to our own round planet.

*********

Even big collections of ordinary books distort space and time, as can readily be proved by anyone who has been around a really old-fashioned second-hand bookshop, one of those that has more staircases than storeys and those rows of shelves that end in little doors that are surely too small for a full sized human to enter.
The relevant equation is Knowledge = Power = Energy = Matter = Mass; a good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read. Mass distorts space into polyfractal L-space, in which Everywhere is also Everywhere Else.
All libraries are connected in L-space by the bookwormholes created by the strong space-time distortions found in any large collection of books.

Guards! Guards!
First published 1989
Terry Pratchett

Packing

My intention is always to pack light when I go travelling, but somehow I end up with loads of clothes and bits and bobs that I throw in 'just in case'. Literally just in case, because that's where they spend the entire holiday; never touched, never used, never even seen. In spite of that, I never learn. I find myself standing on stations and in airports, weighed down with all my clutter, surrounded by bags and holdalls and rucksacks and wondering just how I'm going to fit in everything I'm prepared for. Reading, photography, painting, hill walking, bird watching, shopping, fine dining, (we never do), and that's even before I start to cater for every potential kind of weather.

Five pairs of trousers is way too much for a week, particularly when I shall find myself slumming round in the same, comfortable pair of jeans for four out of the seven days. Take lots of t-shirts to ring the changes, that's the secret. But then there's the shoes.

*********

We're off on holiday in a few weeks and I've been wondering what to take with me. I started writing a list. It made me realise just how much STUFF I pack that I don't need, so now I shall start crossing things off it.

1001 books to read before I .......what?



A couple of those are actually on the list!


Thanks to Jarmara I have encountered the list of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die*. It's been an interesting experience, not least because of the whole concept of reading 1001 books.

You do the sums. Assume that you read a book a month. (Yeah, yeah, I know, you read a lot more than that don't you, but bear with me.) 1001 months is a little over 83 years. So assume you read the first one when you're seven. The Little Prince (Saint-Exupery) is on the list and so is The Hobbit so it's not unreasonable to start then. Though you probably wouldn't go straight from that to War and Peace. That will make you 90 when you finish. The average age-at-death in my family is somewhere around 73. Are you telling me that if I start reading the rest of the list I will somehow live long enough to read them?

Because even at one a week it's still going to take nearly 20 years. Actually, I've already read 100 of them (I can't believe that it came out at exactly 100 either!) so that would still need 17 years and 17 weeks to finish the list. Scarily, that would make me just about the right age to die in line with my family.......

So if it's all the same to you, I'm going to read what I want, when I want and not bother with any silly lists!

*********

* That link will take you to someone's blog because the original list is in a book that you first have to BUY! It's got an introduction by Peter Akroyd, which might explain why several of his titles are included.

Reading the classics

Some time ago I made a pledge to read more classics this year. I've not been reading as much of anything as I'd like to but I have managed to get a few things onto my list. I've just finished The Great Gatsby, which is something I've intended to read for a while. Interesting storyline and the setting on Long Island was fascinating because I'd just finished reading a modern book called Murder Most Frothy (Cleo Coyle), which is set in almost the same place.

I have also chalked up a Dickens short book called A Message from the Sea, which was interesting, if only for the odd dialect that took a bit of translating. It came with my e-reader.

The orignal idea was to get through 12 classics this year, but I can't see that happening unless I try harder. I've got lots of other things I want to get through as well! I'm currently reading Jasper Fforde's Shades of Grey, which is shaping up very well.

Learning to read

There are lots of reasons why I loved my dad (and why I still miss him desperately) but perhaps one of the most important (significant, meaningful, useful....) was the way he instilled a love of books and reading into me. And how he ensured that I always remember what I have read. I borrowed the memory to use in The Wise Child.
Here's an excerpt:

Each day featured the same conversation when I would face the same questions, which I was always eager to answer. He would call me to him and lift me up onto his knee, settle me down and say: “What are you reading? Who is it by? What is it about?” I was expected to tell him the story in my own words, describe the characters and explain the plot. If it was a long book it would be told in instalments over several days. Often Dad would ask for finer details or more information and most times I could supply it. Once in a while though I was hazy on some points and tried to avoid his interrogation. Then he would suggest, kindly, that I should read the chapter again because I had missed parts of it. That way I learned to read carefully and to remember what I had read, two skills that were to prove very useful to me later. Best of all was when I had finished a book and I faced a different set of questions. “Did you enjoy it? Why?” And after that he would want to know if I thought he would enjoy it too and we would compare what we liked in books and what made us want to give up reading them. That was when I could truly talk freely to my father about the world, books, fiction, reality and everything that was important to me as a child. And he would listen.

Holiday Reading

Don't think there'll be much writing going on!