Books wot I have read and other stuff

[odycee]

Well, 76.9% of the people that answered my poll decided that Warren did indeed fuck Andrew. The masses have spoken - Warren/Andrew is canon! Mwah!

I've actually been having to do lots of work at work again this week. What's that all about? I don't go to work to work! I'm at work tomorrow on good Friday but I'm off Monday and Tuesday. I think I like the idea of a three day working week next week!

My brother is home for easter and he's ill with a bad cold now. I'd better not get it too or I'll not be very pleased. Stupid germ filled boy.

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Books I've read so far this year, in no particular order:

Fool's Fate - Robin Hobb
Love, love, love these books. This is the last one of the series. How I cried reading this.
The Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Fantastically bizarre. My friend bought it me for Christmas and I loved every minute of it.
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Someone at work just leant me this. Not the sort of book I'd normally go for but I'm glad I read it. Beautifully written.
Maul - Tricia Sullivan
I read her first novel Dreaming in Smoke a few years ago and decided to take a look at this one. Some very interesting concepts in this (exploring amongst other things, the theory that the evolution of sexual reproduction was driven by parasite avoidance) and cleverly written - combining two very different stories in an interesting way.
Catch 22 - Josef Heller
My friend read this a few years ago and recommended it but I only just got round to reading it. I can see why it's a classic. Told in a very non-linear manner. It has some disturbing themes (being about WW2 I guess it would have) that are treated very well showing the absurdity of war.
Non-Stop - Brian Aldiss
A random purchase I made a few weeks ago for £3. It has dated very well (written in 1956) apart from the way that the female characters are written. A very well done sci-fi novel with some interesting ideas.
Against a Dark Background - Iain M Banks
This was the last Iain M Banks book that I hadn't read. Not as good as some of his Culture novels but a lot better than the best of most novelists. I've never read any of his 'non-scifi' books. I think my mum's got a few. Maybe I should read them.
1610 A Sundial in a Grave - Mary Gentle
I loved Ash and I loved this. I like the mixing of real history and fantasy. The main focus of this book is the relationship between the two main characters and exploration of the dom/sub dynamic between them.
Pandora's Star - Peter F Hamilton
Hmmm... I really liked this but I don't know if it's lived up to the Night's Dawn trilogy. He's great at world building and writing believable characters but I didn't feel that I got truly sucked into it.
Minority Report Collected Short Stories of Philip K. Dick
I love Philip K Dick and I love short stories. I've still got a few left to read in this. Maybe I'll save them for a while.
Vurt - Jeff Noon
Something I've been meaning to read for a long while but only just got round to it. Thanks blackgarden for making me read it now! I loved this. So strange. I love the way he uses language. Erm... not for the faint of heart I guess. I went back to Pixel Juice and read Bug Compass. Canon Scribble/Beetle!

I am currently reading:

Pollen - Jeff Noon

I guess having two hours on a bus each day gives me ample time for reading...

Comments

[sunsetmog.livejournal.com]

You should definately read Iain M Banks 'Iain Banks' stuff. Tis the stuff dreams are made of. The Wasp Factory is hideous, nasty, horrible and unputdownable, whilst The Crow Road is just wonderful. And not just because it had Joseph McFadden in the TV version, *and* Dougray Scott.

I've hardly read anything this year. Comes of not having to commute, I suppose. Come the summer, buses call me and my reading goes skyhigh. I've read a million and one different history books though, if they count...

[odycee.livejournal.com]

I will definitely read some when my to read pile has become slightly less likely to topple over and crush innocent bystanders. Damn my compulsive book buying habit.

I think you can count the history books. They've got words in and come in a pages-stuck-together-inside-a-cover format. There was never much call for me to read entire books whilst at uni. I think reading the whole of books with titles like Marine Ecology or Genes VI may have caused my brain to haemorrage from sheer boredom. The mere thought of Genes VI makes me shudder. Thank god it's hidden away in the loft where I can't see it.

[sunsetmog.livejournal.com]

I have a compulsive book-buying habit. There should be some sort of support group. For me it would be for people who buy too many books knowing they don't have the time to read them or the book shelves to store them. Have about 180 books to read. *gulp*

Yeah, I can understand why Genes books may be best confined to the loft. Although, admittedly, books about the basis for ninth century iconography in Germany are hardly any more scintillating...

[blackgarden.livejournal.com]

Something I've been meaning to read for a long while but only just got round to it. Thanks blackgarden for making me read it now!

Yay! Vurt was so wonderful. I've still got a minor obsession with it. :D It's been calling to me to read it again.

and read Bug Compass. Canon Scribble/Beetle!

Heh. That killed me. Was reading and all of a sudden I thought I was hallucinating slash. *g*

Someday I will write fic. Yes.

How is Pollen? And have you read Nymphomation? I'm impressed that you can read on the bus. I'd get dizzy and sick.

[odycee.livejournal.com]

I finished Pollen a few days ago. I really loved it - I seemed to be sneezing a lot while I was reading which worried me somewhat. This bloke at work asked me what I was reading. He'd never heard of Jeff Noon and asked what it was about. I said necrophilia. They're great books but I love them even more because I know all the roads and places that are mentioned as I used to live in south Manchester. When I was reading Vurt I had a little squee to myself as the Stash Riders flat is exactly where one of my friends used to live - on the corner right opposite Platt Fields Park (where he occasionally watched from the window as people got mugged in the park).

I've not read Nymphomation but next time I go near a book shop and have one of my compulsive book buying spasms, that's what I'll buy.

If I couldn't read on the bus I'd go mad. I spend nearly two hours a day on the bus at the moment so I have to have something to do!