Category: books

DaBloPoMo – a recap

Well well, dear reader. Here we are on day ten of #DaBloPoMo[1]. It’s been going quite well thus far, I think.

I’ve talked about a number of things thus far. On day 1 we had a chat about amusing spam, followed up by a post prompted by @LeedsBookClub talking about the film Labyrinth, in which you can see me playing with my ball.

No, it’s an crystal[1] juggling ball. Filthy minds, you lot.

Did you watch the videos I failed to embed? Really, you should. Let me try again.

Day 3 and I was playing with a pulp fiction cover generator.

Then I talked about being a stationery geek. This post got picked up on The Pen Addict’s Ink Links and blog views went nuts. Well, relatively. Tons more views than usual. Still getting traffic now from it. Thanks Pen Addict!

I had a chat about coffee, then rambled at length about ebooks and kindles. Another good post for views, that one.

That led onto my love affair with books, prompted by Becs of Bits and Bobs Becs. She left a great comment on the ebook post too, with a link to a wonderful letter by Harper Lee.

Following up the book theme, I looked at interesting things found inside books, with particular reference to something awesome I found in a lovely little book of poetry.

Then yesterday I was a little ill, so left you with a photo of a tree.

It’s been a busy ten days, dear reader. I’ve got a whole host of other things to natter on about in February. Watch this space!

[1] Dave’s Blog Posting Month. But then you knew that, right?
[2] ok, ok, it’s clear acrylic. Still looks cool.

Things found inside books

inscription

Inscription inside a copy of Robert W. Service’s ‘The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses’, bought in Robin Hood’s Bay, Oct 2005. It’s a first edition, 1907.

It reads:

April 24th to May 3rd

A small token given with every good wish, in grateful remembrance of a most pleasant trip.

“A woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke” – Rudyard Kipling from ‘The Betrothed’

(full text of The Betrothed, for those interested)

I love finding stuff like this in second hand books. This one struck me in particular as I was browsing through a tiny second-hand bookshop in Robin Hood’s Bay, a wonderful place in and of itself. The book caught my eye as Robert Service was a writer that my dad much admired. I’d picked up the book to leaf through it and on seeing the inscription, knew immediately that I had to buy it.

Why? A couple of things. Not only was this a first edition in remarkably good nick for a book nearly a century old, April 24th was my dad’s birthday. And the reference to Kipling – my in-laws lived at the time in East Sussex, in a little village called Burwash, where Kipling also lived. He had a house there called Bateman’s, which we’d walked the dogs past many many times.

DSCN5682

Kipling’s house dates back to 1634, about a hundred years after the wonderful house where my in-laws lived!

On a tangent (I’m good at them), this is Leo, the door-knocker on their house. Isn’t he a handsome kitty?
leo

So, dear reader. What’s the best/most interesting thing you’ve ever found in a book?

My love affair with books – the early years

Following on from yesterday’s ebook vs paperback debate, I wanted to talk about reading in general. I’ve always been a keen reader. I was reading before I started school and quickly exhausted the set reading books available, to the point where the teacher in my last year at junior school said to just bring in a book from home.

Cover of "The Stainless Steel Rat"

I’d already been plundering my dad’s book collection – it was fairly small, consisting of books on the shelf by his bed and some in his office at work, but I soon picked up a taste for pulp sci-fi. Harry Harrison’s The Stainless Steel Rat is still a favourite of mine, and I went through Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter of Mars series in no time. Followed up with Asimov’s I, Robot, and his Lucky Starr -Space Ranger series, E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith’s Lensman books, the list goes on. I think my teacher was a bit alarmed when I turned up with a well-thumbed copy of one of the early Mars books, with their covers strewn with giant green aliens and bikini-clad heroines.

Back in those days, books also seemed to be a lot thinner!

I’d joined the local library too, and whizzed through books at a rate of knots. This was back in the days before computerised library issue systems, and each book had a little card ticket[1] which went into a pocket in one of your library cards. I got told off by the librarian at the tiny local branch library (maybe 50 metres from our front door, bliss!) for reading too quickly, as I’d returned a book that I’d borrowed a couple of hours earlier and she hadn’t got round to filing the tickets yet! Luckily she took pity on me and gave me a couple of extra library tickets.

My own bookshelves followed and were soon groaning under the weight. Then came the dream weekend job – working in a public library to make a bit of extra money, and getting paid to look after and talk to people about books. Great fun, and with a whole world of books at my disposal. Plus I got to persuade the librarians there to buy copies of a book I wanted to read, and got to read them before anyone else. I spent a few happy years working evenings and weekends in a variety of libraries across the city, from the tiny little local libraries to the bigger city branches. Had a weird moment one day working in Byker library when I realised that it was *exactly* the same design of building as my base at Fenham library, only with half the number of books.

I’ve got a load of library-related tales to tell, but that’s for another day. The question I have for you today, dear reader, is about your early reading – did you start young, late, what sort of books did you like?

[1] The Browne Issue System, for the curious amongst you

books – ebook vs dead-tree

This week’s Weekly Writing Challenge: Mind the Gap: (from WordPress.com)

How do you prefer to read, with an eReader like a Kindle or Nook, or with an old school paperback in hand?

Now, there’s an interesting question. Subtly different to ‘do you prefer ebooks over paperbacks?’

For a long time I thought about getting an eReader. The ability to carry many books in a small space really appealed – often I’d go on holiday or on a business trip with a selection of books to read, just in case one didn’t take my fancy or I finished one and needed another one whilst I was away.

Finally, for a birthday a couple of years ago, I got a Kindle. I became a shameless convert, loading it up with a wide variety of books. Fiction, non-fiction, some I’d already read in paperback, some new. I probably read more that first year with the Kindle than I had done for a long time beforehand. The convenience, the size, weight were all perfect. The lovely e-ink screen, readable in full sunlight on a beach. It had (still has) a case with a built-in light, so I could read at night. Brilliant. I thought I’d also solved the problem of running out of bookshelf space at home too – after all, my virtual bookshelf was as long as I needed it to be.

Books, pre-ordered weeks or months ago would automagically appear on my Kindle on the day of release. I remember the first time I pre-ordered something, switching the Kindle on at midnight and hitting Sync. There it was – a fresh book, ready to be enjoyed. Bargains to be had too – Amazon often had offers on with books for £1.99 or less. I stocked up for a rainy day. My ebookshelf was getting longer and longer…

There were niggles, of course. Remembering to make sure it was charged up (a minor problem, given the astonishing battery life of the Kindle). The page refresh, which was *just* a shade slower than I’d like it to be. The slightly clunky user interface, and the fingermarks from the kids who expected it to be a touchscreen. 🙂

The biggest problem for me? Sharing books. One of the true joys of reading a dead-tree book is that moment you finish it and want to press it into a friend’s hands, urging them to read it as you just *know* they’ll love it. My brother and I would see each other occasionally and do a book swap – half a dozen paperbacks picked up across the intervening months that we knew each other would enjoy. With the Kindle, that wasn’t possible. Sure, we could recommend books to each other, but both had to buy a copy. Which, I’m sure the publishers (and Amazon) loved. (Yes, I hear Amazon is doing a lending library thing, but having an ebook for 2 weeks just isn’t enough.) We’d lost the discovery, the book that you wouldn’t have bought, but having read one, would happily go and acquire the author’s back catalogue.

The other thing I’ve found is that I missed reading a ‘proper’ book. Knowing how much you had left to read by the ever-decreasing pile of pages under your right thumb. Sorry Amazon, but a ‘percentage read’ just doesn’t give you the same feel. The ability to flick back a few pages to refresh your memory on a scene or plot point – again, the Kindle lets you do that, but frankly, it’s a faff.

And also there’s something just brilliant about holding and reading a physical book. The tactile sensation of flicking through the pages, or peeling back the covers on an unread book is something I don’t ever want to be without.

So, these days I split my time between the ebook and the dead-tree versions. They both have their place, and I wouldn’t be without either.

How about you, dear reader? Are you an ebook convert, or an old-school die-hard? Or, like me, somewhere inbetween?

Books: 2013

A record of the books I’ve read in 2013. Read:

  1. The Right Way to Do Wrong: A Unique Selection of Writings by History’s Greatest Escape Artist, by Harry Houdini [nf, pbk]
  2. The Shining Girls, by Lauren Beukes [f, pbk, arc]
  3. The Teleportation Accident, by Ned Beauman [f, pbk, arc]
  4. Racing Through The Dark: The Fall And Rise Of David Millar, by David Millar [nf, pbk]
  5. Railsea, by China Mieville [f, e]
  6. London Falling, by Paul Cornell [f, pbk, arc]
  7. Angelmaker, by Nick Harkaway [f, e]
  8. Fade to Black, by Francis Knight [f, pbk, arc]
  9. From Russia with Love, by Ian Fleming [f, e]
  10. Hokkaido Highway Blues, by Will Ferguson [nf, pbk]
  11. Red Army Faction Blues, by Ada Wilson [f, pbk]
  12. The Girl with the Pearl Earring, by Tracey Chevalier [f, pbk]
  13. Poison, by Sarah Pinborough [f, hbk]
  14. The Fire Witness, by Lars Kepler [f, pbk, arc]
  15. Lexicon, by Max Barry [f, pbk, arc]
  16. World War Z, by Max Brooks[f, e]
  17. Game of Thrones [book 1], by George R.R. Martin [f, e]
  18. My Criminal World, by Henry Sutton [f, pbk]
  19. The Machine, by James Smythe [f, pbk]
  20. City of Blood, by MD Villiers [f, pbk]
  21. Bigger Deal, by Antony Holden [nf, pbk]
  22. The Jennifer Morgue, by Charles Stross [f, pbk]
  23. The Last Banquet, by Jonathan Grimwood [f, hbk]
  24. Solo, by William Boyd [f, hbk]
  25. The Republic of Thieves, by Scott Lynch [f, e]
  26. Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore, by Robin Sloan [f, e]

Currently reading:

  • Moon’s Artifice, by Tom Lloyd [f, pbk]
  • The Palace Job, by Patrick Weekes [f, e]

Didn’t finish:

  • The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, by Jonas Jonasson[f, pbk] (Not often I don’t finish a book that I’ve started, but really didn’t get on with this one.)

Key: f – fiction nf – non-fiction hn – hardback pbk – paperback e – ebook (probably read on Kindle) arc – review copy

The Great Unread Book Pile

One of my goals for 2013 is to finally crack the back of The Great Unread Book Pile that I’ve been accumulating over the years. I got a bunch of books for christmas too, so decided that I really ought to make a list of all the books I’ve bought or been given that I actually want to read – a key realisation was that I had a whole pile of unread books that realistically I had no intention of ever reading, so they’re going in the next charity shop bag that appears.

Here’s the list, split into fiction/non-fiction. [HC] is a dead-tree hard copy, [Kindle] is fairly self-explanatory, and shows how weak-willed I am when it comes to a 99p special offer. Rounding off the list are a couple of books I really want to read but haven’t yet acquired – in the case of The Shining Girls it’s because it’s not out yet!

Fiction

  • The Terror, by Dan Simmons [HC]
  • The Moneypenny Diaries: Guardian Angel, by Kate Westbrook [HC]
  • Mage’s Blood, by David Hair [HC]
  • Engineering Infinity, edited by Charles Stross [HC]
  • Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox, by Eoin Colfer [HC]
  • The Vanishing Act, by Mette Jakobsen [HC]
  • The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, by Jonas Jonasson [HC]
  • Snuff, by Terry Pratchett [HC]
  • Kraken, by China Miéville [HC]
  • The City and The City, by China Miéville [Kindle]
  • The Hydrogen Sonata, by Iain M. Banks [Kindle]
  • Whispers Underground, by Ben Aaronovitch [Kindle]
  • Behemoth, by Scott Westerfeld [Kindle]
  • Goliath, by Scott Westerfield [Kindle]
  • The Outcast Blade (The Assassini, #2), by Jon Courtenay Grimwood [Kindle]
  • The Legend of Eli Monpress, by Rachel Aaron [Kindle]
  • The World House, by Guy Adams [Kindle]
  • How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe, by Charles Yu [Kindle]
  • Moxyland, by Lauren Beukes [Kindle]
  • From Russia With Love, by Ian Fleming [Kindle]
  • Doctor No, by Ian Fleming [Kindle]
  • Goldfinger, by Ian Fleming [Kindle]
  • For Your Eyes Only, by Ian Fleming [Kindle]
  • Thunderball, by Ian Fleming [Kindle]
  • The Spy Who Loved Me, by Ian Fleming [Kindle]
  • On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, by Ian Fleming [Kindle]
  • You Only Live Twice, by Ian Fleming [Kindle]
  • The Man With the Golden Gun, by Ian Fleming [Kindle]
  • Octopussy & the Living Daylights, by Ian Fleming [Kindle]

Non-fiction

  • The Bayeux Tapestry: The Life Story of a Masterpiece, by Carola Hicks [HC]
  • Blue Blood, by Edward Conlon [HC]
  • Hokkaido Highway Blues, by Will Ferguson [HC]
  • The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories, by Christopher Booker [HC]
  • Racing Through The Dark: The Fall And Rise Of David Millar, by David Millar [HC]
  • The Man Who Cycled the World, by Mark Beaumont [HC]
  • The Man Who Cycled the Americas, by Mark Beaumont [HC]
  • Good Vibrations: Crossing Europe on a Bike Called Reggie, by Andrew Sykes [Kindle]
  • Long Cloud Ride: A Cycling Adventure Across New Zealand, by Josie Dew [Kindle]

on the wishlist/not yet published

  • Angelmaker, by Nick Harkaway
  • The Shining Girls, by Lauren Beukes

Interesting (to me) that over half the non-fiction books are cycling-related. And you can see there’s a bit of a Bond backlog – I’ve been working my way through the Bond books this year and hoping to tie it in with my planned BlogalongaBondathon when I get hold of the movies. Watch this space. There are a couple on there that I’m wavering about, but have included them for completeness.

I’m actually in the process of reading four other books:

  • The Right Way to Do Wrong: A Unique Selection of Writings by History’s Greatest Escape Artist, by Harry Houdini [HC]
  • Railsea, by China Miéville [Kindle]
  • Safe House, by Chris Ewan [Kindle]
  • The Teleportation Accident, by Ned Beauman [HC]

Looks like it’s going to be a busy year, reading-wise! I’ll be making more of an effort to review the books once they’re finished too.

(Note that the goal of reading this lot by the end of 2013 doesn’t preclude me buying any others, but any bought or received as a present – amazon wishlist is here if you’re feeling generous! will be added to the list…)

Best of 2012

Time of one of those ‘Best of the Year’ posts.

Right. Erm… [thinks of things I’ve read/played/watched/listened to this year]

Book of the Year
Catching Bullets: Memoirs of a Bond Fan, by Mark O’Connell. A book about our favourite British superspy, James Bond. Not your traditional ‘here are the films in order and here’s what I think of them’, but instead a tale of a young man’s introduction to Bond via bank holiday tv viewings, trips to the cinema and lovingly re-watched VHS recordings hired from the local garage. Mark is a proper Bond geek, and his love for the films just bursts out of the pages. Part memoir of growing up, part tales of his grandfather as chauffeur to Cubby Broccoli and all Bond. Anyone with even a smattering of interest should read it. Inspired me to do a blog-a-long-a-Bond-a-thon next year. Cracking stuff.

Game of the Year
Skyrim
No contest. Yes, it came out last year, but I was late to the party. You know how I can tell it’s game of the year? Because I’ve played virtually nothing else. ALL YEAR. Minor foray into a replay of Modern Warfare 2, but Skyrim went back in every time. I’ve lost (and thoroughly enjoyed) every minute of the many many hours of gametime I’ve spent in Skyrim. I’ve not even completed the main quest as I got distracted wandering around exploring the incredibly detailed world. Plus my troll skull collection is now second to none. If only Farkas would stop tidying it up. I might have to divorce him if he carries on. The only thing which let it down was that EVERYONE in Skyrim seems to have lost something, and they’re all too lazy to go look for it themselves. It’s only twenty quid now. Go buy it.

Movie of the Year
Skyfall. I have written about this elsewhere, at great length. Buy me a coffee and I’ll go on at great length as to why this is the best Bond movie, with the best Bond, ever. Not just a great Bond movie, but a great movie in and of itself.

Album of the Year
Broadside, by Bellowhead. Glorious, plain and simple. Seen them play live twice this year, and each time was just brilliant. Check out their albums, but go see them live. Sheer infectious energy and joy from start to finish.

 

books – a cunning plan

coffee and a good book

I have a plan when it comes to books.

Stop looking so worried. It’s a good plan. Honest.

I’ve got a ton of unread books at home on my To Read pile[1]. I’ve got a similar number of unread books on my Kindle. I’m a sucker for a 3 for 2 offer, or a ‘buy one get one half price’, or a 99p kindle ebook deal, see?

So, I’m going to make a list. A list of all the unread books in my house.

Then I’m going to read them.

See? I told you it was a good plan.

I’m also going to be a bit ruthless about this – if there’s a book I’ve not read but, on reflection, am unlikely to read given the state of The Great Unread Book Mountain[2], I’m going to get rid of it. Charity shops will do well out of me.

I may pass some books along too. Books which I’ve read and enjoyed, but am unlikely to read again.

The second part of my cunning plan is to start reading more books which other people have recommended, but which I wouldn’t ordinarily have picked up. I’ve started a ‘to read’ list on Goodreads. I’m dakegra over there (surprisingly), feel free to add me to your list, and recommend me a book.

If you’re not on Goodreads, then feel free to recommend a book that you’ve particularly enjoyed recently. I’ll read as many as I can and review them here.

Also, if anyone wants to send me a book to review, just drop me an email. dakegra [at] gmail [dot] com. I like emails.

[1]the word ‘pile’ may be slightly misleading.
[2]ok, ok, it’s not an actual mountain. It is very big though[3]
[3]stop sniggering at the back[4]
[4]yes, you.

books of 2011: mini-reviews

(nicked from my Twitterings, because I’m too knackered to do it properly)

Zoo City, by Lauren Beukes (@laurenbeukes): Brilliant. Compared favourably with Michael Marshall Smith (@ememess), I’d have to agree. Dark, gritty, deliciously original. Buy it. Thank me later.

The Fallen Blade, by Jon Courtenay Grimwood (@JonCG_novelist). Vampire assassins in Venice. Seriously, what more do you need to know? utterly brilliant.

 

Currently reading The Watchers, by Jon Steele, which has the tagline “Imagine the Bourne Identity rewritten by Neil Gaiman”. I’m *so* intrigued…

 

My top ten books

Inspired by World Book Day, I thought I’d pull together a list of my top ten favourite books[1]

So, in no particular order, I recommend:

1. Only Forward ~ Michael Marshall Smith

This was Mike’s debut novel, billed as a cross between Blade Runner and The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It’s neither, but an entirely original blend of smart-talking protagonist, weird & wonderful situations and locations, holding together a dark, funny, unforgettable story. This is the book I’m most likely to recommend to you on any given day.

2. The Stainless Steel Rat ~ Harry Harrison

My dad had a copy of this on his bookshelf at work, and I was drawn to it by the fabulous spaceship on the front. It’s a corking read which zips along without pausing for breath. The thing I love about old sci-fi books is that they’re short, skinny little paperbacks that you can get through in a couple of hours, but packed with excitement, adventure and really wild stuff. This is the story of Slippery Jim DiGriz, ace con-man, and titular Stainless Steel Rat, and his recruitment into the Special Corps, run by criminals to catch criminals. Who better to catch a thief than another thief? Brilliant. I’m not ashamed to say that Monty owes a lot of his heritage to the Rat.

3. Dune ~ Frank Herbert

Yes, it’s long, and yes the later books in the series do go on a bit, then turn utterly bonkers. But Dune is wonderful, deep and complex, laden with atmosphere.

4. The Kinky Friedman Crime Club ~ Kinky Friedman

A friend gave me a copy of this many years ago, and I was instantly hooked by the tales of Kinky Friedman, loft-dwelling, cigar-smoking, espresso-guzzling private dick for hire in NYC, with a great line in one-liners

5. Pashazade ~ Jon Courtenay Grimwood

The first of his ‘Arabesk’ trilogy, it’s a book I’ve read many times. Jon has a knack for finding a sentence or turn of phrase which is just *so* delicious and perfect that I find myself reading and re-reading sections, just to work out how the hell he did it. Masterful.

6. The Eyre Affair ~ Jasper Fforde

Ah, no list would be complete without Jasper. The adventures of Thursday Next, Jurisfiction Agent. The first book is literally stuffed to the gills with ideas which make your head spin. Superb.

7. Against a Dark Background ~ Iain M. Banks

A lot to choose from for Mr Banks, but this is my favourite. Dark, oh so dark, but a cracking good read. The Lazy Guns alone are worth the price of admission.

8. Pyramids: A Discworld Novel ~ Terry Pratchett

Again, lots to choose from. Pyramids is my favourite and most-read of my Pratchett collection. The opening scenes where young Pteppic joins the Assassin’s Guild are a joy to behold, and Arthur’s line

‘This is a No.2 throwing knife. I got ninety-six percent for throwing knives. Which eyeball don’t you need?’

cracks me up every time I read it. I went to get my copy of the book to check I’d quoted it correctly, and giggled when I read it.

9. Neverwhere ~ Neil Gaiman

I first read Neil’s ‘American Gods’, quite enjoyed it, but couldn’t quite see what all the fuss was about. Gaiman fans seemed to be *everywhere*, but on the basis of AG, I wasn’t entirely sure why. Then I read Neverwhere, and never looked back. Genius.

10. Un Lun Dun ~ China Miéville

…And if you’re having Neverwhere, you’ve got to have Un Lun Dun. Seriously, just go and buy it. It’s entirely different from China’s other stuff, but weird and wonderful and odd and inventive and just plain bloody marvellous. You can thank me later.

 

There are, naturally, some notable exceptions on there – The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, for one. But then I’d assume that if you were likely to read it, you’d have done so already.

Also there are other books by most of those authors which I’d also highly recommend. Jasper’s second book, Lost in a Good Book, is arguably better than the first, but I think you’re better off starting with The Eyre Affair. In LiaGB he realises that he’s got a readership who will quite happily trot after him down whatever crazy labyrinth of ideas he comes up with, and the story works a little better.

Iain M. Banks (and his alter-ego, Iain Banks) has his Culture Books, The Player of Games or Use of Weapons, and for his ‘mainstream’ books, The Crow Road is brilliant. The Crow Road starts with the line

It was the day my grandmother exploded.

Seriously, how can you not want to read on?

Michael Marshall Smith’s other books are great too – Spares is a very close second behind Only Forward in my book, and some of his short stories are utterly superb, very dark, scary, thought-provoking and funny. If you happen to come across a copy of his collected short stories, More Tomorrow & Other Stories, snap it up. It was only a short print run, but is a great collection. Failing that, go for What You Make It: Selected Short Stories, a shorter collection in paperback.

I could go on, but I think that’s quite enough for now.

 

So, dear reader. What are *your* favourite books? And what did happen to my copy of American Gods?

 

[1]This list is subject to change depending on various factors, including my current mood, what I’ve just read, how much coffee I’ve had and the phase of the moon.

%d bloggers like this: