Those flower pots... that leap from the library window...

Hello all,

In the department of reading I have not been idle of late. I have, in fact, read a generous amount of books. In the department of writing about it, unfortunately, I have been more than usually lazy. So here's a list of books - each with a very, very brief comment...

The Brain That Changes Itself
by Norman Doidge, M. D.
Yet another book in the series of brain-related books I've been reading - this one was, in terms of interestingness (not a word, I know) the best. Though somewhat ethically challenging. Any book that casually mentions sewing up a kitten's eyelid and cutting off monkey's finger in the name of science is going to have me wondering at least a little...



The Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
A really enjoyable fantasy, this one - the philosophical bits drag on a little ('Pterry' should really stick to comedy - that's what he's good at); unusual and particularly Pratchett flavoured. If I had to group it with any of the other Discworld novels it would fit in with the 'Death' books, but Death's grandaughter is really more of a central character than he is.

Diary of a Provincial Lady by E. M. Delafield
The chronicles of a 'provincial lady' in the 1930's - the edition I read contains all four: Diary of a Provincial Lady, The Provincial Lady Goes Further, The Provincial Lady in America and The Provincial Lady in Wartime. Pleasant reading - not quite deserving of the rave reviews I stupidly read beforehand, but rather nice.

Jingo by Terry Pratchett
A Discworld 'Watch' novel, but possibly my least favourite of the generally good Watch books. A criticism of war. Rather muddy and wandering in terms of plot.



The Godfather Was A Girl by Eamon Evans
About the real people who inspired famous fictional characters. A good read.


The Weight of Glory by C. S. Lewis
Book of amazing sermons by one of my favourite authors.



Summer Lightning by P. G. Wodehouse
One of my favourite Wodehouse books ever. Just delicious. And funny. And wonderful. The third book about Blandings - some of the characters were also in Money For Nothing (which I forgot to mention on this blog - oops!), so you have to read at least three other books to appreciate it fully - but the other books are also rather wonderful. :-)



The only thing in life that seemed really worth while was to massacre waiters; and to this task he addressed himself with all the energy and strength at his disposal.

A good bookshop is just a genteel Black Hole that knows how to read.

Reading so many books! It's hard to keep track...

Just finished Milo and the Restart Button. I know, I know, it's a book for nine-year-old boys and it somewhat rips off Diary of a Wimpy Kid (which I haven't read) with the cartoons interspersed throughout the story - but all the same, it's pretty darn good! It's really hard to find a children's book about loss and grief that can deal with the issues with such a light touch. And the prose is just, oh, it's just good. I would be interested to find out if author Alan Silberberg has written anything for adults - his prose is warm, personal, funny and sensitive as well as very skilful.



After reading The Female Brain, naturally, I was interested to see that there was a 'sequel' (inasmuch as nonfiction books about brain biology can have sequels) called (rather obviously) The Male Brain. I finished it fairly quickly - haven't read the appendixes though - and was, all in all, rather disappointed by it. I think Louann Brizendine ought not to have bothered writing a second book at all - she should have just rewritten the first to include the few interesting contrasts that male brains specifically manifest. Most of what was said in The Male Brain has already at least been mentioned in The Female Brain, so there isn't really anything new for a reader to think about. So the book is pretty dull as a result.



The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett. Wow. As a writer Pratchett (or 'Pterry', as fans affectionately call him...) has grown sooooo much over the several dozen Discworld novels. This is the first time I have read the first book of the series - I started out with
the 31st book, Monstrous Regiment, which was very clever and well written - though increasingly incoherent and muddy towards the end, and then proceeded to read
Making Money (the 36th and most recent book - very good),
Going Postal (the 33rd and my favourite. Btw, you should read this one before you read Making Money - they're both about the same character, 'Moist von Lipwig') and then
Night Watch (the 29th, also very good - but I found it a little confusing on account of not having yet read any of the previous books about the Watch). Then I read
Feet of Clay (19, also about the Watch, though not the first of the Watch books)
Maskerade (18, one of the books about the witches - my least favourite set of characters)
Hogfather (20, one of the books about Death, who is surprisingly sympathetic as a character...)
Thud! (34, the most recent of the Watch novels)
Carpe Jugulum (23, another witches novel - this one with vampires!)
The Truth (25, my second favourite because it's so flipping awesome!)
Reaper Man (11, a 'Death' novel, reviewed here)
Mort (4, also about Death)
Equal Rites (3, which I only just finished reading and should therefore review, but won't. Witches)
Lords and Ladies (14. Ditto the above)

My feelings about Pratchett are mixed. On one hand, he's a witty, witty genius whose books are so easy and nice to read. On the other hand, the earlier ones are remarkably less good. The Colour of Magic epitomises this statement - glimpses of Pratchett's razor wit and funniness pop up from time to time, but I found it a very hard slog with very little plot, rather mediocre characters and an extremely incoherent concept. Not my favourite. If you haven't read any Discworld books before I don't think I would reccommend you to start with the first one, simply because it isn't very good - though I'm not sure what I would reccomend as a debut... Going Postal perhaps?

A Man's Brain Must Expand, If It Takes Up The Universe!

Reading: The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton This is the first of Chesterton's fictional works that I have really been able to get into - and it's pretty unputdownable! Chesterton's prose is as unexpected and strangely lyrical as his philosophical work. Not finished it yet, but enjoying very much. Murder on a Midsummer Night by Kerry Greenwood This book... was OK. I mean, not badly written, nice imagery, cool 192o's setting, pretty usual murder mystery plotline (although the plot really isn't the point of the book, one realises) and the protagonist was perfect. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean I liked her. Phryne Fisher (catchy name, much?) is the self sufficient daughter of a baronet; she's a private detective, stunningly gorgeous and graceful, socially adept, art critic, gourmet, owns a lovely big house in Melbourne with two adopted daughters. Her problem? She has no problems. I found Phryne incredibly annoying in this respect - and her habit of walking all over the other characters really got to me by the end of the book. And the fact that she has a casual sexual relationships (not to mention her continually blase attitude towards debauchery in general - I mean, one passage had me wondering if she had experimented with bestiality. Ew.) just seemed implausible, considering the setting. The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine This book is rather different to those above... in that it isn't a novel, let alone a mysterious thriller. It's a book about how women's brains are different from men's.I found it very interesting and informative - plenty of stuff that I'd already figured out for myself, but it's nice to have scientific writing backing you up, isn't it? I was annoyed by all the 'when we were cavemen' imagery - particularly considering that I have read other (secular, if it matters to you) scientists decry the use of such outdated anthropological suppositions as 'neanderthal man' and his animalistic behaviour. Oh, and Louann Brizendine is a big advocate for hormone therapy, which I'm not entirely cool with. But certainly a fascinating read.

"You don’t remember what happened. What you remember becomes what happened."

Read some more books :-)

First proper kindle purchase (apart from free downloads!):


An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

I really quite liked this book - 'twas not a waste of my first ever kindle spent money! The protagonist was a little whingey and mopey, but not to an unforgivable extent, the prose was magnificent and the random trivia embedded in the story was just what I like. The characters were engaging - particularly Hassan! - and carried the story very well indeed. Good young adult fiction exists! It does! I would like to write a book like this one someday...


This book had me literally 'lol'ing - repeatedly. If you have a Dad or a sense of humour (preferably both) you will love Impractical Jokes by Charlie Pickering. I wish I were in a gushy mood today - I've read so many good books lately and I have so little to say! Sorry about that... this book is brilliant awesomeness.


A very sweet little book, this. A modern fable in the vein of... um... The Little Prince? The Nargun and the Stars? I'm not sure what to compare it to. But it is a lovely story. Completely different from the film - though the anti-war theme is prominent in both - but worthwhile in a completely different way.

Someone To Manage Your Affairs? Someone To Handle Your Business? Someone To Take The Dog For A Run? Someone To Assasinate Your Aunt? PSMITH WILL DO IT

Greetings!

Been doing a lot of reading lately and very little writing... lemme see...

Read:


The Masqueraders by Georgette Heyer - this was a bit more romance-y than the other Heyer books I've devoured (any book with the sentence 'He kissed her ruthlessly.' will set my teeth on edge a little; fortunately kissing is as far as it goes!), but still amusing. More than a teensy bit implausible - the 'masqueraders' of the title are a brother and sister who swap clothes for almost the entire novel, and only one man figures it out! Very fun, silly sort of book. Think The Scarlet Pimpernel, just a little less brilliant.


Bridget Jones - The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding. If reading Jane Austen is like eating a delicious five course dinner then reading Bridget Jones is like eating a packet of chips. A guilty pleasure that doesn't do you any good, (My inner monologue always takes on the style of whatever I'm reading until I finish it... can get 'v.' annoying with some books) but you can't put it down. The storyline is much more closely based on Jane Austen's Persuasion than the previous book was based on Pride and Prejudice.

In my impatience for the next series of Sherlock I've started re-reading Arthur Conan Doyle's original classics. Awesome stuff. Definitely recommend it. Finished A Study in Scarlet - I'm moving on to The Sign of the Four now.







Leave it to Psmith and Ukridge by P. G. Wodehouse... how can I express the affection I feel for Wodehouse's characters and stories? I can't. Not a bit. I adored Ukridge with his dodgy money-making schemes and mustard yellow macintosh almost as much as I loved Psmith with his suavity, wit and monocle. I can only say, go! Get your mitts on a Wodehouse! Revel in the golden goodness of his magical prose and delicious, delightful plotting!

Bought:






















Yesterday I purchased these two books, neither of which I have read. The Iron Man I acquired because I recently saw The Iron Giant, which is based on the above novelette. (The Iron Giant is a gorgeous little movie, by the way - very much recommended!) I have never heard of or read any of the four books that make up The Diary of a Provincial Lady (which, according to the cover and introduction, is about the ups and downs of being a housewife in the 1930s): it seems like my kind of book and I bought it on a hunch. Hope it's good!

A-and perhaps you could become used to my eyebrows?

I know I have neglected this blog shamefully of late, but I have not had anything new to read, apart from Agatha Christie - and reviewing Agatha Christie or talking about her books is rather a pointless exercise, for one cannot say much without giving away the ending. But yesterday there was a fete on at my church and secondhand books were 3 for $1! So I have splurged. I bought The Phoenix and the Carpet and The Enchanted Castle by Edith Nesbit, The Ordinary Princess (which I happen to own a copy of already - but it is a dear little book!), George's Marvellous Medicine, Stories by O. Henry, and six (count 'em, my loves, six!) Georgette Heyers. I know that Georgette Heyer's books look like Mills and Boons, but really! Do you think I would waste $2 on a set of romance novels? Romance novels forsooth! These are fun, light little period novels and I'm already halfway through The Convenient Marriage. Enjoying myself highly.
More to follow at a later date, I hope!

- NO-ONE GETS PARDONED FOR LIVING.

Just finished reading Terry Pratchett's Mort. This won't be a very long post, coz I haven't eaten today and my hungry stomach is beginning to make its presence known. I rather liked this book - but, to be sure and certain, Pratchett has come a long way since then as regards characters and the development of them.

Oh, and I recently listened to P. G. Wodehouse's book The Luck of the Bodkins on CD - does that count as having read a book? Probably. And yes, I do reccomend it. And no, I haven't got anything to say about it right now.

"You like it?" he said to Mort, in pretty much the same tone of voice people used when they said to St George, "You killed a what?"