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?