This Week I are mostly reading (contd)

Now reading the non-fiction book of the expedition Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl, really good stuff. And just started By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart which is incredibly overwrought.

'Blood Meridian' by Cormac McCarthy. Cant believe I have never got round to reading this before, its so good.

Figures of Earth, another of James Branch Cabells Biography of Manuel sequence from the 1920's which are all worth reading so far. Also one of the later H.G.Wells books Star-Begotten, from 1937. Seems to be about people who start to think they're loved ones etc. are actually aliens :) .

Finished Star-Begotten (1937) by H.G.Wells, not great. Figures of Earth (1921) by James Branch Cabell is another fantastic read. You should check out Jurgen then Figures of Earth if your intersted in early fantasy or just really good erudite writing. Figures isn't naughty like Jurgen.

Speaking of naughty, also read Lysistrata (411 B.C.) by Aristophanes, even the gutenberg versions have illustrations. Very adult, very funny comedy satire.

Currently rereading Exploits of Englebrecht (1950) by Maurice Richardson, a set of short surreal (mostly) sports tales, very Monty Python. Also reading the Cleft (2007) by Doris Lessing and Here Comes a Candle (1950) by Fredric Brown. The latter is a noir thriller although it has this almost Twilight Zone like narrator. The former is a sort of faux history/mythology tole by a roman scholar about how women were the first sex.

Oh and i also recently finished rereading Happyslapped by a Jellyfish by Karl Pilkington. It hasn't stood up well, hiliarious the first time not so much any more.

Read Washington Black, Esi Edugyan. Had it in my pile for quite a while and had some rave recommendations. Also, I loved her previous book, Half Blood Blues, so I had high hopes. Bit disappointed in the end - starts off very strong but, for me, kind of lost direction a little after the half-way point.

On to Patricia Lockwood's Nobody is Talking about This next

Read the earlier ones and was pleasantly surprised with the sequels (Blade Artist, Dead Man's Trousers) but can't summon up the enthusiasm for a prequel. Can't really think of any prequel worth the effort....

It was not as good as Trainspotting itself or Porno I agree but I still enjoyed it and well worth the read if you like the series. I have both Blade Artist and Dead Mans Trousers on my to read shelf and am looking forward to them.

Finished Patricia Lockwood's No One is Talking About This. It's a funny one, like two different books grafted together. The first part is stream of consciousness musings about the internet, the second part a meditation on grief. Not what I was expecting after Priestdaddy but I'm glad I read it.

Back on a Bernard Cornwell binge with Sharpe’s Regiment, I’ll read a few and then move on to a book about Genghis Khan that was mentioned the After Hours book thread.

That was also my first Le Carre book, and i have since read about 15 of his books since. I would strongly recommend reading the Smiley Trilogy after this (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Smiley's People and the Honorable Schoolboy). All superb.

The Perfect Spy is probably his best book though.

Finished Dawn by Octavia Butler. The first book in a sci fi trilogy. An interesting read set in a post nuclear war earth where an alien civilization has come and rescued the few human survivors but they want something in return.