Continued meanderings on my reading habits:
Dickens' A Christmas Carol (December 2011) - had to be done, but was vaguely disappointed (had expected more somehow) - surprised at how closely the films had followed the book!
Paranormality: Why we see what isn't there by Professor Richard Wiseman (November / December 2011) - a good old scientific debunk, which scuppers everything that goes bump in the night, and gives an insight into how the likes of The Mentalist do their thing.
Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie novels - Case Histories and One Good Turn (November 2011) - watched the TV adaptations with Jason Isaacs (nice!) and was inspired to get the books. Very good - an interesting poignancy to the inter-leaved stories.
The first 7 of the Nightside series by Simon R Green (September 2011) - still another 5 to go, but haven't got these yet - all rather reminiscent of Dresden (a PI battling supernatural forces) but a bit more comic book in tone - still a rip-roaring read!
Cat Bordhi's Treasure Forest (August 2011) - this one had been sitting on my bookshelf for quite a while - nominally the first in a trilogy (although published in 2004 and no sign as yet of parts 2 and 3). A decent enough fantasy type novel, but don't think I'll be holding out for the sequels.
The latest Dresden (August 2011), Jim Butcher's Ghost Story- really fast-paced (didn't take long to finish this one!) - looking forward to the next one now!
We'd been listening to the BBC radio adaptation of Lord of the Rings and was inspired to revisit the books (it has been a few years) - took me a while this time (June - August 2011) as really busy at work - but it was interesting reading as my recent memories are of the radio / film versions. Was interested to see how much of the dialogue had been lifted directly into the films.
Re-read the Terry Pratchett / Neil Gaiman joint effort Good Omens (June 2011) - very amusing stuff (as you'd expect!).
With the final Harry Potter out, re-read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (June 2011) - good book (and also enjoyed the film!).
Still in Tudor mode (May / June 2011), actually read one of my Oxford History of England series - The Earlier Tudors 1485-1558 - surprisingly readable, although a tad academic (the author assumes you understand all the quotes in foreign, and all the religious philosophy - plus its easy to get a bit lost what with people being Warwick one minute and Northumberland the next!).
Finally (April / May 2011) paying a bit of attention to a rather neglected Tudor - Bloody Mary - thus far have read H.F.M. Prescott's Mary Tudor: The Spanish Tudor, Anna Whitelock's Mary Tudor: England's First Queen, and Linda Porter's Mary Tudor: The First Queen, with a brief break to read (the relatively shorter) Anne of Cleves: Henry VIII's Discarded Bride by Elizabeth Norton. Would rate the Linda Porter biog, but nothing wrong with the others - good to get an insight beyond the cliches, but for someone who I suspect was actually a rather nice person she burnt an awful lot of people . . .
Back in Tudor mode: Derek Wilson's biography A Brief History of Henry VIII: King, Reformer and Tyrant (March / April 2011); Alison Weir's Children of England (April 2011), highly readable as ever.
A bit of light relief with Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching series - Wee Free Men; A Hat Full of Sky; and Wintersmith (March 2011). Followed by the latest I Shall Wear Midnight (April 2011) - also excellent.
Inspired by the somewhat inaccurate soap-opera styling ofThe Tudors on TV, started on some more historical reading - starting with Alison Weir's The Lady in the Tower (February 2011), an in-depth telling of the downfall of Anne Boleyn. Hugely readable as with all her biographies, and rather poignant reading - so many deaths for political ends.
Douglas Adams' The Salmon of Doubt (February 2011), a kind of 'best of' compilation of bits and pieces of Adams' writing - particularly enjoyed his essay on an artificial god - plus the first chapters of a new Dirk Gently (which I was really getting into when it just stopped, as Adams so sadly did - bit of a metaphor for life really).
Eoin Colfer's And Another Thing (February 2011), the so-called 'sixth' installment of the Hitchhiker's 'trilogy' - not a bad job I thought, readable, funny and enjoyable anyway (and a little more upbeat than Adams own final offering in the series).
Inspired by his Dirk Gently books have been working my way (January 2011) through Douglas Adams better known offerings, i.e. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; The Restaurant at the End of the Universe; Life, the Universe and Everything; So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish; and Mostly Harmless. Some are better than others - the last one being particularly odd - still enjoyed them, and will be interested to see what Eoin Colfer has made of continuing the series.
Started the year with a new addition to my 'library' - a Kindle (a surprise Christmas present from Martin). Must admit I was a bit nervous of in terms of whether I'd get on with it. Seems to be ok though - knew that the day my hand went up to turn the non-existent 'page'! It's also much lighter for reading in bed / taking on the train, than traditional hard-copy - although I still have an awful lot of those to read!!
Paranormality: Why we see what isn't there by Professor Richard Wiseman (November / December 2011) - a good old scientific debunk, which scuppers everything that goes bump in the night, and gives an insight into how the likes of The Mentalist do their thing.
Kate Atkinson's Jackson Brodie novels - Case Histories and One Good Turn (November 2011) - watched the TV adaptations with Jason Isaacs (nice!) and was inspired to get the books. Very good - an interesting poignancy to the inter-leaved stories.
The first 7 of the Nightside series by Simon R Green (September 2011) - still another 5 to go, but haven't got these yet - all rather reminiscent of Dresden (a PI battling supernatural forces) but a bit more comic book in tone - still a rip-roaring read!
Cat Bordhi's Treasure Forest (August 2011) - this one had been sitting on my bookshelf for quite a while - nominally the first in a trilogy (although published in 2004 and no sign as yet of parts 2 and 3). A decent enough fantasy type novel, but don't think I'll be holding out for the sequels.
The latest Dresden (August 2011), Jim Butcher's Ghost Story- really fast-paced (didn't take long to finish this one!) - looking forward to the next one now!
We'd been listening to the BBC radio adaptation of Lord of the Rings and was inspired to revisit the books (it has been a few years) - took me a while this time (June - August 2011) as really busy at work - but it was interesting reading as my recent memories are of the radio / film versions. Was interested to see how much of the dialogue had been lifted directly into the films.
Re-read the Terry Pratchett / Neil Gaiman joint effort Good Omens (June 2011) - very amusing stuff (as you'd expect!).
With the final Harry Potter out, re-read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (June 2011) - good book (and also enjoyed the film!).
Still in Tudor mode (May / June 2011), actually read one of my Oxford History of England series - The Earlier Tudors 1485-1558 - surprisingly readable, although a tad academic (the author assumes you understand all the quotes in foreign, and all the religious philosophy - plus its easy to get a bit lost what with people being Warwick one minute and Northumberland the next!).
Finally (April / May 2011) paying a bit of attention to a rather neglected Tudor - Bloody Mary - thus far have read H.F.M. Prescott's Mary Tudor: The Spanish Tudor, Anna Whitelock's Mary Tudor: England's First Queen, and Linda Porter's Mary Tudor: The First Queen, with a brief break to read (the relatively shorter) Anne of Cleves: Henry VIII's Discarded Bride by Elizabeth Norton. Would rate the Linda Porter biog, but nothing wrong with the others - good to get an insight beyond the cliches, but for someone who I suspect was actually a rather nice person she burnt an awful lot of people . . .
Back in Tudor mode: Derek Wilson's biography A Brief History of Henry VIII: King, Reformer and Tyrant (March / April 2011); Alison Weir's Children of England (April 2011), highly readable as ever.
A bit of light relief with Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching series - Wee Free Men; A Hat Full of Sky; and Wintersmith (March 2011). Followed by the latest I Shall Wear Midnight (April 2011) - also excellent.
Inspired by the somewhat inaccurate soap-opera styling ofThe Tudors on TV, started on some more historical reading - starting with Alison Weir's The Lady in the Tower (February 2011), an in-depth telling of the downfall of Anne Boleyn. Hugely readable as with all her biographies, and rather poignant reading - so many deaths for political ends.
Douglas Adams' The Salmon of Doubt (February 2011), a kind of 'best of' compilation of bits and pieces of Adams' writing - particularly enjoyed his essay on an artificial god - plus the first chapters of a new Dirk Gently (which I was really getting into when it just stopped, as Adams so sadly did - bit of a metaphor for life really).
Eoin Colfer's And Another Thing (February 2011), the so-called 'sixth' installment of the Hitchhiker's 'trilogy' - not a bad job I thought, readable, funny and enjoyable anyway (and a little more upbeat than Adams own final offering in the series).
Inspired by his Dirk Gently books have been working my way (January 2011) through Douglas Adams better known offerings, i.e. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; The Restaurant at the End of the Universe; Life, the Universe and Everything; So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish; and Mostly Harmless. Some are better than others - the last one being particularly odd - still enjoyed them, and will be interested to see what Eoin Colfer has made of continuing the series.
Started the year with a new addition to my 'library' - a Kindle (a surprise Christmas present from Martin). Must admit I was a bit nervous of in terms of whether I'd get on with it. Seems to be ok though - knew that the day my hand went up to turn the non-existent 'page'! It's also much lighter for reading in bed / taking on the train, than traditional hard-copy - although I still have an awful lot of those to read!!
