It’s not often you can say you’re reading a book because of a conversation you had with your brother over Christmas about how you would survive the Zombie Apocalypse. (If you’re curious, we decided that for long term survival a katana would be the weapon of choice). I was making the argument that why would [...]

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Time to review a book I think.
Before I go any further, I must point out that this is one of the books given to me free to review by Penguin Books. The only impact this has had is that it meant I got to read some books I might not otherwise have stumbled across. Nor [...]

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Just saw In Her Shoes and it had me blubbing like a little baby by the end. I am so pathetic. A nice, predictable, well done film. Three and a half penguins.

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Well, I finally got me an invite. I went from having no invites whatsoever at midnight last night, to having ten when I checked my mail this morning! The codes people kindly sent me, but that I didn’t use (well, there’s only one of me!) can be found at the end of this post. Please [...]

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One small issue I have with Askimet so far - it doesn’t tell you which post the spam is associated with. Not that I need to know this, but I am curious.

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John Wyndham
The Kraken Wakes
The Chrysalids
The Midwich Cuckoos
The Trouble With Lichen
[rate 5]
I’ve said over and over how great John Wyndham is an an author, which is why it saddened me so much when I reviewed “Stowawy to Mars” and it left such a very bad taste in my mouth. So, in order to restore the balance, [...]

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John C. Wright
The Golden Age
The Phoenix Exultant (The Golden Age volume 2)
[rate 3] and [rate 2] A great start, sadly disapointing end
These were another impulse loan from the library. Basically I am working my way through the sci-fi/fantasy shelves and these were next. I found book one, The Golden Age mind-blowing. Original and full of [...]

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Neal Stephenson
Cryptonomicon
[rate 5] Definate definate desert island book. Gar!
To say that Cryptonomicon is as important as Neuromancer by William Gibson isn’t, in my view, an understatement. Both books share themes that are genre busting and, like Neuromancer, Cryptonomicon has suffered because no one knew how to really market it. How do you classify a book [...]

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Stella Gibbons
Cold Comfort Farm
[rate 5] Drain the well, there’s a neighbour missing!
So you have spent your teenage years reading the classics, possibly voluntarily, but more likely being forced to for some English class. How do you rebel? Read Cold Comfort Farm. A beautiful, funny, poigniant, deeply twisted book lampooning entire genres. Set in an unspecified [...]

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F. Scott Fitzgerald
Tender is the Night
[rate 4] I’m not sure if I would recommend this book or not. Fitzgerald is an important author and it does detail the between-war period beautifully with a lyric, depressive, twist, but at the same time I can think of books I would rather read. Bit like Schindler’s List - [...]

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