22/11/10 - Robert Harris - Fatherland

OK - I needed a book for the flight - and this was perfect. A crime fiction - set in Nazi Europe in the 1960s - with Hitler an aging 75. Sure - an easy read - but interesting characters and gripping tale - slightly tempered by the over-telling of the underlying mystery.

18/11/10 - David Malouf - Ransom

Book-club book - re-write of a small part of the Illiad by Homer. It was interesting and engaging at times I guess - but I think I'd probably rather have read the Illiad - or even better the Odyssey.

31/10/10 - Damon Galgut - In a Strange Room

South African man traveling the world - but not really engaging in anyone or anywhere he goes - nor me for that matter. The protagonist seems just such an observer and passive. The constant switching between first and third person was also annoying - I am sure there was a clever point to it - author/lead character alternating - but I still didn't like it. The third part of the book was more engaging - but too tragic and sad.

21/10/10 - Maggie O'Farrell - After You'd Gone

An unashamedly romantic tear jerker - what am I doing - my last book as Love Story too. SPOILER ALERT - it was so sad when her lover died - and then she falls into this coma - only surfacing on the very last page. As a boy - I would have to say that it is clearly overly romantic and all this focus on what a perfect couple they are and how pure their love is, is to me little unrealistic. But as Daniel - I did end up enjoying the book OK - I admit it - and shed a few tears.

3/10/10 - Erich Segal - Love Story

At Catherine's farm in Balidu for a beautiful weekend, but without a book. The farm has lots of books from the 70s - so what better than Love Story. The woman still dies at the end - and I did shed a few tear. Of course it is a little sickly sweet - but a light read for a couple of sittings.

12/9/10 - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - Sherlock Holmes The Complete Novels

Only 4 Holmes novels - but there are some short stories I have never read. The first "A Study in Scarlet" introduces Watson ad Holmes - to us and each other - along with their shared apartment 221B Baker St. Half however was a tedius American back-story - I just wanted to get back to Holmes. "The Sign of Four" was more fun - with the body in the locked room - how did they do it? Also had a bizaar boat chase along the Thames - felt like a 19th Century car chase. Third was my favorite - "Hound of the Baskervilles" - which I remembered reading when I had hair - so I worked out who-done-it even before Holmes I like to think. Some suspense and the big old desolate manor house in the moors. I had always thought it was Yorkshire - but turns out it was Devon. Starts off with the lovely debate between Watson and Holmes on who owned the walking stick. He is such a smart cookie that Holmes and Watson is just not up there. Finally I have just finished "The Valley of Fear". By now I was just wanting to finish the collection - bit over Holmes right now - but wouldn't mind watching another Holmes movie. Again this one had a long back story in America - filling in the whys and wherefores once Holmes had worked it all out. Was certainly more fun than the first though. But although the back-story was a little more interesting with a few twists and turns - the best part of the book was Holmes' deductions and just being 2 steps ahead of Watson and Scotland Yard.

26/7/10 - Peter Temple - Truth

Now I do love the pulp thriller crime fiction genre - and I did tear through this one. Set in Melbourne - follows the head of homicide - Villani. Rather quirky voice - and I did get lost with all the characters. Interesting - but not my favorite book club book.

13/7/10 - John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men

Quick read - only 100 pages. He didn't seem to need any more than that though. The characters are simply but beautifully drawn, and the story just seems so inevitable from page one. It is tragic and I was certainly pulled into caring for these people. I am not surprised it has been such an enduring book. I didn't bother reading the 400 pages of fluff around the story though.

5/7/10 - Kate Atkinson - Behind the Scenes at the Museum

It took me ages to read, and I think I read a couple of others in the process - so it was not a very gripping read. But there was one part that was so poignant and sensitive - I almost cried and since it was near the end of the book - it almost made the book worth while. There were funny anecdotes about English families in the 60's, siblings relating, mad parents, crazy holidays in Scotland. Some seemed quite familiar!

20/6/10 - Ian Rankin - Fleshmarket Close

I have a couple of other books on the go that I am struggling with - so why not squeeze in a simple, familiar, unchallenging Rebus? I was like pulling on a pair of warm old woolen socks - comfortable, familiar. Nice to be back in Rebus' world again - although I am starting to think he should probably lighten up a little on the alcohol - bit of a dependency there - and he has sucked Siobhan into this addition too by the looks of it. And while he is at it - the fags could go too. but then he wouldn't be Rebus would he. Still a good read - with all the old characters as well - including big Ger.

28/5/10 - Haruki Murakami - The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

About an unemployed guy who's cat disappears, then his wife leaves him, he meets some increasingly odd people and goes to great lengths to find his wife and find out what the hell is going on. Started off great, with interesting little Japanese cultural references, then some insights into Japan in the war. It certainly got more odd but I loved it. Loved the characters, from the ancient soldier with stories of miraculous survival, to May the off kilter teenager, Malta and Creta sisters, Nutmeg and Cinnamon. It did get very odd and I am not really sure what happened in the last bit - but I still loved the book.

25/4/10 - Ian Fleming - Casino Royale

The first of the Bond novels. I liked the film so it was great to read the original. Interesting how times have changed though - this book had much simpler plot than the modern Bond films. A more gentle invocation of the 1950s glamour. I suspect Bond is also more human and sensitive in this book than the later books anyway - damn that Vesper Lynd breaking his heart.

11/4/10 - Antoine De Saint-Exupery - The Little Prince

Book club book - someone thought it would be a good read I guess. Yes - it is very sweet and at times poignant and sensitive - but probably better left to reading to children. Maybe I'm just not sensitive any more. But it certainly is a quick read.

27/3/10 - John Marsden - Hamlet

OK - I know I'm not a Shakespeare purist to even read this - but isn't Hamlet a great story. This is updated to use normal C21 language - but seems to pretty much stick to the original story and includes some of the famous quotes almost verbatim. I think it worked well - although I dn't think I have read the original. It is certainly an easy read - in plain English.

7/3/10 - Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall

Bookclub book and Man Booker 09 Winner. A long book - sort of book you want to break your leg for so you can put it up and spend lots of time reading. It is a great story - set in Henry VIII England, Thomas Cromwell works his way up to become Henry's key advisor. Odd the way the story ends before Thomas actually reaches his height of power, and before Henry ends up executing him - but I bet everyone that read it googled to find out what happened in the end. I loved it - couldn't wait to return to this rich cast of characters and plots.

13/2/10 - Mark Wernham - Martin Martin's On The Other Side

Laying around with my leg up - I wanted something light to read. This ended up not being it. This is a little like clockwork orange meets 1984, with a lot of F words. A whole lots of F words. Some of it was a pretty funny parody of modernity, shallow celebrity, fads and crazes. I liked Starfucks - the pornographic coffee shop, and Porn Disco with the glass floors with cameras underneath - but all in all it didn't really jell. I am not sure what actually happened in the story, what was 'real'. Anyway - it was a very different book - and at least I have finally got out of Sweden.

19/1/10 - Stieg Larsson - The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest

I had to finish the trilogy. Of course it is great seeing the good guys thrash the bad guys in court - and is a little sad saying goodbye to the interesting characters - but this was just not as original, gripping and fun as the first. Salander has to recover from being shot in the head at the end of the previous book, then works in the background to sort everyone else's lives out - even though she is soooo anti-social. I've spent too long in Stockholm the last 2-3 weeks.

15/1/10 - Stieg Larsson - The Girl Who Played with Fire

Second in the Millennium series started by the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Yes - it was nice to go back to Stockholm again with this one - and again I disappeared for rather more that was probably polite while on holiday in Denmark with Catherine and the kids. So - the book - of course the main character Salander is cool and sexy again - but the book was never going to be as original as the first. But this was still an exciting ride - and I enjoyed it - going straight into the last of the series - which I expect to post very soon.

12/1/10 - Aravind Adiga - White Tiger

Another of those 'isn't it all mad and crazy in India' books like Slumdog Millionaire. The main character is not all that likable - and not just because he slit the throat of his boss - I can understand that - but just seems to switch from cowering slave unable to look in the eye of the masters - to a master with several people working for him. Apart from that - nicely written in first person as a letter to the Chinese prime minister. Some gruesome bits that reminds me India is not on the top of my list of countries I most want to visit.

3/1/10 - Jeffrey Archer - A Prisoner of Birth

OK OK - I know he is a jumped up tory prick who went to prison for being a jumped up tory prick or something - but I have actually always rather liked his books. This one is about a poor illiterate East End man improperly imprisoned for killing his best friend - while the upper-class twat who really did it walks free. It is about his education within, and escape from prison followed by his revenge - along with his redemption. Not 'High Literature' obviously. A simple formula, Count of Monte Christo is even repeatedly mentioned in the book. But I did get sucked into it and want our hero Danny to win all his little battles - which of course he did. So engrossing, an easy and quick read - but not one that will dwell with me past the end of today I doubt.

1/1/10 - Steven Carroll - The Lost Life

I started it early December - took a while to read - even though it is a small book. Very gentle and slow - thoughtful. About yearning for the past, wasting a life or grasping every moment. Loss of innocence - at times quite a beautiful book. The lovers are called Catherine and Daniel. Girl of 16 meets Emily - girlfriend of T.S. (Tom) Eliot. Emily forever the virgin - lives vicariously through Catherine's experiences that summer. Last few pages jump forward 50 years. Nice to be told how it all ends up.

31/12/09 - Steig Larsson - Girl with a dragon Tattoo

I got this book for Christmas - from Father (Girlfriend) Christmas - and read non-stop. It was my book club book - but I'd ben wanting to read for some time. Loved it - gripping if a bit twisted at times. Translation a little frustrating and awkward. Can't wait to read the next 2.