tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67094742011-04-21T21:44:38.850+01:00a labyrinthine path through the wordsMagsnoreply@blogger.comBlogger351100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-37093446375576542252007-01-21T21:46:00.000Z2007-01-21T21:56:50.949Z

Bad form to start the year with a meme but I've been slack on this blog for an age so..Bold indicates ones that have been read.Italics indicate ones that may be read.Struck-through indicates ones never to be read.Dave Langford's Top 20 sf novels ever, up to 199020) Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards! (1989)19) Frederik Pohl: Gateway (1977)18) Iain M. Banks, Consider Phlebas (1987)17) C.J. Cherryh,

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-2125876586110583492006-08-23T13:49:00.000+01:002006-08-23T14:02:21.052+01:00

Long, long ago there was a woman - who was maybe not such a wise woman as she thought she was - who wanted to create a web of words. She'd tried to be all-consuming but didn't like it. So she unwound the threads of her library and wove an intricate web of del.icio.us feeds. The woman - who maybe didn't see the future as clearly as she thought she did - hadn't allowed for this being hard work to

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1141767964817038102006-03-07T20:44:00.000Z2006-03-07T21:46:04.873Z

via various:The Museum, Libraries and Arts Council's list of 30 Books Every Adult Should Have Read. Bold the ones you have read. Italicize the ones you would like to read. Strike out the ones you never plan to read, or started but couldn't finish.***To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.The BibleI had enough of it in school, ta very much. A useful resource, more easily navigated via online

Magsnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1133811528438849292005-12-10T19:38:00.000Z2005-12-10T21:17:07.006Z

The Lambs Of Londonby Peter Ackroydfiction | georgianaI cracked. My careful attempt to read more books from the pile than I bought for it fell over with a outburst in the charity shops this weekend. Five novels, taking the pile back over 50 books. I did break into the pile and liberate The Lambs of London last month.This is a new fiction work by Peter Ackroyd, whose arcane knowledge of London is

Magsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1131280791363402732005-11-06T12:35:00.000Z2005-11-09T01:54:14.096Z

My attempt to start digging into the to.be.read mountain continues, although I did get three books from a charity shop the other day and have read 1.5 of them, thus not making a proper dent in the mountain. Winter has arrived, with the wind hugging the chinmeys and the rain splattering the glass and the cat suddenly deciding that actually, it will sleep on the bed after all due to the feline

Magsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1129836910301712672005-10-20T20:03:00.000+01:002005-10-23T23:29:54.696+01:00

After a recent long look at the dreaded to.be.read pile, I mentally instructed myself to not bring any more books into the house (discounting research books because, yes, I am starting to work again after the fallow summer). I even mentioned it in Annie's '7 things' meme and since I have made some headway with one thing listed there, I decided to be strict.At which point someone lent me The Lady

Magsnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1128445835163325532005-10-04T18:09:00.000+01:002005-10-04T18:16:10.826+01:00

It's Buy a Friend a Book week. But remember, it can't be their birthday, anniversary etc. It's a totally random giftee moment.(and, should you wish it, you can take a look at my wish list - because I really need more books...)

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1127640834948674012005-09-25T10:33:00.000+01:002005-09-25T10:33:54.953+01:00

What Should I Read Next? is a very nifty tool for getting book recommendations. Way back when I started cataloguing my books online, I used all consuming, which also had a recommendations feature. Unfortunately, the old version was inclined to be tempermental, not to mention its focus on linking to Amazon. That meant out-of-print or otherwise unlisted-on-Amazon books couldn't be added. My

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1126186092867215562005-09-08T13:24:00.000+01:002005-09-08T14:28:12.906+01:00

Annie from Going Underground has tagged me with the book virus currently doing the interweb rounds. So...1. Number of books I own1000+. There's about 500 Doctor Who books alone, but even if you discount them I'd still say over a thousand. If people can actually answer this with a figure then I suspect they need to read more. Or are very good users of the local library. 2. Last book I bought

Magsnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1123932578690042992005-08-13T12:29:00.000+01:002005-08-13T12:29:39.966+01:00

Lazin' on a Sunny Afternoon Originally uploaded by Mags.Settling down in the garden, with all the key requirements for a reading session (garden chair, sunglasses, fresh hot tea).

Magsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1123545412991814592005-08-09T00:56:00.000+01:002005-08-09T00:56:53.030+01:00

The Rotter's ClubJonathan Coe(2001)catagories: fiction | C21stI'm never really sure how to tag a book like this. Coe uses a framing device of the story being told not by two of the protagonists reminising over shared experiences but two of their descendents, trying to imagine life in the world before they were born: the modern nostalgia not for real memories but for the idea of them. Yet the book

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1123371801116249942005-08-07T00:43:00.000+01:002005-08-07T00:43:21.150+01:00

The Vampire Blood TrilogyDarren Shancatagory: kid.litI've been reading some recommended teen fiction this year. This is partially because I don't want my knowledge to become outmoded. It's easy for me to point out that Ursula Le Guin did a boy heading off to wizard school to face a shadowy evil back in the 70s with the seminal A Wizard of Earthsea with a startlingly sparse style which leaves me

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1122214928135043812005-07-24T15:22:00.000+01:002005-07-24T15:22:08.160+01:00

Wide Sargasso SeaJean RhysContinuing in my quest for fiction which emerges from other fiction, I finally filled a gap in my knowledge and read Wide Sargasso Sea the other week. This is the story of Antionette, a Creole girl who finds herself marrying a man newly arrived from England in the 1830s. Her background, rejected by an insane mother, and his fear of her culture turns the relationship sour

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1120303027842370622005-07-02T11:54:00.000+01:002005-07-02T12:17:08.626+01:00

This morning, I decided to try tidying the shelves of the study/attic. So far I've managed to literally decimate them and have twenty books stacked up waiting to go to the charity shop. They're mostly:UFOlogyA subject I lost interest in quite a while ago. I did keep the small section of 70s "gods are aliens" paperbacks. I should maybe call that "von Daniken's corner". As a child I was fascinated

Magsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1118503396322000452005-06-11T16:23:00.000+01:002005-06-11T16:26:53.580+01:00

I always feel vaguely guilty when I fail to finish a book, as if the fault must lie with my application, concentration or (lack of) brains and cannot possibly be the fault of the writer and/or their prose, theme etc. One thing maintaining this blog is making clear to me, though, is that I must become more ruthless. If I'm not getting anywhere with a book, if it sits in my bag or by my bed (or

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1117569009698085732005-05-31T20:50:00.000+01:002005-05-31T20:50:09.736+01:00

The Wars Against SaddamJohn Simpson(Pan Macmillan, 2003)It struck me at a party this last weekend - whilst I explained that I was reading this book and why - that I have an odd non-fiction kink: I like reading journalism. Not just this book, which outlines events from the late 70s through the Iran/Iraq war and the two Gulf Wars, but a favourite read a few years back was All the Presidents' Men.

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1116580501099712122005-05-20T10:15:00.000+01:002005-05-20T10:15:01.146+01:00

Girl With a Pearl EarringTracy ChevalierWow. Short, clear and ravishing. The descriptive style is very beautiful and the scene with the earrings made me catch my breath. This is one of those novels which make me sit afterwards, the finished novel in my hands, and wonder both why I write and if I could ever write anything as evocative and subtle as this. I love works which make me reassess what I

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1115938019845092942005-05-12T23:46:00.000+01:002005-05-12T23:51:31.043+01:00

Despite no longer being required to read Victoriana, as my own venture into the genre is off to bed, I have added reading.victoriana as a del.icio.us genre tag. I seem to have read three in the last few weeks alone...Victoriana is, obviously, distinct from reading.C19th which is genuine Victorian fiction.

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1115735070507508732005-05-10T15:24:00.000+01:002005-05-11T16:35:05.126+01:00

Pemberley: Or Pride And Prejudice Continuedby Emma Tennant(1993)It is a truth universally acknowlegded that all Pride & Prejudice pastishes, spoofs or reviews must be in want of an opening line which mimics the opening line of P&P. Right, that's that over with.I'm pro-fanfic. My Microcon talk a couple of years back was on the history of forms of fanfiction and the idea that, once a story is 'out

Magsnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1111840822763790202005-03-26T12:40:00.000Z2005-03-27T10:48:29.566+01:00

I've just finished - I think - fiddling with the CSS code for this blog. There was something strange happening with the way the columns lined up, and some paragraph indenting was bugging me. I surfed bravely away from my normal comfort sites of W3schools and glish's CSS templates. I'd love to play with the CSS Zen garden but I do have other things to do, so I ended up at Floatutorial. I still had

Magsnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1111768939946462582005-03-25T16:42:00.000Z2005-03-25T17:14:51.473Z

Murder in Baker Streetedited by Greenberg, Lellenberg & Stashower(2003)I've been having a bit of a Sherlockian craze over the last few months and, having reread the Canon, I've moved onto the non-Canon. (Some of this I can blame of Kelly Hale, whose non-Canon Holmes novel I read a couple of years ago and which is finally getting published.)This is a collection of short stories featuring Holmes

Magsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1110225079591623752005-03-07T19:51:00.000Z2005-11-13T05:27:46.836Z

Love All the People: Letters, Lyrics, Routines Bill Hicks(2004)I went to a Waffle House. I'm not proud of it, I was hungry. And I'm alone, I'm eating and I'm reading a book, right? Waitress walks over to me: "Hey, whatja readin' for?"Isn't that the weirdest fucking question you've ever heard? Not what am I reading, but what am I reading for? Well, godammit, ya stumped me! Why do I read? Well...

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1109114107208762672005-02-22T23:02:00.000Z2005-02-23T21:13:47.490Z

My plans to make a neat little intergrated system for my books got a bit waylaid by the need to write a novel (see the main grouch blog) but now I have acres of free time staring at me I have got back on it. So, this is what I've done: Set up del.icio.us tags, as previously mentioned back in NovemberUsed the lovely RSS Digest feed to create feeds from the del.icio.us tags to the left and right

Magsnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1096718390758930272004-09-23T13:46:00.000+01:002005-02-23T13:43:28.823Z

Traitor's PurseMargary Allingham( Penguin, 1941)One of my favourite Campion novels, which I bought just to have it in the classic Penguin green and cream design. An amnesiac Campion wakes in a hospital, suspected of murder.One of the reasons I like the Campion novels is that he goes through WW2 and emerges a different character. You can contrast the early novels like Mystery Mile in which he is

Magsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1087662977936027582004-06-04T17:30:00.000+01:002005-02-23T22:26:11.040Z

Of the City of the SavedPhil Pursar-HallardI can't realistically comment too much about this, given that not only had I read the draft but that this was a gift from PPH. And is published by my publisher. However, for what it can be worth, I enjoyed this immensely. PPH is a world-shaper style of writer and produces an epic portrait of the City of the Saved, the City beyond the death of the

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1084473527648281572004-05-13T19:37:00.000+01:002005-02-23T10:08:43.353Z

Carter Beats the DevilGlen David Gold( sceptre, 2001)I was utterly captivated by this novel, despite working out one of the mysteries quite early on. It tangles together stage magicians, childhood tramas, fate-dictated romances and the American Secret Service. The opening of the second section, dealing with Carter's childhood reminded me sharply of Citzen Kane, although doubtless the mentions of

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1084473364973174092004-05-13T19:34:00.000+01:002005-02-23T22:38:11.073Z

The Wee Free MenTerry Pratchett( corgi, 2004)Pratchett's Discworld books for children have the confident reliance on story which, I can't help but feel, has been mislaid or waylaid by the ongoing characters in the 'main' series. Like Maurice and his Educated Rodents, this plays with narrative unashamedly and is more entertaining for it. Strip away the continuity from the 'main' series and this is

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1084043052762111382004-05-08T20:04:00.000+01:002005-02-23T22:29:31.206Z

The Jaguar SmileSalman Rushdie( picador, 1987 )There's always something strange about reading of-the-moment political travel journalism after decades have elapsed. The one thing I wish The Jaguar Smile had contained was more contextualisation. True, I am a child of the 80s and remember the Sandinistas and Contras, the CIA aid and the now strange paranoia over communism. I ought to know this stuff

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1081631798321809782004-04-10T22:16:00.000+01:002005-02-23T22:31:04.096Z

A Metropolitan MurderLee Jackson( heinemann, 2004)Told in the present tense, this is a novel about a murder on the Metropolitan railway, the first underground railway in the world. A while back a friend did a checklist of 35 things you must including if writing a piece of Victoriana. I have marked in bold all the ones this novel ticks:1. Whores.2. Fenians.3. Urchins.4. Social deprivation.5.

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1081631535987234882004-04-10T22:12:00.000+01:002005-02-23T22:39:30.956Z

Half LifeMark Michalowski(BBC Books, 2004)wicked Mr Michalowski, distracting me from my writing with a lovely EDA. The first I've read in one sitting since...erm...the last Lloyd Rose, I think.

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1081453476820384052004-04-06T20:44:00.000+01:002005-02-23T22:40:25.523Z

Empress OrchidAnchee Min( bloomsbury , 2004 )This is a fictionalised biography of Tze-Hsi, the Dragon Empress who ruled China through her son from the 1860s until 1902 (IIRC). She is a remarkable parallel to Queen Victoria, the contemporary Empress of India, and was, in real life, fascinated by the British woman who could rule in front of the screens. I've read this for work purposes: it comforms

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1081453305836292482004-04-01T21:09:00.000+01:002005-02-23T22:36:25.063Z

The Daughter of TimeJospehine Tey(Penguin, 1981 edition of 1951 story)I had, as I suspected, read this before. Tey specialises in historical crime novels in which the past is uncovered layer by layer (there was a lovely one she did about son coming back from the dead - Brat Farrar - which is allegedly being filmed with Brad Pitt in the lead). In The Daughter of Time, a police detective laid up in

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1081453450243130362004-04-01T20:44:00.000+01:002004-04-09T15:47:29.996+01:00

ArchangelRobert Harris(arrow, 1998)F | crimeadded to pile: 1st April 2004read: 6th April 2004the usual Harris with some great touches (such as the descriptions of what they find in the woods) and ideas about the past, about the act of historical research etc. Shame that it's been incorrectly printed, with a sudden dollop of 20 pages repeated and a key event entirely missing.

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1081453013972035442004-04-01T20:36:00.002+01:002005-02-23T10:07:35.736Z

When in Rome Ngaio Marsh(Fontane, 1970)A Roderick Alleyn mystery. Although the use of the layers of archaeology as a central conceit is well drawn, this isn't Marsh really on form I feel. Possibly this is because I was unable to care about the romantic leads: a writer who works in longhand and manages to lose his manuscript and a girl from a fiction department having a startlingly long holiday.

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6709474.post-1081452968440144642004-04-01T20:36:00.000+01:002005-02-23T22:37:14.533Z

Nights at the CircusAngela Carter(picador, 1984)A delight from start to finish, from the gaslit theatres and whorehouses to the Siberean wastes. There are tangents and sub-stories, tall tales and flights of fancy. And this is a very womanly novel. I am deeply, deeply envious of her skill. And thanks to Annie for recommending I read it.

Magsnoreply@blogger.com0