Lifelongreader

Maximum Impact

2009-01-31T14:08:00.002+04:00

Just finished this one, originally the author posted it as an e-book and it got such a good reception, it was then published. It starts off with a look at 9/11 and then gets very geeky, which is good for me. A well written thriller, fast paced and easy to read.
Not exactly high brow stuff, but good escapism if you like nerdy stuff and conspiracy ideas.

Wicked!

2009-01-26T17:53:00.003+04:00

Just finished this and it is not the normally a book I would have picked up but someone passed it to me, so I gave it a go. It is very well constructed and kept me interested throughout. It is the story of The Wicked Witch of the West (as in Wizard of Oz) told more or less from her perspective, and follows her story from her birth until her encounter with Dorothy. Well worth a read.

Still alive

2009-01-13T13:04:00.004+04:00

After chatting to a friend, I have decided to reactivate this blog which I have not updated in ages. I will be posting some reviews of books as I read them, and also writing about events in the literature world.

No regular updates

2007-11-03T17:22:00.001+04:00

Having changed country and job, I have not found the time to work on his blog as often as I did previously. Hopefully when I get myself more established here, I will get to post some more stuff.

I am still reading and making notes on books, so I will try to upload those another day.

Internet connection problems

2007-09-21T18:37:00.002+04:00

I have been having serious internet connection issues, and so have not been posting as much recently as I did a while ago. I will try to update this blog more regularly over the next few weeks.

Madeleine L'Engle dies at age of 88

2007-09-08T07:39:00.001+04:00

Madeleine L'Engle, the author of A Wrinkle in Time has died. I have not read any of her stuff, but will have a look for this book as the name keeps popping up and sounds quite interesting.

Summer reviews

2007-09-04T18:31:00.002+04:00

Below is a summary of my summer reading - it is very bitty and does not read well, as it was written over a period of time.

22-06-07

Just finished The Tempest by William Shakespeare (my absolute favouritest Shakespeare play), as part of a Shakespeare challenge I joined ages ago.

It is set on an island where Prospero the Duke of Milan, who was overthrown by his brother and courtiers and then set adrift on the high seas with his baby daughter. He has been living on the island with his daughter, Miranda and a nasty piece of work, Caliban, who has been their servant for about 12 years. There is also Ariel, a fairy, who helps Prospero. It reminds me in some ways of A MidSummer Night's Dream, but it is as if Prospero is an older Oberon and Ariel is an older Puck.

At the start of the play there is a shipwreck created by Ariel at Prospero's orders and on the ship are Alonso, Gonzalo, Ferdinand etc - all of them are from Milan, and most of them Prospero's enemies. All the main characters are shipwrecked, as a result of the storm caused by Ariel at Prospero's bidding, but are safe as the latter has plans for them. They are scattered around the island in small groups and are unaware that there are any other survivors - remind you of Lost?

Eventually they all come together when Prospero wants them to and all's well that ends well (but that's another story).

***********
23-06-07

Currently I am in France where I am working in the house (10 years after buying it), I am now doing lots of decoration and maintenance work. Today I prepared the bedroom wall for a coat of special paint tomorrow, fitted a shower spray, WD40'd the shutters and the car doors, took down a few light fittings and cleaned the year of dust from them, in short, lots of little jobs, each of which takes 30-40 minutes.. On Monday (25th June) I am off to the second house we have just bought, to see what needs to be done there.

Reading Mother Tongue, The English Language by Bill Bryson which is absolutely fascinating. It deals with the arrival of language in prehistoric times and the reasons behind the success of English as a global language - in spite of its many linguistic quirks and foibles. It is very much in the style of Bill Bryson, but is erudite nonetheless, and very entertaining. It is packed full of useful pieces of information as well as being very entertaining too.

It is one of those books I hate as it is so funny you want to share his wit with those around you, so I constantly stop reading to read out his witticisms to my better half, much to her annoyance. If you have read any BB before and have any interest in the origins of the English language, but do not want a dry academic tome, then this is one for you - it is one of those books I wish I had 20 copies of so that I could pass them to people I know would like it, as I like to share.

************

Reading The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare - one of his less well known plays, but one I read years and years ago and really enjoyed. I am reading this as part of a Shakespeare challenge I signed up for on someone's blog ages ago, but unfortunately I am unable to get online to check who. The play is a bit slow at the beginning but from what I remember of it, the main part of the story is really enjoyable. Have now finished it and the play was just as good as I remembered - not one of his most popular plays and not often dramatised, but it is one of the plays I prefer. I tend to prefer the plays he wrote when he was older as they have more depth to them, unfortunately they tend to be the plays that people do not read or see performed as they are not considered "classics". The play has standard themes, but is usual that the middle of the play we are introduced to a whole new set f characters 16 years later and then the end ties everything together.

Here I have a dial up connection and for the last two days the phone line has been out - hence no connection, and even when there is a phone line it is so slow that I cannot do much online. Even when I have a phone conversation, the line is dropped on average 2 or 3 times, and the call gets disconnected, so imagine the frustration trying to surf t'interweb for any length of time! So although I am writing these things to post in the blog, they may not be online for ages. This is one of the problems of living in the mountains - but there is wi-fi in the village but as I am not here most of the year, it is not worth signing up for an annual subscription, so I put up with the crappy modem service. I will investigate the wi-fi option when I get back in a week or so and see if it is possible to sign up on a shorter contract, but I doubt it will be possible.

****************
28-06-07
Just watched Death pf a President whch was very good. It was very well made and in my opinion was a major development of the mashups done about Dubya several years ago, eg his State of the Union speech. It worked really well and the cutups were very slick - they have been done in other movies before such as Zelig, by Woody Allen and Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid with Steve Martin (before his career went down the pan, IMHO)

It is a fictionalised account/documentary about President Bush being assassinated. It uses real footage of GW Bush so that the lines between reality and fiction are very blurred - at times you feel as if you are watching CNN, or a news story on TV, instead of watching a DVD. A very clever movie - two thumbs up. I particularly like it as it uses cut up techniques that I have been enjoying in the last years by such guys as Eclectic Method, Osymyso etc for political video mashups - check out some on my other site here. Video mashup is the logical extension of bastard pop, and

I have also just returned from the new house which needs more work than I thought, so I knocked out 4 walls and opened up a beautiful original wooden staircase which had been boxed in, and will return in about a week or so to do some more work on it with some other guys - there will be a paying guest there on the 11th August, so it will have to be ready for that. Kitchen, floor sofas and beds have been ordered, and will be delivered around the middle of July, but before then we have to get the plastering, rewiring of electrics and loads of other stuff done.

******************

03-08-07 The stuff has all arrived and I am now going t be back there in a few days and will see what progress the guys have made. I will try to post from there as the connection here has been atrocious and I have not even thought about uploading as the speed is so slow.

******************
01-08-07
Current reads

Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson
Life of Pi - Yann Martel
Andy Mc Nabb - Dark Winter

Back online

2007-08-18T20:38:00.003+04:00

Here I am now in Kazakhstan, and online again. I will post some reviews and thoughts what I typed up over the summer, maybe tomorrow.

I will also try to update the site and finish the changes I planned before the summer.

Bookstore owner burns books in protest

2007-06-05T20:34:00.000+04:00

I saw this story on CNN, and it made me feel so sad, then angry:

"Bookstore owner burns books in protest
May 28, 2007

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) -- Tom Wayne has amassed thousands of books in a warehouse during the 10 years he has run his used book store, Prospero's Books.

His collection ranges from best sellers, such as Tom Clancy's "The Hunt for Red October" and Tom Wolfe's "Bonfire of the Vanities," to obscure titles, like a bound report from the Fourth Pan-American Conference held in Buenos Aires in 1910. But when he wanted to thin out the collection, he found he couldn't even give away books to libraries or thrift shops; they said they were full.

So on Sunday, Wayne began burning his books in protest of what he sees as society's diminishing support for the printed word.

"This is the funeral pyre for thought in America today," Wayne told spectators outside his bookstore as he lit the first batch of books.

The fire blazed for about 50 minutes before the Kansas City Fire Department put it out because Wayne didn't have a permit for burning.

Wayne said next time he will get a permit. He said he envisions monthly bonfires until his supply -- estimated at 20,000 books -- is exhausted.

"After slogging through the tens of thousands of books we've slogged through, and to accumulate that many and to have people turn you away when you take them somewhere, it's just kind of a knee-jerk reaction," he said. "And it's a good excuse for fun."

Wayne said he has seen fewer customers in recent years as people more often get their information from television or the Internet. He pointed to a 2002 study by the National Endowment for the Arts, that found that less than half of adult respondents reported reading for pleasure, down from almost 57 percent in 1982.

Kansas City has seen the number of used bookstores decline in recent years, and there are few independent bookstores left in town, said Will Leathem, a co-owner of Prospero's Books.

"There are segments of this city where you go to an estate sale and find five TVs and three books," Leathem said.

The idea of burning the books horrified Marcia Trayford, who paid $20 Sunday to carry away an armload of tomes on art, education and music.

"I've been trying to adopt as many books as I could," she said.

Dozens of other people took advantage of the book-burning, searching through the books waiting to go into the flames for last-minute bargains."

Shades of Fahrenheit 451, but a book lover forced to start the fires - even more sad. I love the image of someone adopting books, and I agree with the blame being on TV.

Check out these lyrics: from Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy - Television, Drug of a Nation, at least the bold section about book reading, although all the lyrics are worth reading:

" one nation
under God
has turned into
one nation under the influence
of one drug

[chorus:]
Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation
(2x)

T.V., it
satellite links
our United States of Unconsciousness
Apathetic therapeutic and extremely addictive
The methadone metronome pumping out
150 channels 24 hours a day
you can flip through all of them
and still there's nothing worth watching
T.V. is the reason why less than 10 per cent of our
Nation reads books daily
Why most people think Central Amerika
means Kansas
Socialism means unamerican
and Apartheid is a new headache remedy
absorbed in it's world it's so hard to find us
It shapes our mind the most
maybe the mother of our Nation
should remind us
that we're sitting too close to...

[Chorus:]
Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation
(2x)

T.V. is
the stomping ground for political candidates
Where bears in the woods
are chased by Grecian Formula'd
bald eagles
T.V. is mechanized politic's
remote control over the masses
co-sponsored by environmentally safe gases
watch for the PBS special
It's the perpetuation of the two party system
where image takes precedence over wisdom
Where sound bite politics are served to
the fastfood culture
Where straight teeth in your mouth
are more important than the words
that come out of it
Race baiting is the way to get selected
Willie Horton or
Will he not get elected on...

[Chorus:]
Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation
(2x)

T.V., is it the reflector or the director?
Does it imitate us
or do we imitate it
because a child watches 1500 murders before he's
twelve years old and we wonder why we've created
a Jason generation that learns to laugh
rather than to abhor the horror
T.V. is the place where
armchair generals and quarterbacks can
experience first hand
the excitement of warfare
as the theme song is sung in the background
Sugar sweet sitcoms
that leave us with a bad actor taste while
pop stars metamorphosize into soda pop stars
You saw the video
You heard the soundtrack
Well now go buy the soft drink
Well, the onla cola that I support
would be a union C.O.L.A.(Cost Of Living Allowance)
On television

[Chorus:]
Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation
(2x)

Back again, "New and improved"
We return to our irregularly programmed schedule
hidden cleverly between heavy breasted
beer and car commercials
CNNESPNABCTNT but mostly B.S.
Where oxymoronic language like
"virtually spotless", "fresh frozen"
"light yet filling" and "military intelligence"
have become standard
T.V. is the place where phrases are redefined
like "recession" to "necessary downturn"
"Crude oil" on a beach to "mousse"
"Civilian death" to "collateral damages"
and being killed by your own Army
is now called "friendly fire"
T.V. is the place where the pursuit
of happiness has become the pursuit of
trivia
Where toothpaste and cars have become
sex objects
Where imagination is sucked out of children
by a cathode ray nipple
T.V. is the only wet nurse
that would create a cripple

[Chorus:]
Television, the drug of the Nation
Breeding ignorance and feeding radiation
(4x)"

Let me know if you want a video link for this track.

Blog is under redevelopment

2007-06-04T20:24:00.000+04:00

Please come back later when I have added all the links again as I have decided to have a change of blog style. Comments welcome - the all white seems too clinical to me, I might mess around with different colours later.

I will try to add all the links again over the next few days.

Harry Potter theme park

2007-05-31T16:06:00.002+04:00

Just found this story on CNN - apparently they are creating a Harry Potter theme park in the States. I hope it is a success as far as I am concerned, anything that gets kids reading is great news.

It should be interesting to see how that turns out over the first few years of its opening.

Borat travel guide

2007-05-26T20:46:00.000+04:00

According to CNN, Borat is to go into print. He is writing a travel book about travel tips for both USA and also Kazakhstan ("Borat: Touristic Guidings to Minor Nation of U.S. and A." and "Borat: Touristic Guidings to Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.")

It is to be released in hardback, but there was no release date mentioned.

I am sure that this will create a few more upsets when it is published, in the same way that the movie did.

Harry Potter gets posted

2007-05-21T09:45:00.000+04:00

In UK there has been a decision to release a special series of stamps showing the covers of all seven books. Apparently the books in the series have sold a total of 325 milion copies worldwide - that is a lot of books!

It looks like Potter mania is going to hit UK again this summer.

source

"Britain's Royal Mail is issuing a series of seven stamps depicting the covers of the best-selling "Harry Potter" books just before the final volume goes on sale.

Millions of the stamps will be issued on July 17 as part of the post office's tradition of celebrating "social themes and important occasions central to our way of life," said Julietta Edgar, who is in charge of special stamps at Royal Mail.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" goes on sale July 21.

"There's no doubt that J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels, published in dozens of languages worldwide, have made a phenomenal impact on our reading habits," Edgar said. "

I also found this interesting article from the Economic Times of India, and although it is a bit old, the ideas are fascinating.

It looks at the globalisation and marketing of HP, and is well worth a look.

Radio 4

2007-05-20T21:15:00.002+04:00

I have been listening to BBC Radio 4 a lot on the MacBook and have just listened to their Classic serial (Tom Jones), followed by Open book.

Great stuff, but it means that I am not reading as much. I had forgotten how good Radio 4 was. And I never realised how easy it was to set it up on the Mac, a few clicks and it was running.

Very cool.

Apologies and moving on

2007-05-19T19:50:00.002+04:00

Just a short post to say that I am still alive, but I think that posts here will become ever more erratic as I am moving on from UAE and so am in the middle of packing up my whole life into boxes.

I hate this time of year, and the stage I am at here with moving on, saying farewell to friends etc.

It is a very sad time, but also quite liberating as you can make a fresh start.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Just got a MacBook

2007-05-14T23:32:00.001+04:00

I have just got a MacBook and am currently setting it up the way I want it, so I will try to post some more on books here soon.

I am now freed from the desktop and can post using the Mac, but it will take me a while to get used to it as I have been using Windows for many years. However I still own, and use an Acorn - the best computer in the world, and the best OS ever!! What Windows might be in 10 years from now :)

I am using a Firefox Extension - ScribeFire to post this instead of logging into Blogger which I always found to be a pain. It is very cool and lets you post from FireFox directly, just one click and you have access to your blog.

On holiday soon

2007-05-11T17:51:00.000+04:00

Just to tell the two people who actually look at this site that in a month from now I will be away from t'interweb until mid August.

I will not be updating stuff here, and will be checking email only infrequently.

Until then I will try to post a few more things over the coming weeks, although things here are getting very hectic.

Jodi Picoult works on Wonder Woman

2007-05-05T13:28:00.000+04:00

Bestselling author tackles comic books (source here)

"Jodi Picoult is known as a serious novelist. Her latest effort, "Nineteen Minutes," is currently sitting in the top five on the New York Times bestseller list and has earned rave reviews from such publications as The Washington Post and Publishers Weekly.

But "Nineteen Minutes" isn't the only new project bearing the 40-year-old writer's name. There's also the latest issue of DC Comics' "Wonder Woman."

Picoult's five-issue run doing the title makes her only the second woman to write the character in its 66-year history. But despite the assignment's historical significance, when DC originally approached her to pen the story -- the company had noticed a character in Picoult's "The Tenth Circle" was a comic-book penciller -- she wasn't entirely sure she had the time (or the desire) to do it.

Her children convinced her otherwise."

I thought this was interesting : I have not read any of Picoult's books (yet), but I probably will sometime. Sounds like this could be an interesting concept - Wonder Woman was originally portrayed in a 1970s TV series by Lynda Carter. Thirty or so years down the line, I think we are due an update.

Technorati face-lift

2007-05-05T13:06:00.000+04:00

Technorati has had a makeover - they now refer to authority instead of rank (I think it was called that previously). They also seem to have got their ping problems sorted - at one point one of my blogs had not been updated for 450 days, although I had updated and pinged it often!! This seems to be ok now (fingers crossed).

They also have a new heading eg:

Everything in the known universe about lifelongreader

and a slightly nicer lay out - not exactly earth shattering news, but good to know they are working on issues and developing their site, at last.

All good news.

Who reads books anymore?

2007-05-04T14:15:00.000+04:00

I just read this story on CNN

"It's not easy getting people to care about books.

Thursday, a small contingent gathered in front of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's building in downtown Atlanta, a couple blocks from CNN Center, to host a "read-in." The paper has decided to eliminate its book editor position and the activists want to show that books -- and readers -- matter. (The episode has received national coverage.)

So a handful of people quietly read books in front of AJC headquarters while others, standing in front of a poster saying "Save the Book Review" and a display of titles (Walker Percy's "Love in the Ruins," "Romeo and Juliet," Langston Hughes) praised AJC Book Editor Teresa Weaver and talked about why the paper was making a bad decision.

"The problem is, they're not making enough money, and this is easy to give up," said Vivian Lawand, a veteran Atlanta bookseller.

The paper says it will continue to have book coverage. "We will continue to use freelancers, established news services and our staff to provide stories about books of interest to our readers and the local literary community," spokeswoman Mary Dugenske told The New York Times.

The AJC isn't alone in its rethinking. The Times recently ran a piece about newspapers cutting back on book coverage. There's not enough advertising money, the thinking goes, and readers are gravitating online anyway and getting their book information from blogs and Amazon reviews. (I won't even go into all the questions surrounding the publishing business.)

But I'm not so sure cutting newspaper book coverage is the way to go.

I'll admit I'm biased -- in many ways. I don't know Weaver personally, but we have several friends in common; I subscribe to two newspapers (and several magazines); I'm in two book groups, one online and the other face-to-face; I like to see good writers succeed; and, of course, I oversee the entertainment and media page for a large news organization and I like to keep up with the field.

But at bottom, it's for a selfish reason: I read books. Lots of books. It's not just for my job. I love reading in general, and I know when I die I'll still have shelves -- cases -- of books I never got to. ("TBR stacks," my online group calls them -- "to be read" ... eventually.) I like books and I like reading about books, and Amazon and blogs aren't enough.

I fear I'm in the minority. How many people read books anymore, anyway? I'd like to think that book readers matter -- particularly to newspapers -- but it's not like the AJC's front steps were overflowing with demonstrators Thursday morning. The paper would probably get more protesting if it canceled "Mary Worth.""

read more (with 300+ comments, so there must be some readers on CNN :) )

This makes book reading blogs and forums even more important!!

Vonnegut mp3s

2007-05-03T18:06:00.000+04:00

A bit late in the day, I know, but have a look here for a few mp3s of Mr Vonnegut reading from his works.

I haven't listened to them myself - I will grab them later.

Carnegie and Greenway

2007-05-03T17:29:00.000+04:00

Here is a link to the Carnegie and Greenway site with a list of their award winning books. They are having a 70 year celebration this year and list books that have won awards over the years. There are some great titles in there.

What are your favourite books, you can vote and let them know.

Holes by Louis Sachar

2007-05-02T18:18:00.000+04:00

My students here in Year 8 are working on developing a wiki based on the book Holes by Louis Sachar. Have a look at it here and let me know what you think. We have just started and some of them still need to sign up yet to edit it, but when I logged in just recently, new pages were being added and more content put there.

It is starting to look good, and we should have some pictures of some work there in the next day or two.

The Beatles do Shakespeare

2007-04-29T21:05:00.000+04:00

Here are the Beatles doing the death scene of Pyramus and Thisbe, from A MidSummer Night's Dream :) It is hilarious even though the sound quality is not great.

I get the feeling that in Shakespeare's time, it might have looked somewhat similar to this, even with the audience participation and heckling.

Amber Spyglass

2007-04-29T20:32:00.000+04:00

I have just finished reading The Amber Spyglass which completes my reading of the Dark Materials series. I enjoyed this one even more than the other two.

It is a long book, but whizzed by - a great page turner. Will and Lyra this time move between multiple worlds and meet up with some old friends at various times. They seem a lot more mature in this book, even though they are still relatively young. With the events they have been through, that is hardly surprising.

I loved the mulefa who appear about half way through the book - they are so cool. The description of them is just weird - I find it hard to visualise them. The descriptions of the travel from and to the other worlds is very well described, and raises some interesting points about the universe as we see it.

There is a lot more theology in this book, which might put some people off, and the Church is not painted in a very good light. Also some of the characters seem to have changed drastically in this book.

I suggest that if you are interested in reading this, then you should get your hands on the other books in the series so that you follow the characters through different universes and storylines in order to understand the worlds they inhabit.

Overall 5 stars.

Shakespeare's plays I have read

2007-04-29T19:20:00.000+04:00

Below is a list of plays by Shakespeare and the ones I have read are crossed out. For Erin's challenge I will read a few more, or reread my favourites. As you can see, I am not a fan of the historical plays - I prefer the tragedies and comedies - a good laugh and a good cry.

COMEDIES

~~All's Well That Ends Well~~
As You Like It
Comedy of Errors
Love's Labour's Lost
Measure for Measure
~~Merchant of Venice~~
Merry Wives of Windsor
~~Midsummer Night's Dream~~
Much Ado about Nothing
Taming of the Shrew
~~Tempest~~
Twelfth Night
Two Gentlemen of Verona
~~Winter's Tale~~

HISTORIES

~~Cymbeline~~
Henry IV, Part I
Henry IV, Part II
Henry V
Henry VI, Part I
Henry VI, Part II
Henry VI, Part III
Henry VIII
King John
Pericles
Richard II
Richard III

TRAGEDIES

~~Antony and Cleopatra~~
Coriolanus
~~Hamlet~~
~~Julius Caesar~~
~~King Lear~~
~~Macbeth~~
~~Othello~~
~~Romeo and Juliet~~
Timon of Athens
Titus Andronicus
Troilus and Cressida

Book fair

2007-04-29T08:46:00.000+04:00

There is a book fair on today so I will be having a look for some of the books people have recommended, then I can add them to the pile TBR. I will post later what I get (if anything) - hopefully they will have a good selection.

Later : I only picked up InkSpell, which people have given mixed reviews from what I remember, but I will make up my own mind about it. Not much from my TBR was there, which was disappointing, but the staff were very helpful and I had a good chat with the lady there about new books.

Shakespeare

2007-04-27T17:37:00.000+04:00

There is a Shakespeare challenge over at Miss Erin's site - no time limits, no firm rules - just set your own and read anything by the Bard!

I have just read MidSummer Night's Dream and that was fun - also saw it performed by a troupe called Shakespeare 4 Kidz and that was really good. I think that they should keep more original language though as they re-enact the scenes in modern language, and lots of modern day references from movies. Anything that gets kids interested in Will is great in my opinion.

I will be reading a few more in the next few months.

randomness meme

2007-04-27T15:09:00.000+04:00

Meme from randomness

1. favorite tv programs
Prison Break
Lost
Fawlty Towers

2. favorite foods
chicken curry
chocolate cake
pasta

3. favorite books
Sophie's World
Foucault's Pendulum
L'herbe rouge - Boris Vian

4. favorite people
Christina Noble
Michael Franti
Mahatma Ghandi

5. favorite movies
Fifth element
Elephant man
2001: A Space Odyssey

6. favorite vacation spots
home
Thailand
South of France

My daemon

2007-04-26T20:42:00.000+04:00

Here is my Daemon - it seems that everyone has one. And theirs are all much cooler than my hare!!

Based on the series of books by Philip Pullman, and the upcoming movie - The Golden Compass.

Thanks to Big A little a for mentioning this.

Pretty accurate description, I would say - but then, that is what the questions are for :)

The Subtle Knife

2007-04-22T18:10:00.000+04:00

I have just finished rereading The Subtle Knife, which I read many years ago, and I had forgotten how good it is.

We again meet Lyra, and she is joined by Will who comes from "our" world. They meet in a world which is alien to both of them, and help each other. In this new world which is very deserted, there are only children and Spectres (who attack adults and turn them into zombies). Most of the action in this world is based in a city called Cittagazze, which is where Lyra and Will first meet. There are also some familiar characters in this story from The Golden Compass - Serafina (the witch), Mrs Coulter and Lee Scoresby.

This story is much more developed, I feel and there is a lot of action. There seems to be less information about Dust, etc as that has all been dealt with in the first book, but it would still be possible to read this one on its own without knowing anything about the first book. The suspense lasts right up to the last page, and leaves you on a cliff hanger, ready for book 3 - The Amber Spyglass, which I will start tomorrow :)

A cracking read - well worth getting, but I would recommend you read the whole series.

At the minute

2007-04-20T23:49:00.000+04:00

I am currently reading a couple of books, (The Subtle Knife - reread, and Sophie's World - reread) and have just discovered a great online book here by L. Lee Lowe - as if my TBR is not big enough - now there are online books as well! Will this never end? He also has podcast links as well, so I might download those as well.

I have read the first couple of chapters of the novel and it is very interesting, and gripping so far.

I like the idea he has of sharing his work, and when the book is finished, it will be available as a pdf file. There are also podcasts available for those who want to listen to the book. That is a lot of work! Very cool, Lee - keep up the great work.

When I checked and read some of the comments here at Big a Little a about the Book Thief (which is on my TBR list), I think now I might leave that until later on my list. I read the blurb and wasn't excited - WW2 leaves me cold, but maybe I will feel like reading this one day as so many people rate it.

New Tolkien reviewed

2007-04-17T22:41:00.000+04:00

... not by me, I hasten to add (unfortunately)

Found this review on CNN :

Review: 'New' Tolkien splendidly rewarding

Six thousand years before the Fellowship of the Ring, long before anyone had even seen a Hobbit, the elves and men of Middle-earth quaked at the power of the dark lord Morgoth.

Hunted by easterlings and orcs, they fled to the fastness of Nargothrond and to the deep forests of Brethil and Doriath. Among them, a hero emerged. Strong and courageous he was, but foolhardy and impetuous. His name was Turin, son of Hurin.

His story, released today by Houghton Mifflin, is a publishing event: It is the first new book by the creator of "The Lord of the Rings" in 30 years. The publisher calls it the culmination of an effort to bring to the public the vast body of work J.R.R. Tolkien had left unpublished, and largely unfinished, when he died in 1973.

Tolkien began writing "The Children of Hurin" 99 years ago, abandoning it and taking it up again repeatedly throughout his life. Versions of the tale already have appeared in "The Silmarillion," "Unfinished Tales" and as narrative poems or prose sections of the "History of Middle-earth" series.

But they were truncated and contradictory. Outside of Tolkien scholars and Middle-earth fanatics, few read them.

These works were, after all, largely unreadable -- dense, hard to follow histories and legends of Tolkien's vast, imaginary world, crammed with complicated genealogies, unfamiliar geography and hard-to-pronounce names. Readers who took up such books hoping for another Rings saga or charming yarn such as "The Hobbit" abandoned them after a few pages.

"The Children of Hurin" is the book for which these readers have been longing.

It is the fruit of 30 years labor by Christopher Tolkien, the author's son, who has devoted much of his life to editing and publishing the work his father left behind. By meticulously combining and editing the many published and unpublished versions of the tale, he has produced at last a coherent, vivid and readable narrative.

Houghton-Mifflin has treated the work well, hiring Alan Lee, who won an Academy Award for art direction for "The Lord of The Rings: The Return of the King," to create stunning color illustrations.

The story unfolds in a region far to the west of where Frodo and Samwise would later roam, in a land destined to be swallowed by the sea in the cataclysm that would end the first age of Middle-earth. But even then, it was an ancient land, filled with legends and half-remembered histories.

As the tale begins, Morgoth has destroyed a vast army of elves and men and taken one of its leaders, Hurin, prisoner. The dark lord tries to bend Hurin to his will, but the great man defies him. So Morgoth pronounces a curse on Hurin's children, Turin and his sister Nienor.

The first chapter resembles "The Silmarillion," dense and confusing enough to discourage casual readers. But stick with it and the story soon becomes readable and engaging.

Don't expect an uplifting ending like the one to "The Lord of the Rings," however. This is a gloomy tale -- Hurin's children doomed to failure by Turin's hubris and, of course, the curse.

The story is told in the archaic style to which Tolkien fans are accustomed, from a man who admired old Anglo-Saxon and Norse sagas. A sample:

"In this way, before the summer had passed, the following of Turin had swelled to a great force, and the power of Angband was thrown back. Word of this came even to Nargothrond, and many there grew restless."

read more

New Tolkien novel

2007-04-16T17:45:00.000+04:00

Apparently a new book by JRR Tolkien is to be published, check here. It is called The Children of Hurin and is being released by his son.

I don't care if some people call it cashing in - I see it as giving the world some literature from one of the greatest story tellers of the 20th Century.

From CNN:

More than 30 years after his death, a "new" book by J.R.R. Tolkien goes on sale on Tuesday which may well be the author's last complete work to be published posthumously.

Tolkien's son and literary executor Christopher, now in his eighties, constructed "The Children of Hurin" from his father's manuscripts, and said he tried to do so "without any editorial invention."

Already told in fragmentary form in "The Silmarillion," which appeared in 1977, the new book is darker than "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings," for which Tolkien is best known.

"It's not Harry Potter," said David Brawn, director at Tolkien publisher HarperCollins, a division of News Corp.

The story is set long before "The Lord of the Rings" in a part of Middle-earth that was drowned before Hobbits ever appeared, and tells the tragic tale of Turin and his sister Nienor who are cursed by Morgoth, the first Dark Lord.

Brawn said the initial worldwide print run for the new book, featuring illustrations by Oscar-winner Alan Lee, was 500,000.

He told Reuters that Christopher, who does not give interviews, wanted to put the spotlight back on Tolkien's writing after Peter Jackson's hugely popular film trilogy based on "The Lord of the Rings."

"The Hobbit" is also likely to be made into a movie.

"As publishers we've been through the most extraordinary time with the films," Brawn said. "They created this parallel strand of publishing and exploitation and once we had gone through that we said, 'How do we get people back to the books?'

"When I became Tolkien's publisher ... one of the first files I came across was a proposal for 'The Children of Hurin', but it got buried."

Mega-sales

Brawn estimates that 150 million copies of "The Lord of the Rings" have been sold worldwide, 50 million of those since Jackson's films were released from 2001, plus 50 million copies of other Tolkien works.

He tried to counter any impression that "The Children of Hurin" was an attempt to cash in on the Tolkien legacy, after the posthumous "The Silmarillion" was mockingly dubbed "The Sellamillion."

"One of the things preventing 'The Children of Hurin' being published in recent years is that there will always be a slightly ungracious segment out there saying it is another 'cash-in,'" Brawn said.

"I hope people don't see it as a 'cash-in' as that was never the intention when publishing it."

Hollywood studios are eager to buy the film rights of the new book, according to Brawn.

InkHeart - the movie

2007-04-16T08:41:00.000+04:00

Just found this which is from a blog by one of the guys who has been doing animatronics on InkHeart :

"INKHEART

Just wrapped on this movie which I think is going to be a cracker. Our animatrnic (sic) creatures feature quite heavily and we're excited about how the shoot whent (sic) and how featured our work was. We also got to work with our good friend Paul Kasey, the star creature performer from Doctor Who, who plays the main animatronic creature in the movie."

Unfortunately he does not have any pictures posted, he is probably not allowed to as the movie industry likes to keep things under wraps.

Gangsta Rap

2007-04-16T08:19:00.000+04:00

Gangsta Rap is about a boy called Ray who has problems both at home - he argues constantly with his father, and at school - eventually he is "permanently excluded" i.e. no longer allowed to go to school.

He and his friends, who have also been excluded get into trouble and are arrested.

They are then encouraged to attend a special alternative education program dealing specifically with music. As there is only one love in Ray's life - rap music, this seems like a perfect opportunity. With his friends, Tyrone and Prem, he forms a group called Positive Negatives which very quickly gets swept up into the music industry as they have a meteoric rise to fame. But they soon encounter problems and realise that life as a star can be just as difficult as the lives they had at the start of the book.

This is an interesting novel, especially if you are into music and want to know how the industry works. Not one of Benjamin Zephaniah’s best books, in my opinion, but is well worth a read nonetheless. You might want to read Face or Refugee Boy, by the same author as well (or instead).

Artemis Fowl

2007-04-15T17:14:00.000+04:00

Just finished reading Artemis Fowl - The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer, and this is my second AF book. After reading the first in the series, I was less than impressed and did not relate to the character of Artemis at all. I did not think the characterisation was very good and I felt that the "boy James Bond, genius" style character was irritating more than amusing or interesting.

I felt the same throughout this book, but to a slightly lesser degree. It was well written, but I did not find it particularly stimulating or engaging - I didn't really care what happened to the characters. There are some interesting characters, Holly the fairy, Mulch Diggums the dwarf, Juliet (Butler's sister) but I did not relate to any of them really.

In this one Artemis has created a supercomputer called "the Cube" using fairy technology which although it is now obsolete in the fairy world, is still 50 years ahead of what exists in the human world. It is stolen by Jon Spiro a very rich businessman who wants to use the technology for his own evil ends, and so the fairies and Artemis have to work together to recover it before he can use it.

This series of books does nothing for me, I am sad to say. Eoin Colfer is Irish, the stories are based in Ireland, but as much as I want to like them, they leave me cold.

Kurt Vonnegut

2007-04-12T14:22:00.000+04:00

Kurt Vonnegut, famous for such books as "Slaughterhouse-Five" and "Cat's Cradle," died on Wednesday. He was 84 years old. He died from injuries he received when he fell at his home a few weeks ago.

British...

2007-04-11T10:13:00.000+04:00

as a Second Language by David Bennun.

Just read this one recently which is an autobiographical story of someone who moves to the UK from South Africa and writes about the problems of settling in. He goes to university in the UK during the '80s and lives on through the '90s in the country as he adapts more, or less, depending on how you look at it. He undergoes "cultural difficulties" and finds it hard to adapt to the British way of life. In a similar vein to Bill Bryson, but not as clever, erudite or funny.

There are occasional parts which are very funny, but I found it a bit jumpy in its style, and generally not as well written as it could have been. An enjoyable read, but not up to the high comical standards of Mr Bryson.

Sphere

2007-04-11T07:14:00.000+04:00

Yes, I decided to read something rubbish. Well, it wasn't rubbish, but it was not really my kind of book.

It was quite well written, and full of suspense, but having seen the terrible movie I kept thinking of Dustin Hoffman and Samuel L. Jackson running around shouting. Maybe if I had read the book first, I might have enjoyed it more.

Not one I would really recommend unless you are sat on a beach on holiday and just want a mindless page turner.

Wind Singer

2007-04-06T19:54:00.000+04:00

This is an interesting book, with some clever ideas. It is set in a city called Aramanth where families are divided into classes depending on well the head of the household perform on an annual exam. This will determine where you live, what colour clothes you can wear, etc. there is no disagreement or dissension allowed.

The story follows Kestrel and Bowman Hath who are twins, who rebel against the emphasis on testing and eventually run away. They are challenged by the emperor to get the voice of the Wind Singer again as this will create peace and defend Aramanth.

The story centres around an interesting main idea, which is similar to that of Brave New World by Huxley, i.e. the class system, and how people are arranged and selected to be in which category, but I like the emphasis on exams and testing. I feel that younger people reading this might relate well to the ideas expressed about the stresses placed on those having to sit exams. This is an unusual book with a good deal of social commentary and looks at a society which mirrors our own in a very obvious way.

The Wind Singer - extract below from the wikipedia

"I hate school! I hate ratings! I won't reach higher! I won't strive harder! I won't make tomorrow better than today!" In the walled city of Aramanth, exams are everything -- not only for children, but for whole families. When Kestrel Hath dares to rebel, the Chief Examiner humiliates her father and sentences the family to the harshest punishment. Desperate to save them, Kestrel discovers that life in Aramanth was once different -- and if she can find the secret of the Wind Singer, maybe life can change for the better once more. So she and her twin brother, Bowman, set out on a terrifying journey -- to the true source of the evil that grips Aramanth...

First volume of The Wind on Fire trilogy

Smarties Gold Award 2000, Blue Peter Book of the Year 2001
Egmont Children’s Books 2000

Harry Potter turns green

2007-04-06T18:20:00.000+04:00

Found this on CNN

NEW YORK (AP) -- The printing for the final Harry Potter book will not only be the biggest, but also the greenest.

Scholastic Inc. announced Tuesday that it had agreed with the Rainforest Alliance, a conservation organization that works with the business community, on tightened environmental standards for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," coming out July 21 with a first printing of 12 million.

J.K. Rowling's seventh Potter book will be a hulking 784 pages, Scholastic said, a comparable length to the last couple of Potter releases.

Among the details of Tuesday's agreement:

# The paper used will contain "a minimum of 30 percent post-consumer waste (pcw) fiber."

# Nearly two-thirds of the 16,700 tons of paper will be approved by the Forest Stewardship Council, an international organization with a mission to "promote environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world's forests."

# A "deluxe" edition of the new book, which has a first printing of 100,000, will be printed on paper that contains "100 percent post-consumer waste fiber."

read more

Northern Lights

2007-04-05T17:18:00.000+04:00

Just finished (re) reading Philip Pullman's Northern Lights/Golden Compass - the title was different in the US. I am sure that most people visiting here will have read it already, but I am doing a review anyway, so there!

I read it quite a few years ago and thought I would reread it as the movie version is coming out later this year and I want to see how that compares to the novel.

The novel is about a girl called Lyra, aged about 12, who lives in one of the Oxford colleges with the grumpy old scholars. In this society/world there is an unusual feature in that each person has a daemon (an animal) of their own. The daemons can change shape at will and cannot be very far from their master, but as a child grows older, his/her daemon settles on a shape and will no longer change form.

There is a new terror in the land which is the Gobblers, a mysterious group who kidnap children and do horrible things to them. Lyra sets off to find a boy she knows who has been kidnapped and she travels North where she sees the Aurora Borealis (hence the title of the book). On her journey she is helped by various characters, of which my favourite is the armoured bear, Iorek Byrnison - I can't wait to see what the movie people make of him.

Pic of the Northern lights

There is a lot of science to this book, and also a bit of philosophy, as well as theology - especially towards the end which I liked.

A great story, very well written and well worth looking out for - like Harry Potter (which is no bad thing!) but for those who want something a bit more challenging, it is a bit more intellectual than your average Potter book (stands back and waits for the flack).

Guardian newspaper - review here

Fahrenheit 451

2007-04-03T23:10:00.000+04:00

This is a link to a great extract from Fahrenheit 451 - one of my fave books.

[The link seems to having a problem, so I will post it here so you can copy and paste it if you so desire: http://cetl.edtech.csulb.edu/f451/ Believe me it is well worth checking out!]

Thanks to Fahrenheit451 : Banned Books for the link.

You might want to take their banned book challenge as well.

Predator's Gold

2007-04-02T14:47:00.000+04:00

Just finished this one and really enjoyed it, more in fact, than Mortal Engines. It is the second in the Hungry City Chronicles and follows Tom and Hester just over two years after the end of Mortal Engines. This novel does not spend as much time on the history, the Sixty Minute War etc, rather it focuses more on the relationship of Tom and Hester.

They escape from the Green Storm (an offshoot of the Anti-Traction League), in the Jenny Hanniver which used to belong to Anna Fang, and end up on Anchorage which is a large but sparsely populated city. The city is ruled by Freya Rasmussen, a margravane (a sort of prophet or oracle, although the word originally comes from a German title), who is in charge of the city but not sure what to do until Tom and Hester arrive with Professor Pennyroyal. They set off for the Dead Continent - USA, which according to Professor Pennyroyal who has been there, is a veritable paradise.

Less "action packed" than Mortal Engines, I thought that this novel was better and explored Tom and Hester's feelings much better as they have now grown up.

LibraryThing

2007-04-01T22:15:00.000+04:00

Just discovered this site - absolutely fantastic - you can create your own library in just a few clicks.

It also offers a blogger widget to show off your "library" - I might add it if it looks ok on the site. I will definitely use it as a way of storing BTR and my faves as well.

You can view my library here - I have just started to add stuff to it, but it will grow longer soon.

Reading Matters

2007-03-31T21:57:00.000+04:00

This is a very good website (here) with tons of reviews of YA books, and you can also send in reviews. However it does not seem to be updated very often - I have even emailed the authors to ask about updates and had no reply, but it is still a useful resource nonetheless.

Mortal Engines

2007-03-30T23:44:00.000+04:00

This is the first book in the Hungry City Chronicles by Philip Reeve. It is a great book set a long time in the future, after the 60 Minute War, which devastated most of humanity, and now all that survives are cities which move around the dried up river beds and hunt other cities.

The book follows the adventures of Tom Natsworthy and Hester Shaw, a girl who has a horribly disfigured face, as they help each other. Tom is reluctantly dragged from his position in the Museum and led into a new series of adventures, and forced to face up to some truths.

The book is set in a strange futuristic world of Traction Cities, Municipal Darwinism and Stalkers. Modern day technology we take for granted is now called "Old Tech" - I love the seedys!!

London is on the hunt for new prey and ventures into the Hunting Ground to search for new prey. In this book, it is a town eat town world - only the strongest survive.

Confessions of a Bibliovore: Harry Potter 7 covers

2007-03-30T23:32:00.000+04:00

Confessions of a Bibliovore: Harry Potter 7 covers

Banned books

2007-03-30T15:54:00.000+04:00

If you are interested in censorship of books, and what is happening in libraries around the world about what people are not allowed to read, check out Fahrenheit 451 : Banned books. The list of books which are banned is quite surprising! (it is a pdf file)

More HP from A Fuse #8

2007-03-29T18:49:00.000+04:00

A Fuse #8 has more info about the different jacket covers - so I am just linking to that story if that is ok with A Fuse #8.

A Fuse #8 Production: Covers Abundant. Covers Galore.

Cover for final 'Potter' revealed

2007-03-29T07:00:00.000+04:00

Found this on CNN

What picture shows a dramatic gold and orange sky and a teenage boy in glasses reaching upward?

It's the cover to the seventh and final Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," coming out July 21. As always, the cover was designed by illustrator Mary GrandPre, U.S. publisher Scholastic, Inc., announced Wednesday.

"The structures around Harry show evident destruction and in the shadows behind him, we see outlines of other people," David Saylor, Scholastic's art director, said in a statement.

"For the first time, the cover is a wraparound. On the back cover spidery hands are outstretched toward Harry. Only when the book is opened does one see a powerful image of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, his glowing red eyes peering out from his hood."

Pics : US cover

A few of my favourite things

2007-03-27T10:33:00.000+04:00

A Few of My Favorite Things from randomness

What's your favorite.....

1. food - chicken curry
2. movie - Groundhog Day
3. song - Love will tear us apart - Joy Division
4. color - blue
5. outdoor activity - walking/hiking
6. season - autumn
7. book - Dante's Inferno
8. store - hate shopping, but if I must, any hardware store eg Ace
9. car - Mercedes SLR
10. animal - dog

Feel free to post your own list here or on your website and then post a link in the comments.

List of top ten books

2007-03-26T17:43:00.000+04:00

This is a request from Kailana and seems like fun, so here goes (in no particular order) :

1. Lord of the Rings (all 3 books, cheeky I know) - JRR Tolkein

Well it is a classic, and there is so much depth to it - you can never really get to grips with the scope of the world he has created.

2. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

Social realism - this guy was so far ahead of his time. I read this book and then I see what he has written about around me every day.

3. Sophie's World - Jostein Gaarder

An absolutely incredible book - sets your brain thinking and is a brilliant introduction to philosophy.

4. Inferno - Dante (in the original Italian)

Not everyone's cup of earl Grey, but definitely mine. A great read and absolutely fascinating story - there is so much to it. The best translation I have found is by Mandelbaum and it is available here online with the original Italian!

5. L'herbe rouge - Boris Vian (in French)

One of the weirdest books I have ever read. Every paragraph challenges you and makes you stop and think about what he has written. Totally surreal, but engrossing.

6. Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco

A great story told by an incredible writer. There is so much detail about the library and the buildings that you get engrossed in it, and the main story seems secondary.

7. The life of Pi - Yann Martel

What a great book with a great twist - keeps you fooled until the very end. Very clever story teller.

8. River Boy - Tim Bowler

A very under rated modern writer. This is the tale of an impending death in the family and how a teenager deals with it - exceptionally well written.

9. InkHeart - Cornelia Funke

A book about books. The book within the book style is very clever and the characters are very vividly portrayed, I can't wait to see how they do the movie.

10. Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

A scary future is portrayed in this book - no books or printed material are allowed in this society!! Wonderfully written and hopefully not going to come true.

Fahrenheit 451

2007-03-26T12:58:00.000+04:00

This is a fascinating book about reading and books - it tells the story of Guy Montag, a fireman, whose job is starting fires. His job is to find and destroy books, as they are considered as subversive and revolutionary (the title refers to the temperature that paper catches fire). All printed material is banned and individualism is actively discouraged. People get their news and entertainment from a large screen on the wall where messages are conveyed to "the family".

In the book, it seems that books encourage independent thought, which is bad (allegedly). Montag's exposure to literature and literary people however has an effect on him and he starts to question what he has always been taught to believe.

It has some interesting ideas and comes up with some good points about reading which are still valid today.

Guy Montag : "We burn them to ashes and then burn the ashes. That's our official motto."

It is similar to 1984, Clockwork Orange, and Brave New World in some ways. It looks at a future which is not too dissimilar to the present we currently have.

Well worth reading if you like books, but be aware that the movie version is not so hot (if you'll pardon the pun). It was made in 1966 and now seems quite dated. It was directed by François Truffaut and is his only English language film (Truffaut does not speak any English).

World Book Day

2007-03-26T07:25:00.000+04:00

Apparently the 1st of March was World Book Day in UK and Ireland, I missed that one! Here is a list of the top 10 books they voted for.

"Results reveal that Pride and Prejudice tops the list, with Tolkein’s fantasy trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, in second place. Two of the Bronte sisters appear alongside Charles Dickens, showing that classics are still the most essential reads. The Bible is also still relevant to many, coming in sixth in the poll.

The top ten are as follows:

1) Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen 20%
2) Lord of the Rings – JRR Tolkien 17%
3) Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte 14%
4) Harry Potter books – J K Rowling 12%
5) To Kill A Mockingbird – Harper Lee 9.5%
6) The Bible 9%
7) Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte 8.5%
8) 1984 – George Orwell 6%
= His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman 6%
10) Great Expectations – Charles Dickens .55% (sic, should be 5.5%)"
Website here

A classic novel?

2007-03-25T16:18:00.000+04:00

Thanks to Kelly for posting this useful article.

I think a classic is a book than can stand the test of more than one read - I often go back to a book and reread it after a few years. There are certain classics eg Lord of the Rings which I used to read every summer as a kid.

I agree with the comments in the article about Philip Pullman and I feel that his books are really going to take off when the movies are released. I also think that they are more enduring than the Harry Potter series as the article states.

Holiday soon

2007-03-24T17:11:00.000+04:00

I will be on holiday soon so hopefully I will have more time to sit down with a few books, the problem is I don't have much here at home so I need to get a few new ones - any recommendations?

I read pretty much anything - I will have a look for Uglies which I spotted reviewed over here and sounds quite interesting. I agree about the cover!

I will also be hoping to do a lot more work here on this blog and get it the way I really want it. There are still lots of links to add and a bit of tweaking to do.

Upgrading the site

2007-03-23T22:24:00.000+04:00

I am currently working on giving the site a makeover, so please bear with me in this time of transition- many thanks to Kelly.

Normal service will be resumed shortly - so DON"T PANIC!

H2G2

2007-03-22T21:58:00.000+04:00

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a great book - sci fi but also a lot more. It takes you on a magical journey through space and you encounter such weird characters as Marvin the Paranoid Android - "I'm so depressed!" Zaphod Beeblebrox - the two headed, three armed space pirate, Trillian etc etc.
[Interesting fact - Trillian the chat programme is named after the character from this book. I am a font of useless trivia :) ]

The book follows the journey of Arthur Dent and his friend Ford Prefect (an alien, although Arthur does not know this, initially). Earth has been destroyed to make way for a new road through space and so the two brave adventurers go off in search of "the meaning of life, the universe and everything". Do they succeed? Read the book and find out. BTW - the movie was rubbish, so if you watched it and thought "What's all the fuss about?", read the book and enjoy - or, if you see it on DVD or audio CD, get the BBC series of the show (either radio or tv - both are excellent).
If you are looking for something totally different then this is the book for you, oh and you can even help to create a real online version of the guide here.

Bibliofiles

2007-03-22T20:30:00.000+04:00

Check out Bibliofiles - a really cool blog.

Not getting much chance to read at the minute, unfortunately. I also need to get some new literature to read. Any must have suggestions by anyone ? Always looking for new recommendations.

Extract from Alchemy

2007-03-21T19:45:00.000+04:00

An interesting passage from Alchemy - by Margaret Mahy -

"It's been different for me from the way it's been for you," said Jess. "Being at school and all that has been like real life for you, hasn't it, but it's been like camouflage for me. In the beginning I came to school like a lot of little kids do, thinking I was so wonderful that people would see my wonder and like me for it.But, of course, they didn't. I mean they didn't mind me,but they didn't take any real notice of me,and they still don't, as long as I do reasonably well (but not too well) and don't rock any boats. I'm not pretty, or good at sports,or anything distracting like that, but I'm not bad at things either.So I just cruise along, looking dim - but not too dim, because there are some teachers with ideals who might try helping me if they thought I was slow, and I don't want help. I come home - slam the door behind me and just sink into it - into the colour or the sound or whatever you want to call it. I go back into my own head, I suppose ... back into my own cells and further back, until the stuff of the world makes way for me and I can go in every direction."

To me this sounds like many teenagers at school.

Excellent poem

2007-03-21T09:34:00.000+04:00

Secret passage

Inside this poem
is a secret door
You cannot see it
but it's there for sure.

Behind this word
is a little lever.
Take firm hold
and give a little heave,a

panel will open
to reveal a stair
leading down to...
I wonder where??

Down these steps
it's dark as night,
so take this torch
'cause we'll need some light.

Here at the bottom
is a dusty door.
This is getting interesting,
more and more...

Fumble at the wall,
find a little catch,
give a little tug,
release the latch,

give it a push,
the door creaks wide,
tread in carefully,
and you're inside.

Inside what?
Well, it's a sort of
vault full of all the things
you've ever thought of.

Now this is the kind
of adventure I love -
but what's that noise
on the page above?

Ulp, oh no...
come and have a look.
We've gone and got trapped here.
Someone's shut the book!

I have put a few more great poems by him on my wiki

Literature Map

2007-03-19T12:09:00.000+04:00

This is a fascinating website - literature map - you type in the name of an author you like, hit enter and the page comes to life and recommends lots of other similar authors. The closer they are to the one you searched for (in the middle of the screen) the more similar they are.

It is really cool to watch all the names fly around the screen and jostle for space to be seen. Also all the other authors are then hyperlinked so you can end up miles from your original author.

It also does music and movies as well.

Have fun

Happy St Patrick's Day

2007-03-17T16:03:00.000+04:00

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY
(The text does not show properly in Explorer, so get FireFox and use a proper browser)

This is a spooky optical illusion - if you stare at the picture for a while, the big shamrocks seem to move up and the small ones downwards - it worked for me.

Street Kid - Judy Westwater

2007-03-17T00:46:00.000+04:00

This is not the sort of book I usually read, but it is one of those books that has had a profound effect on me. I keep thinking about the life that Judy had and it seems to put my petty little problems into perspective.

It is a true story about a girl who is abused and treated like an animal by her parents - she keeps her belief in herself and in spite of the travels and the tribulations, she finds inner strength to go on.

A wonderful book, but very difficult to read - I kept having to put it down and walk away as it was hard to keep reading it due to the content although I wanted to know what happened. It is distressing in parts and I kept thinking, "How could someone do that to a child?"

Depressing and uplifting at the same time - depressing that people can do such things to each other, and uplifting that the human spirit can overcome such adversities.

More info about the charity the author set up here
Interview with the author

Alchemy - Margaret Mahy

2007-03-17T00:33:00.000+04:00

Alchemy is a very interesting book - it starts off as a typical teenage book set in school but then transforms into a very unusual tale of magic, transformation, perception of the world. Cleverly done and good characterisation.

A boy is accused of shoplifting and to get off he must spy on one of the others students - a nerd, with a secret.

Well worth a read - not long, and quick to read, but worth the effort.

Books released

2007-03-17T00:22:00.000+04:00

Well I have released two books into the wild - let's see when and where they turn up. I have also finished Street Kid which was not the usual type of book I would read - it has set my mind going however and I think that it should be read by teenagers as it shows what a young person's life can be like - we should be truly thankful for the friends and family we have.

Street Kid

2007-03-15T21:01:00.000+04:00

Although I have just finished Alchemy, which is a great book and I feel I should do a review on that I feel I need to post even now about a book I am 150 pages into. It is Street Kid and was passed to me by one of my students. It is a true story about a child growing up in horrendous circumstances and is absolutely enthralling, but also VERY disturbing. I feel that I have to put the book down and walk away as I find it too much at one sitting - which is why I am here at the computer now, taking a break from it.

So why is it on here?

I feel that any student should read it and realise how lucky they are to have parents who love them (even if you have the odd fight or disagreement) - this story shows you what parents can be like.

So you may have an argument with your parents about buying you the newest mobile phone, or getting a new piercing or your grades at school - this book puts things into perspective.

Thanks, Amal - this book has been an eye opener for me - review coming in one or two days.

Book release for Bookcrossing

2007-03-14T22:06:00.000+04:00

I will be releasing a couple of books tomorrow here in UAE (a controlled release). They are

The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke
Dirk Gentlys Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams (a semi controlled release)

Look out for them on Bookcrossing if you are in the UAE. Let's build that library - set those books free! At the moment they have 3.7 million books registered.

Welcome

2007-03-11T13:00:00.000+04:00

Here I will be posting lists of books which I think are great for students - as my students will tell you, I have not recommended a book that a student disliked.

Latest books I have read and recommend

2007-03-10T12:11:00.000+04:00

Jostein Gaarder

Sophie's World - (the best book I have ever read )
Review 5*
The Ringmaster's Daughter - Review 3*

Margaret Mahy

Alchemy 4* - External review

Anything by Tim Bowler

Benjamin Zephaniah

Face - Review 5*
Gangsta Rap - Review 3*
Refugee Boy - Review 4*

Classic novels everyone should read by various writers
(5* unless stated otherwise)

Cornelia Funke

InkHeart - Review Another, longer review
(movie coming out 2008)
The Thief Lord - Cornelia Funke Review ****
Movie (**) - not a great adaptation.

Harry Potter novels - JK Rowling

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone - Review
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - Review
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Review
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Review
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Review
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Review
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (unreleased) - Review

Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkein

The Fellowship of the Ring: Books I and II - Review
The Two Towers: Books III and IV - Review
The Return of the King: Books V and VI - Review

Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams - Review
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee - Review

Recently read
Mortal Engines - Philip Reeve

Refugee Boy - Benjamin Zephaniah

2007-03-10T10:33:00.000+04:00

Refugee Boy is about Alem who is from Ethiopia. His father takes him to UK and then leaves him there on his own. The story deals with how Alem settles into England and how he reacts to a very different situation.

A must read!

Face - Benjamin Zephaniah

2007-03-10T10:31:00.000+04:00

Face is about a boy who has been in a car accident and whose face has been disfigured. The story deals with how he gets on with his life and his friends after the accident - a great book.

Benjamin Zephaniah writes in a way that talks about serious topics without talking down to his readers.

InkHeart - Cornelia Funke

2007-03-10T09:24:00.000+04:00

InkHeart is a book about reading and the love of reading.

Meggie and her father Mo are both avid readers and their house is jam packed with books. There are wonderful characters in this book, who are not quite as they seem.

It is full of mysterious magical characters, and later in the book you discover all about them.

Very highly recommended. *****

Movie due next year - see here

Star Seeker - Tim Bowler

2007-03-10T09:22:00.000+04:00

Star Seeker is about Luke who is a very talented piano player, but he gets involved with a gang of boys at school who force him to go into someone's house to get something. This event changes Luke's life.

Storm Catchers - Tim Bowler

2007-03-10T09:06:00.000+04:00

Storm Catchers is about a boy, Fin whose sister is kidnapped. However the kidnapper does not want money - he wants something else.

A very tense and dramatic book.

River Boy - Tim Bowler

2007-03-10T08:57:00.000+04:00

Jess is a girl whose grandfather is dying. He asks her to help her finish his last painting, "River Boy" before he dies. She does as he asks and discovers things about herself.

This book is exceptionally well written and deals with the theme of death in a very sensitive way.

Shadows - Tim Bowler

2007-03-10T08:54:00.000+04:00

Shadows is about Jamie who is a top squash player, but is forced to play by his father who insists he win every match. Then he meets a girl who needs his help and he realises that he shouldn't keep running from his problems but rather face up to them.

Dragon's Rock - Tim Bowler

2007-03-10T08:52:00.000+04:00

Dragon's Rock is about a boy who goes to a farm where there is a strange and magical place called Dragon's Rock. He must replace a stone which he took from there, but it is not as easy as it seems. He meets strange characters and encounters unusual forces in this place.

Midget - Tim Bowler

2007-03-10T08:49:00.000+04:00

Midget is about a boy who is handicapped, and has a brother who is really nasty to him. His one love in life is sailing and when he is in a boat on the water he becomes a different person.

I am sure you will hate the nasty brother ,as much as I did , he is really evil. I found it hard to believe that he could be so nasty to his brother. It is very good characterisation by the writer.

A very sensitive portrayal of a boy with disabilities.

Sophie's World ***** - Jostein Gaarder

2007-01-16T08:28:00.000+04:00

This book is about a young girl who starts getting mysterious notes asking her questions. These notes lead her to start thinking about philosophy, and by reading the book, the reader is taken on a tour of philosophy since its beginning. It doesn''t sound fun, but is really easy to read (although it is a long book) and is a book you will have problems putting down.

It sets your brain working and as one of my students said "It makes my head hurt" as she was trying to get to grips with the ideas, which challenge you to look at yourself and the world in a different way.

Go find this book today and read it - you owe it to yourself.

What is a lifelong reader?

2006-06-06T16:00:00.000+04:00

A lifelong reader is someone who has a passion for books, someone who will read every day. I try to encourage others to get into books - to people who say "Reading is boring", "Books are boring", "I hate reading" - my answer is :
You just haven't found a book which grabs you yet.

Lifelongreader

Maximum Impact

Wicked!

Still alive

No regular updates

Internet connection problems

Madeleine L'Engle dies at age of 88

Summer reviews

Back online

Bookstore owner burns books in protest

Blog is under redevelopment

Harry Potter theme park

Borat travel guide

Harry Potter gets posted

Radio 4

Apologies and moving on

Just got a MacBook

On holiday soon

Jodi Picoult works on Wonder Woman

Technorati face-lift

Who reads books anymore?

Vonnegut mp3s

Carnegie and Greenway

Holes by Louis Sachar

The Beatles do Shakespeare

Amber Spyglass

Shakespeare's plays I have read

Book fair

Shakespeare

randomness meme

My daemon

The Subtle Knife

At the minute

New Tolkien reviewed

New Tolkien novel

Mega-sales

InkHeart - the movie

Gangsta Rap

Artemis Fowl

Kurt Vonnegut

British...

Sphere

Wind Singer

Harry Potter turns green

Northern Lights

Fahrenheit 451

Predator's Gold

LibraryThing

Reading Matters

Mortal Engines

Confessions of a Bibliovore: Harry Potter 7 covers

Banned books

More HP from A Fuse #8

Cover for final 'Potter' revealed

A few of my favourite things

List of top ten books

Fahrenheit 451

World Book Day

A classic novel?

Holiday soon

Upgrading the site

H2G2

Bibliofiles

Extract from Alchemy

Excellent poem

Secret passage

© 1998, Tony MittonFrom: PlumPublisher: Scholastic, London, 1998ISBN: 0439364094

Literature Map

Happy St Patrick's Day

Street Kid - Judy Westwater

Alchemy - Margaret Mahy

Books released

Street Kid

Book release for Bookcrossing

Welcome

Latest books I have read and recommend

Refugee Boy - Benjamin Zephaniah

Face - Benjamin Zephaniah

InkHeart - Cornelia Funke

© 1998, Tony Mitton
From: Plum
Publisher: Scholastic, London, 1998
ISBN: 0439364094