Up to book 357

The Magician's Nephew by C S Lewis: a prequel to the Narnia stories, and one which I didn't really remember. It fits in nicely when you find out who Digory turns out to be.

The Fight for Barrowby Hill by Jan Dean: a children's book and one which looks as though it was written for a specific age group. It suffers because of this, because surely a book should be written first of all because the author has a great story to tell (cf C S Lewis, above, who does have a great story to tell. Not even his Christian analogies get in the way!)

I'm glad I don't have a column to write everyday ...

because writing about a book a day is a lot harder than reading them! Here's what I've read recently:

Tiny books courtesy of Kim - The Kiss: a Romantic Treasury of Photographs and Quotes; Women's Wit and Wisdom; The Littlest Book of Scotland; The Paper Bag Princess by Robert N. Munsch; Private Habits by Ivor Cutler. Also two Disney flip books, which I'm not counting - yet!

Pandaemonium by Christopher Brookmyre (his new book - exciting, horrifying and hilarious).

Just after Sunset by Stephen King (his latest book of short stories - a great read).

Three Sketches from a Hunter's Album by Ivan Turgenev (hard-done-by peasants).

Azazel by Isaac Asimov (amusing short stories, and not really science fiction).

Day ? (the counting has gone awry) - however I'm at book 355 and I've got 5 reading days left, so that's 2 books a day to read. I can do it if the books are thin enough!

Ecclesiastes, or, The Preacher

I'm glad I read this because it has filled a gap in my amazing ignorance of the Bible. I liked the language too (King James authorised version), and it was instructive to learn that this was the source of so many of those sayings we use today eg "all is vanity", and "one generation passeth away, and another generation cometh, but the earth abideth for ever". It's not something I'm planning to read in its entirety again though.

My other book was The Kiss by Kate Chopin, which was a small selection of short stories. I'd never read this author before but her work was amazingly modern (she died in 1904). I'd like to read more of her work; the New Orleans setting is fascinating.

Day 358; book 353

More short books

The World According to Lucy by Charles M. Schulz - I had to sympathise with Lucy, who when she asks why her little boyfriend never calls her cutie and is told "Because I don't think you're very cute," says: "I hate reasons". Sometimes I hate them too.

Birds of a Feather by Ben Okri - you have to admire the self-confidence (however misplaced) of an author who begins by saying, "It sometimes seems to me that our days are poisoned by too many words" and then goes on with too many words himself for ANOTHER 14 PAGES! Next he writes an essay on story telling. He states that, "The great essays in story-telling are done in stories themselves". Despite this he continues with his essay on story-telling (and not as a story). I might have known I wouldn't like this because on the back it said it was "inspirational" - usually a warning sign for me.

A Model by Anais Nin - ooh, er, missus! Well-written and racy, although you sometimes long for the characters just to have a nice cup of tea instead ...

Scottish Names by Dougal McClintock (the short version given away by The Scotsman) - informative and sometimes witty guide to the origins and meanings of Scottish names.

Day 357; book 351

Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin

This was short stories, mainly set in post-war Harlem. Very evocative of time and place despite being written in a sparse sort of style, but kind of gloomy.

The Dragon on the Roof was a book of short stories by Terry Jones. Well-written and amusing but not that gripping (they are childrens' stories though).

Day 355; Book 347

Weekend reading

First, thanks to Gil for suggestions in Friday's comments (my own comment facility isn't working). I'll see if we've got those in the library. Thanks also to Jayne for a bag of skinny books - much appreciated.

Over the weekend I read:

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett - not boring like I had feared but existential angst in plenty.

Esprit du Corps by Lawrence Durrell - having seen Gerald Durrell's viewpoint of his brother Lawrence I wanted to see what his writing was like. This is an amusing account of the post-war diplomatic service. I must try one of his novels though.

Happy Christmas by Daphne du Maurier - a clever but rather depressing reworking of the Christmas story.

More Friends of the Doctor by Isabel Cameron - well written but very dated pre-war fictional anecdotes set in the Highlands.

High and Low by John Betjeman and John Betjeman: poems, selected by Hugo Williams - two volumes of Betjeman's verse. He is the master of evocation, using familiar objects to bring out homely settings. Clever and amusing word-play. The end of the poems often have their own existential angst, though, all the more powerful for having had such a cosy setting.

Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart - I like this author so was pleased to find one I hadn't read before. Slightly dated but not too bad and a well-written mystery. I must try reading My Brother Michael again, by the same author, but set in Greece.

Day 354; book 345

My calculations are out!

Turns out I have only 14 days to finish 27 books! Looks like those books will be very short. Here's what I read last night:

The Frightful First World War by Terry Deary. Funny and horrifying in equal measures, but poor old Rupert Brooke gets it in the neck again. Posho Rupe seems like an easy target. He's criticised for glorifying war (although most people at that stage of the war thought similarly), and then at the same time he's criticised for not dying a hero's death himself (he died from an infected insect bite). He still wrote some wonderful poetry though and just because it doesn't fit in with today's interpretation of the war, which has the benefit of hindsight, doesn't mean that his poetry cannot stand alongside the anti-war poets like Wilfred Owen.

I also read George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl. I quite liked it, but I think a lot of its appeal to children must be the wish-fulfillment element of admitting that some relatives, even our nearest and dearest, can be quite horrible. Even better is the inflicting of horrible deaths on them!

Day 351 (new calculation); book 338 = 14 days to read 27 books!