In which I get down with the kids

Last night I read a book for teenagers, Knocked out by My Nunga-Nungas by Louise Rennison. I'm pretty sure I would have found this hilarious when I was at school and in fact it did give me a few laughs. It was funny though, because I kept sympathising with her supposedly-awful parents and thinking they weren't that bad! I did relate to the way she spoke, inserting French and German words where possible into ordinary conversation (at school we would always ask what other people had to "manger"). Thirteen-year-old girls would probably love this; parents can be reassured that it was actually quite moral.

Day 194; Book 190

The Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson

This was an excellent book which I didn't want to put down until I had finished. I can't tell you too much about it, because Mr F is in the middle of reading it just now. One of the good points, though, which won't give too much away, is that it's set on the east coast of Scotland with many references to places I know. The ambivalence is reminiscent of The Turn of the Screw, although it is not as accomplished. Should you read it? Yes.

I also read another Falco mystery, Ode to a Banker, in which Falco's extended family continues to cause him problems at the same time as he has to solve a murder set in a scriptorium. Of course I got distracted thinking about how they would shelve the scrolls in a library - pigeonholes apparently. But you would either to have to have a pigeonhole for each scroll (uneconomical) or you would need several scrolls in each pigeonhole (messy). Thank goodness for books and shelves! Perhaps that will look as odd to e-book readers in the future.

Day 193; Book 189

The Sacred Art of Stealing by Christopher Brookmyre

Brookmyre worked his magic again when I read on to the second part of this novel. There was a hilariously filthy scene in a museum and the various strands were woven together in a most satisfactory manner. I would say that Mr F was right again but I don't want to encourage him.

I've read a lot of books but there seems to be no end to the classics which have escaped me up until now. One of these was 1066 and All That by W C Sellar and R J Yeatman. This is a humorous take on British history as it is taught and (mis)remembered. If you like schoolboy errors you will love this, although the joke is rather thin for a whole book, even a short one. As it was written in 1930, the authors can refer to Britain as "top nation" (which of course it still is). One of the best jokes is about Richard the Lionheart, who "whenever he returned to England ... always set out again immediately for the Mediterranean, and was therefore known as Richard Gare de Lyon".

Day 190; Book 187

Half-way through another Christopher Brookmyre ...

and I don't really like it! There have been some funny bits, but not as many as I have greedily come to expect. Maybe it will pick up in the second half though (which I will be reading tonight as it looks like my DVD still hasn't arrived, grrr).

*note to self: think of something interesting to write in blog tomorrow* *blushes*

One Virgin Too Many by Lindsey Davis

I finished this one last night, and I thought it was one of the best Falco novels. Mr F wants me to read another Christopher Brookmyre next, so I could give that a go if my DVD hasn't come yet! Surely it will ...

Day 188; Book 185

Year of Reading Dangerously Passes the 6-month Mark

And I have to admit I am flagging!

I've got a new Marcus Didius Falco on the go though, and I really like this one. Lindsey Davis never seems to run out of ideas for her Roman detective series. Each one has a really different angle. I'll enter the title details of this one when I've finished it.

I may have to resort to shorter books for a while now. I'm at the half-way point on my marathon and I need cheering crowds and virtual drinks of water to be thrust at me. Phew!

Oh, and I ordered a dvd which hopefully will come today. It's the Inbetweeners, a group of foul-mouthed and filthy-minded teenagers which has had me in fits of laughter. Can I finish my book and watch an entire sitcom series? Probably not!

In other news: I weeded the garden ...

and it looks really good! (Or at least half of it does. The other half was scarily weedy and I went back indoors).

When not weeding, I was reading ...

First I read Anne Perry's Christmas Secret. Yes, I know it was actually Easter but I liked the look of this one in the library. It was pretty good - a Victorian mystery, set at Christmas. There's 13 of these in the series, so I must remember them and read them in the appropriate season. They are quite short, only about 160 pages.

Next up was Miss Read's Village Affairs. This is part of the long-running series which began with Village School. They are gentle tales of a teacher's life in a country primary school. The earlier ones are the best, I think, because they are set in the 1950s (or thereabouts) and written at about that time too). In the later ones modern life is intruding too much. They are amusing too, with Miss Read's battles with the fearsome Mrs Pringle the caretaker.

Schools of the type which would have horrified Miss Read are featured in Sugar Rush, which is about a teenager's rites of passage in contemporary Brighton. Apparently this is a book for teenagers but it is really well written and funny too. These teenagers are terrifying, but our heroine learns a lot about herself and her family.

Finally I read a little book of three short stories by Agatha Christie. This author can sometimes seem very dated (see Why Didn't they Ask Evans?) but this collection was surprisingly modern, with some good twists.

Day 186; Book 184