IMHO

As a first stab at writing, I've critiqued other people's work. Brave, I know.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaimen

I find it difficult to write about this book without gushing frenetically. I love this novel even though in all honesty “American Gods” is probably a more concise, thoughtful story. But sometimes a book with just sticks with you and this is one such narrative.

Gaimen has an ability to make the commonplace seem extraordinary and yet more guarded for its triteness. It’s a fantasy novel that isn’t fantastical (Ok, the climax is a bit Holy Plot Coupon Batman!). Nevertheless, turning your world 30 degrees and to a 1:18 gradient makes for some interesting contrasts and comparisons.

The plot zips along with murders and chases and fights. The good guys are conflicted and confused and the assassins are creepy without being cartoonish. There’s betrayal and suspicion and redemption. Lessons are learned, sanity is questioned, and the true path is found. And for all that sounds pedestrian and dull: it’s outstanding. The imagery is vivid and breathtaking; the Night’s Bridge is truly scary, the Floating Market is effervescent, The Earl’s Court is all pomp and circumstance.

The journey the characters take is atypical and compelling but the true joy of the book is the characterisations. You believe in these people and their motivations. The minutia of their lives is transfixing because you feel for them. And secretly wish you were them.

See No Evil

In Canada they're coming to the end of Freedom to Read Week and so I spend some time at work doing a count of all the banned books I've read. I'm happy to say the total was just over 70 (counting series as one) and as I'm beginning to get addicted to making lists, here they are;

• Flowers in the Attic - V.C. Andrews
• The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
• Decameron - Giovanni Boccaccio
• Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury
• The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants - Anne Brashares
• A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess
• In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
• Through the Looking Glass - Lewis Carroll
• Canterbury Tales - Geoffrey Chaucer
• The Book of One Thousand and One Nights - Collection
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
• James and the Giant Peach - Roald Dahl
• Revolting Rhymes - Roald Dahl
• The Witches - Roald Dahl
• Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes
• American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis
• The Invisible Man - Ralph Ellison
• The Graphic Work of M.C. Escher - M.C. Escher
• The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Lord of the Flies - William Golding
• The Complete Grimm's Fairytales - Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
• A Time to Kill - John Grishman
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
• Where's Waldo - Martin Handford
• Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
• Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
• A Doll's House - Henrik Ibsen
• Carrie - Stephen King
• It - Stephen King
• The Shining - Stephen King
• The Stand - Stephen King
• The Tommyknockers - Stephen King
• Lady Chatterley's Lover - D.H. Lawrence
• To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
• The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
• The Outsiders - S.E. Hinton
• A Wrinkle in Time - Madeleine L'Engle
• Narnia (series) - C.S. Lewis
• The Call of the Wild - Jack London
• The Giver - Lois Lowry
• Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller
• Watchmen - Alan Moore
• My Friend Flicka - Mary O'Hara
• 1984 - George Orwell
• Animal Farm - George Orwell
• The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
• All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque
• Harry Potter (series) - J.K. Rowling
• Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
• The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
• Black Beauty - Anna Sewell
• Hamlet - William Shakespeare
• King Lear - William Shakespeare
• Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare
• Twelfth Night - William Shakespeare
• Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
• Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
• Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
• Goosebumps (series) - R.L. Stine
• Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift
• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain
• Bible - Various
• Qu'ran - Various
• Candida - Voltaire
• Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut
• Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
• The Colour Purple - Alice Walker
• The Happy Prince and other stories - Oscar Wilde
• Little House on the Prairie - Laura Ingalls Wilder

Most shocking of all I've never read anything by that oft-banned, much maligned, and subversive author, Judy Blume. I feel like I've missed out on something great.

Once again thanks to Doppelganger for the inspiration.

An Honest Admission

For the purposes of full disclosure I am adding all the books I read to the 2007 list. Last year’s one lacks the 25 or so books of utter crap I was too embarrassed to actually put on the list.

Apparently I have no shame on the internet. Case in point: diabetic jam will give you the shits.

And So It Begins

I thought I’d jump on the back of Doppelganger’s Book list idea from 50 Books.

So without further ado my list of Books a Man Has Given Me That Made Me Swear NEVER to Go on Another Date with Him EVER Again.

• Any of the Da Vinci Code type best sellers – This is not literature, I’m glad that you’re reading but don’t tell me this is the best book evah.
• Catcher in the Rye – If you are anything like Holden Caulfield I will kick your whiny, entitled arse.
• On the Road – If Kerouac is your hero I’m worried about your ability to pay for dinner.
• Any religious propaganda – I enjoy a well written discourse on any subject but don’t try and convince me the fossil record is made up. Just don’t.
• Chicken Soup books – You obviously know nothing about me. Please leave.

Wow, apparently my snobbery isn’t as wide spread as I thought. Or maybe it’s just been so long since I’ve been on a date.