Blog: Books I Read On Holiday

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One of the MOST GRATE things about going on holiday was that I got to read LOADS of books. Here is what I read, along with IN-DEPTH reviews:

Everyman's Rules For Scientific Living by Carrie Tiffany. QUITE GOOD. One of those there MODERN style books that rattle along with Quite Good bits being Quite Interesting but don't really end properly. How many books in the MODERN STYLE would be improved by a GIGANTIC TWIST ENDING ("I must return to the Recruiting Train too... for it is a SHIP OF DEAD SOULS!") or EXPLOSIVE ACTION ("Then the farm EXPLODED... THE END") or some such? Answer: LOADS.

The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. GRATE. It's like reading loads of Grant Morrison comics (NB the good ones) at HIGH SPEED as about 10,000,000 things happen every three pages and it's all TERRIBLY EXCITING. I really really liked it. Also, no problems with the ending HERE, OH NO!

Mustn't Grumble by SIR Terry Wogan. GOOD-ISH. Our plane was delayed and i HAPPENED to wander into the Airport Book Shop, OK? And it was LOOKING at me, with an endearing TWINKLE. I recently read Eric Sykes' autobiography and QUITE enjoyed it (although it did rather peter out after the childhood bit into a string of nice restaurants, nice golf courses and nice children) so I thought i'd give this ago. Unfortunately it turned out NOT to be a proper autobiography (he's already done that) but a rather RUM selection of rambling random remarks. YES I KNOW that is what is GRATE about him on the radio, but it did seem to go on a bit e.g. Terry Wogan's Experience Of Buying Land And Holidaying In Spain In The 1970's is PRECISELY as interesting as the description suggests. HOWEVER some bits were HILARIOUSLY BRILLIANT, especially the paragraph where he talks about Jimmy Young's show following his "like a wounded snake". That bit was ACE.

The Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett. GRATE. No, it really was - SHUT UP. People who don't like Terry Pratchett, it my (correct) opinion are EITHER those who have never read any of his books and been put off EITHER by pictures of him wearing a hat (fair enough) OR by the FACT the books have got trolls and things in OR people who read the first few Discworld books and found it all a bit shallow and MEAN-SPIRITED. Hey, i used to be one of the latter, but then i persevered and they just got better and better and better, and now they're still funny but also really MOVING and meaningful and GRATE and - STOP SNIGGERING! They're brilliant, so there!

The Historian by someone i can't remember. DEAD GOOD SO FAR - only about a fifth of the way into this one, but it seems to be about to have DRACULA in it, which will be BRILLIANT i reckon. Also it is recommended by Richard & Judy and, frankly, they have NEVER done wrong by me as far as book recommendations go.

Oh yeah, and also, just before we went, i read All My Friends Are Superheroes by Andrew Kaufman which was also GRATE, although I did manage to read the whole thing in three tube journeys - to work, to Brixton, and then home again after seeing The Language Of Flowers. It's a LOVELY little book tho, full of that CHARM and SLIGHT ODDNESS that discerning types like ME like so much, and the ending is GRATE.

HA! Book reviews: PIECE OF PISS!

posted 2/10/2006 by MJ Hibbett

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