My god! I think it's actually here! SPRING!Book 26: A Certain Chemistry by Mil MillingtonAfter I read his novel based on Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About I concluded that Mil Millington was very funny in short anecdote/column/blog entry format, but not a very good novelist. Nevertheless I borrowed his new book from the library, and actually it wasn't bad at all. Hilarious in a farcical sort of way, in fact, and the plot although silly was more than adequate at holding the attention. 10:46 . . .
Book 22: Cocktail Time by PG WodehouseLord Ickenham is my favourite non-JeevesandWooster character I think: He seated himself, dodged a lump of sugar which a friendly hand had thrown from a neighbouring table, and beamed on his young friends like a Cheshire cat. It was his considered view that joy reigned supreme. If at this moment the poet Browning had come along and suggested to him that the lark was on the wing, the snail on the thorn, God in His heaven and all right with the world, he would have assented with a cheery 'You put it in a nutshell, my dear fellow! How right you are!'Book 23: Strangers by Taichi YamadaAt first I thought this was going to be just a slice of sub-Murakami understated waffle, but no. Yamada's scriptwriting credentials definitely show - the pacing is perfect and the imagery is vivid without being sensational. Although it's a creepy ghost story with a good (though not entirely unpredictable) twist at the end, it's also about child-parent relationships. I've never really read about this from a Japanese perspective before, and it was fascinating.Book 24: Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter MosleyMatt suggested I read Mosley, because of my Robert B Parker love. I did enjoy this book but at the same time felt I'd just as soon be watching the film, since it was action-packed but I wasn't *really* getting much psychological depth despite the first person narrative. I'll read the other Easy Rawlins stories though, just to see.Book 25: Changing Planes by Ursula leGuinOh dear, I'm cheating a bit here because I didn't technically finish this book. I very nearly got there, but somehow my momentum just died. Weird, because I enjoyed it a lot. It's astral planes rather than aeroplanes under consideration, and the book is the travel narrative of someone who can switch between planes at will. It's good sci-fi because by positing other worlds it sheds light on the absurdities and flaws of our own and yadayadayada... all very Gulliver's Travels for the 21st century really. Maybe I didn't finish it because it was just too obviously accomplished and clever and well, good. 10:01 . . .
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