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Previously, on Other Stories
- Adair, Gilbert: The Dreamers
- Atwood, Margaret: The Handmaid's Tale
- Barker, Nicola: Clear
- Barker, Nicola: Darkmans
- Barry, Sebastian: The Secret Scripture
- Bennett, Alan: The Uncommon Reader
- Boll, Heinrich: The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum
- Bronte, Charlotte: The Illustrated Jane Eyre
- Capote, Truman: My Side of the Matter
- Clapton, Eric: My Autobiography
- Collins, Warwick: Gents
- Collins, Wilkie: The Woman in White
- Cusk, Rachel: Arlington Park
- Dawson, Jill: Watch Me Disappear
- Enright, Anne: The Gathering
- Faber, Michel: The Crimson Petal and the White
- Gray, Alasdair: Old Men in Love
- Greer, Andrew Sean: The Story of a Marriage
- Jordison, Sam: Annus Horribilis
- Lalwani, Nikita: Gifted
- Leapman, Michael: The World for a Shilling
- Loe, Erlend: Naive. Super.
- Mansfield, Katherine: Something Childish But Very Natural
- Maugham, W. Somerset: The Painted Veil
- McGrath, Patrick: Asylum
- Mendelson, Charlotte: When We Were Bad
- Monaghan, Nicola: Starfishing
- Moore, Brian: I Am Mary Dunne
- O'Flynn, Catherine: What Was Lost
- Phillips, Marie: Gods Behaving Badly
- Raybourn, Deanna: Silent in the Grave
- Showalter, Elaine (ed): Daughters of Decadence
- Smith, Ali: Ali Smith's Supersonic 70s
- Smith, Ali: Girl Meets Boy
- Smith, Ali: Other Stories and Other Stories
- Sweet, Matthew: Inventing the Victorians
- Taylor, Phil: The Black Strat
- Vesaas, Tarjei: The Ice Palace
- Wells, HG: The Time Machine
- West, Rebecca: The Return of the Soldier
- Woolf, Virginia: Mrs Dalloway
- Yates, Richard: The Easter Parade
Cats!
June 13, 2008
May 02, 2008
It's Kitty Time!
*Genius*
April 25, 2008
Confuse-a-Cat! Bewild-a-Beast?
It's Friday afternoon, so this can mean only one thing: amusing videos of cats from YouTube!
As a friend of mine said in reaction to this video: "Makes me want to quit my job and dedicate my life to baffling cats." I just love the look on the second cat's face right at the end.
I should probably get out more really, shouldn't I?
March 28, 2008
Friday Afternoon YouTubery - The Cats!
It's Friday afternoon. We know what that means! Videos of cats doing amusing things! Hooray!
I am not obsessed. I am NOT obsessed.
Well, maybe just a little.
Also, I know the credits at the end call the music "some random crap". I am tactfully ignoring that.
February 07, 2008
Another cat video
Meanwhile, here's a cat in an aeroplane. Hurrah!
January 10, 2008
Moan complain whinge, etc
I have the cold, and it's making me grumpy. I'm also back to lectures this evening and at the moment the idea of shlepping through the London and back isn't filling me with a great deal of joy. I would very much like to be wrapped in duvet with a big mug of something hot and soothing, stuck in a book. Hurrumph.
In the meantime, here are some amusing felines, to the tune of 'It's oh so quiet' by Bjork.
Books Read 2008
Antonia White: Frost in May
Had looked forward to this for ages, but was disappointed. :(A.N. Wilson: The Victorians
An incredible achievement, and worth every second of the SEVEN WEEKS it took me to read it.Alan Bennett: The Uncommon Reader
Read in two hours on the train. Light and funny and wonderful.Ali Smith: Ali Smith's Supersonic 70s (Pocket Penguins 70's)
Ali Smith is always amazing. Another Penguin 70 book which I read from cover to cover while sitting in the doctor's waiting room.Capote Truman: My Side of the Matter (Pocket Penguins 70's)
My first dip into the work of Truman Capote, via those splendid little Pengiun 70s books.Andrew Sean Greer: The Story of a Marriage
Really is "heartbreakingly beautiful".Gwendoline Riley: Joshua Spassky
A sparse but quite beautiful story about two people just figuring things out.Rosy Thornton: Hearts and Minds
Great book. Awful cover.Brian Moore: I Am Mary Dunne
A one-sitting read that makes it straight into this year's Top 3 so far.Deanna Raybourn: Silent in the Grave
Rollicking good story, despite the linguistic inaccuracies.Thomas Pynchon: The Crying of Lot 49
Re-read for my Real Life book group.Sebastian Barry: Annie Dunne
Wonderful writing. Wonderful, wonderful writing.Nicola Monaghan: Starfishing
A dark twist on the chick-lit genre.H.G. Wells: The Island of Doctor Moreau
It's always a bad sign when you're relieved to finish a book.Nicola Barker: Clear: A Transparent Novel
Loved it even more than Darkmans. Barker has a fine ear for dialogue, and her characterization is more or less faultless.Katherine Mansfield: Something Childish But Very Natural
A fine little collection.Jill Dawson: Watch Me Disappear
A woman comes to terms with the disappearance of her childhood best friend when she returns to her hometown. A slow burner.Anon: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Took me a while to get into, but awfully good fun.Colin Dexter: The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn (Inspector Morse)
A decent mystery story once again completely overshadowed by deeply offensive sexism throughout.Tarjei Vesaas: The Ice Palace
Simple, bleak, haunting.W.Somerset Maugham: The Painted Veil
A portrait of one woman's adultery and subsequent spiritual awakening. Very occasionally gets bogged down in detail but still very enjoyable.Robert Louis Stevenson: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Tales
A fine piece of writing, if not always the easiest to read.Ali Smith: Girl Meets Boy: The Myth of Iphis
This is a simply stunning book that had me in actual tears. Perfect.Patrick McGrath: Asylum
Oh me, oh my, what a book!Alessandro Baricco: Silk
Deeply annoying. Not quite sure why it's had such stellar reviews.Bram Stoker: Dracula
This isn't the first time I've read this excellent work of suspense, and I dare say it shan't be the last.Charlie Connelly: Attention All Shipping: A Journey Round the Shipping Forecast
A thrilling and very funny trip around the shipping regions. Perfect for anyone who, like me, adores the shipping forecast.
Books Read 2007
Gilbert Adair: The Dreamers
Intense tale of sexual obsession in 1960s Paris. Relentless and wonderful.Rachel Cusk: Arlington Park
Hmm. Jury is out. Stunning writer, but the misery was just a tad relentless.Catherine O'Flynn: What Was Lost
Thought it was great. Funny and human and haunting.Michael Leapman: The World for a Shilling: How the Great Exhibition of 1851 Shaped a Nation
I really enjoyed this. Highlights the impact that the Crystal Palace and its contents had on British society, and shows up where the Millennium Dome went wrong 150 years later.Janice Allan: A Routledge Literary Sourcebook on Charles Dickens's "Bleak House"
A book about 'Bleak House' for uni... I can't say much more than that, really.Alasdair Gray: Old Men in Love
My Read of 2007, by a long chalk. Bizarre, Arabian Nights story of, as the title suggests, Old Men in Love. Stunningly written, and the illustrations are as good as ever.Sam Jordison: Annus Horribilis: A Chronicle of Comic Mishaps
This is a fun little book which is excellent for irritating people with (by reading out random entries, even when they don't want you to). A reminder that someone, somewhere, is having a worse day than you.Anne Enright: The Gathering
ABANDONED. Just couldn't engage with it. Gave up after 2 weeks of getting nowhere with it.Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White
4 and a half actually. Fantastic, but Dickens *just* has the edge.Warwick Collins: Gents
A little, understated gem.- Harriet Martineau: Weal and Woe in Garveloch
A didactic novel read for uni on political economy of the 19th century, based on a hebridean island's fishing community. Lytton Strachey: Eminent Victorians
Finally, the reading list is complete! Huzzah!George Orwell: Animal Farm
Read in February. Have no idea how I got to 25 without reading it.Derren Brown: Tricks of the Mind
Read in January.Julia Briggs: Virginia Woolf: An Inner Life
Read in January. The best Woolf biog I've read so far.Jonathan Franzen: The Corrections
Read in February.Michael Slater: Charles Dickens (Very Interesting People)
Read this in April or May, just catching up with some books that have been missed off this list.Maggie O'Farrell: The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
I sort of wish I hadn't re-read it. I didn't like it as much this time round.Richard Yates: The Easter Parade
Superb writing. Wonderful.Nicola Barker: Darkmans
Wow. I now have to read everything else by her.Stefan Collini: English Pasts : Essays in History And Culture
From the reading list, selected chapters thereof.Matthew Sweet: Inventing the Victorians
It's a reading lister so non-rated. Bloody good though. Fascinating.Asa Briggs: Victorian People: A Reassessment of Persons and Themes: 1851-67
I am now not going to rate uni reading. It seems wrong. But this was realy interesting, if typographically frustrating.Nikita Lalwani: Gifted
Don't let the godawful cover put you off.Marie Phillips: Gods Behaving Badly
Absolutely lives up to the hype -- cleverly put together and written deftly. Thoroughly enjoyed it.Heinrich Boll: The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum (Vintage Classics)
The first few pages take a bit of determination, but it pays off.Alasdair Gray: Poor Things
If possible would give this even more stars. A big personal favourite.Patrick McGrath: Dr. Haggard's Disease
Beautifully written, modern gothic tale. Wonderful.H.G. Wells: The Time Machine
Gosh, I really struggled with this. Just not my cup of tea. Still, the reading list said I had to, and I did.Jonathan Franzen: How to Be Alone
Sometimes brilliant, sometimes just plain irritating.J. K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
I really want to give this 3 and a half stars. Better than the last couple in the series, and nicely tied up, but could have lost a few chapters.Charlotte Mendelson: When We Were Bad
Loved it. Wry, funny, touching, accomplished novel.Caroline Smailes: In Search of Adam
I know lots of people loved it, and I was really looking forward to it, but... sorry, I didn't love it. I feel so guilty!Charles Dickens: Bleak House
Just sublime.Sebastian Beaumont: Thirteen
Sebastian Beaumont is definitely one to watch.Armistead Maupin: Michael Tolliver Lives
Very touching, with ever-vibrant characters. A one-sitting treat.Margaret Atwood: The Tent
As much as I love Atwood, this wasn't a favourite.Zoe Strachan: Negative Space
The narrator was just too irritating for me to stick it out. Disappointing.Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre (Penguin Illustrated Classics)
Jane Eyre is one of my all-time top 5 novels. The illustrations, however, are maddening.Joyce Carol Oates: Rape: A Love Story
Deeply affecting - will stay with me for a long time.Iain Banks: The Steep Approach to Garbadale
Nowhere near as awful as some of the reviews would have you believe. There was the odd section that seemed a little superfluous to requirements, but ultimately a very good book.Mark Watson: Bullet Points
Oddly Nabokovian, with the ultimate unreliable narrator. I hope he writes more novels.Elaine Showalter: The Female Malady: Women, Madness and English Culture, 1830-1980
A real eye-opener. Wonderfully written, and completely fascinating.Piers Morgan: Don't You Know Who I Am?: Insider Diaries of Fame, Power and Naked Ambition
The guiltiest of pleasures. Not as good as The Insider, but still pure escapism.Jonathan Ames: What's Not to Love?: The Adventures of a Mildly Perverted Young Writer (Vintage)
Funny, honest, touching, bizarre, and actually rather sweet.David Mitchell: Number9dream
David Mitchell just never lets me down. This was wonderful.Marge Piercy: Woman on the Edge of Time (A Women's Press Classic)
Wasn't sure at the start, but was quickly spellbound by this very interesting book. Yes, the author's agenda is about as subtle as a brick in the face, but it's still a great read. Will be looking for more of her books.Colin Dexter: Last Seen Wearing
A good whodunnit spoiled for me by the constant objectifying of women.Margaret Atwood: The Penelopiad: The Myth of Penelope and Odysseus (Myth)
Yes, the feminist angles are a little predictable, but it's so beautifully and lightly written that I would forgive it almost anything. And actually, the feminist aspect is well-handled, I think, until the very end, when it gets a bit clunky. Overall, a lovely, light, quick read.Ryu Murakami: In The Miso Soup
A real surprise - dark, haunting, strangely moving at times.Andrew O'Hagan: Be Near Me
I was disappointed with this. It started well, I thought, but seemed to lose its way in the middle, and I lost all sympathy for any of the characters. Should have no stars really.
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