h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Just started The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. As I read it, I keep seeing the cast from the Richard Lester films (1973 and 1974). I'm surprised (and pleased) at how close those films are to the book.

Digital Fortress by Dan BRown. Kinda weird: I was really dying to know what happened next, to the point where I skipped as much of the truly shit prose as possible. Hmm..

Started a fourth Fred Vargas this evening, Seeking Whom He May Devour. Also read the first few pages of Beneath My Feet, the memoirs of early Canadian geologist, avid photographer, amateur painter & poet George Mercer Dawson. Travelling by canoe & horse he helped to map the as yet largely unexplored Canadian West(where my ancestors settled shortly thereafter...yes it's still home.)

ah, Digital Fortress... the book that really really made me want to stab out my own eyes.


I'm about to start a new book. Not sure which, though. I have The Group (which I'm supposed to read for a book group) and the Molesworth stories and a Hornblower omnibus.

Decisions decisions.

molesworth is topp. as eny fule kno.

and that's what I went with

I've only ever read the 4th one (Back in the Jug Agane) so I'm really looking forward to this.

Still reading a book about, er, vampirates from the future.

Mostly reading OU course material about Wagner at the moment.

For light relief I'm dipping into a collection of Fantasy short stories from 2008.

MC

Franklin by Andrew Lambert. Under the title it says, 'The tragic hero of polar navigation'. I'm not far into the book, but I know that Franklin is famous for the disappearance of his last expedition and that it ended with the men reduced to cannibalism. I'm sure there must be more to being a 'hero' than that. I just hope it comes out in the book.

Is he the one that was looking for the North West passage, and wound up trying to trek through Canada. In winter.

He was looking for the North West Passage, but he died before the remnants of the expedition tried to head across Canada, IIRC. His grave has never been found.

Just finished Jeffery Deaver's The Cold Moon. A reasonable read, easy to get into, but the storyline is far, far too involved!

Am currently reading Terry Pratchett's Unseen Acidemicals, which surprisingly is about foot the ball. I say surprisingly as I am somewhat against the game.

Well, I'm a couple of chapters into 'Franklin' and although I'm still not sure about the 'hero' tag, there's a lot more to him and his achievements than losing an Arctic expedition.

"Gold", Isaac Asimov. It's a 'Salmon of Doubt'-ish compilation of various fiction and non-fiction.

Not his best. Full of stories which exist only to hammer home a condescending moral or to crack a bad pun - but it's entertaining enough in parts. Being such a patchwork affair, it's good train reading.

Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde. Insanely inventive as usual.

A Classical Education: The stuff you wish you'd been taught at school by Caroline Taggart.

Amusing

Also, And Did Those Feet: Walking through 2000 years of British and Irish History by Charlie Connelly.

"Insanely inventive" - an excellent way to put it Bagpuss

Just finished Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart. Surprisingly good! It's all very mystic, with ghosts, gods and people with no hearts, but the story flows very nicely and I couldn't help feeling engaged!
I read Eight Skilled Gentlemen from the same author some years ago and didn't enjoy it much. Now I realize that it's actually the 3rd book in the The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox - may be one should ready them in the right order for best effect!

I'm about 1/3 through my book on Franklin. Contrary to popular belief (mine included) he didn't die searching for the North West Passage. They already knew, more-or-less, where that was and that it wasn't viable route to the Pacific. The stated objective was to complete the transit of the North West Passage, the real object was to take geomagnetic observations at or near the magnetic North Pole. Science was everything, back then.

The subtitle of the book uses 'hero' in the sense of 'person noted or admired for courage, outstanding achievements, etc.' In that sense, I agree with them, although the subtitle seems a bit of a 'tabloid title'.

Into another Fred Vargas , The Three Evangelists...slow going, so far.

Finally gave up on Black Swan. What a load of self congratulatory, aren't I brilliant twaddle!