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

I finished Wild Swans by Jung Chang at 4 am this morning - an amazingly moving book I'd thoughly recommend and a great insight into China's 20th Century history and the insane society Mao Zedong created through the experiences three generations of women.

Just finished Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London and Moon over Soho, just read the Doctor Who Virgin New Adventure Theatre of War an excellent example of timey wimey storytelling

I just finished reading Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policemen's Union. Pretty good. Starts better than it ends, but who can read *half* a detective novel?

Just read John Gray's False Dawn; Black Mass and Straw Dogs- sometimes I think he's an absolute nut-case, other times I think he's a true visionary- can't make up my mind but a lot of it is quite frightening- Now reading Jonathan Glover's "Humanity- a moral history of the 20th century"- also worrying.

I have just finished reading The Blair Years, by Alistair Campbell. I have now started, A Spectacle of Dust by Pete Postlethwaite, an actor I truly admire. Very moving as it was written in his final months

Just finished Lee Childs One Shot.Just starting Lee Childs 61 hours,
Great thrillers page turning full on action.

Part way through Special Sound: the creation and legacy of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop by Louis Niebur. It's really quite fascinating.

tucuxii I am glad you enjoyed Wild Swans. I read it a couple of years ago after spending 2 weeks in china doing missionary work with church (all illegal of course) and really found the book moving and true to what is happening and has happened there.

I am currently getting a Bronte fix and reading Weathering Heights.

I'm not ready to start it yet, but I've picked out my next work of fiction: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. I watched the first two episodes of the BBC dramatization last night. It was so good, it made me want to read the book again.

oh we all read that at school, I'm sure it was a contributing factor to what I did after I left

I'm not doing any courses with books that have to be read, they're text books, anything else would be reading around the subject, and I definitely want to keep them.

Totally enjoying Self by Yann Martel and Crossfire by Dick & Felix Francis.

I am currently reading the.autobiography of footballer David Weir, and the Walter Mosley thriller "When The Thrill Is Gone"

Reading Vampire Academy but just finished James Cordon Biog (I know you are thinking but he isn't old enough for that to be any good), how wrong you are it was really enjoyable and he seems very honest in it. His writing style is like he is on telly (and I would like to think real life). Really Enjoyed. Coming up next Justina Robinson - Lila Black series!

Made the mistake of not bringing any holiday reading with me, because usually holiday cottages are well-stocked with things I don't mind giving a try or haven't read for ages. So I find myself reading - or rather, skimming, because it is phenomenally detailed - 'The History of the Lord of the Rings Part One - the Return of the Shadow', compiled by Christopher Tolkein.

It's quite interesting to see the process JRR followed to arrive at the story we all know and love. And it never occurred to me that he started the story without any idea of where it was going. And there are a few jaw-droppers in there (Strider was originally a hobbit called Trotter, Merry was originally called Marmaduke, and Sam wasn't there *at all* for about six revisions). But really it's one for those who have made an academic career out of Tolkein - not the casual holiday reader.

Mol

Just finished Terry Pratchett's latest, "Snuff". Next will probably be "The Dervish House" by Ian McDonald although I really ought to be concentrating on my OU music course books, scores and sounds.

Thanks for the reminder of "Wild Swans". I read that while travelling around China many years ago, good memories linked to a good read.

Sonic Salamander, that book about the radiophonic workshop sound right up my street, another one to add to my wish list. Thanks.

MC

I have just finished "Findings", a small but perfectly formed book by a Scottish poet Kathleen Jamie. The writing, to my coarse eye, seems exquisite. Not totally unlike our own (as was) Langsandy. Find, and read, it if you can.

Oh, 'Wild Swans' is super. Her Mao biography also.

(however...coincidentally I was talking about it with a guy from PRC the other day. Chang's thesis is that Mao had no ideology except that which served Mao's immediate aims. Not true. While neither of us was exactly a fan of Mao, we agreed he was a skilled revolutionary theorist.)

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just finished Self by Yann Martel. Are all his books totally weird?

Am also reading Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer which seems to be taking a long time to get going, most unlike her.

And am about to start No Label by Naomi Klein because it's relevant to a course I'm doing. Sort of.

Just started reading 'Das Labyrinth der träumenden Bücher' (The labyrinth of dreaming books) by Walter Moers.

Some would say that Klein is relevant...full stop.