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

'men at arms' by the great TP. very funny so far

I used my bank holiday to finish reading 'Brighton Rock' by Graham Greene.

I am now reading 'All The Trouble in the World' by P K O'Rourke.

HM Customs & Excise Notice 200: Temporary Importation and 235 Outward Processing Relief

That reminds me...I've still got a couple of the more obscure Graham Greene's in my pile.

'The Long Firm' by Jake Arnott. Rather good! I only caught half an hour or so of the TV version. His new one about The Angry Brigades sounds interesting.

finished Rebel, I'm now reading Copperhead (by Bernard Cornwell - about the American Civil War)

For the Gruesomes, having finished the Rainbow fairies (with Heather the Violet Fairy) we are reading Crystal the Snow Fairy

Nick Hornby's "A Long Way Down". So far, so good.

I recently finished "Everything Is Illuminated", on Edward's recommendation, after seeing the film. I absolutely LOVED it.

I just finished Dark Hills Divide (part of the Land of Elyon series) by Patrick Carman which I enjoyed - had a similar feel to Narnia.

Have just started to re-read (don't shoot me!) The Da Vinci Code in readiness for the film release in a couple of weeks.

I started Jarhead by Anthony Swofford yesturday.
A friend of mine borrowed it to me and I borrowed her Memoirs of a Geisha.

memoirs of a geisha is fantastic! have great fun reading it
im reading 'wicked' by gregory maguire. its about oz before dorothy dropped in. good so far.

I found that Jarhead palled after a while...I'd got the point by half way through. But - maybe that was the intention.

Another good GW1 novel is 'The Aardvark is Ready for War' by (rushes off to check) James Blinn...all about the unreality of the first videogame war.

I bought A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian at lunch. £3!

I was tempted to buy that book the first time I saw it - just for the title and the cover! I've been going back to the old timers and reading Dickens in bed this week. His humour is completely under-rated. The description of David Copperfield when he gets drunk for the first time is very observent and pretty funny.

Another great literary example of 'first time on the pish' is in 'I Capture The Castle' by Dodie Smith, when Cassandra Mortmain has too much cherry brandy.

I love this book and often force it on friends. I have a reliable test of whether they'll enjoy it. If they like the first line:

'I am writing this sitting in the kitchen sink'

Then they'll be hooked.

Another favourite line:

'I find listening to Bach rather like being hit repeatedly on the forehead with a teaspoon.'

I'm glad someone else is reading something I recognise. After perusing the lists of books I'm beginning to think I'm a right low brow. I've read both "The long dark tea time of the soul" and "Dirk Gently..." both excellent, but so long ago now I've forgotten most of the most pertinent bits.
I'm reading about Leonardo Da Vinci,Bill Clinton, both a bit dry. Non fiction wise I've recently read "Arthur & George" and just finished "The Lincoln Lawyer" both good in their different ways.
Simple things not too many big words!
Synchroflash

I'll have to remember that one, Edward!

Oh, do! It's a gem. I've had a 100% success rate with the friends I've forced it on.

Just finished "A Long Way Down" this morning. It wasn't worth the price. It wasn't tedious or anything, and it wasn't that I didn't muster enough interest to finish, but it wasn't particularly engrossing, and I didn't feel that it was at all clever or insightful like the reviews seemed to imply.

I won't spoil things for anyone by giving anything away, though.

I really wanted to like "Wicked", but after seeing the musical first, the book was quite a letdown. There's another book by the same author, something about a stepsister, that's supposed to be really good. Has anyone read that one yet?

A Long Way Down by Hornsby. Light and funny book about suicide that seems was written to be made into a light and funny film about suicide, no doubt starring Johnny Depp who wrote a glowing blurb review that was quoted on the back page of the version I bought.

Quite funny and well-written in parts, but couldn't keep that possible 'film offer' out of my head whilst reading it. No great shakes, but a pleasant enough read nonetheless.


az

I think you're being generous there psychocandy! I found it tedious in the extreme.

I'm relieved not to be the only person who thought the book was over-rated.

And at least, we three agree on something.

I think Az's impression that the book was written with the intention of becoming a quirky and clever film was right on the mark.