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

I'm still working through vol 1 of Graves's Greek Myths. I find that the 'explanations' are more interesting than the myths themselves; the amount of cross-culture is astounding.

It's important to bear in mind, though, that the 'explanations' are just Graves's own ideas. I don't know if any of them are supported by historians/archaeologists. I agree that they are interesting, in some cases (especially the gods and godesses) more interesting than the myths.

Took various books with on my French la jaunt but there were not many rainy days so I didn't read them; but stumbled once into the whitewashed cellar of Heidi's English Bookshop in Antibes and emerged with a dusty musty cobwebbed copy of 'Any Old Iron' by Anthony Burgess which must be a crisp and entertaining read of the first baguette if the enjoyable early pages are anything to go by.

Reading "Untold Stories" by Alan Bennett.

Patrick Hamilton's Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky

I'm trying to remember what I've bought on recent 2nd-hand sprees.

2 by Wilfred Thesiger ('The Marsh Arabs' and 'Arabian Sands')
'The Good Terrorist' by Doris Lessing (An excellent book!)
'Tin Men' by Michael Frayn
'Come to Mecca' by Farrukh Dhondy (a teenager's book. I loved his 'Bombay Duck'. I got this one because of the synopsis on the back. A headmistress is telling a school that a bishop's visiting the next day, and all the girls are to wear flesh-coloured tights. A girl put's up her hand and asks "Whose flesh, miss?")

Damn! There's at least half a dozen more. I'll have to look at my pile when I get home.

To Ride Pegasus by Anne McCaffrey.

Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Daniel Dennett.

And now The Sunbird by Wilbur Smith.

Aurora - sounds interesting and alliterative.

message from nam danielle steel

Colin Thubron - Behind the Wall, A journey through China.

More travel writing, I'm getting itchy footed again.

Right - I've found some more of my latest pile:

2 by Patrick Leigh Fermor about his walk through Europe, just before WWII

A Postmodernism Reader (I know Foucault about postmodernism )

Germinal by Zola

More What If - Speculations on what might have happened if history had turned out different (eg Lord Halifax becomes PM in 1940; China discovers America in 1400)

A parallel Persian/English text of poetry by Rumi. Gorgeous calligraphy, slightly marred by a gibberish translation.

Zola's Germinal is a terrific book; the Penguin Classics translation by Roger Pearson.

Germinal is my favourite work by Zola
I also enjoyed The Debacle

Currently rereading the Theepenny Novel, Brechts novelisation of his Threepenny Opera, itself a version of John Gays Beggers Opera

So good I keep missing my bus stop

Und der Haifisch...usw

"See the shark has teeth like razors
All can read his open face
And Macheath has got a knife, but
Not in such an obvious place "

Hmm. Perhaps it's better either left in German, or in the Frank Sinatra 'interpretation'.

I saw Glenda Jackson in Brecht's 'Mother Courage' at The Citz - her last stage role before entering full-time politics. Totally electrifying, not least because The Citz is a tiny theatre. One classy dame!

finished the Davinci-alike pile of poo that someone gave me (it even has a sly poke at the DaVinci code ) and am about to start Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain

it makes Jamie Oliver, apparently, look like the choirboy he is

Kitchen Confidential is rather good. So is his cable TV spin-off, travelling around the world and sampling the cuisine. Apparently he moved to Saigon for the food.

I bought another one of his books for for his birthday - I'm patiently *drums fingers* waiting for him to finish that...