Books of January
Jan. 31st, 2011 08:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tysolna#1 James May, "Notes from the Hard Shoulder" - A rather good collection of newspaper columns which occasionally deal with motoring issues. For someone who admits to having trouble holding a pen (probably due to an accident involving cars and/or Jeremy Clarkson), he has a pleasing way with words. Sometimes, though, the column format seems to limit him, forcing him to finish it before it has run it's course. Still, thoroughly enjoyed it.
#2 James May, "How to land an A330 airbus" - What Real Men need to know in order to be more than, in the author's words, "things for keeping sperm at the correct operating temperature": How to land a plane, deliver babies, drive a steam locomotive, eat (in a do-or-die situation) their best mate, escape from a holiday camp, defuse a German WWII bomb, and play the bit of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" that everyone knows. A fun read, even if the author betrays himself in the part about steam locomotives which is written with such a love and passion that one might think he only thought up the rest of the book in order to have somewhere to put that bit in.
#3 Ben Aaronovich, "Rivers of London" - Bought on a Friday, started on a Saturday and finished the same day, it is that gripping and well-written. A police / detective story involving magic, strange creatures, dogs, gods and a Jaguar (the car, not the animal), my first thought was "Harry Potter meets Torchwood", but it is far better than that. Gruesome, funny, fascinating, good characters and a cracking good plot. I'll never look at Covent Garden the same way, that's for sure.
I see that there are going to be further books in this series. Guess who will be buying them.
#4 & #5 Terry Pratchett, "Lords and Ladies" and "Carpe Jugulum" (again) - Don't really need to tell you about Pterry, do I? Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg rule, ok.
#6 Jon Holmes, "Status Quo and the Kangaroo" - A collection of rock apocrypha and the perfect book to read on the loo in the morning. Short, laugh-out-loud funny stories about the escapades of rock stars - or rather, what people have told or been told about various rock stars. The author leaves it for us to decide whether they are likely to be true or really only taking the mickey. Although I do believe the one about Ricky Martin's prevention of sweat stains.
#7 Barry Cryer, "Pigs Can Fly" - Snippet-length stories, tales and names-changed-to-protect-the-innocents, told as if you sat next to him in the pub. There is so much more to him than I knew from "Clue".
#8 The Uxbridge English Dictionary, seventeenth edition (approx.), completely revived - collected from the offerings of "I'm sorry I haven't a clue". I particularly like the definitions where you have to think around a corner or two to get it. Definitions include: "Balderdash: A rapidly receding hairline", "Debasement: De room under de ground floor", "Fuselage: Not many that big", or "Heathrow: What the baggage handler does".
#2 James May, "How to land an A330 airbus" - What Real Men need to know in order to be more than, in the author's words, "things for keeping sperm at the correct operating temperature": How to land a plane, deliver babies, drive a steam locomotive, eat (in a do-or-die situation) their best mate, escape from a holiday camp, defuse a German WWII bomb, and play the bit of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" that everyone knows. A fun read, even if the author betrays himself in the part about steam locomotives which is written with such a love and passion that one might think he only thought up the rest of the book in order to have somewhere to put that bit in.
#3 Ben Aaronovich, "Rivers of London" - Bought on a Friday, started on a Saturday and finished the same day, it is that gripping and well-written. A police / detective story involving magic, strange creatures, dogs, gods and a Jaguar (the car, not the animal), my first thought was "Harry Potter meets Torchwood", but it is far better than that. Gruesome, funny, fascinating, good characters and a cracking good plot. I'll never look at Covent Garden the same way, that's for sure.
I see that there are going to be further books in this series. Guess who will be buying them.
#4 & #5 Terry Pratchett, "Lords and Ladies" and "Carpe Jugulum" (again) - Don't really need to tell you about Pterry, do I? Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg rule, ok.
#6 Jon Holmes, "Status Quo and the Kangaroo" - A collection of rock apocrypha and the perfect book to read on the loo in the morning. Short, laugh-out-loud funny stories about the escapades of rock stars - or rather, what people have told or been told about various rock stars. The author leaves it for us to decide whether they are likely to be true or really only taking the mickey. Although I do believe the one about Ricky Martin's prevention of sweat stains.
#7 Barry Cryer, "Pigs Can Fly" - Snippet-length stories, tales and names-changed-to-protect-the-innocents, told as if you sat next to him in the pub. There is so much more to him than I knew from "Clue".
#8 The Uxbridge English Dictionary, seventeenth edition (approx.), completely revived - collected from the offerings of "I'm sorry I haven't a clue". I particularly like the definitions where you have to think around a corner or two to get it. Definitions include: "Balderdash: A rapidly receding hairline", "Debasement: De room under de ground floor", "Fuselage: Not many that big", or "Heathrow: What the baggage handler does".
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