2011 October 28 « Simon Says

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Simon's bookshelf: read

by Sail

I had a personal stake in this book for two reasons: it's a memoir of childhood in Exeter, which is where I grew up, and it's written by the guy who taught me French at GCSE and A level and who was probably my favourite teacher. Which me...

tagged: non-fiction

The Kindly Ones

by Neil Gaiman

I'm really just rushing through these now because I bought them all in one go and I want to be done with them, but this is easily the worst so far. Even longer and more rambling than usual, with the now obligatory fawning introduction as...

tagged: sf-and-fantasy

Stumbling on Happiness

by Daniel Gilbert

The good points: well-researched yet easy to read, sensible basic points clearly made. The bad points: the basic points made are pretty simple and are puffed and padded to 250 pages through a lot of repetition and irritating smirky humou...

tagged: non-fiction

Colony

by Ben Bova

Despite the cover blurb and artwork this is less a story about life on an orbiting space station than a story of population explosion, revolution, and conflict between corporations and the World Government. As such it's more of a novel o...

tagged: sf-and-fantasy

The Sandman, Vol. 8: Worlds' End

by Neil Gaiman

Another collection of random tales, many of them not going anywhere in particular, but the way they nest inside one another is intriguing, and a couple are very involving (the first, about a dreaming city, is my favourite).

tagged: sf-and-fantasy

Oscar And Lucinda

by Peter Carey

A real struggle. It starts well, with an atmospheric setting and well-drawn characters, but once all that's been established, pretty much nothing happens for 200-300 pages, apart from a lot of repetition and digression. And the rushed cl...

tagged: fiction

The Sandman Vol. 7

by Neil Gaiman

If it weren't for the fact that I bought the whole series in one go I'd probably have given up on this by now. This time we get the comic's most boring (Dream) and most irritating (Delirium) characters wandering around in search of their...

tagged: sf-and-fantasy

Stiff Lips

by Anne Billson

Full disclosure: I know the author. A satisfyingly spooky and blackly comic tale. Quite leisurely paced, so don't expect a page-turning thriller or jump-out-of-your-seat scares, but it compensates with in-depth and convincing characteris...

tagged: sf-and-fantasy

The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance

by Edmund de Waal

Don't read this expecting a book about Japanese ceramics. Obviously the the netsuke are central to the story, and they're lovingly described, but they're also essentially a McGuffin, a small and decorative excuse for De Waal to explore h...

tagged: non-fiction

Fables and Reflections

by Neil Gaiman

After Dream Country I wasn't really looking forward to another collection of random tales, rather than a full story told over several issues, but this time it worked due to the thematic links between the tales. All are set in different h...

tagged: sf-and-fantasy

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Laurie Anderson opened her show tonight with an amusing anecdote about why Charles Darwin hated peacocks. Always good to start with a joke. 7 hours ago

@Mel0398 Spag Bol NOM. 11 hours ago

RT @someecards: More astonishingly awkward senior pictures of jocks that nerds are probably still laughing at. funni.ly/GZJJPr 11 hours ago

RT @roberthudson: I would have changed where the line-break occurred on this sign. http://t.co/GupEeX9s 11 hours ago

RT @simonblackwell: Michael Gove quotes Cicero to Robert Jay QC, who then compares him to John Stuart Mill. That's tomorrow's Daily Star ... 12 hours ago

@Acornn @labritannique See you there? 13 hours ago

@AnneBillson You've been to both recently, no? Any decent exhibitions in one or the other? 13 hours ago

Dutch theme park De Efteling. Fun and horror for the whole family. simonlitton.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/de-… 17 hours ago

@aitcheldee @paolao One thing missing is a link to where you can download each app reviewed. And maybe specify that they're all for iPad? 22 hours ago

@aitcheldee We have been busy, haven't we? Did you do the ironing too? 22 hours ago

Greetings!

Posted on October 28, 2011 by simonlitton

How to say hello in Ghana: “The course and temperature of the first greeting are of the utmost significance to the ultimate fate of a relationship, which is why people here set much store by the way they salute each other. It is essential to exhibit from the very beginning, from the very first second, [...]

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: books | 1 Comment »

	simonlitton on De Efteling
	simonlitton on De Efteling
	simonlitton on De Efteling
	Andrea Kopacek (@sma… on De Efteling
	simonlitton on De Efteling
	Di on De Efteling
	V-Grrrl @ Compost St… on De Efteling
	andreashesse on De Efteling
	V-Grrrl @ Compost St… on Toy Story
	Erik R. on Chuckleheaded yoppul
	Erik R. on Garlic beer
	Steve Plotnicki on About
	jellyjules on ‘t Zilte
	simonlitton on ‘t Zilte
	Erik R. on ‘t Zilte

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