On reading

23 October

Yesterday turned into a nice day all-round really. I had my trawl of the charity shops, however, I didn’t find what I was looking for, but I didn’t come back empty handed. I came back with six books, one of which is an Asimov that haven’t read. Apart from the additions to the Foundation trilogy, I thought I’d read all his sci-fi books, but Nemesis is a new one on me. There’s a set of three Yas too and another one new that is a follow up to The Incredible Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. When that one came out it appeared as a recommendation in one of the writing mags, so off I went to Waterstones to but it along with two all others. What I didn’t know was that they were all hardbacks, ah well, they were all good reads anyway.  

Another set of YA novels. You know something, there’s a dangerous world outside your front door folks. Maybe we should be grateful to YA writers for their warning to youngsters about just how dangerous it can be. Oh come on, of course I know they are all fiction! But where dies fiction start? It starts in a writers’ mind. There are folks out who don’t write their dark dreams but carry them out. They all come from someone’s mind, and if by any chance YA novels get through to the youngsters and they become more aware of the dangers out there, then that’s fine by me.

Actually, I’ve found some of these YA novels pretty good, The Hunger Games being one such example. The genre is like any other genre though, some good, some bad and some indifferent. I have one sitting around here somewhere about how a young girls life is changed when the moon is knocked out of orbit and moves closer to Earth. The novels tells the story of how lives are changed by it happening. That one is an indifferent one that I can’t even remember the of, let alone the writer. There’s another one I have, again I can’t remember the details but it’s about another young girl who finds her way into a kingdom where the animals talk and can do magic; of hear …

So then, how did I get on with The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon? Actually, I really enjoy it. In fact the only King I haven’t got on with is Under The Dome. Perhaps watching the TV series first spoiled it for me, I don’t know. But there again, the way the last few in the TV shows seemed to go off line quite a bit anyway. Sad really, it was fine up toll then. Anyway, back to the little lost girl. Of course she gets found, but I’m saying how that happens. To be able to carry a 290 page book with just one main character is a remarkable job well done. The play on emotions with the constant danger along with the constant wish to be saved leaves the reader wishing for more. Well done Mr King!

Last night I began another Kathy Reichs novel, Speaking in Bones. It’s amazing how a writer can take the bare bones (in this case, a part set of bare human bones), and spina full length story from them. But that my friends, is the sign of a bloody good writer. So far this one too is shaping up to be another good one. Of course Reichs is a forensic anthropologist by profession, so to some extent she is well verse in taking so little and building up a full story behind the bare bones in front of her. So, why not turn that to you advantage away for the day job? No problems with that for me.

A word of warning folks, our UK clocks go back one hour from next Sunday morning, gives us an extra hour in bed eh …

Today’s photo …

River Windrush, Bourton-on-the-Water.

Today’s funny …

An tourist went to Portsmouth to see Nelson's flagship HMS Victory. On the tour of the ship, the guide pointed out a raised brass plaque on the deck. "That's where Nelson fell," said the guide.
The tourist was unimpressed. "I'm not surprised, I nearly tripped over it myself."