My log of what I'm reading at the moment and general thoughts on books.   Archives << current   Reading would have to be my number one leisure activity. I mainly read fiction, and in particular crime and fantasy novels. I've also read and enjoyed various non-fiction works by authors such as Bill Bryson, Simon Singh, and Richard Dawkins. Outside of high school English, I've never made any serious attempt to read poetry. More details on my tastes in reading

Loopy's Reading Log   Thursday, December 11, 2003   If you're looking at this blog, you may think I haven't been reading a lately, but you'd been wrong. I've in fact been reading SO MUCH that I just haven't had time to blog. I have been even more motivated than usual to read lately, due to a recent series on the BBC called 'The Big Read'. The series aims to find the 'nation's favourite book', and while I don't watch the programme itself (it contains too many spoilers), I have downloaded the Top 200 books that have been voted by Brits as their favourites. So my aim now is to read all of the books on this Top 200 list. As at Day One I'd already read about 40 of the 200, and I'm now up to about 50. The books I've finished since reading the BBC list are: Jane Eyre Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Treasure Island Persuasion Goodnight Mister Tom The BFG Noughts and Crosses Bridget Jones' Diary The Colour of Magic The Old Man and the Sea As you can see, I've been easing into the reading by starting with mainly the children's and young persons' books. 9:29 PM Monday, April 07, 2003   I'm still working on Dune, plus another Oscar Wilde play, but this weekend I started another novel: Typhoon by Mark Joseph. I got it very cheap at a second-hand bookshop, and chose it for two reasons: firstly, it's a "boys'" book, about war and politics and things; and secondly, it's about submarines. Submarine movies really do it for me - they get my pulse racing and imagination going in a way that movies set in space, at sea (on top of the water), or in the air just can't manage (one of my favourite movies is The Abyss). So I'm hoping to enjoy this novel, and find out whether I've got the potential to enjoy other "boys'" books and authors like Tom Clancy and... well, I can't think of any others, but I know they're out there - they're all those books I walk straight past in the bookshops! 8:45 AM Friday, April 04, 2003   I read Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde yesterday. It was a quick read, and quite enjoyable. As always, it was interesting to examine the morals of another time. I also recognised quite a few lines that I've seen in quote books, tag lines, etc. in the past, such as: "It's most dangerous nowadays for a husband to pay any attention to his wife in public. It always makes people think that he beats her when they're alone." "There's nothing in the world like the devotion of a married woman. It's a thing no married man knows anything about." "In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it." With the abundance of "quotes" in his work, it's quite easy to interpret these plays as tools for him to get across a series of witty comments like those above. Perhaps that's true, or perhaps it's my modern perception skewed by how popular his quotes (and plays) have since become. I suspect it's a bit of both! 8:32 AM Tuesday, March 18, 2003   Last night I finished The Nursing Home Murder, an Inspector Alleyn mystery by Ngaio Marsh (and a co-author). It was a bit dull. Still very readable, but no puzzles or twists to make it exciting. It's not much fun when they discover the murderer by fluke instead of brilliant feats of deduction. I also started Dune, by Frank Herbert (kindly lent to me by my new mates Jon and Megan). In case you haven't heard of it, it's the first in the series of Dune books, which have spawned a mini-series, a movie starring Sting, and a very cool computer game that I've played a lot. The series is sci-fi, and is based around the sand planet of Dune (Arrakis) and the political players, intrigues, and assassinations that go on in the fight to control it and its lucrative spice trade. So far I've read very little, but it has caught my imagination. The political games in it seem like they'll be complex, and I'm not that interested in that sort of story so that aspect should be a challenge for me. What interests me more is first and foremost the "creation" of another world - descriptions of its make-up like language, history, and flora and fauna captivate me. I also enjoy the personal stories and relationships in the story. I'm looking forward to getting my teeth well and truly into Dune, enjoying it, and then continuing on to read the others in the series. 8:13 AM