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FINISHED:
**Cain, by José Saramago**
Reading this I was like, goddamn, that’s a bit graphic—and then I remembered the source material… My third book by Saramago and definitely not the last one.
**The Bible According to Spike Milligan, by Spike Milligan**
I was on a bus reading this and had to get off and walk a few stops because of an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Not everyone’s kind of humour but it more than tickled my funny bone.
**Blacktop Wasteland, by S.A. Cosby**
Solid writing and well-developed main character but a far too familiar plot that hits all of the predictable beats, except for the police seemingly doing their job. Having said this, I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up another book by the author simply on the strength of his writing alone.
**The Passenger, Cormac McCarthy**
For now, *Suttree* is still my favourite, but this book definitely grew on me, not least because Bobby Western seems just like another reincarnation of Cornelius Suttree. On to *Stella Maris* now, and then, finally, the *Blood Meridian*.
Reading: **Demon Copperhead** (Kingsolver) – Barbara Kingsolver is immensely talented and I love her books, this being no exception. Not much else to say. Will finish it today.
Next? Either **Angle of Repose** or **A Prayer for Owen Meaney**. Anybody want to push me one way or the other?
**Play, by Luke Palmer** – Loved this fairly dark YA novel about 4 biblically-named boys, Matt, Mark, Luc and Johnny, navigating their mid-teens in an English town with a bond founded on one-upmanship. Childhood competition makes way for adolescent experimentation and they struggle against a catalogue of social issues. The dynamics between the boys shift during the story, ranging from affection, attraction, disdain, fear and concern; much of it unspoken due to the unwritten rules of male friendship. They flounder out of their depth and it all builds to a cinematic ending that knocks you flat and picks you back up again. My mind has been wandering back to these characters all week.
**Autumn Journal, by Louis MacNeice** – Not much of a poetry reader but MacNeice was from my part of the world. Written in 1938 with Europe on the brink of ruin. There’s a poem in here about purity politics holding back change and it’s funny (and not funny) how we have the same old debates 90 years later. My favourite poem was XV about trying to escape into hedonism while horrors wait at your door.
Finished: The Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb.
Have not started anything new, but getting back to Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained by John Milton this week.
**Chandelier, by David O’Meara**
An intimate family drama that was a bit slow to start off with but which I ended up loving.
Animal Farm, by George Orwell
– I admit, I got influenced by tiktok to read it but it was a good decision. Kinda short but has a great message.
Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
– Another impulsive purchase..tiktok made me buy it and I regret it because I don’t understand anything. Weirdly written and I don’t get the connections between some things that happen. Maybe that’ll change though.
Finished: One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Was proud of finishing this one, it got really boring for me around 1/3 of the way in and stopped reading it for a few months, came back to it and absolutely loved the rest. It’s a really powerful book you have to persevere with.
Started: The Sellout, by Paul Beatty
Finished: Eleven Kinds of Loneliness, by Richard Yates
My first real plunge into the world of short stories. Very good read. Especially “The B.A.R. Man” stuck with me
Started: Under the Eye of the Big Bird, by Hiromi Kawakami
Started the Palestine Laboratory by Antony Lowenstein. Was reading Noam Chomsky’s Who Rules the World and they are surprisingly working as companion reads for each other
Abandoned “The Brothers Karamazov” picked up notes from the Underground and finished Mistborn book 1
Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie… It’s a long confusing read but i loved it a lot
Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds