Note: this was liveblogged at the time. Minor amends and edits only Juno Dawson This talk may not be fully on brief… it’s about the side hustle of being a story teller. She is a storyteller first, and everything else second. but there is always the side hustle. She got into writing a weird way; she was a primary school teacher in Brighton.. she was borrowing the books from her kids. There was a book with an apple on the front that a lot of girls were reading – it was Twilight, started borrowing more, it was felt to be…
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I’ve been out and about the the few days…a Gamecamp was held at the weekend, then I went to a book reading and finally another installment London Bloggers Meeting Gamecamp 4 The fourth round of Gamecamp, it had, according to the numbers I totted up, 225 people passing through its doors, the largest ever. My involvement this time was less than in previous ones, (holidays and work getting in the way), but I spent most of the day on the door, so at least met (briefly) almost everyone who turned up. I did squeeze in a few sessions. The first…
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Nothing really surprising these past two months, just my usual supply of thrillers, crime and scifi. The Inside Ring, Mike Lawson. Interesting thriller about an assassination attempt on the US President, the coverup and how the hero discovers the truth. The big ‘twist’ was a little too obvious, but good a good ‘travel’ read. Lifeless, Mark Billingham. Another in the Thorn series, I like Billingham’s writing and characterisation. The structure of the first part was a little offputting, with its backwards and forwards but the story really got going once it returned to a linear fashion. Another good thriller/police story…
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Update: this becomes even more confusing. First of all, Amazon’s response was that it was policy Then they blamed a ‘glitch’. Then a troll came out of the woodwork and announced to the world that he had done it, through clickjacking and other means Now an ex-employee Amazon blames the French, or at least a French employee, who conflated the scope of the word ‘adult’ to include the erotic Now Amazon call it “an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error” affecting over 57000 books A cataloguing error, a lack of response from Amazon followed by confusing messages and a lot of…
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A mixed couple of months Sword Song; The Pale Horseman Bernard Cornwall. I love the Sharpe books from Cornwall, Here he turns his focus onto the Dark Ages, to the time of Alfred and the wars between the Saxons and Danes. He brings his customary story telling to these early wars, although not quite with the level of historical detail you find in the Sharpe books as there’s just not the documented history. I read a couple in the series from the library this month. A new series to add to my collection. The Boleyn Inheritance, Philippa Gregory. Focusing on…
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Kushiel’s Mercy, Jacqueline Carey. This is the last in the second trilogy from Carey, which all, really, have the same plot. A fantasy novel, set in a sort of medieval Europe, they all have the main characters setting out on a journey to save the country, the girl, the boy. You’ll know they’ll get there in the end but you have to find out at what price. For me, Carey creates characters I care about, so I keep reading. Zoe’s Tale, John Scalzi. I first read Scalzi in a free pdf that was given away from Tor, now I’m busy…
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Here’s the summary of the last 2 months or reading Crowd Surfing, Martin Thomas, David Brain. Good book on how brand should approach “surviving in the age of consumer empowerment” Nation Terry Pratchett. He’s one of my favourite authors and this is one of his best. Not a Discworld novel, just a wonderful example of growing up and what it is to be civilised. Shopholic Abroad, Sophie Kinsella. This is like a snack, a book that gets read in a day. I like it, I think, because I spend most of my time slightly amazed at the lead character who…
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I popped along to Forbidden Planet today to a book signing by Cory Doctorow, his first in the UK according to the announcer in the shop. It was to buy a copy of Little Brother, a book I’d already read via the free pdf download he provided on the release of hte book in the US, but I enjoyed it so much it was one i had to buy. Thanks to Danie for promoting the signig so I knew about it. At the same time, I also picked up a copy of Zoe’s Tale from John Scalzi. As with Cory,…
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More Library, more scifi. Cosmonaut Keep Ken Macleod. another story of humans out there creating new worlds. Great story, approached from different angles until you put the whole tale together at the end about using alien tech to build new ships and bestow immortality. Revelation Space Alastair Reynolds. Took me a couple of goes to get into this, but once there, enjoyable character story and a take on the Fermi Paradox. The Queen’s Fool, Philippa Gregory. I like historical fiction, and Philippa writes some of the best. Form the POV of a fictional fool, you see the years 1553-1558 as…
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I finally joined the library this month, so getting through a lot of new authors I would not have usually read. Battlestar Galactica, Jeffrey Carver. Another free pdf from Tor, this was good as I’ve never seen the mini-series/pilot for the re-imaged series. That said, the book was a little too much like a transcription of a TV story, Ok written, but not a brilliant read. I did quickly get through it though, as I wanted to find out how they got to various places. Friendly Fire, Patrick Gale. I got this from the 4th Estate Book tombola at the…
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I got a whole load of books from a fete, so I’ve been working my way through these. They reflect my favourite easy reading – thrillers. Deja Dead, Kathy Reichs. I’ve rea a few of her books and always like them. The protagonist is Dr Temperance Brennan, a forensic anthropologist. This is one of the earlier ones in the series, based on a serial killer (but aren’t all of these types of stories?) Looking Good Dead, Peter James. Another one in the copper series style, this time focusing on DS Grace, who has his way of getting things done. The…
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Death Watch – Mark Billingham. Reasonable thriller. Operation Certain Death – Damien Lewis. I didn’t buy this but found it in the back of a truck I was travelling in. The tale of a hostage situation in Sierra Leone in 2000, the book describes the rescue mission by the SAS/Paras. Good story, but definitely needed stronger editing. Spirit Gate – Kate Elliot I loved the writing and the characters, but got lost at times as there’s so much happening and you keep cutting between different groups. It’s not until the end of the book that they come together and you…
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I’ve decided to try and track the books I have read. I’m rereading a few of my collection, so a mix of old and new. So here’s May Undiscovered Country, Bill Bryant. An old read, I really enjoy Bryant’s writing and seem to have most of his books. Skin Privilege, Karin Slaughter. Another author I tend to pick up as an easy read. As the next few selections show, thrillers tend to be my default choice of entertainment read. Strike Back Chris Ryan I’ve had mixed thoughts about Ryan’s books. This one I enjoyed; the character was generally likeable despite…