Book Review

I've had an interesting few weeks bibliographically speaking so I thought I'd share a few recommendations.

I know I'm probably a bit behind the times but I'm currently reading the rather fab The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown. I'm always a bit wary of reading "you-must-read-this" books as I have an odd taste in books and quite often don't appreciate prize winners or standard best-sellers.
But a very good friend recommended it so I thought I'd give it a go. I haven't finished it yet (so no spoilers) but so far my verdict is oo-er! (hehe - I'm feeling very expressive tonight, had you noticed?). If you enjoy having your perceptions challenged and your little grey cells put to work, I would highly recommend you read it. On a simple level, it's a murder mystery but the clues aren't smoking guns, finger prints or DNA evidence but Da Vinci paintings and ... other interesting items ... :o)

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon is a very odd, very well written and surprisingly intriguing book. Again this is another book that was very popular a while ago which I also resisted reading for some time. It didn't take me long to read and it wasn't challenging in the usual sense but once I'd started I wanted to find out who-dunnit and what happened so in that respect, it suceeded in grabbing my attention. It was also interesting to learn about Aspergers syndrome without it sounding like a text-book or lecture.

I was intrigued to see a new/old book by Joanne Harris called Sleep Pale Sister. This was written before her sucessful Chocolat, etc, but it is written in her distinctive style. It contains trademark magical/mystical elements and is a gripping and rather eerie read.

Terry Pratchett's Going Postal was witty, thought-provoking and daft as ever. Can a condemned criminal make the post office sucessful? (hmmm) Will old fashioned snail mail survive the threat of the new fangled and faster "clacks"? ... Well, I'm not going to tell you, you'll have to read it to find out.
Speak of TP, he's achieved the seemingly impossible - Hubby doesn't read unless it contains heiroglyphic pages full of computer programming code. However, he has recently started reading TP's first Discworld novel - the Colour of Magic - and I think he might be getting the bug.

The Adventure of English by Melvyn Bragg is a good read if you're interested in history and/or the evolution of language. My "mother tongue" is such a rag-tag of influences, it's quite amazing. This book takes you through each stage of it's development in a fascinating tale.

Well, I think that's my book review for now. I'll let you have an updated review on the DaVinci Code when I've finished it.

The only problem with being such a book worm ... I need another book case.

Happy Journeys.