I just don't post here anymore. Anyone who knows me in RL will probably already be on Facebook where I make most of my proclaimations these days.

I will continue to read my FL though.

 I haven't updated for ages. I haven't got time today but you're due a big update soon and a book review.

 The Manics were amazing as ever, despite Nicky's lack of movement. It was like falling in love again, despite the fact I never fell out of love.

:-)

 ...had a busy few days. Recorded a lot more vinyl to mp3. Been for a few walks (round Wanstead Park and the City of London Cemetery, and to Walthamstow and back).

An even busier week coming up, Manics on Thursday and then the wedding of the year next weekend.

  1. Protect and Defend by Richard North Patterson 
2. Among the Dead Cities - Is the Bombing of Civilians in War Ever Justified? by AC Grayling 
3. Degree of Guilt by Richard North Patterson
4. Mutants: On the Form, Varieties and Errors of the Human Body by Armand Marie Leroi
5. John Peel by Mick Wall
6. Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo and the Making of the Animal Kingdom by Sean B. Carroll
7. Dark Lady by Richard North Patterson
8. Tour De France: The History, The Legends, The Riders by Graham Fife
9. As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela: Underground Adventures in the Arms and Torture Trade by Mark Thomas
10. A Reason for Everything: Natural Selection and the English Imagination by Marek Kohn
11. Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer
12. Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
13. The Making Of The Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution by Sean B. Carroll
14. Conviction by Richard North Patterson
15. The Race by Richard North Patterson
16. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
17. Lord of Misrule: An Autobiography by Christopher Lee
18. Evolution by Stephen Baxter

A epic novel. 592 pages of 565 million years of evolution. The book takes the form of a collection of short stories, each following a different creature on the human evolutionary scale. The book starts with Purga, a shrew like primate living 65 million years in the past, it then flows through the primate line, to early humans (homo erectus, homo habilis, australopithecus) onto Romans, past the current day and 500 million years into the future, where humans have evolved back down the primate line to tree dwelling primates who actually rely on the tree for their life.

This book is an absolute classic, Baxter tells a compelling tale of the history of mankind, his imagination is second to none and on top of the creatures who journey we follow, Baxter conjures up images of the creatures who lived all around them. He is probably at his best in the future section when he is creating the creatures from scratch. I challenge you to read the future section and not ponder if that is what the future holds for the human race. I only wish he had ventured down the avenue of speculation more in this book, as the stories can be rather familiar (lots of primate fighting, head bashing and mating, both consensual and not)

Don't let that put you off however. This is a true sci-fi epic and well worth reading if sci-fi is your thing.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Evolution-Gollancz-S-F-Stephen-Baxter/dp/0575081139/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243360371&sr=8-2

...arrived this morning, 2 days early. When I opened the postbox a little sex wee came out. Double woot!

I got the 2 disc, signed special edition. Lookeeeeeeeeee!

 



Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

 1. Protect and Defend by Richard North Patterson 
2. Among the Dead Cities - Is the Bombing of Civilians in War Ever Justified? by AC Grayling 
3. Degree of Guilt by Richard North Patterson
4. Mutants: On the Form, Varieties and Errors of the Human Body by Armand Marie Leroi
5. John Peel by Mick Wall
6. Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo and the Making of the Animal Kingdom by Sean B. Carroll
7. Dark Lady by Richard North Patterson
8. Tour De France: The History, The Legends, The Riders by Graham Fife
9. As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela: Underground Adventures in the Arms and Torture Trade by Mark Thomas
10. A Reason for Everything: Natural Selection and the English Imagination by Marek Kohn
11. Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer
12. Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
13. The Making Of The Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution by Sean B. Carroll
14. Conviction by Richard North Patterson
15. The Race by Richard North Patterson
16. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
17. Lord of Misrule: An Autobiography by Christopher Lee

A disclaimer - Christopher Lee is my favourite actor ever, so I was never going to dislike this book. The question is why had I not read it sooner.

Lee has such a way with words and some fascinating tales and anecdotes. I'm told this autobiography is an update of his earlier autobiography "Tall, Dark and Gruesome" updated to cover his work in Star Wars and the Lord of the Rings. I would equally happily have read the earlier books as I am no great fan of the Star Wars prequels and Lord of the Rings but this was the version I found in the Book and Comic Exchange in Soho for £1.

I found the sections where he discussed his films (especially The Wicker Man) the most interesting, and learnt somethings I never knew (not about The Wicker Man though, none of the information there was new). It also helps if you like golf (I do) as Mr Lee talks about it a lot.

All in all, a fascinating autobigraphy of a fascinating life, perhaps he may one day write another volume where he expands on the many tales he has to tell.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lord-Misrule-Autobiography-Christopher-Lee/dp/0752859331/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

 Picked up my Manics tickets today! Yay! Roll on the 28th! And thanks again to pinkfriction for buying them for me and allowing me to pay her back. And boo to the ticket people for putting them on sale 2 days before payday!

  1. Protect and Defend by Richard North Patterson 
2. Among the Dead Cities - Is the Bombing of Civilians in War Ever Justified? by AC Grayling 
3. Degree of Guilt by Richard North Patterson
4. Mutants: On the Form, Varieties and Errors of the Human Body by Armand Marie Leroi
5. John Peel by Mick Wall
6. Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo and the Making of the Animal Kingdom by Sean B. Carroll
7. Dark Lady by Richard North Patterson
8. Tour De France: The History, The Legends, The Riders by Graham Fife
9. As Used on the Famous Nelson Mandela: Underground Adventures in the Arms and Torture Trade by Mark Thomas
10. A Reason for Everything: Natural Selection and the English Imagination by Marek Kohn
11. Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer
12. Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
13. The Making Of The Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution by Sean B. Carroll
14. Conviction by Richard North Patterson
15. The Race by Richard North Patterson
16. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Only the second Gaiman novel I've read (after Neverwhere) if you can believe and I don't why I've waited so long. Neverwhere was excellent. Anansi Boys is a joy. I simply could put the book down. I even walked to Tescos to do the weekly shop reading it.

Anansi Boys is the story or Mr Nancy and his two sons, Charlie (the focus of the story) and his brother Spider and their adventures whilst getting to know each other. I am no lover of mythology. I can take it or leave it but Gaiman sucked me in to this story which is both a family tale and also a mytological tale of many gods. 

Gaiman's imagination is wonderful and this book made me laugh out loud, cringe, cheer and most of all, it took me into the world of Charles Nancy.

I will be digging out more Gaiman as soon as possible, starting with American Gods.