I'm waiting for...

This.

Couldn't resist making the first big purchase of my working life!

Was initially considering the Panasonic Lumix FX37 or FX500, but the difference of almost GBP 80 made my mind up!

Video editing, cool holiday snaps here I come!

Of Jaws, rats, London Below and self-discovery

This week was good; read a couple of good books - both from Waterstone's who are at the moment doing a sale of books which have won some random awards before. So I bought them, cos, they should be good right?

Was NOT disappointed!

First off, a book I'd been wanting to get for some time, after watching the movie Stardust, and briefly reading American Gods by the same author, Neil Gaiman.

Alternate realities, especially one based on London, where such weirdness as Rat-speakers, the Great Beast of London, and the Floating Market exist; whats not to like? When characters go to locations named for London Tube stops/boroughs but end up experiencing a totally different reality of them, when the main hero is about as clueless as I'd expect myself to be in his situation, when there is that delicious threat of seemingly unstoppable villains, I dunno, I guess I'm just a sucker for this kind of stuff.

Note: you can read American Gods for free at this website!

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This next one, was something I was a bit dubious about getting, partly because its written in the first-person perspective, and I don't really like books that do that. When I read books like that, I feel I', getting told what to feel, what to do, what to experience, instead of engaging with it from my own point of view. But anyway, that didn't mess up this reading any...this book is (as the youth in my church would say, 'BOSS!)


The lovechild of Jaws, Matrix, the Bourne Identity and Alice in Wonderland (as it's widely quoted), it basically revolves around a guy, one Eric Sanderson, waking up in a house he doesn't recognise, to find he doesn't remember anything, not even his name. Going downstairs, he finds a letter propped up where he can see it, the first line reads 'First things first, stay calm.' How not to like? I finished the bulk of this book on a lazy Saturday afternoon with a bowl of crisps, pork crackling and a bottle of Foster's Twist, which is probably the best reading experience I've had for a long. long while.

When a book throws out concepts and illustrates them, when a book gives the reader just enough information to make the feeling of frustration just beyond bearable, and at the end, leaves enough room for conjecture, enough time for the plot to sink in and make sense, and all along, forcing interaction; emotional as well as figuring out puzzles and the like, its impossible not to like.It even has a pretty cool website to follow. Steven Hall, if you're writing more of this, I'm hooked.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

This is a book that I've been meaning to read for ages, but only just recently finished. Reason for the former being that it got good reviews, promised to deliver a good fantasy in an English setting, in a more serious and sombre vein than Harry Potter and was nice and thick, thereby promising to keep me occupied for a pretty long length of time.

The book has been on my shelf for a year now, and I've only got to the end now. Not because it's a dull read, in fact the story becomes more engaging as one progresses. I had difficulty persisting past the 1/4 mark, but once past the middle, it was easy going.

The story focuses on the practice of magic in England, but not in the wand-waving, incantation-casting fashion that we've all become familiar with over the past years. Instead, magicians, such as they are portrayed, read books, study obscure texts and brood on the theory as much as the practical. Making it slightly more believable is the premise that practical magic, for the most part, has long since disappeared from England, leaving many magicians content to practise in theory only.

Until the arrival to Mr Norrell, who proceeds to bring about a revival of English magic with a display of practical magic. None can match him, until the discovery of another gentleman, Jonathan Strange. Soon the two learn from one another, and their exploits and the implications of their experiments form the bulk of the story.

What I found enchanting was how historical facts, such as the battle of Waterloo, and figures such as the Duke of Wellington were woven into the story. There is a awful lot of backstory going along here. Along the chapters, footnotes abound; telling tales of magicians long past, referred to briefly in the text, sometimes a whole short story in itself.

I also liked the way the book describes little things, almost quaintly, then brushes its own descriptions away as if embarassed at inflicting them upon the reader in the first place. And although most of the writing doesn't bode action in a thriller-ish sort of way, I found myself turning the pages faster towards the end.

The writer responsible is Susanna Clarke, of which this is her debut novel. As there already seems to be mention of a movie adaptation of her book, I think she's a pretty satisfied lady at this point:-)

The Nine Tailors

A mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, starring her main protagonist, Lord Peter Wimsey. A gentleman with an eye to solving the most improbable mysteries, he draws inspiration from Sherlock Holmes and is assisted by his butler and right-hand man, Bunter.

Stories about Wimsey typically involve a typical old-English setting and a crime occurring in an out-of-the-way neighbourhood. The crimes themselves appear to be simple at the outset (in this case, a fresh body discovered in an old grave) but quickly present many difficulties. With proper British bulldoggedness, and more than an ounce of British humour a la P.G. Wodehouse, he solves the improbable, with twists all the way up to the final pages.


What makes this book interesting is its vivid and technical description of change ringing. The story is set around the Rectory of a small English village and much of the action revolves around the bell-tower, magnificently described. A lot of effort is put into describing the different methods of ringing, as well as the different types of bells and their pitches.

A delightful English mystery infused with a good dose of an obscure topic - good reading with a bedside light on a rainy night.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

I think my sister bought this to read, around the time she bought Mitch Albom's books. They're along the same lines, but a touch more bittersweet. Kim Edward's first novel, by the way, and I'm going to keep an eye out for forthcoming works if this is anything to go by.

A doctor, forced to participate in delivering his wife's babies, delivers twins. However, the girl manifests with Down's Syndrome. Foreseeing a poor prognosis and anticipating his wife's grief, he sends the baby away with his nurse with instructions to leave it at a nearby hospital to be cared for.

Thats the premise. What held me till the last page was the depiction of a family dealing with an unspoken secret. Parallel descriptions of both twins bring up the question: will they meet? Ultimately the emotions surrounding loss come to the fore. Loss of opportunity, loss of loved ones, loss of purpose. Kim has managed to tie everything together, making this a very readable book, and not the emo-fest cum Dallas drama it could have been.

Or maybe I just wanted to see how the story would end.

My Family and Other Animals

This is a delightful book best read in the summer while sipping a cool drink (or, in my case, a tiramisu-flavored bubble tea). While some may recognise the name Durrell from the Alexandria Quartet, this is by no means a complex account of that magnitude.

Written by Gerald Durrell, a renowned naturalist, this book tells of his family exchanging the dust and dreariness of 1930s England for the sea, sands and sun of Corfu. I expected a boring read, punctuated by needlessly detailed accounts of flora and fauna at every turn and was pleasantly disappointed.

From the start, Gerald, or 'Gerry' as his family called him then, engages with the reader effortlessly. Introducing us to his family is done with great description and humour, via instances such as what each family member packed on their move to Corfu. This is carried on throughout the book, resulting in readers commiserations with his long-suffering mother and laughing with him at his elder sister and her frequent train of suitors.

In between the colourful descriptions of family doings, Gerry finds time to describe some of the insect, plant and animal life he observes. He takes us on trips together with his dog, Roger, and together, we explore the marshes for snakes, the walls around his villa for scorpions and the islands around the coast of Corfu for porpoises. We laugh together at the antics of the many pets he brings home; from Achilles the tortoise who 'waddled down the garden path with a bemused look of goodwill' to Geronimo the gecko who fought a ferocious battle with a praying mantis.

Light reading at its best, and a must for plant and animal lovers. Myself being not much of either, it managed to draw me in with the many cheery descriptions of friends and family, a healthy dose of humour, and some of the most engaging depictions of nature I have read in a long while. A book with much in common with Three Men In A Boat.

As a side note, if anyone is interested in getting a copy, try for one with illustrations by Paul Cox, which really bring life to the words.

For One More Day

I feel really soppy now.

I've heard this guy before. Mitch Albom has been praised from more than one quarter among the various ppl I've mixed with. Finding this book in my house when I popped home this summer, I decided to see what the fuss was about. Pretty dangerous, considering this is how I got interested in Harry Potter.

It was well worth it.

The premise is simple. A man on the verge of committing suicide after a wreck of a life, wakes up to see his mother. The only problem: his mother's been dead 20 years, marking the downward spiral of his life.

What would you say to someone if you could have them back all over again?

On hindsight, I suppose a lot of what was written could be called corny and a rehash of some movie or other. But the fact of the matter is, I liked what I read. Simple sentences, nothing complicated. Not pretentious, no cringe-worthy moments, you never get the sense Albom's trying too hard to get his point across. Plus a twist at the end.

A short book that left me feeling good at the end. Not good as in feel-good, but good knowing that authors like this still existed and books like this were still being written.

And I want to read his other books.

HarryPotter (the end of...)

The last Harry Potter in the series. This one had me all excited way before it appeared, to the extent of preordering it (!) and going up all the way to town to collect it the night it was released.

An overnight reading later, and I can say that I'm somewhat disappointed. Possibly being slightly harsh here. I mean, this is the fastest selling book of all time, plus bringing fame and fortune to 3 kids and a 40-something year old lady (hats off to Joanne).

Its different from the other books (and here's hoping you've read them) in that Harry Potter is now on the run. Yup, no Hogwarts, Quidditch, lessons or dodgy toilets to worry about. Instead, we are presented with a older Harry, a couple in the form of Ron and Hermione and a more- actively-evil Voldemort. Chase scenes, spell duels and flashbacks are the theme of this book.

Speaking of which, people DO die here. A lot. Which is somewhat fitting given the grim nature of the book. However many of the death scenes were somewhat perfunctory I felt. Plop, ooh he's dead. That kind of stuff. And a couple of people did die that I wasn't expecting, too.

If you're wondering whether reading the last book is enough, you'd be in trouble. References to the earlier books in the series abound, and the end-story is only going to make sense if you've read (and understood) book 6. Maybe its cos I'm slow, but I only really understood things after reading through the ending twice.

I expected a longer, more fleshed-out story to end the series. In the end, I got a different sort of tale. One that starts off with a bang, which dampens slightly in the middle, and picks up near the end. All the characters from previous books make an appearance, btw. And its good to see the what-happened-to-so-and-so chapter at the end.

Now all we have to do is to wait for the movies, which seem to be getting better and better.

I miss the black and white

Never thought I'd say this, but I miss playing. And this from a guy who loathed lessons and the sight of sheets of classical music from a young age. Not that I'm any good, in fact, I'm probably even more inept from a technical point of view. It's been a while since I've toyed around with scales, arpeggios, 7th and 9th chords and exercising my 4th and 5th fingers, which were always my weakest ones. It's been even longer since I've played any classical music. The latter years were filled somewhat with playing for church, which I also miss.