Since the Kindle came out and everyone was banging on about it (even some of my lecturers who have been in this biz for however long) I decided I'm not going to get one for 3 reasons: 1) I dislike e-books anyway, 2) I don't fancy sitting on a train flashing a 150 quid piece of slate while I can get the same book in paperback for £2.50 and 3) I'm a person who prefers to not be like everyone else or one of those generics you see in the high street on a daily basis (i.e. I refuse to upgrade to a Blackberry or buy an iPhone and besides, after hours of research I discovered that my Nokia C3 does pretty much the same thing as a BB minus the messenger and I've not had 1 thing to dislike about it (apart from waking me up at 7 in the morning but that's UEL's fault really, not mine or the phone's).
A bit arrogant, yes, but oh well.
However(!), since starting uni I've been forced to buy a number of books which can cost well over a tenner sometimes and then having to remember which book to take to which lecture etc etc. Now, after a small bit of thought until my head started to hurt I thought it might just be easier and a bit cheaper to buy an e-reader from Asda priced at just £54. Okay, not a bit but one hundred big ones.
People go on about the Kindle using this e-ink which prevents the sun from not reflecting on the screen or some bollocks like that. Why not just block the beam with your hand?
So the Kindle has WiFi, a music player, Wikipedia, 3G (I still have no idea what that is yet everyone bangs on about it) and probably some sort of vending machine - pretty much what that thing in your pocket called a smartphone has. With this in mind, can't you help but wonder why someone would buy this piece of junk?
Rant over. Flame away.
Friday, 11 February 2011
Saturday, 5 February 2011
Demian by Hermann Hesse
Another one of those rather strange books, the blurb on Hesse's Demian
"In Demian he (Hesse) chronicles with clear-sighted humanity the growth to maturity of Emil Sinclair, who falls under the influence of Max Demian, a strangely self-possessed figure. As Sinclair progresses through orthodox education and philosophical mysticism towards self-awareness, he always has the image of Demian before him - right up to the climatic moment of confrontation with destiny on a blood-drenched battlefield"
This was yet another book I mindlessly picked up off of the shelf and, attracted by the blurb, decided to take it out. And a good decision that was.
As the blurb reads, we are shown (in first-person narrative, of course) the events of Sinclair's life as he grows from a scared child into an adult. However, his life doesn't travel smoothly. He suffers from various -isms, meets strange people and wonders what's going on in his life.
This was quite a fast read with only 150 pages, but the small amount of pages managed to tell a large amount of story with twists, changes, happiness and sadness (no, I didn't cry!)
I currently have another Hesse book on my pile of loans which I only picked up for the name without checking the author so that'll be reviewed soon (hopefully).
With us now being at the end of the review (if you read this far), I'll be giving this book another 4 out of 5.
"In Demian he (Hesse) chronicles with clear-sighted humanity the growth to maturity of Emil Sinclair, who falls under the influence of Max Demian, a strangely self-possessed figure. As Sinclair progresses through orthodox education and philosophical mysticism towards self-awareness, he always has the image of Demian before him - right up to the climatic moment of confrontation with destiny on a blood-drenched battlefield"
This was yet another book I mindlessly picked up off of the shelf and, attracted by the blurb, decided to take it out. And a good decision that was.
As the blurb reads, we are shown (in first-person narrative, of course) the events of Sinclair's life as he grows from a scared child into an adult. However, his life doesn't travel smoothly. He suffers from various -isms, meets strange people and wonders what's going on in his life.
This was quite a fast read with only 150 pages, but the small amount of pages managed to tell a large amount of story with twists, changes, happiness and sadness (no, I didn't cry!)
I currently have another Hesse book on my pile of loans which I only picked up for the name without checking the author so that'll be reviewed soon (hopefully).
With us now being at the end of the review (if you read this far), I'll be giving this book another 4 out of 5.
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys
Firstly, apologies for not updating this blog recently, I was reading another book but due to it's deepness I needed a quick break and decided to read Good Morning, Midnight which was very short (150 pages) and quite a light read for it's time so it was a good 'clear the head' book.
Along with this I've been doing a lot of writing for a few websites and trying to sort a few things out.
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The main plot follows a week in the life of our protagonist who likes to call herself Sasha. Through the week she has work problems, man troubles and likes to drink a lot which usually results in her crying. In everyday life, Sasha is a person many people would find extremely annoying and be that person in the pub which you avoid. In Good Morning, Midnight however, I couldn't help but like Sasha.
Along with Sasha we have a few other characters including men who want to be with her, a weird man who lives next to her and another man who she seems to want to be with but chooses not to. Yeah, I was a bit confused here also.
Throughout the dialogue there were many phrases written/spoken in French which I didn't understand a word of. However, sometimes before or after this was said, another phrase was said which, when studying both, could have been the same phrase repeated in English. I guess I'll never know unless I spend hours researching.
When I picked this book up whilst browsing the library I didn't really know what to expect. I thought maybe I'd be reading a piece of trashy chick-lit but I was wrong. This book was on the edge of chick-lit but it also had class and a decent story worthy of being put onto the "literature" shelf in Oxfam. I get the feeling that I'll be reading some more of Jean Rhys' work in the future.
Put simply I'll have to say I really enjoyed this book and despite the protagonist being a person with man troubles, I feel that any changes may risk ruining the book. This one gets a 4 out of 5 from me.
Along with this I've been doing a lot of writing for a few websites and trying to sort a few things out.
---------------
The main plot follows a week in the life of our protagonist who likes to call herself Sasha. Through the week she has work problems, man troubles and likes to drink a lot which usually results in her crying. In everyday life, Sasha is a person many people would find extremely annoying and be that person in the pub which you avoid. In Good Morning, Midnight however, I couldn't help but like Sasha.
Along with Sasha we have a few other characters including men who want to be with her, a weird man who lives next to her and another man who she seems to want to be with but chooses not to. Yeah, I was a bit confused here also.
Throughout the dialogue there were many phrases written/spoken in French which I didn't understand a word of. However, sometimes before or after this was said, another phrase was said which, when studying both, could have been the same phrase repeated in English. I guess I'll never know unless I spend hours researching.
When I picked this book up whilst browsing the library I didn't really know what to expect. I thought maybe I'd be reading a piece of trashy chick-lit but I was wrong. This book was on the edge of chick-lit but it also had class and a decent story worthy of being put onto the "literature" shelf in Oxfam. I get the feeling that I'll be reading some more of Jean Rhys' work in the future.
Put simply I'll have to say I really enjoyed this book and despite the protagonist being a person with man troubles, I feel that any changes may risk ruining the book. This one gets a 4 out of 5 from me.
Monday, 24 January 2011
Nirvana Bites by Debi Alper
A quick note here: I was reading Anne Rice's 'Interview With the Vampire' for 3 days but just couldn't get into it so I gave up on that one and cracked the spine of this book on Saturday night.
This is, yet again, another book I picked up in Poundland and another good yet light read.
Nirvana Bites is a book which is hard to put into any one category as it involves humour, crime, trash, weirdness and drugs so it's a book for anyone really.
The story tells of a BBC Researcher who is at risk of being uncovered as a participant in the 'alternative' world of S&M. After the protagonist manages to stop the BBC worker from being kidnapped she goes to extreme lengths to protect him and find out who is guilty of the kidnapping attempt.
What follows is the activities of household which calls itself 'Nirvana'. There are deaths, attacks and crazy characters as the team go to lengths to uncover the whole scandal and as they dig deeper they find that it is all because of a secret fascist movement in London which will go to extreme lengths to remain a secret. We soon find out that all is not what it seems with 'Stapled Stan' the submissive BBC employee.
This is a book which moves nice and fast with page-turning chapters, quirky characters and anarchistic activities. If you're looking for a light read with a good storyline then this is a book to read if it can be found. Although not one which invokes loud screams of laughter, it is a book which produces a smile.
Although likely to be put onto my "For sale" pile this was an very enjoyable book and one which I'll give a rating of 4 out of 5.
This is, yet again, another book I picked up in Poundland and another good yet light read.
Nirvana Bites is a book which is hard to put into any one category as it involves humour, crime, trash, weirdness and drugs so it's a book for anyone really.
The story tells of a BBC Researcher who is at risk of being uncovered as a participant in the 'alternative' world of S&M. After the protagonist manages to stop the BBC worker from being kidnapped she goes to extreme lengths to protect him and find out who is guilty of the kidnapping attempt.
What follows is the activities of household which calls itself 'Nirvana'. There are deaths, attacks and crazy characters as the team go to lengths to uncover the whole scandal and as they dig deeper they find that it is all because of a secret fascist movement in London which will go to extreme lengths to remain a secret. We soon find out that all is not what it seems with 'Stapled Stan' the submissive BBC employee.
This is a book which moves nice and fast with page-turning chapters, quirky characters and anarchistic activities. If you're looking for a light read with a good storyline then this is a book to read if it can be found. Although not one which invokes loud screams of laughter, it is a book which produces a smile.
Although likely to be put onto my "For sale" pile this was an very enjoyable book and one which I'll give a rating of 4 out of 5.
Thursday, 20 January 2011
The Crime Trade by Simon Kernick
Another book from one of my very favourite writers and the one which marks my reading of all of his books (excluding one being released in February), 'The Crime Trade' is the story of a major drug deal/sting gone wrong. resulting in six deaths. From here on, the SOCA team have to uncover the source of a leak which caused the sting to go wrong.
What follows is another journey through the London criminal underworld with the reader being introduced to a number of slimy characters who would happily grass up a fellow criminal for a bit of money until the all-important final shootout resulting in deaths and the truth of who planned the leak being released.
Although not as lively and exciting as Kernick's other books, this was still a good read despite the aforementioned lack of action and mystery. However, with Mr. Kernick having connections to the criminal underworld and the Serious and Organised Crime Agency this book shows us what genuinely goes on under our noses (although there will obviously be the odd exaggeration here and there) without us knowing.
Those grotty pubs you grab an afternoon pint in in London could possibly be a criminal haven and the houses you mindlessly walk past could be drug dens. However, I'm not going to claim a novel as gospel.
As I've mentioned previously, this isn't one of simon Kernick's best novels but still a good read which can be completed in just a couple of sittings and also one which I really managed to get lost in with it's deep descriptions and back stories.
I'll have to give this one a rating of 3 out of 5
What follows is another journey through the London criminal underworld with the reader being introduced to a number of slimy characters who would happily grass up a fellow criminal for a bit of money until the all-important final shootout resulting in deaths and the truth of who planned the leak being released.
Although not as lively and exciting as Kernick's other books, this was still a good read despite the aforementioned lack of action and mystery. However, with Mr. Kernick having connections to the criminal underworld and the Serious and Organised Crime Agency this book shows us what genuinely goes on under our noses (although there will obviously be the odd exaggeration here and there) without us knowing.
Those grotty pubs you grab an afternoon pint in in London could possibly be a criminal haven and the houses you mindlessly walk past could be drug dens. However, I'm not going to claim a novel as gospel.
As I've mentioned previously, this isn't one of simon Kernick's best novels but still a good read which can be completed in just a couple of sittings and also one which I really managed to get lost in with it's deep descriptions and back stories.
I'll have to give this one a rating of 3 out of 5
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Hit by Tara Moss
Another little gem I picked up in Poundland, 'Hit' is the story of a businessman's son-cum-secret-criminal.
Beginning with our secret criminal having some naughty fun with an underage Asian girl and unknowingly being caught of camera, things soon start to go wrong. Ms. Underage Asian Chick is killed and the secret filmer is caught and also killed.
What follows is an undercover investigation into the killing of the filmer.
Unfortunately I can't really say more than that without giving pretty much the whole book away but what I can say is that despite Moss being Australia's number one crime writer, this book wasn't amazingly exciting for me. The story went a bit slow at times with very little happening and when something did happen, it was only in batches.
That's not to say I didn't like it. The characters were certainly interesting as were some of the events but they just didn't have that "Oomph!" to them. They just happened and that was that which was rather disappointing for a book written by a woman who has clearly done a lot of research in the events and how they happen (she's shot a gun, been set on fire, shadowed forensics and been to morgues).
I really don't know what else to say about this book other than that I very much doubt I'll be reading it again although I might look into the writer's other books at a (much) later date once I've cleared off my to-read list.
This one gets a small 2 out of 5 from me.
Tara Moss, you're hot n'all but the writing just didn't cut it, I'm afraid.
Beginning with our secret criminal having some naughty fun with an underage Asian girl and unknowingly being caught of camera, things soon start to go wrong. Ms. Underage Asian Chick is killed and the secret filmer is caught and also killed.
What follows is an undercover investigation into the killing of the filmer.
Unfortunately I can't really say more than that without giving pretty much the whole book away but what I can say is that despite Moss being Australia's number one crime writer, this book wasn't amazingly exciting for me. The story went a bit slow at times with very little happening and when something did happen, it was only in batches.
That's not to say I didn't like it. The characters were certainly interesting as were some of the events but they just didn't have that "Oomph!" to them. They just happened and that was that which was rather disappointing for a book written by a woman who has clearly done a lot of research in the events and how they happen (she's shot a gun, been set on fire, shadowed forensics and been to morgues).
I really don't know what else to say about this book other than that I very much doubt I'll be reading it again although I might look into the writer's other books at a (much) later date once I've cleared off my to-read list.
This one gets a small 2 out of 5 from me.
Tara Moss, you're hot n'all but the writing just didn't cut it, I'm afraid.
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
Kraftwerk: I was a Robot (2nd ed.) by Wolfgang Flür
Kraftwerk: The inventors of electronic music and pioneers in their own right.
I Was a Robot is the honest autobiography of their drummer Wolfgang and his own account of his time in Kraftwerk, Yamo and his childhood. The book tells us everything we didn't know about this pioneering German band, from being the inventors of the drum machine to Ralf Hüttor and Florian Scheneider-Esleben threatening Flür with court action for mentioning certain insignificant actions in the first edition.
As we read through we are given the story of world tours and how they aren't as amazing as they sound to Wolfgang's departure and formation of his current project Yamo (formerly Jamo).
Having read a number of biographies, authorised and unauthorised, I knew that I was going to be reading stories of the band, certain events and how much the tour bus stank but I didn't think I was going to read about how Wolfgang "was masturbating to force some excitement from the grey day..." and that the founders of the band wanted the book taken off the market or edited due to some small events in his time with Kraftwerk.
Those who have lived will be well aware that the human race can be right pigs (and by 'pigs' I mean unmnetionable words) at times, however, they may not be aware at how pig-like some can be, especially by kicking members of the band out without even letting them know followed by claims that the kicked-outs were suppose to only be temporary members (an apparent lie) and had their names dropped from any albums that were re-released.
If you've been one to read an autobiography of any length, you may feel the need to claim that you know "everything about this person" after just reading about how they formed a band, played some live shows and released a groundbreaking album, even though you know this claim is false. However, when you've read this book you'll genuinely feel that you do really know Mr. Flür inside and out.
He is a man who has lived, experienced and tasted life as a musician dating right back to the early seventies when he began drumming in a German rock band (note: It wasn't the Scorpions or Rammstein).
This is a book which delves deep into the history of Kraftwerk and the beginnings of electronic music as we know it today albeit with many changes and variations and a definitive read for anyone interested in the electronic scene. This is a band which has inspired those who we listen to today: The Prodigy (quick fact: I went to the same school as Keith Flynt, something I'm rather proud to say), Chemical Bros, Faithless and Fatboy Slim. Pick it up if you can.
Definitely one of the best (and longest, I'll admit) books I've read in the past 6 months and one which I'll rate at a 5.
I Was a Robot is the honest autobiography of their drummer Wolfgang and his own account of his time in Kraftwerk, Yamo and his childhood. The book tells us everything we didn't know about this pioneering German band, from being the inventors of the drum machine to Ralf Hüttor and Florian Scheneider-Esleben threatening Flür with court action for mentioning certain insignificant actions in the first edition.
As we read through we are given the story of world tours and how they aren't as amazing as they sound to Wolfgang's departure and formation of his current project Yamo (formerly Jamo).
Having read a number of biographies, authorised and unauthorised, I knew that I was going to be reading stories of the band, certain events and how much the tour bus stank but I didn't think I was going to read about how Wolfgang "was masturbating to force some excitement from the grey day..." and that the founders of the band wanted the book taken off the market or edited due to some small events in his time with Kraftwerk.
Those who have lived will be well aware that the human race can be right pigs (and by 'pigs' I mean unmnetionable words) at times, however, they may not be aware at how pig-like some can be, especially by kicking members of the band out without even letting them know followed by claims that the kicked-outs were suppose to only be temporary members (an apparent lie) and had their names dropped from any albums that were re-released.
If you've been one to read an autobiography of any length, you may feel the need to claim that you know "everything about this person" after just reading about how they formed a band, played some live shows and released a groundbreaking album, even though you know this claim is false. However, when you've read this book you'll genuinely feel that you do really know Mr. Flür inside and out.
He is a man who has lived, experienced and tasted life as a musician dating right back to the early seventies when he began drumming in a German rock band (note: It wasn't the Scorpions or Rammstein).
This is a book which delves deep into the history of Kraftwerk and the beginnings of electronic music as we know it today albeit with many changes and variations and a definitive read for anyone interested in the electronic scene. This is a band which has inspired those who we listen to today: The Prodigy (quick fact: I went to the same school as Keith Flynt, something I'm rather proud to say), Chemical Bros, Faithless and Fatboy Slim. Pick it up if you can.
Definitely one of the best (and longest, I'll admit) books I've read in the past 6 months and one which I'll rate at a 5.
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