a vintage year for scoundrels

Continuing with the EDAs, I read Emotional Chemistry a while ago and was sadly not very impressed: none of the storylines really grabbed me, and overall the book had a bit of a case of original-characters-defaulting-to-male-itis. ( mild spoilers )

I also read a Black Widow book, Kiss or Kill, on the grounds that it was in the library. The story was fine but the art... ugh. WHY. I got all excited for a moment when she discovered how to zip her catsuit up, but sadly it didn't make much difference. (And it kept on undoing itself! ARGH. A catsuit unzipped to below the breasts is NOT a practical crime-fighting outfit. *headdesk*)

"You do read books that aren't science fiction, don't you?" asked my mother anxiously on the phone on Sunday. I do! But recently it has not been going that well.

I tried to read Alan Hollinghurst's The Swimming Pool Library, but did not get very far. Really, I should've known that it wouldn't be my cup of tea when one of the quotes of praise said something about how some may find it unpleasant but that is the nature of TRUTH, which, no, sometimes truth is nice ok. I hate the idea that nasty is necessarily deeper than nice, and I didn't find any of the characters particularly appealing, which more than anything is what kills my chances of liking things. Boo.

Other non-sf books I have read lately include William Boyd's Ordinary Thunderstorms, which was rather a disappointment after how much I've enjoyed his other books, and Anthony Horowitz's new Holmes book, The House of Silk, which I really couldn't get into. BOO. (I also disliked the resolution, but this may have been because I was already grumpy with it for not being as entertaining as I wanted it to be.)

Sometimes I read books and like them! One such book being The Curse of Chalion, FLAILY LOVE AND JOY, HURRAH, and I have just checked and the sequel is waiting for me at the library YAY. And then I reread Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which made me happy and nostalgic. ♥ I remember reading it for the first time on a minibus on the way to my church youth group's weekend away, the day after it had come out. (My sister and I bought one copy between us and she got first dibs...)

Ages ago I had this plan to read all the Booker and Orange prize winners; I read the 1996 winners (Last Orders and A Spell of Winter) and then never read any more, maybe I should go back to that. 1997's Orange prize winner was Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels, anyone read it? (The God of Small Things won the Booker; I've already read that.) (ETA: just after I posted this, Orange announced that they were withdrawing their sponsorship. D:)

- Off to visit Hetty, a friend from university, this weekend, woop! Last time I saw her, in February, I introduced her to Buffy. She is now four episodes into Angel season 5. This time I am taking her Dead Like Me so we will probably spend a lot of time watching those two. She lives in the middle of the countryside so we may also go for walks and things, I've never been there in the summer before. *hopes for sunshine*

- Mini-stories by various famous authors; I have only read the ones by JKR (sweet, and her handwriting is lovely) and Neil Gaiman (fun!) so far, but it looks like there's some good stuff in there.

- Yesterday I watched an episode of Adam Adamant Lives! and there was no Montage of Unconsciousness. It was most unsettling. I will stop going on about this program eventually, I promise.

Whenever I go near the radio in the kitchen it goes all fuzzy. I think I may be putting the fluence on it by a snake. I can has digital radio?

Am a bit sad at Harry Potter being over for ever. I remember when The Sister got the first book - she, my mum and I were in Cumbria visiting my grandparents but staying with my godmother so there was a lot of driving, chief feature of which was Kate reading bits out and giggling. Eventually we decided to read it for ourselves if only to understand what she was talking about. I am tempted to reread the whole series but that would involve reading OotP which would lead to shouting and gesticulating and throwing of the book across the room in a melodramatic fashion. Though even this one I have a soft spot for - it inspired a rather scathing essay for which I got the highest mark I've ever got for a university essay. And it counted towards my final mark! Hurray. The lesson of all this is that Doctor Who is perfect for me because there is so much stuff. After a good year of geekery I have barely made a dent in what there is to watch and read and listen too.

Speaking of Doctor Who, I have just been listening again to Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf, which is very funny and poignant and also delivers some good arguments against the usual things that people attack Doctor Who fans for. Part one is available on the BBC7 website until Friday, I think. (Go here and scroll down to 17.30.)

It is not actually raining in Bristol at this exact moment but looking at these pictures of flooding in Gloucestershire I feel that we should start work on that ark in space as soon as possible. Have been getting flood updates from my parents in Cheltenham; they are not flooded but they have no running water (OH THE IRONING) and the electricity may go off tonight. Most alarming.

Hurray, it is time for University Challenge!

Actually finished Harry Potter yesterday but have been v. busy catching up on the interwebs due to not looking at them much after Carpet Book appeared. Was a wee bit spoiled but not really, so it was worth it!

( SPOILERS in here, also went a bit tl;dr so sorry about that )