Whilst in Paris last week (and, largely, on the Eurostar back to London) I read Iain Banks new book Dead Air. I’ve been a big fan of Banks since I read The Wasp Factory soon after it came out in 1984. I’ve been a little disappointed with his last three novels, but this was a… Continue reading Dead Air
Category: books
The Real Harry Potter
Forgot to blog this when I first saw it a couple of days ago. “I don’t give a shit,” said Harry, continuing to walk. The three of them walked in silence. Eventually Harry spoke: “I think it’s weird how, like, the last four years of life have been pretty similar… I mean, it starts with… Continue reading The Real Harry Potter
Harry Bleedin’ Potter
I hate myself. I finally succumbed and bought a copy of The Order of The Phoenix. But only because it was on special offer at Woolworths. You can get it for £7.99 if you spend £15 on other stuff. This gave me the perfect excuse to buy Hail To The Thief and the DVD of… Continue reading Harry Bleedin’ Potter
Writing
Writing is fun, but finishing writing is better. Just sent off the first draft of my[1] new book to O’Reilly. That makes me feel good. [1] OK, not strictly my book. I’m one of three co-authors.
Tunbridge Wheels
Yesterday was my weekly trip to dispense bite-size chunks of my Perl knowledge to selected denizens of Tunbridge Wells. On the way back I was sitting on the train reading Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve. It’s set in a distant future where most towns and cities have turned themselves into “traction cites” which move around… Continue reading Tunbridge Wheels
Book Review
My book, Data Munging with Perl has been out for over two years, but the Programmer’s Bookshelf column in Dr Dobbs Journal has finally got round to mentioning it. And they like it. A lot. For example, However the book is not really about Perl. Instead it is about data, and paterns that occur repeatedly… Continue reading Book Review
Molesworth at Hogwarts
Ho For Hoggwarts! (via Ben Hammersley)
Left Behind
I recently read Left Behind by Tim Lahaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. It’s the first in a series of books about what happens when The Rapture comes and all the “real” xtians are taken off to heaven and the rest of us are left behind to deal on our own. It’s not the kind of… Continue reading Left Behind
Top 1000
Cool. I just discovered that I’m an Amazon UK Top 1000 reviewer. Of course, I’m still not buying from them.
BOYBN
Every 10 years the literary magazine Granta publishes a list of the “Best of Young British Novelists”. It’s a list of what their panel of judges consider the 20 most interesting novelists of the time. By “young” they mean 40 or under and by “British” they mean having a British passwort. In 1983 the list… Continue reading BOYBN