As is probably obvious I’ve given up on weekly book and album reviews, mostly because I’m failing miserably on the album front.

Still, here’s a catch up on what I’ve been reading, just to prove I’ve kept to better than one a week, and so I’ve got a record for later in the year:

Non fiction
Cities by John Reader
A book about the history and growth of the city. Not a specific city, just cities generally. A bit academic for on-the-bus reading, but I thought it was interesting. When I have some time, I’m going to re-read it again and try and absorb more this time.

The Subterranean Railway: How the London Underground Was Built and How It Changed the City Forever by Christian Wolmar
I like the tube. I like it’s history, because it’s full of the sort of quality Victorian mad bastards and Men Of Vision that you just couldn’t make up.

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
The account of a former child soldier from Sierra Leone. Very, very good indeed. Ths single best book in this batch of reading material, in fact, and one I strongly urge you to seek out.

Fiction
The Devil’s Home On Leave by Derek Raymond
I am utterly fucking ecstatic that someone is bringing Raymond back into print. This was the only one of his Factory novels that I hadn’t read, and it’s as good as all the others – black, horrible crime writinf of the finest, most damaged kind.

Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
And here’s the much less good kind of crime fiction – a trash potboiler that I’m astonished anyone could turn into an entire TV series, but apparently they have. I’ve seen a few episodes of the TV show – they struck me as badly written, and over exposited. The novel’s first person perspective is a bit more forgiving, but still, this is just more serial-killer-cool that the like of Hannibal made popular. It’s entertaing enough, but it’s not actually good, you know?

Altered Carbon
Broken Angels
Woken Furies
Market Forces all by Richard Morgan
A rare thing: good (or at least enjoyable) cyberpunk writing.