Hammers on Bone

Cassandra Khaw, 2016

(December 2016)

A lovely little noirish Lovecraft/Chandler mash-up set, hilariously, in early 21^st century Croyden. Well, I say 'lovely'…

Ambient

Jack Womack, 1987

(July 2016)

  

The first of Womack’s Dryco series, or at least the first one he wrote. Ambient is the book to which Random Acts of Senseless Violence serves as a prequel, and while that story described polite society’s shockingly rapid descent into dystopia, the one we’re talking about here gives us the shit show already in full effect.

  

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Shirley Jackson, 1962

(November 2014)

  

Now this is how you do narrative tension and an unreliable narrator. Terrifyingly fantastic.

American Elsewhere

Robert Jackson Bennett, 2013

(September 2013)

They fuck you up, your mum and dad.

They may not mean to, but they do.

They fill you with the faults they had,

And add some extra, just for you.

Blood Meridian

Some people apparently keep a notebook of every book they read. This seems a little OCDish to me, but I have several tendencies in that direction anyway so let’s go for it. For the next year, or however long, here are all the books I’ve read/will read. Plus you get the added benefit of my pearls of wisdom. These won't be reviews as such, just stuff I noticed or thought about while reading.

So it's probably best not to expect any searing insights. I did A-Level English Lit., and my understanding really hasn’t progressed all that much since. I have fairly obvious pretensions in that direction (really, just read anything else I’ve written here and you’ll get that), but I often get the feeling that I’m missing a whole lot of stuff as well.

Plus having a kid really cuts into the time you can spare for, well, anything. So this little exercise will hopefully provide a bit of an incentive for me to read more and think more, instead of just wasting time on the Chive. Prepare yourself to be astounded at the depth of my ignorance.