Friday, March 09, 2007
OK this is probably rather off the subject, but those who know will say that I am a keen reader and I suddenly thought that the blog would be a good way of keeping up with what I have read and what it was like. I have just read one good thing and am currently on a another good one so it's a positive moment for novels :-)
Have just read a book by Eliot Pattison (who used to be a lawyer I believe), which is called "Water Touching Stone", and which is quite a captivating story about a Chinese civil servant turned casual investigator after years in a Chinese goulag followed by retreat to Tibet with the monks. This was a story about murdered boys, corruption and personal ambition disguised as politics. A terrific read, although it was hard at first to work out who was who, but there is some fascinating insight into buddhism, the Tibetan situation and China's cultural policy for its "colonies".
And am now reading one by Alexander McCall Smith who I really think is starting to become one of my favourite writers. He is just fab. (Another lawyer? what is going on?). OK, he is immensely popular (and prolific!) with bestsellers all over the place but we are far from pulp fiction here. I am now on Friends, Lovers, Chocolate which is the 2nd book in his series The Sunday Philosophy Club. It is quite delightful.
I admit that yesterday I rather guiltily bought the 1st book which I didn't have when I noticed an English edition in a bookshop. I first started reading Smith when I was given his "2 ½ pillars of wisdom" a trilogy comprising the splendidly named 'At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances', 'Portuguese Irregular Verbs' and 'The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs' and relating the trials and triumphs of an obscure linguistics professor.
To be consumed when it is pissing down with rain and you can't go out planting like this week :-)
Have just read a book by Eliot Pattison (who used to be a lawyer I believe), which is called "Water Touching Stone", and which is quite a captivating story about a Chinese civil servant turned casual investigator after years in a Chinese goulag followed by retreat to Tibet with the monks. This was a story about murdered boys, corruption and personal ambition disguised as politics. A terrific read, although it was hard at first to work out who was who, but there is some fascinating insight into buddhism, the Tibetan situation and China's cultural policy for its "colonies".
And am now reading one by Alexander McCall Smith who I really think is starting to become one of my favourite writers. He is just fab. (Another lawyer? what is going on?). OK, he is immensely popular (and prolific!) with bestsellers all over the place but we are far from pulp fiction here. I am now on Friends, Lovers, Chocolate which is the 2nd book in his series The Sunday Philosophy Club. It is quite delightful.
I admit that yesterday I rather guiltily bought the 1st book which I didn't have when I noticed an English edition in a bookshop. I first started reading Smith when I was given his "2 ½ pillars of wisdom" a trilogy comprising the splendidly named 'At the Villa of Reduced Circumstances', 'Portuguese Irregular Verbs' and 'The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs' and relating the trials and triumphs of an obscure linguistics professor.
To be consumed when it is pissing down with rain and you can't go out planting like this week :-)
Labels: books
# posted by antipodesgirl @ 3:19 PM 
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