bookmark_borderRighteous Rubbish

Never one to pass up a free book, most of which come via my parents, I have an ever growing “to be read” pile that is currently tottering at an alarming level. So, lest it fall over and kill someone I’ve started to work through it.

Now, I should explain that I have two ‘sets’ of books that I’ve yet to read. There are the neatly “placed on bookshelf” classics — Don Quixote, Count of Monte Cristo etcetera etcetera — and the the other “piled wherever I can find space” books which are typically more modern and on bestseller lists. What can I say, I’m a book whore. I’ll read anything.

And so it was that I found myself reading an awfully pedestrian, badly written thriller called The Righteous Men by Sam Bourne. No link as I’d hate anyone to buy it. Labelled as… wait for it… yup, the “The Next Dan Brown” (their capitals not mine), it was, quite simply, rubbish. I’ve had more thrills waiting for a bus. I won’t bother you with any more detail than that, my only advice is DO NOT READ THIS BOOK!

However, the odd thing is that I still read the damn thing from start to finish, only skimming over the boring bits.

bookmark_borderThis and that

Firstly a small clarification. Yesterday’s “Confused” post was not suggesting that people who HAVE had children are doing something wrong or bad or evil. It was merely my (knee-jerk) reaction to the news filtering through my head at the time. I’m fully aware that the world can be, and frequently is, a good place. Remember, I’m the type of guy who enjoys wondering at clouds as they drift by on a summer’s day.

Moving on…

Finished reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time last night. What an astonishing book. It is about a boy called Christopher who has Aspergers Syndrome, and his discovery of the death of his neighbour’s dog. The book is written entirely from his viewpoint. Throughout the book you are given a world view, different from your own (unless of course you have this Syndrome too of course…), and wholly engrossing. The poor of the emotional attachment you form with the character only really begins to surface later in the book.

I heartily recommend it.

So I’m not debating whether to go back to the book I had put aside – On Green Dolphin Street – or tackle an Xmas pressie – Don Quixote. Decisions, decisions…