Pile of Books

Ok, I keep meaning to write about these but never do and the pile just keeps getting bigger on the corner of my desk so here’s the rest of what I read in 2006.

Coraline, Neil Gaiman. Written for one of his daughter but fun for anyone, nice little creepy story.

The Long Tail, Chris Anderson. Must read for web workers and anyone interested in the media landscape. Some good insights and an easy read.

Llouis qui tombe tout seul, Matthieu Simard. Un nouveau style d’écriture pour Matthieu, plus rimé, plus “Solien”, plus songé. En cours de lecture je me suis tanné du personnage mais finalement en embarquant dans la conclusion j’ai réalisé que c’était plustôt un certain inconfort parce que le bonhomme est bien construit et pas nécessairement le fun à connaître. Ça exprime super mal la plus longue critique que j’avais écrite dans ma tête il y a des mois quand je l’ai lut mais je ne l’ai pas écrite “pour vrai” et elle s’est évaporée. Anyway, la conclusion reste; belle progression de l’auteur et à lire.

Soudain le minotaure, Marie-Hélène Poitras. Un autre livre inconfortable mais celui là tout au long et de part le sujet mais c’est aussi un autre livre que je recommande.

Lunar Park, Brett Easton Ellis. Half way between bio and fiction with a dash of horror and thriller, this one is a bit uneven but still worth a read if you enjoyed his other books.

Junk Mail, Will Self. A collection of his writings, I loved it by the scope and variety, some of the stories were kind of boring but there are also some gems, pick it up to discover the writer but you might end up skipping parts.

Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman. I mentioned this one in conversation for a quote I remembered and was told it’s fantasy for teenagers. I guess it could be but Gaiman comes up with some good stuff and I enjoy reading his books so that’s enough for me. The quote;

There is a theory that, in the whole world, there are only five hundred real people (the cast, as it were; all the rest of the people in the world, the theory suggests, are extras) and what is more, they all know each other. And it’s true, or true as far as it goes. In reality the world is made of thousands upon thousands of groups of about five hundred , all of whom will spend their lives bumping into each other, trying to avoid each other, and discovering each other in the same unlikely teashop in Vancouver. There is an unavoidability to this process. It’s not even coincidence. It’s just the way the world works, with no regard for individuals or for propriety.

Hot Springs, Steve Zio. Picked that one up because it features online supplements (that I haven’t watched yet), is written by a guy from Montréal who’s traveled quite a bit, lives in Sidney BC and the main character has the same job I do. Those things made it interesting and I enjoyed the read but it’s a bit uneven and features too many clichés. The Europe and Japan chapters had a better rythm than the BC ones I thought. We’ll see what the next one brings.