Books wot I have read in 2008

Murder in Mesopotamia - Agatha Christie
Poirot is always enjoyable. Not quite as good as "the Murder of Roger Ackroyd", which is still my favourite Christie.

Running with scissors - Augusten Burroughs
If you ever feel your family life is screwed up, read this to be reassured that yours isn't so bad after all. I desperately wanted to see that "psychologist" end up in prison but no luck.

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Liked this book a lot - a young girl is murdered and tries to tie up loose ends from beyond the grave. An interesting take on what heaven might be like, too.

The Big Ask - Shane Maloney
Can't go past good old Murray Whelan...

Something Fishy - Shane Maloney
Ditto. Do yourself a favour!

My Childhood - Gorky
Life in nineteenth-century Russia, beautifully told, will have to read more of Gorky.

The Act of Roger Murgatroyd - Gilbert Adair
A spoof of Agatha Christie I suppose but not really very good.

The Terror - Dan Simmons
Fantastic!! Loved it!! You gotta read this one!! Dan Simmons' version of what really happened to Franklin's lost Arctic expedition - it involves giant snow monsters and botulism. What more could you ask for?? Also I feel like now I yam an expert in Arctic exploration.

And Now You Can Go - Vendela Vida
A lovely quiet book about a woman who narrowly escapes being shot by someone looking to take himself out but who doesn't want to go out alone. Vida is one of the editors of "The Believer" magazine. An author I think is worth trying.

The Roaring of the Labyrinth - Clio Gray
I remember liking it while I was reading it but obviously not super memorable because I don't remember much about it now. I liked the somewhat agoraphobic "detective" character. Another novel with a mysterious title - don't really remember if I came to a decision about why it was called this. Certainly there are no actual labyrinths involved.

Nothing to Lose - Lee Child
Another Jack Reacher novel, God that man is fantastic. The citizens of a small town called "Despair" really give him the shits so he starts to do a little investigation of his own...bit of a strange ending though.

The Thin Man - Dashiell Hammet
Who knew it was possible to drink so much in one book (the characters, not me). It IS set in prohibition era New York, after all. Features one of the original "hardboiled" detectives of literature, Nick Charles, and his socialite girlfriend Nora. (I wonder if there are any official "softboiled" detectives out there?). The Thin Man is Charles Wyant, murder victim, who's case Charles is reluctantly drawn into. Snappy dialogue and lots of hotel rooms. (It took me a while to twig they were staying in hotels and that was why waiters etc kept turning up).

The Man Who was Thursday - G K Chesteron
Anarchists - gotta love them. Gabriel Syme is given the mission to infiltrate a dangerous group of anarchists (The Central Council of Anarchists, led by the mysterious Sunday) but things go a little awry...I liked it a lot. Lots of good quotes too, which I suppose young anarchists might like to write on toilet walls. (Maybe).

Kingdom Come - JG Ballard
If you really hate shopping malls this might be the book for you. Can't say it grabbed me much - I kept rolling my eyes and all the completely unsubstantiated things the main character would presume about other characters. All the characters seemed very nebulous, samey and inconsistent and Ballard beats you about the head with his rampant consumerism = boredom = sick civilisation = people dying to do something mad and violent message. I get it, already! Nearly gave up on this one several times.

Special topics in calamity physics - Marisha Pessl
Loved it, if my eyes had allowed it I would have read it start to finish. Best book I have read this year, apart from "The Terror". Main character Blue van Meer and her genius Dad move to Stockton, North Carolina for her final year of school and she discovers some very strange things about her new friends. Hmm...just found a website full of comments from people who hated it. Be warned...(it IS over 500 pages long, I suppose...)

Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
Not quite as good as Gaiman's "American Gods" (start with this if you haven't read any Gaiman before) but still pretty good. Apparently this story started off as a TV series, which Gaiman adapted into a novel. Tells the story of Richard Mayhew, who, after helping a young homeless girl on the street (called "Door") ceases to exist in "London Above" and must negotiate the world of "London Below", which normal Londoners can't even see.