"How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big," an interesting take on his own success by Scott Adams (author of Dilbert.) I agree with most of his advice and worldview, though sometimes it does get a little self-congratulatory.

"Deadline." By Sandra Brown. Nice.

Just finished "Whispers of the River", by Tom Hron (not a typo).

Now reading:

"First King of Shannara" by Terry Brooks

Has Terry Brooks finally conquered that amateurish aversion to using the word "said?"

Not that I'd read the guy anyway; it took me about three tries to get through Sword of Shannara as a young man, lord what a thicket of adverbs and adjectives and maybe a third of them necessary, and I haven't been back in any serious way. That, and how hardly anyone ever just said something. Usually they employed some other verb, or possibly even utilized it. With an adverb. Lots of those. It got annoying.

Amersterdam, By Russell Shorto. Much more that ya ever wanted to know. I was in Amersterdam in 1962 and again in 67, so I though this would be a good read. Only if ya need to do a school paper.

I made heavy going of American Weather by Charles McLeod.
I know what it was trying to do, but in doing so it really just bored me. Maybe that was the point, that life in the 21st century is basically meaningless.

I'm not all that smart and I have quite basic tastes when it comes to novels.
I appreciate good writing and I think I can recognise it, but what I really want is a rollicking good plot with as few holes as possible, characters I can believe in and a bit of something that makes me feel smarter for having read it.

American Weather did not deliver.
I ploughed through because I thought it might grow on me like American Psycho. Now that took a little while to immerse myself into, but once I did it paid back.

AW had pages of nothingness describing how people valued nothingness. "I sell to the you you want to be. The you who drives a Prius, who takes out the recycling, who supports local causes, who.." blah blah blah. PAGES of it. And then pages of the opposite "Not the you who secretly wants to visit whores, who wanted to hit that homeless man who ..." Not direct quotes - the book is back in the library - but you get my drift.

There was very little actual plot.
What there was, was already revealed on the back cover. Or on Amazon. The (frankly impossible) main event which happens is in the last few chapters. And then an afterward which was more interesting in two pages than the rest of the book.

It got really great reviews.
So it was either too clever-clever for me or I'm just not clever enough to enjoy it.
Maybe I should stick to V C Andrews in future.

I just started Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight. It's about a mother who has to piece together her daughter's life through texts, emails, and FB posts, after her daughter's apparent suicide. I'm about 50 pages in and will be doing my best to plough through it as much as my daredevil/explore all the things one year old will allow.

Update on Reconstructing Amelia -- I'd give it 3.5 stars out of 5. There were some unresolved plot points and the last third of the book was weaker than the rest of it. Interesting food for thought about parenting in the 21st century, and about how tough it can be to be a teenager now that every action is instantly public through social media.

W.E.B Griffin Hazardous Duty. MASH goes to the white house.

On Thursday I bought a book for my Kindle because I couldn't sleep.
Yes, it was payday.
But just this morning I've been thinking "Hang on. I always buy second hand books or go to the library. What's with this spending £6 on a book lark?"
I need to be careful of that in future, I've become too used to getting the cheap and free books on Kindle and it's made the transaction a little too familiar.

So I have just finished James Lear's The Hardest Thing.
As it's subtitled as a Dan Stagg novel, and this is a new character, I can only assume he has a book deal.
It's very typical of James Lear. Well-researched, slyly funny and overtly sexual and explicit.

tend to buy Kindle books but 'Er Indoors bought me a paper book "Two Brothers" by Ben Elton.
you can google Ben Elton, basically a sound bloke and funny as you like.
he has a serious side and this book is inspired by him having (long story short) uncles who fought on both sides in WWII.

As his novel based on his personal commentary of Holocaust events it's possibly as good as it gets.

Also tells the Goys something that not all of us (goyim) know.
I've had close association with many Jews in my time and I'm loving this book because I can relate to it.
Even without knowing anything about Jews the plot and narrative mean that you can slot in to it easily.
good book, good read, and I haven't even finished it yet!

Ever since the inexplicable invasion by the This is not Porn folks, I've been wondering about Harkins Murakami. I made an abortive attempt at reading 1Q84 but stalled after book one when my library loan of the Kindle edition expired. I'm now halfway through The Wind - Up Bird Chronicle. I'm still not sure about him, but I'm continuing onward.

Just started "Adventure" by Jack London.

Cell by Robin Cook

The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch. Book 1 in the Gentlemen Bastards sequence

Listening to the audiobook - excellent story, with brilliant narrator. Best fantasy novel I've read/heard since Joe Abercrombie's First Law trilogy.

Laugh out loud funny in places, but with the occasional punch to the guts too. I;ve laughed and cried. Finding it very difficult to switch off and sleep at night!