29. All Families are Psychotic.

I am blind to the faults of Dougie and frankly the man makes me feel great about my personal life. (see title) Yup, Coupland pulls it off again. A corker about a bunch of nuts that you end up feeling at one with in a quirky kind of way. Unusual ending, typical of his style that definitely calls for suspension of disbelief for the greater good of making a worthwhile point but without sounding preachy. Top notch.

a good friday

Had an hours recreational skiing at the snow dome, ate a mixed grill, watched a film then went and chilled out with friends who live on a boat. Pretty cool day.

My action-packed life.

Have had the dullest two days on record. Made numerous blu-tac snakes (one complete with forked elastic band tongue) so it hasn't been entirely unproductive.

28. Milk Treading.

Milk Treading by Nick Smith.

A rather unusual book to say the least! This is about class struggle, gang warfare, hack writers, journalists and lovers. Only, all the characters are cats or dogs. It works pretty well with a stack of witty kitty puns. My main concern was that the book was shot with typographical errors which was very offputting. A quick, easy, fun read but not something I'll be telling everyone to run out and buy.

Reading list.

Here are the books I have read so far in 2005. I included audio for the hell of it. Thought I might as well share it here and will try and keep something posted on books I read from now on.

28: Milk Treading. Nick Smith.
27: Tobias and the Angel. James Bridie.
26: Love on the Dole (dramatic adaptation) Ronald Gow & Walter Greenwood.
25: The Orange Girl. Jostein Gaarder.
24: Down Under. (audio) Bill Bryson.
23: Maus. Art Spiegelman
22: Crime and Punishment. Dost. (current)
21: Dream Play. August Strindberg.
20: Notes from a Small Island (audio) Bill Bryson.
19: Portugese Irregular Verbs (audio) Alexander McCall Smith (see review)
18: Saturday Ian McEwan
17: A Short History of Nearly Everything.(audio) Bill Bryson.
16: A Tale of Two Cities. audio. Charles Dickens.
15: Not the End of the World. Geraldine McCaughrean
14: Master and Commander (audio) Patrick O'Brian
13: Persuasion (audio) Jane Austen.
12: Boy Soldier (proof) Andy McNab & Robert Rigby
11: Bras & Broomsticks. (proof) Sarah Mlynowski
10: The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes Part II(audio). Bert Coules
9: Lord Loss (proof) Darren Shan.
8: David Copperfield.(audio) Charles Dickens.
7: The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (audio) Alexander McCall Smith
6: Miss Julia. August Strindberg
5: The Philosopher's Pupil. Iris Murdoch
4: Hawksmoor. Peter Ackroyd (abandoned)
3: The Road to Damascus.Part I August Strindberg
2: The Timewaster Letters. Robin Cooper.
1: Shadow of the Wind. Carlos Ruiz Zafón.

london town

Saw Ruby Wax in The Witches this afternoon. Very west end, very panto. Pretty good fun nonetheless. Ben & Jerry's ice cream and a wander round Covent Garden afterwards. Not a bad Sunday afternoon out with the lad.