Wolverine: Old Man Logan - Mark Millar & Steve McNiven

A comic set in a bleak future where most of the Marvel heroes are dead and the villains are in charge, and Wolverine has vowed never to extend his claws again. It's very well-written. I think I'd appreciate it more if I was more familiar with Marvel characters (this is the same reason I'm not excited about the Avengers film in cinemas now). It did make me sort of resent comic continuity a bit. X-Men is a great premise until you clutter it up with all the non-mutant heroes and villains, and isn't Batman kind of redundant in a world that also contains Superman?

Orwell's Victory - Christopher Hitchens

Very interesting, very well-written and thorough, and very one-sided (but that's alright). It paints a good portrait of a fascinating person, and defends him as a heroic cultural and intellectual figure. This defence sounds strained only in one or two places. Many critics (especially leftists who criticised Orwell for all sorts of things) get Hitch-slapped in the process. I'm left wanting to read an actual biography of him. His life seems to have consisted entirely of hard times. If he had lived longer his legacy might not be so powerful.