Vernon God Little - D.B.C. Pierre

Very good. The language and imagery is unlike anything I've ever read, enough to provoke a physical reaction at times. Hard to imagine how this writer comes up with some of the phrases. Brilliantly written protagonist with all sorts of psychological twists hinted at through his narrative voice. At times more dark and demented than anything I've read by Chuck Palahniuk (its nearest comparison). At other times it's just very beautiful.

Assassin's Quest - Robin Hobb

So ends the first trilogy. Still got several more to chomp through at my leisure, and very much looking forward to them. This book had a more active feeling on account of it being a quest and not confined to one place. Otherwise, more of the same. I loved the stuff about carving a dragon and imbuing it with your emotions. Seems like a metaphor for artistic projects. Very glad I borrowed these books. Fitz takes his place in my brain alongside Roland and Cloud.

Royal Assassin - Robin Hobb

More of the same, and very satisfying. Fitz is a wonderful main character, I really felt for him. There's a great line in this one, or passage, where he gets suddenly very angry at being moved around like a piece on a chessboard. Having had time to get acquainted with the setting and characters though, I have noticed these books are not all that well written. There not much economy, lots of kind of pointless adverbs and so on and it gets a bit frustrating. The story and characters make it worth it.

The Shining - Stephen King

I flew through the first half then slowed right down. More than any other Stephen King novel, it impressed me far more with the human stuff, the characters and their relationships and pasts and states of mind, than with the supernatural stuff. In fact the film did a much better job of being scary. Hedge animals coming to life is not very scary at all. Still a very good book. Confirms again my view that King should be read as simply a writer, not a horror writer.

Snakes and Earrings - Hitomi Kanehara

Tough one. Self-destructive masochist waster as a protagonist never invites much sympathy. I suppose there was Fight Club. I didn't like it at first. I had exactly zero sympathy for the narrator (not that she or the author intended to provoke sympathy I'm sure, but that's not the point) and it seemed sparsely written and just too grim and nihilistic (even for me, which is saying something). As it went on I got more into it. The death of a main character had quite a powerful effect on my emotions in fact. Short and not at all sweet, but worth the read.

Assassin's Apprentice - Robin Hobb

My first actual foray into the overcrowded genre of high fantasy (not counting Lord of the Rings or Dark Tower) and I loved it. The setting is vividly evoked but doesn't steal the show. Each character is very well-written. The story is all politics, espionage and assassination, but with a streak of the supernatural. The magic is very subtle (all about telepathy and empathy) and the "Red Ship Raiders" are superbly frightening. The spying and assassination stuff reminded me very much of the Dark Brotherhood in Oblivion. This is one writer I'll definitely be coming back to.

Letter to a Christian Nation - Sam Harris

Picked it up more as an enjoyable indulgence than for serious reasons. I already have all my opinions on this subject. not much to say, really. Punchy, well-written, a bit arrogant. Mostly agreed with him. Would still recommend The God Delusion over this. Reading this almost straight after No Logo has certainly straightened things out. Strong as my opinions are, religion is by no means the biggest problem facing mankind. Corporate greed is. Maybe I'll invite Dawkins, Harris and Klein for a dinner party and a debate.