Books On The Go

Everyone thinks I'm a big reader, but reading books doesn't actually take up as much time as people might think. Books cost money, after all, and there are so many other diversions like the Web. But I have been reading a few things lately that I think are worth mentioning.

When my car got broken into a few weeks ago, they actually stole my copy of The Portable Atheist edited by Christopher Hitchens -- much good may it do them. I've since replaced it, but haven't made much progress since as usual I picked up the next thing while the previous was only half done. Next up was Steven Erikson's Deadhouse Gates, second in his fantasy series (but the third that I've read) of a projected ten books about the Malazan Empire. Now that I'm getting used to his world I'm finding it easier and more pleasurable going than Gardens of the Moon, but the storyline is conceived on such a large scale that it's hard work following the myriad small details that add up to the big picture. Nonetheless, I plan to stick with it. George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series wasn't that easy to follow either the first time around, but I grew to appreciate it immensely especially when I took the time to re-read it with a fuller understanding of the world he created. I'm hoping for something of the same from Erikson.

Before I start on House of Chains, though, Dad loaned me The Englishman's Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe. I watched the first half of the CBC miniseries a few weeks back but missed part two, so now I just have to find out what happens -- I'm about thirty pages in. My main observation so far is that Bob Hoskins was miscast as the movie studio head; Hoskins came across as much closer to the mold of the self-made tough-guy movie mogul than the patrician misfit portrayed in the book. And somewhere in there is The Dreaming Void, another vulgar pleasure from the keyboard of Peter F. Hamilton and start of another new trilogy. So much to read, so little time, and so many distractions...