What The ...

I just picked up what must be the most interestingly laid out book I have ever seen. I will attempt to describe it but words may fail me.
The book in question is Only Revolutions. The Democracy of Two Set Out and Chronologically Arranged by Mark Z. Danielewski. The story is about Hillary and Sam two teenagers who claim to have been around forever, and who are always sixteen. So far so good, now comes the interesting parts.
The book begins with Sam's story, or you can turn the book upside down and go to the back and begin Hillary's story. Each page is split in two between Sam and Hillary. Sam's story begins in 1863 and Hillary's begins where Sam's ends in 1963 and finishes in 2063.
All the letter o's in Sam's story are printed green, and all Hillary's are printed gold. This helps the reader remember who they are reading about.
The publishers recommend that readers read eight pages of one story and then eight pages of the other, and continue like this until they finish the book.
The writing is a series of short sentences that attempt to approximate spoken word and thought balloons. Any more than this is too hard to describe. One to look out for, just don't expect an easy read.

LibraryThing

As you have no doubt noticed I have a link to a page called LibraryThing in the top left hand corner of my page. I suppose it is about time I told everyone about this wonderful site.
LibraryThing allows people to catalogue the books they own, or are reading or like. It's free to use and has some wonderful features. When you have entered your books, LIbraryThing will then show you the other members who have any of the same books you have. You can then look at their catalogues and this is a great way of finding new reading ideas.
You can write reviews for your books and/or rate them out of five.
So have a look at the site play around, visit the zeitgeist page or search for my catalogue. You can find it by searching for petegs. It is a list of some of the books I'm reading, or have read recently and some of my favourites.
Enjoy!

Don't Talk About Fight Club

Chuck Palahniuk is a great author who is very well known for having penned Fight Club. But let me tell you his other novels are just as good. Palahniuk is good at creating interesting characters who are never quite what they seem. It is well worth seeking him out and reading some of his fiction. Of course the novel Fight Club is better than the film, though the film is very good.
I can easily say that the following novels are well worth reading; Invisible Monsters, Choke, Fight Club and Lullaby.
Instead of reading this blog go out and read Palahniuk, and have your mind blown. It's worth it!

In a Galaxy Far Far Away...

The Star Wars Universe has been given new life in the myriad novels that have been published. Set during the films, before the films and after the films a lot of has happened to the familiar cast of characters since Return of the Jedi finished the movie saga.
SPOILER ALERT!
Controversy has been courted by these books when they killed Chewbacca, and Leia and Han's youngest son Anakin. Luke married a Sith assassin who was trying to kill him, and various members of the Solo family have turned to the dark side and come back.
But any fan of the movies will enjoy the books. It is good that Lucas is happy to allow the universe he created to grow and evolve. This is not to say that he hasn't got a firm hand guiding the ship, but with publishing these novels the adventures continue and it is fun to revisit a group of characters who feel like old friends.

Personal Favourite

My all time favourite book is Dune by Frank Herbert. I suppose this says a lot about what I like to read, but don't judge me just yet. I have a university degree in English Literature yet here I am advocating a science fiction novel. All I can ask is that you hear me out.
So what is it I enjoy about Dune? I marvel at the setting, and the universe that Herbert has constructed. The planet spanning civilisation, that at its heart is just as nasty as our own world. Hobbes would be proud of the picture that Herbert describes with life being nasty, brutish and short.
I also love the political machinations described in the novel, everyone has their own best interests at heart, and is not afraid to use or crush others to get what they want.
I enjoy the characters and how they interact with each other. The dialogue and motives are believable if you accept that the universe Herbert has described actually exists.
But most of all I enjoy the pace and flow of the story. Herbert's writing has a spark that is difficult to describe but is very effective. The recent prologues written by Kevin J Anderson and Brian Herbert are good but still lack something that only Frank Herbert's writing could convey.
So in the end I urge people to dip their toe into this wonderful book, and if they do they may find that they want to dive straight in.