Reading update

I'm almost finished The Leopard by Jo Nesbo - about 70 pages to go tonight. Half way through Jane Haddam's The Headmaster's Wife, I became bogged down and switched to Nesbo's latest Norwegian thriller.  I was recently looking to re-read Niall Williams' Four Letters of Love again and just this week a friend has kindly loaned me his copy of Flaming London by Texan writer Joe R Lansdale, one of my favourite American authors. Irreverant, outrageous and extreme, this book is the sequel to Zeppelins West. Lansdale is not to everyone's taste and this rewrite of Twain and Verne's SF  invasion of London is shaping up to be every bit as good as its predecessor. It should be a quick, easy read and since I have been given a day off early next week, it'll be something to look forward to on the literary front.

Now some of you are possibly wondering how can a man who savours the writing of Niall Williams' Four Letters of Love possibly enjoy the proctological humour and extreme fiction of Lansdale? 'Tis a mystery as the Irish would say. My extreme tastes in high and low culture continue to confound even my own understandings. If you haven't read Williams book, grab a copy - you'll want to be Irish by the end of it and you'll understand the idea of love and destiny being shaped by fate and not merely time. Brilliantly crafted, great descriptive writing with a moving poetic story, Williams has written a wonderful book on the beauty of love and the power of letters.


So, I'll post back in a day or two on Nesbo and Haddam.


Burn brightly, Pete.