• Books Read

    In a Sunburned Country

    In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson Published: 2000 Length: 319 pages This is Bill Bryson’s Australian travelogue, called Down Under outside of Canada and the US, and it details two back-to-back trips to the country. He begins by travelling across Australia by train, from Sydney to Perth, and then recounts his time in the southeastern cities of the country. He then returns with a friend of his to visit the Great Barrier Reef, Alice Springs in the north and then down to Uluru, which I guess is a very impressive rock. The people are immensely likable— cheerful, extrovert, quick-witted, and unfailingly obliging. Their cities are safe and clean and…

  • Books Read

    A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

    A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin Published: 1998 – 2010 (2015 for this collection) Narrated by: Harry Lloyd Series: The Tales of Dunk and Egg #1-3 Length: 10:00 (355 pages) This is a collection of three novellas set a century before the events of A Song of Ice and Fire. House Targaryen are still in power, eventually to be overthrown by Robert Baratheon’s rebellion, and people can still remember the last of the dragons. While these are prequels, and some names will be familiar to those who have read the main novels, the stories are fairly self-contained. The three included novellas are: The Hedge Knight (1998)…

  • Books Read

    Consider Phlebas

    Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks Published: 1987 Narrated by: Peter Kenny Series: Culture #1 Length: 16:26 (471 pages) This is the first novel in The Culture series, and the first novel published under Iain M. Banks (as opposed to his regular fiction, which is published without the middle initial). I’ve heard from multiple sources that the place to start in the series is with the second novel, The Player of Games, because this one is considered a weaker entry in the series. I guess each novel is set in the same universe but has a different cast of characters, so they can be read out of order. I decided…

  • Books Read

    Atonement

    Atonement by Ian McEwan Published: 2001 Length: 371 pages This is the story of a young teen Briony Tallis, her older sister Cecilia, the housekeeper’s son Robbie Turner, and how the actions of one day changed the rest of their lives. This is a bit of a hard one to summarize without giving away important plot points. He does some very interesting things with plot structure in this, and a lot of the suspense in the novel is waiting to see what happens and how it plays out. The main crime is telegraphed quite far in advance, but exactly what happens and what the repercussions will be is what’s really…

  • Comics Read

    Saga, Volume 5

    Saga, Volume 5 by Brian K. Vaughan Illustrated by: Fiona Staples Published: 2015 Publisher: Image Comics Series: Saga #5 Collects: issues #25–30 Length: 152 pages I described the last volume as having a teen-drama vibe, in an annoying way, but this got right back into the adventure. The team is still split up, which I’m actually finding a little annoying. I was really enjoying their story together, and while that’s still the underlying theme, it was more interesting overall for me when that was the focus – watching the relationships grow between a group of people on the run. This volume felt a little scattered compared to the first few,…

  • Meta

    October in Review

    Books Acquired: None. Books Read: Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks I was a naughty book blogger this month with only one book read. It happens sometimes. I do most of my reading currently in bed, something I’m hoping to change, and I’ve been falling asleep quick this month. Despite this, I’m still a couple posts behind, so maybe it was for the best. I’ll finally be catching up with myself in November. Not book related, but we did spend a week in California earlier in the month, visiting Disneyland and doing a bit of shopping. With the Canadian dollar as it currently is, this is not a great time…