Books Read March 2009

I’m surprised I got through 4 books this month as I expected Ilium to take me longer to read than it did, helped by having a few days off work at the start of the month. Just to make sure I decided to read the three novellas I bought recently from Gray Friar Press, since Gary was having a sale. Two down, starting into the Nicholas Royle one tomorrow.

9. Ilium – Dan Simmons – 2003 – Gollancz

10. Thicker Than Water – Mike Carey – 2009 – Orbit

11. Rain – Conrad Williams – 2007 – Gray Friar Press

12. Hard Roads – Steve Vernon – 2007 – Gray Friar Press

Movies Watched March 2009

Another 12 movies watched this month. Yay.

24. The Abandoned – Nacho Cerda – 2006 – Spain/UK

25. Shrooms – Paddy Breathnach – 2007 – Ireland

26. Friend – Kwak Kyung-Taek – 2001 – South Korea

27. Hancock – Peter Berg – 2008 – USA

28. Kokoda: 39th Battalion – Alister Grierson – 2006 – Australia

29. The Idiot – Akira Kurosawa – 1951 – Japan

30. Wild Zero – Tetsuro Takeuchi – 2000 – Japan

31. A Battle Of Wits – Cheung Chi-Leung – 2006 – China

32. Ashes Of Time (Redux) – Wong Kar-Wai – 1994 – Hong Kong

33. Chemical Wedding – Julian Doyle – 2008 – UK

34. The Legend Of Gingko – Park Je-Hyeon – 2000 – South Korea

35. King Boxer (5 Fingers Of Death) – Jeong Chang-Hwa – 1972 – Hong Kong

New Iain Banks novel

Orbit US have released details of the new novel from Iain Banks, entitled Transition, due out in September. Oddly, in the US the book will be released by Orbit as an Iain M Banks title, even though that is usually reserved for his SF and his next one is a non-M, and will be published in the UK by Little Brown, Orbit’s parent company, under that name. Confused? 

Anyway, the blurb certainly bodes well, hinting at the promised genre cross-over style utilised in The Bridge and Walking On Glass that he’s been threatening to give us for a while, and may well explain the Orbit US decision. Iain’s last few non-M “mainstream” novels have been a bit disappointing so hopefully this will be a return to his earlier masterly form.

Happy Square Root Day

Some people will find any excuse for a party. More here.

(Link via Michael Marshall Smith)

Movies Watched February 2009

12. Alpha Dog – Nick Cassavetes – 2006 – USA

13. Naked Island – Kaneto Shindo – 1960 – Japan

14. Hellboy 2: The Golden Army – Guillermo del Toro – 2008 – USA

15. Triangle – Ringo Lam, Johnnie To & Tsui Hark – 2007 – Hong Kong

16. Vampyr – Der Traum Des Allan Grey- Carl Theodor Dreyer – 1932 – Germany

17. The Lady Of Musashino – Kenji Mizoguchi – 1951 – Japan

18. Collateral – Michael Mann – 2004 – USA

19. Sukiyaki Western Django – Takashi Miike – 2007 – Japan

20. Outpost – Steve Barker – 2008 – UK

21. Flash Point – Wilson Yip – 2007 – Hong Kong

22. Evil Dead Trap – Toshiharu Ikeda – 1988 – Japan

23. Wanted – Timur Bekmambetov – 2008 – USA