Too many books, too little time!

One of the best iPad apps I’ve downloaded is Longform which post non-fiction articles from a range of sources (Wired, Atlantic, Vanity Fair etc).

It’s extremely easy to use and allows you to read long form journalism  in an ereader or web format, as well as save it on Readability for later on.

What is fantastic about Longform is that the articles have often spurred me onto some great books.

So much so, that I’m reading several books on a range of topics at the same time:

  

Anonymous and cyber activism:

This Wired.com article on how Anonymous picks targets led me to British journalist Parmy Olsen’s We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous, and the Global Cyber Insurgency (2012). I'm in the middle of this and so far its an interesting and detailed account of some of the key players in the rise and development of Anonymous and LulzSec.  

The article also led me to watch the recent documentary We are Legion: The story of hacktivist, which offered a much more positive view of the Anonymous and hacktivism. I thought the analogy that the distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS) should be viewed as a contemporary form of a 'sit in' is an interesting and worthwile point.

 

But the best book I’ve read so far is Underground: Tales of Hacking, Madness and Obsession on the Electronic Frontier (1997). Written by Australian academic Suelette Dreyfus, it’s a thrilling non-fiction account of the early days of hacking and features ‘Mendax’ – Julian Assange. 

It took Dreyfus three years of research and although non-fiction, it reads like a complex and ingenious thriller. The cat and mouse game between these young hackers, security experts and later on the FBI and police unfolds like a great drama.

I’m looking forward to the telemovie, Underground: the Julian Assange story which is based on Dreyfus' book and screens tonight in Australia.

 Some other great books via Longform articles:

• The Last Greatest Magician in the World: Howard Thurston Versus Houdini and the battles of the American wizards (2012) by Jim Steinmeyer. This biography tracks the rise and fall of Howard Thurston and has delicious scenes of the competition and one up-manship between Thurston and Houdini. This book reminds of Christoper Preist’s brilliant masterpiece The Prestige (1996).

 

• American journanlist Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity (2012).  Boo's book is an “embedded” journalistic account of the life of resident in the Annawadi slum, located in Mumbai. It's a deeply moving, funny, and painful account of poverty and flaws of human nature.    

• Just got my hands on the recently published Spillover:Animal infections and the next human pandemic (2012) by David Quammen. Haven't read it yet, but looks fascinating and got a great NYT review. 

 Okay, now it's time for me to get back to reading all these books!

A Wanted Man - Lee Child

I really, really wanted to like and enjoy the latest Jack Reacher novel: A Wanted Man. 

But oh dear, it was quite frankly a complete and utter bore.

I actually lost the will to turn the page (actually tap the page on my iPad!) about mid way through the book. And that is bad, as Reacher novels are usually insanely gripping page turners with lots of plot twist and turns that keep you up all night long. 


So this book finds Reacher hitchhiking and finding himself in the middle of trouble again. The plot involves the usual suspects: FBI, CIA, local police...and of course terrorists. The plot twist were very 'meh - is that it?'.

The only new thing of note is that Reacher doesn't bed any hot female law enforcement officer this book.

As I said, very blah.

What was majorly disappointing is that we don't really find out anymore about Reacher. It's like character development just stopped. Hell, let's not even bother with development for the rest of the main characters too!!

So after sorting out all the troubles, Reacher is back on the never ending road...presumable setting us up for another book of course.

Call me cynical, even for a fanboy this felt very much like a "oh it's time to churn out another Reacher novel to keep the franchise going in time for the movie launch".
 
I must admit this is all VERY disappointing and I'm very envious of newish fan Tseenster whose still got a couple of great Reacher novels in the series to go before she hits the wall of mediocrity.  

A killer thriller: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Over the past few weeks, I kept seeing rave reviews  (Salon, NY Times,The Age) of Gillian Flynn’s new thriller Gone Girl.

Let me say that the reviews are right: this is rave worthy book.

It's a smart,funny and thrilling "who dunnit". 

It’s also difficult to review properly because there are some brilliant and slightly outrageous plot twists that can't be revealed.

In a clever but deceptively simple narrative structure, Gone Girl begins with the voice of Nick, an all American man, whose marriage to Amy seems to be in trouble.

Amy then goes missing. Each chapter alternates between Amy and Nick and between past and present.

The story spirals into a thrilling cat and mouse game between husband and wife. And ultimately between author and reader, as each reveal brings more uncertainty to the story and shifting alliances.

Needless to say the writing is sharp and  the characters well developed and believable.

This is my favourite type of thriller: it hooks you in straight away and you know you can’t stop reading until the finish.

A deliciously enjoyable read that stays in your head for a bit. In fact I needed a couple of days to properly recover from it all!

Poision Flower - Thomas Perry

Poison Flower is the seventh book in Thomas Perry’s Jane Whitefield series.

I’m a huge fan of the Jane Whitefield books, having previously blogged on how much I enjoyed the series and how Perry is a masterful suspense writer. So I was eager to read about Jane’s latest adventures.

Overall, I have very mixed feelings about the book and as a fan felt quite disappointed. The narrative was a bit choppy and the part of the Jane helping someone ‘disappear’ was dealt with in a rather desultory and mechanical manner.  

The second half of the book was Jane in ‘revenge’ mode, with the twist being that instead of making someone disappear she is actively seeking someone on the run. There was a distinct lack of suspense as the ending was quite rush and Jane seems to get her revenge in a rather quick and easy manner.

Some of the violence and torture scenes in the book made me think that I had accidently found myself in Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series!

Plus the main ‘badie’ in the book could have done with some character development, apart from the fact that he is a psychopath we don’t really know (or are made to care) exactly why?

I really, really wanted to like this book, but kept thinking that in this seventh book Perry has really struggled to keep Jane  developing and growing as a charater.

I think it gets hard for any author to keep a series consistenly fresh and a character going after so many books without at some point having them 'jump the shark' (see for example of Patricia Cornwell and Charlaine Harris).

For me, the only author who has done this consistently is thriller writer  Jeffrey Deaver. Across his various series (Lincoln Rhyme and Kathryn Dance), Deaver delivers books that keep his characters growing, developing and always has original but believable storylines.

I am hoping that Deaver continues to deliver, as am about to read his latest Kathryn Dance book "XO".

When has a series, jumped the shark for you?

All Kinds of Magic: One Man's Search for Meaning Across the Modern World Piers Moore Ede

Lately my reading has taken a serious turn and a complete world away from Young Adult fiction.

Piers Moore Ede’s wonderful book, All Kinds of Magic, is one man’s spiritual journey to find some sort of meaning in life beyond the material.

Fed up with his life in the London, the book details his travels to India and Nepal, seeking out the Sadhus (wondering holy men), the whirling dervishes in rural Turkey and the birthplace of Sufi poet Rumi.

Ede also attends some of the largest spiritual festivals in India including the Deepam Festival and finally ends his trip with an exploration of shamanism in South America.

Throughout his travels, Ede struggles with the tension between what he experiences and the rational side of his brain.

I loved the ease of this book, Ede’s writing is beautifully nuanced and he distills the struggles with his own faith and understanding in such a thoughful and courageous manner. 

He is always aware of the often contradictory nature of his journey: a Western white man searching for answers in the East.

I found the book a welcome relief from the often shrill and adversarial debates ignited by Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) et al.

The book also opened up a whole world of spiritual ideas for me, like Sufism and the poet Rumi, to further explore.