Reading - April 2016

The Week (2 April 2016 / Issue 1067)

Guitarist (May 2016 / Issue 406)

Guitar & Bass (May 2016 / Vol 27 No. 08)

The Science Of Discworld by Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart & Jack Cohen (1999)

A great way of injecting science in the guise of entertainment. Given the age of the book (17 years!), it's possible that some of the facts and theories might be slightly out of date, but still as good a primer as any on the thinking around how did the universe start and how does evolution work. Very readable and amusing.

The Week (9 April 2016 / Issue 1068)

The Art Of Being Brilliant by Andy Cope & Andy Whittaker (2012)

Relentlessly trivial and shallow - although mercifully short - book on being happy. Could be condensed into about 2 pages.

Global Village Idiot by John O'Farrell (2001)

Amusing articles from a left-wing perspective, suffering from the usual problem that these kind of articles do - the perceived need to end on a joke. See Clive James's TV reviews for an object lesson in how to do it properly.

The Week (16 April 2016 / Issue 1069)

Lunarbaboon Vol. 2 by Chris Grady (2016)

Still by turns sweet, funny and whimsical, another lovely compilation of the best bits of Lunarbaboon. And (even better), this one has my name in it! (as a funder of vol 1)

Licence Renewed by John Gardner (1981)

The original relaunch of the James Bond "franchise" - in book form, anyway. being somewhat separate from the film franchise. As far as I know, none of the post-Fleming novels have become films (although some of the films have been novelised). I bought this from my local library while in my teens and still like it. It has all the right components, almost "Bond by numbers", but it's still a good read.

The Sacred Art Of Stealing by Christopher Brookmyre (2002)

My first Brookmyre and still a favourite.

Guitar Aficionado: The Collections edited by Tom Beaujour & Christopher Scapelliti (2013)

Lavish coffee table guitar porn. Beautifully photographed and presented, but difficult to read in practice without breaking the binding, putting fingerprints on the shiny pages or accidentally scuffing the jacket. Made worse by the fact that it was lent to me in pristine condition. Also, it turns out you can see too many pictures of '59 sunburst Les Pauls. Who knew?