Reading Journal: Thursday 6th August 2009

07:00 - I’m getting near the end of Ox-Tales: Fire (Profile Books) now so it’s close to appropriate (but not quite) that the story I read over breakfast this morning was Last by Ali Smith. This short by Smith certainly comes under the odd … [Read more...]

Afterthoughts: Ox-Tales Air

In a Nutshell: The second in a series of four, Ox-Tales: Air employs the same winning formula that was applied to the first volume, to produce a reading collection that’s original, varied and wholly entertaining. If you’re a regular follower … [Read more...]

Reading Journal: Wednesday 5th August 2009

07:00 - Another Ox-Tales: Fire (Profile Books) story over breakfast. Today was the turn of William Sutcliffe's excellent Sandcastles: A Negotiation, which tells the story of father's afternoon (actually only one hour), of looking after his two young … [Read more...]

Reading Journal: Monday 3rd August 2009

It's been a super busy non-bookish day for me today, but I wanted to start making sure that I didn't miss out on posting a daily 'reading journal' entry. Thankfully I did manage one short from Ox-Tales: Fire (Profile Books) on the train, Into the … [Read more...]

Reading Journal: Sunday 2nd August 2009

08:00 - The march through Ox-Tales: Fire (Profile Books) continues and I’m enjoying it thoroughly. This morning was the turn of the rather short, but very good The King Who Never Spoke by John Le Carre. As its title would suggest this story is all … [Read more...]

Reading Journal: Saturday 1st August 2009

07:00 - Another morning and another session with Ox-Tales: Fire (Profile Books). This morning was the turn of Sebastian Faulks with his story A Family Evening. Not a bad story, and Faulk’s rationale for creating it seem to centre on his need to … [Read more...]

Reading Journal: Friday 31st July 2009

07:30 - Keeping up my daily ‘ticking off’ of the Ox Tales four volume short story collection, I read the next story in line in Ox-Tales: Fire (Profile Books), written by Geoff Dyer, which isn’t a story at all but rather a nice little essay. … [Read more...]

Reading Journal: Wednesday 29th July 2009

Well it’s been a few days since my last reading journal entry, which for something that I’d envisaged being a daily thing, isn’t all that great. Fact is the unexpected (friends from university) and the distracting (any number of insignificant … [Read more...]

Reading Journal: Wednesday 22nd July 2009

08:00 - Just finished reading Beryl Bainbridge’s Goodnight Children, Everywhere, which takes me two-thirds of the way through Ox-Tales: Air (Profile Books). I rather enjoyed the story which is all about Thomas, and a freaky old radio that can … [Read more...]

Reading Journal: Tuesday 21st July 2009

07:00 - A serving of Ox-Tales: Air (Profile Books) with breakfast, and the story next in line from the collection was The Desert Torso by Kamila Shamsie. The story revolves around a courier’s transporting of an ancient and valuable stone torso … [Read more...]