Modern Fiction Books

Advantages: Quite readable...
Disadvantages: ...Although why you'd want to escapes me

"Hey, someone's written a book about me", was my immediate smart arsed reaction to seeing "1001 Nights Without Sex" for the first time, putting aside the subtitle "The Curse of the Single Girl" for the sake of the joke. In truth, however, I couldn't see the appeal in admitting to anyone that you'd not had sex in something approaching three years, much less to the world in general. Even now, having read the book, I still can't see why anyone would ...
...more than a thousand days. After initial thoughts like these, you're possibly wondering why I ever read the book in the first place. The answer to that is little more than a morbid curiosity. Exactly the same kind of thing that makes people slow down to look as they pass car accidents. I was a little worried it was going to turn into a version of "Bridget Jones's Diary" ("1st December 2003. 897 days without sex. Not v.g.") or something akin to Aragorn's ... Read review

Advantages: High Speed Funny
Disadvantages: Low Down Nity Gritty

...in the postal district of 101 Reykjavik in Iceland’s capital city. Most of his time is spent surfing the Net, watching TV, checking out girls in bars (rating them by money value) and occasionally watching porn videos. He is a slacker and a slouch, determined to resist adulthood at all costs, existing only within the confines of his kooky lifestyle. At home his comfortable routine comes under threat when his mother decides to come out as a lesbian ...
...like an unattractive option. 101 Reykjavik is described as a darkly comic tale of perverse sexuality and youth culture. Written in three parts with no chapters, this book has a flowing narrative that eases the reader through the tangents, twists and turns of the plot. With biting humour and quirky form this is a first-person account of a bizarre love triangle, relationships gone wrong and the stress to conform to social norms. Often stark, sinister ... Read review

Advantages: It's all fascinating
Disadvantages: Perhaps it's coming true??

...the world could become in 1984 (it was written in the '50s) if nothing was done to change what was going on at the time. The book centres around Winston Smith, an outer party member of the superstate Oceania, which encompasses North and South America, southern Africa, the UK and Australasia. The people of Oceania can be part of the proles (the "commoners"), the outer party (party workers) and the inner party (the small amount of wealthy people). ...
...party, which is headed by Big Brother (the TV show is named after this book) which rules a totalitarian state where everything is under control of the party. The party want to control everything, and what to do all they can to stop a rebellion. To do this, they re-write history to their benefit and they "vapourise" those who are suspected to be against the party ("thought criminals"). The party watches everyone, the have "telescreens" which blare ... Read review

Advantages: Great concept, interesting characters and brilliant sense of voyeurism.
Disadvantages: Ending perhaps doesn't fit as well as it might.

...in its 'internet novel' days. 253 is the story of a seven-and-a-half minute journey on the London Underground Bakerloo line, between Embankment and the Elephant and Castle. Ryman devotes one page of exactly 253 words to each of the 253 people on board the train, giving us a snapshot of their lives. As such, the book does not have a coherent storyline as such (save the hilariously catastrophic final chapter detailing a hugely catastrophic tube crash, ...
...no means a disadvantage - Ryman successfully appeals to the voyeur in us all! Some pages detail their relationships with or thoughts about the surrounding passengers, whilst others reveal dark secrets, whilst others go about their mundane day-to-day business. The overlaps in the characters lives are amusingly written about - we discover, for instance, that several of the ladies on the train are in love with the same 'Big Issue' seller who has spun ... Read review

Advantages: Engaging read with great little sayings
Disadvantages: Maybe slightly oriented for female readers

I recently finished 30,000 mornings. It was a very good read. A was half way through the book when I was thinking to myself why haven't I heard about this abduction on the TV and then realised it was only a work of fiction!! It has some great little ideas, like making your own scrapbook and lots of nice little sayings. I won't spoil the book for you, you can read them yourselves! I'm not a big reader, but found this book excellent especially as it ... Read review