Ooh, Coconut Unlimited, Brit(ish) and Natives sound interesting - I've jotted them down on the list. Candice Carty-Williams' appearance on the Adam Buxton podcast was interesting, and I think she mentioned getting some questions about her protagonist's terrible choices on there, so it's something she's aware of. I quite like books with fucked-up protagonists sometimes, so hopefully it won't put me off too much.
Currently reading
Watching the English, an anthropologist's look at British behaviour that I picked up years ago but never got around to getting through;
Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come, a very funny Yes Man-type book in which an introverted woman tries to force herself into becoming an extrovert by doing a series of increasingly challenging things; and the audiobook of
Room to Dream, David Lynch's life story in which each chapter is divided into a more traditional researched biography by Kristine McKenna and then Lynch's own rambling recollections of the time. Audiobook version highly recommended - McKenna's an awkward orator, but Lynch is mesmerising, especially when talking about a childhood spent watching his father kill various forms of wildlife, trying to burst decomposing cows, and encounter with a nude woman in the street near his home.
Here's the other stuff I've read so far this year...
That's Your Lot (Limmy, 3/5)Big old collection of short stories, each one intentionally ending abruptly. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Not as funny as I remember Daft Wee Stories being, but he's got a knack for making even the most daft characters and absurd actions seem psychologically plausible.
Surprisingly Down to Earth and Very Funny (Limmy, audiobook, 5/5)Limmy's autobiography, presented as a jumble of barely ordered recollections, anecdotes and observations. Funny and disquieting in equal measure, and brutally honest. Quite heartwarming along the way too. His delivery on the audiobook is brilliant, of course. I think it might be a 4/5 for the plain old text version.
Dune: Messiah (Frank Herbert, 3/5)The sequel to Dune is less haphazardly structured, and still full of brilliant worldbuilding and fantastic concepts, but feels like a bit of a drag. The shift from vast intergalactic subterfuge to court intrigue with a smaller cast comes as a bit of a relief in a way, but means we have to spend even more time with the glum, fretful protagonists staring into the middle distance and thinking really, really hard, and they're all stuffed to the gills with such superhuman abilities - precognition, hyper-intelligence, five-dimensional philosophical insight - that they're bloody hard to empathise with. Also, the book spends hundreds of pages on Paul's angst over the ghastly empire he's created and the fearful future he must walk towards, without explaining quite what would be so terrible if he just told fate to do one and pissed off into the desert with his missus.
[1]Animal Man Volumes 1-3 (Grant Morrison and various artists, 5/5)I forgot how bloody good this is, but it's best read as one whole in fairly swift order than as discrete volumes some time apart, as it really does tie together brilliantly into one satisfying whole. Every plotline that seems random or dropped is addressed by the end. It's superb. Also a really good introduction to Morrison's work, if you're interested but unfamiliar.
Chronicle of a Death Foretold (Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 5/5)Picked up the original paperback edition which advertises itself as THE NEW NOVEL FROM THE NOBEL PRIZE WINNING AUTHOR, which is taking the piss because it's barely more than 100 pages long. Not that it should be any longer - it's a flawless little gem, recounting a single grisly murder from the points of view of those in the village in which it happened, using that one event as a way to tell the stories of the various villagers. It's absolutely brilliant, and I'll be getting onto the rest of his books later this year.
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (Philip K Dick, 3/5)I do like PKD, but novels aren't really his forte. This is a good case in point: a novel with enough material for several short stories, bursting with so many ideas that it kind of pulls itself apart towards the end. Is it about reality vs simulacrum? The need for religion in our materialist society? The nature of God? The tyranny of the corporate-government complex? Knowing who we really are? Appreciating what we have? Predestination, and how to escape it? Nature vs nurture? The dangers of self-medication as an escape? Well, it's about all of those things, which ultimately means it's about none of those things. Good fun while it lasts, and plenty to chew on, but ultimately unsatisfying. Great title though.
