I would like to read more. And I would like to remember what I read. Hence this site: somewhere to put my remembrances of books I have read.

It will turn out that most of the reviews will be of science fiction, but that is where my interest lies.

I will try to read as much as possible, and post reviews of those books as much as possible. I will also look to put up reviews of books I have read in years gone by; books that have stuck with me for one reason or another.

The impetus comes via wanting to replicate the effort Che Tibby puts into his reviews on his excellent blog Object Dart.

Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card.

Fun. Ender is a hero, and Ender’s Game is a hero’s story.

The Gone Away World by Nick Harkaway.

Oh yeah, this was good. Well worth it.

Nova War by Gary Gibson.

A worthy successor to Stealing Light. Hanging out for the last novel.

Matter by Iain M Banks.

Epic. Banks does it again.

Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds.

Most impressed. Will be reading more of Mr Reynolds.

Neuromancer by William Gibson.

I’m allowed to say “meh”, right? Seems more dated than it should be.

At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson.

Very interesting, very interesting.

The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F Hamilton.

Did someone say “too long”? If they didn’t, I did.

Against a Dark Background by Iain M Banks.

I think I’ve read too much Banks, because I read this with a feeling with dread all the way through. A dark thriller told against, yes, a dark background.

Look to Windward by Iain M Banks.

I just love the way Banks describes technology. No jargon; it is about as future-proof as you can get.

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson.

A let down. Stephenson writes very well, but the story is superfluous, way too long, self-indulgent and far too reliant on coincidence. I’m very proud of myself for only skipping extraneous prose a couple of times.

Perdido Street Station by China Miéville.

Involving and different. My first read of a Miéville book and I’ll be back for more.

Dragonfly by Bryan Burrough.

A riveting account of the American involvement in the Russian Mir space station during the 1990s.

The Book of Nothing by John D Barrow.

I found myself by turns fascinated and bored through this book. A history of nothing, from the mathematical concept of zero, to the philosphical concept of nothing, to the cosmological concept of a vacuum, not much is left unturned. Pretty comprehensive, but I found myself skipping some of the material because it got a little dry.

Raw Spirit by Iain Banks.

A diverting hodge-podge of Banks driving around Scotland in various cars tasting various whiskies and offering various anecdotes. A little disjointed, but worth it.

Despite my intentions to read as much as possible, there are books that I could not finish for whatever reason.

Underworld by Don DeLillo.

I know Don DeLillo is one of the English language’s greatest living writers, and of course the writing is masterful, but I’m afraid this book’s subject matter left me cold. I could only trudge through half of it before putting it down and not picking it up again. Apart from the genius opening on the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World”, the intertwining stories just did not do it for me.