Back in November, Ariella invited us to see a David Sedaris radio show being recorded at the BBC Radio Theatre near Oxford Circus. I’d never heard of Sedaris, but the idea of seeing a radio show recorded sounded like fun. Plus, it was free and so were we.

It was brilliant! Having no idea what to expect, I was blown away by how laugh out loud funny this guy is. He retells stories from his life, capturing the absurdity of moments that a less observant person may not even stop to take in. His delivery is beautifully understated, so you feel as though you’re laughing voluntarily instead of being forced into it.

There are a few quirks about the filming of a radio show though. You feel self conscious about your laughter. Is it loud enough that the overhead microphones will pick up just how much we’re all enjoying this? Oops, was that particular laugh of mine too loud or out of step with everyone elses so that I’ll actually recognise it if I hear this played back on the radio one day?

On the rare occasions that David stumbled over a word, he’d pause for a split second then resume delivery at the last comma or full stop before his error – a bit like listening to a record that keeps jumping back and repeating itself. Then at the end of the night, a dude emerged from the sound booth and handed David a list of sections to reread because they hand’t come through clearly the first time. It’s weird listening to those portions read back, devoid of context, and hearing him deliver it as though perfectly he’s the moment and emotion of that point in the story. And being told to laugh as you did the first time around was a challenge: how did I laugh at that particular line? I think I got it wrong, so hopefully the others covered for me.

Gerrod then cleverly bought me one of Sedaris’ books for Christmas, titled Me talk pretty one day. It’s named after one of the short stories within, about how students of a second language completely fail to grasp grammar and throw their newfound vocabulary all togeher in a jumble.

I’ve now finished it, after lots of bursts of laughter on the tube, and intend to share it around. It’s too funny to leave on the shelf for long. Check our his work at http://www.thisamericanlife.org/ which features podcasts from Sedaris along with other segments of good old fashioned story telling.

He’s playing at the Tivoli this Friday night if anybody in Brisbane is interested, then Sydney on Saturday and Melbourne on Monday.

Kristy gave me Watching the English at Christmas time, and I’m yet to read it. I thought to myself, “Hey I should take this with me to Amsterdam to read on the plane!”; unfortunately this thought only popped into my head a few seconds after Kristy asked me, “hey, do you mind if I borrow Watching the English to read on the plane?”.

Yes, I was beaten to the punch, but I wasn’t defeated: I had seen John Grisham’s latest book – The Associate – advertised, and being quite the fan of many of Grisham’s other books, I wanted to give it a whirl. Kristy was kind enough to grab it for me at the airport, even though she had to pay the WH Smith airport tax (read: “recommended retail price”). What a lovely wife!

It turns out that airport tax was only £3.00 extra, and it was totally worth it. In fact, if I’d have been able to forecast how much I would love the book, I would have paid loads more; probably even £4.00, or £4.25 extra. It was so good! So good! In fact, I’ve decided that I’m going to give it the illustrious title of “best John Grisham book that I’ve ever read”.

I was so addicted that I finished it before our three day weekend was over (though admittedly it was on the closing moments of our flight back to London). I’ve never read an entire book in a single weekend before! Highly recommended! gerrod.com rating: 10/10.

It’s an odd title for a book, rather cryptic, so when Amazon.com recommended it to me based on my previous searches I thought I’d give the blurb a read. And it suckered me in.

Continue reading →

It’s been 2 years since the last book of the Harry Potter series was released (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), and no doubt fans around the world have been waiting with baited breath for book 6. Finally the wait is over; book 6 is well and truly upon us.

As with all the previous Harry Potter books, this one is full of magic, competition, trials and tribulations, as Harry and his friends enter their 6th year at Hogwarts. Since the return of Lord Voldemort though, Hogwarts no longer offers the safe haven of protection that it used to, even under the watchful eyes of Professor Dumbledore. Who will survive the school year? Who is loyal to good, and who to evil? Read it and find out!

Again, like the books before it, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I’d almost say it has been my favourite of the series; at the very least, it would be a close second behind The Goblet of Fire (how good does the movie look?!). Existing Harry Potter fans will no doubt share this enjoyment, but of course someone new to the series would be hopelessly lost if they tried starting on this book. My only criticism is that there were a lot of references to things that happened in Order of the Phoenix; and since it’s been so long since I read it, I had some trouble remembering certain events and characters.

And so, my recommendation to the fans that haven’t read the Half Blood Prince yet, is if you too can’t remember Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, perhaps go back and read that one first. gerrod.com rating: 9/10.

Craig handed me Digital Fortress a couple of weeks ago and said, “this is one of those books that you just can’t put down at night”. I gotta admit – he really hit the nail on the head with that one! It was a few days before I started reading it, but once I got going it didn’t take me long to finish it – I just had to keep reading!

At first I didn’t like the style of writing – everything is explicitly explained, so there’s not much room for exercising your intuition. But the story line hooked me right in, so after a few chapters I barely noticed my original criticisms. The book is centered around cryptography – the art of breaking codes using computers. It’s got it all – twists, turns, lies, adventure… everything it needed to keep me thinking “just another few pages” before turning out the lights.

I reckon the book’s only letdown was the last 30 or so pages, but unfortunately I can’t say why without giving away the ending. Still, this was by far one of the most enjoyable books I’ve ever read – so I was rather surprised to see that most of the “reader reviews” at amazon sledged it! I guess everyone is entiled to their opinion, and mine stands firm – I loved it! Read it for yourself, and make up your own mind. Now that I’ve finished it, I’m looking forward to getting to bed at a decent hour . gerrod.com rating: 9/10.

I’m yet to read a John Grisham book that I don’t like, and The Broker was no exception. The book tells the story of a high-profile lawyer who quickly falls from his position of power, after accepting a jail term as a way of protecting him from very powerful enemies. 6 years in to his 20 year sentence however, he is unexpectedly pardoned, and sent to Italy by the CIA under what he presumes is a witness protection type program. Of course, there’s a much more sinister plot behind his release… but I’ll let you read the book and find it out for yourself.

Fans of previous Grisham books won’t be disappointed with this one. His style of writing makes his books uber-addictive, and if you’re like me then you’ll have trouble turning the light off and going to sleep. It’s just easy, and enjoyable reading. Grisham’s descriptions of Italy – the people, fashion, culture and most importantly food – make it sound like such a beautiful place to live! To think, that’s where 2 of my favourite foods were invented – pizza and pasta. Yummo! Now, if only I could speak Italian…

Anyway – call me an easy reviewer, but I didn’t find any fault with this book. Kristy and Craig both thought it ended a little quickly, and a little too conveniently, but I found that it wrapped up just nicely. I’d recommend this book to anyone. gerrod.com rating: 9/10.

• Counter-Strike: Condition Zero – For all your first-person “terrorist v anti-terrorist” needs, you can’t go past Counter-Strike, the world’s most popular online multiplayer game. Condition Zero was released earlier this year as a single-player edition of the award winning game. I finally finished it today – on “Normal” difficulty. Fans of the original game should be most impressed by this modification. I found it both challenging and rewarding. At only $60, it’s definitely worth it.
• Gomez: Split the difference – The latest album from UK group Gomez was released a couple of weeks back. Gomez is one of only a few bands whose albums I would buy without actually hearing a single song on them. (Pearl Jam and Powderfinger are a couple of others). Anyway – this album has much less edge than their last one (In Our Gun). After a few listens, a couple of notable songs stand out – numbers 4 (Me, you and everybody), and 7 (Catch me up). Gomez have a very unique sound, which makes it difficult to compare them to anyone else. But fans of The John Butler Trio, The Strokes, and Radiohead will get a kick out of this CD.
• John Grisham: The Runaway Jury – Though it’s not the latest Grisham release, I started reading this book after seeing the movie with the same title. Though the case around which the story is built is somewhat different, both the movie and the book have a very similar story line. I’m about 2/3rds the way through, and am loving it. John Grisham is such a compelling writer – the type of dude where you think, “just one more chapter and I’ll go to sleep” – and it’s always after midnight when you finally turn off the light.