Flashman at the March

Just completed my next challenge book:  Flashman at the March.  A slow read, but that's only because I kept re-reading passages.  Full review here.

Biggles Works It Out

Biggles Works It Out isn't the best of the Biggles books, but it was a pleasure to revisit a childhood fictional hero after nearly thirty years.  In this adventure, Biggles and Co. take on an airborne gang of international gold hijackers.

Full review here.

Where The Sidewalk Ends

Where the sidewalk ends is a not really a story. It is a book of poems. There are exactly 166 pages in this book.

It is a very funny book to read it for the first time. If you had read it before you might have read the invitation (which is a poem).

A Canticle for Leibowitz

Completed Walter Miller's A Canticle For Leibowitz; a post-apocalyptic novel that follows a monastery in what used to be New Mexico as the world crawls painfully out of a new dark age toward a new civilisation for doomed to repeat the holocaust in a final act of Armageddon.  Though it's never been out of print since its publication in the 1950s and is recognised as one of the true classics of science fiction, it never sat very comfortably with the sci-fi readership.  This is not surprising, since the novel lacks the usual trappings of shiny machinery or romantic post-atomic adventure.  It's frank and sincere Christian (not to mention Roman Catholic) was also uncomfortable for the typical fan's more materialistic prejudices. However, the level of writing with its strong characters, wry humour, and insightful plots place it head and shoulders above the more common fare of the genre.

Full review here.