Current location:	New Caprica
Current mood:	busy

Long List: March 2008
Haven't had one of these for ages so here is one!! Usual rules, 5 positive votes and 1 anti-vote per person. Votes either on this post or by email to me before Sunday. Apologies if I have missed any suggestions or accompanying notes - I'm assembling this from various posts/emails so I might have missed something. *Please* email me if I get something wrong! I'm not doing it deliberately :o)



1. Sergey Lukyanenko (translated by Andrew Bromfield), "The Night Watch"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Night-Watch-Sergei-Lukyanenko/dp/0099489929/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197479986&sr=1-1
I don't think we read enough vampire novels, and I'd quite like to see what this would be like compared to the film. Although it is part of a trilogy, I don't think it would be necessary to read all three books.

2. James Herbert, "The Secret of Crickley Hall"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-Crickley-Hall-James-Herbert/dp/0330411683/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197479906&sr=1-2
I thought some "traditional haunted" house stories might be fun to take a break from the more serious books we do. Although apparently this one is not one for the squeamish...

3. John Llewellyn Probert, "The Faculty of Terror"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Faculty-Terror-John-Llewellyn-Probert/dp/0955092256/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197479839&sr=1-1
Scary short stories, a homage to the horror films made by Amicus.

4. Liz Williams, "Snake Agent"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Snake-Agent-Detective-Inspector-Novels/dp/1597801070/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204125380&sr=8-1

5. Max Brooks, "World War Z" (I think it's finally into standard paperback rather than trade)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/World-War-Z-Max-Brooks/dp/0715637037/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204125405&sr=1-2
Just because it turned out to be a very good book which was a lovely surprise given that I was expecting a B movie in book form!

6. Iain M. Banks, "Excession"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Excession-Iain-M-Banks/dp/185723457X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204125424&sr=1-1
My favourite Culture novel and well worth a read.

7. Karen Armstrong, "Through the Narrow Gate"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Through-Narrow-Gate-Memoir-Convent/dp/0006550541/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204125443&sr=1-6
I heard a couple of murmers wondering where this went last time the list got revamped. An interesting little biographical piece about being a nun in the mid twentieth century.

8. Dan Simmons, "Hyperion"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hyperion-Gollancz-Dan-Simmons/dp/0575076372/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204126243&sr=1-2
I thoroughly enjoyed some of the stories in this (it's one continuous story, but told from the viewpoints of several characters including flashbacks to their past). I suspect it would make for a good discussion and it also leaves open the possibility of reading the second book in the series for people who really enjoy it.

9. Mark Z. Danielewski, "House of Leaves"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/House-Leaves-Mark-Z-Danielewski/dp/0375703764/ref=ed_oe_p?ie=UTF8&qid=1199386372&sr=1-1
Everyone I know whose read this has loved it. It has rather a long word count but as there is some rather clever type-setting it is not as long as the page count would indicate. It's part horror part mystery and the type of story that just sucks you in and changes your perceptions of things.

10. Asimov, "Caves of Steel"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Caves-Steel-Robot-Isaac-Asimov/dp/0586008357/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199386773&sr=1-1
My favorite of Asimov's novels, part cyber-punk detective story years ahead of it's time, part commentary on humanity. And it's got Robots!

11. Shan Sa, "Empress"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Empress-Shan-Sa/dp/0061147877/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199386733&sr=8-1
A reasonable fictionalised account of the only woman to rule China as Emperor and found her own dynasty. (my favorite woman in all of Chinese history)

12. Mary Shelley, "Frankenstein"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Frankenstein-Modern-Prometheus-Penguin-Classics/dp/0141439475/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199387023&sr=1-2
It took me ages to get around to reading this so I'm not sure if everyone else has or not. But I was shocked at how good it was and how much I enjoyed it. I think it has a lot of interesting ideas that could be discussed about science and monsters.

13. Burroughs "Junky"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Penguin-Modern-Classics-William-Burroughs/dp/014118700X/ref=pd_sim_b?ie=UTF8&qid=1199387049&sr=1-1
After loving On the Road so much, I thought it'd be good to try some Burroughs.

14. E.T.A. Hoffmann, "The Devil's Elixirs"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Devils-Elixirs-E-T-Hoffmann/dp/1906210187/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204126306&sr=1-1
A cursed monk drinks from the forbidden Devil's Elixir and finds himself inexorably drawn into crime and depravity. I thought some german romanticism / Sturm & Drang would go well on the list, and this one seemed appropriately gruesome.

15. Apuleius (Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis), "The Golden Ass"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Golden-Ass-Oxford-Worlds-Classics/dp/0192838881/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204126321&sr=1-2
Written in the 2nd century AD, it is the only Roman novel to have survived intact to the present. Lucius is obsessed with magic and wants to be transformed into a bird, but becomes an ass by mistake. A series of mishaps ensues as he tries to regain his human form. Get a modern translation (the Oxford classics one should do) or you might find all the naughty bits have been omitted.

16. Jacques Cazotte, "The Devil in Love"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Devil-Love-European-Classics/dp/0946626731/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204126349&sr=1-1
Alvare dabbles in black magic and summons the devil, who falls in love with him and, in the form of a beautiful girl, follows him everywhere to win his affection.

17. Gustave Flaubert, "Madame Bovary"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Madame-Penguin-Classics-Gustave-Flaubert/dp/0140449124/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204126371&sr=1-1
Emma's ennui leads her down the path to ruin: one of the loveliest literary tragedies ever.

18. Donna Williams, "Nobody Nowhere: The Remarkable Autobiography of an Autistic Girl"
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nobody-Nowhere-Remarkable-Autobiography-Autistic/dp/1853027189/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204126391&sr=1-2
What the world of autism is like, from an autistic person's point of view.