Reading in Reykjavík

I am in a reviewing slump at the moment, so here is a bit of list love: Top 10 politically incorrect kids books I came across this list when I was researching the Dr. Dolittle books by Hugh Lofting (which I loved as a child), and thought it would be interesting to take a look at them. I think when adults read children’s books, they tend to forget that children generally don’t read much between the lines of books, and pretty much take a situation at face value. I know that when I was a child, I never noticed any racism in any of the books in this list that I read at that time. Little House on the Prairie - Laura Ingalls Wilder Politically incorrect because : it is offensive to Native Americans . I have read this one, but it was so long ago that I don’t feel up to commenting on it. I do remember that I liked reading these books as a child/teenager, but I didn’t love them. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain Politically incorrect because: it is offensive to blac...

Time for a little List Love. I came across this list of 10 best horror novels made into films when I was checking if had forgotten to mention something good on my Top Ten Books for Halloween list. This does not seem to be a consensus list, but rather one person’s opinion, but since film adaptations of books are a subject I am interested in, I decided it was worthwhile to look at this list in an issue of List Love. The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty (1971). The book made me afraid to go to sleep – the last book ever to do so. The movie was good, very creepy and the “pea soup” scene was disgusting. Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin (1967). I have neither read nor seen this one, but the book is on my Top Mysteries Challenge list, so I will read it one day. I generally find that reading the book before I see the movie is better, so I will not be watching it until I am done with the book. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (1959). One of my top 10 best supernatural sus...

Preface: It is beyond my understanding why anyone would lie about having read a particular book when they haven’t, but clearly some people think that claiming to have read, say, Ulysses , is going to make others think they are intelligent, cool, sexy, or whatever. While I can, up to a point, understand that people may be reluctant to admit that they haven’t read some of the classics, what I absolutely don’t get is people pretending to have read recent books that have not and may not become an accepted part of the literary canon.So what if you haven't read The Da Vinci Code ? Believe me: The literary police are not going to swoop in and arrest you. The danger in pretending to have read a book is of course that the person you are talking to just might have read the book and want to discuss it in depth. Even if you have read and taken to heart How to Talk about Books that You Haven't Read or memorised the Cliffs Notes, you may be found out sooner or later. Isn’t it just bett...