You're Feeling Sleepy, Sleepy...

On the right hand side of this page, I have a column of recent 'doings'. Recent Youtubing, Recent Reading, Recent Listening ... and so on.

And I update the pictures and links every Sunday.

This morning, as I was starting to put this all together, I selected the picture for a book I've just finished this week entitled "The Reluctant Fundamentalist", and prepared the image for encoding. But then something struck me.

While I've always planned for that column to not be a recommendation list, but rather a snapshot into the things that have influenced me that week, I have, however, always consciously avoided posting images of things I didn't at least partially like. And I really didn't like The Reluctant Fundamentalist.

The dialogue is boring and unnatural. I didn't care for the characters at all. The story is dull, as is the storytelling. And fairly pointless.  It reminded me, in fact, of the old Monty Python skit where nothing happened, entitled "A Minute Passed."

• A minute passed. Then another. Then, another minute. Then ... another minute passed. Then another minute passed. And another. A further minute passed quickly, followed by another minute, when suddenly, a different minute passed, followed by another different minute. And another. And yet another further different minute. A minute passed.

And still nothing happened.

Unfortunately, as an English teacher, I'm required to read books I wouldn't ever choose to read.  On occasion, of course, this has worked positively for me, and I've discovered something great. But when I start one of my own books I don't like, I don't finish it. A school book, however, must be read to the conclusion. When I have a stack of thirty or more promising books waiting to be read, I almost resent having to waste time finishing soporific texts like this.

This book is one of the most boring I've ever encountered, so even though I finished it, I finally decided not to post the cover. Not everything that goes up here is a recommendation, but it's usually something from which I feel I have gained something.

And yet I am still talking about the book here. And I guess the unusual way in which it's written will influence my writing - (in that I'll never try it because it didn't work for me)

Each their own, I suppose. I noticed Philip Pullman loved it, and stated, "this is more exciting than any thriller I've read for a long time..."

Maybe he hasn't read much else recently.