Alex Harries's diary

I am, anti-climactically, referring to my Christmas reading I'm afraid...

I've just opened "Passing For Normal" by Amy Wilensky, a story of her life coping with Tourette's and OCD (for those of you who watch Shameless or Father Ted, apparently Tourette's doesn't just manifest itself as random outbursts of Father Jack-style blasphemy - I've been told...). It's a fascinating insight into this amazing woman's life (to date), and I'm reading with amazement. Find out more on Amazon.

QI's "Book of General Ignorance" is another bit of reading I've done this Crimbo. Until now I never knew Hippopotamus skin weighed about a tonne (a quarter of their total body weight, apparently). Nor did I know the Universe was beige (how boring). Or that Henry VIII had only two (or, arguably, four) wives. Or... Oh just go and buy it - it's great.

The creator of Dilbert has written a less well-known book and released it under the Creative Commons license. Entitled "God's Debris", it bills itself as "a 132-page thought experiment wrapped in a fictional story", and warns that it's not for people with set views on religion. For the rest of us, I think ("hope" maybe?) it's going to turn out to be something of an eye-opener. Another one I'm looking forward to finishing. You can download it below...

•  God's Debris 329.55 Kb
  

I also picked up "Ever Dated A Psycho?", a tongue-in-cheek (and occasionally flashback-inducing) book on how to go about finding that special, psychotic someone. Or something like that... Well worth a look I think :o)

Another Waterstones special was Chris Ryan's (y'know, author of "The One That Got Away") latest tome, "Ultimate Weapon". I gave up playing "spot the spelling mistake" after I reached twenty, but the story was a fairly absorbing - if predictable - read. If nothing else, I now know the mountains to the north of Iraq are somewhat chilly...

Other things I've read this holiday include "Illusions (adventures of a Reluctant Messiah)" (thanks Steve!) - very though provoking, but sadly quite a short little book - and a E-Tales (the best - and worst - of internet humour) - all those stories that arrive in your inbox, in one handy book (thanks to Secret Santa for that one, whoever the hell he is...), plus "I'm Dreaming Of A Shite Christmas", billed as an "ideal Christmas panic buy", and an indispensible A-Z of all things festively crap. Brilliant.

Something I've yet to read is Blood, Sweat and Tea - another Creative Commons e-book by a London Ambulance Service driver. Having read the blog, I know it's going to be well worth a look, but the problem is finding the time. Since I greatly respect the author, please buy the book from Amazon (and I think most people prefer to read printed books vs. e-books still, non?), but if you're too tight/broke/unwilling to pay money for something recommended by the likes of me, you can...

• Download "Blood, Sweat and Tea" from The Friday Project. Go on, you know you want to...
  

I make that a total of 7 1/2 books read, 1 1/2 to go, and almost no coursework done whatsoever. Apparently I have to pass a few exams this semester as well. Oh dear... Help!