Aristotle and an Aardvark go to Washington

Perhaps reflecting the fact that I am more interested in politics than philosophy, I found this book a bit more interesting (and probably retained a bit more too) than the authors earlier book explaining philosophy through jokes. This book however is the same premise, but tackles politics. It is a good introduction to the topic, and one is somewhat the wiser from reading it. We all know that politicians tell lies - but what type of lies? Now one can know for sure. Recommended for lazy rainy days when there is not much to do but read something interesting.

The Spy Who Loved Me

This does not start as a normal Bond book. Indeed, it is after more than 80 pages that we get to meet Commander Bond. The book is told from a different perspective than the norm, from the point of view of one of the central characters, a young Canadian woman. This leads us to a different type of Bond tale - rather than being an entire movie, this could a long opening third to a movie. But it would be a great third, with some perfect bad guys and Bond just being Bond.

At first, I was impatient reading this as I wanted to read about James Bond! But once I got past this, I appreciated the bold experiment that Ian Fleming made. It's a 007 story, but not a 007 novel. But very enjoyable. I only wish there were more than 3 original books remaining for me to read.

The Fall

I read the first part of this trilogy, The Strain, earlier this year and really enjoyed it, so it was with a little excitement that I picked up the second book. And it did not disappoint! The story picks off where the last one ended, and continues in its glorious cinematic vein. If it doesn't get made into a movie... well I don't know what to say given the state of most films these days. It is just calling out for it. But regardless of that, The Fall features all the old favourites from the first novel, nuclear power plants, lots of gore, abuse of the aged, some deaths and a lot of action. I would definitely recommend it (I read this in 5 days) but would suggest starting with the first book to get the most out of it.

This is a scatterbrained review, but I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed the book and am interested in seeing how the third one ends. Triumph for the Master or will mankind pull it out of the bag?