Not books about Edinburgh; rather, the books I can remember reading while I lived there. Not counting the first few months, which was a ridiculously prolific period that needs its own entry to avoid breaking the page.
Library books, comic downloads and audiobooks soundtracking walks around town and mindless data entry. I didn't keep notes, so this incomplete list of transient tomes can never be comprehensive and I should stop worrying about it. I wish I could stop worrying about it.
2008
Read 2008
***
John trips balls on Patmos and countless generations of faithful scholars take it seriously. The template for many a psychedelic apocalypse, though I prefer Aphrodite's Child's rock opera version.
Read 2008
***
I enjoy David Icke's postmodern sci-fi, and this was the funniest looking of his books I saw in Edinburgh Central Library. It wasn't the first time he wrote about Reptilians, the Illuminati and all that jazz, and it wouldn't be the last, but a Keanu Reeves action film inspired him to regurgitate his messages again for red-pilled newcomers.
Read 2008
***
This was passed around my sceptical ghostbusting group. While we're on the same cocky page, and I had a chuckle at familiar character types, the self-important title and cover put me off ("Not THE Will Storr?! Wow!!!"). Seems he's calmed down in his later books.
Read 2008
*****
Still the longest book I've sat down and read rather than had passively read to me, it wasn't just about setting a superficial record. It was also a pathetic demonstration of commitment to a girl who liked it. Since that didn't work out, it also fortunately happened to be a really absorbing and life-affirming story that gave me a new appreciation for historic architecture, when I remembered.
Read 2008
***
I don't know if the first outing is actually weaker than the rest, or if I just needed time to warm up. I wasn't an especially well-read literature graduate back then, so most of it went over my head without annotations.
Read 2008
****
Second time around, I got it (with some help from Wikipedia, admittedly). Mashing up the early science fiction worlds of H. G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs and Margaret Cavendish (hey, I know that obscure writer from university! So that's what that feels like!), it's more in my ballpark and the hilarious Rupert cameo sealed the deal.
Read 2008
**
This bloodthirsty duo gets a lot of love from readers of a specific demographic. Maybe you need to have been raised on 2000 AD to feel it.
Alan Moore and artists, Supreme: The Story of the Year
Read 2008*****
I don't read these series before Alan Moore comes storming in to tear down the establishment and remould things in his image, so I don't know if Supreme was always lampooned as a crude pound-shop Superman or if they actually tried to get away with it before in the hope that no one would notice. One of my favourites of Moore's 90s work and one of his funniest, before his vintage parodies got overdone in later years.
Read 2008
***
The jokes have worn a little thin by the second round, which also has less of the vintage pastiches and is more grounded in sincere 90s art, which totally won't look similarly dated in the future. It doesn't help that the story leaves us hanging, apparently because the publisher went bust. Never mind.
Read 2008
****
Much has been said about this anthropomorphic holocaust survivor's guilt classic since the first instalment was published almost 40 years ago, and it's been too long since I read it myself to offer any original observations. It's very long, so you get good value?
Read 2008
***
This usually shows up in features on smart-arse literary comics you should read, if you scroll through a couple of pages. That's all down to the fourth-wall-breaking second issue, which was apparently pretty mind-blowing stuff in the 1980s, and which I predictably like. The rest is so mired in DC continuity that I don't know or care about that I don't care.
Read 2008
****
Taking the bronze after Sandman and Alan Moore's Swamp Thing as one of the best long-form comic series I've read, that was too long ago to break down my thoughts on the individual story arcs I've forgotten, which means it's long enough ago to justify reading again.
Read 2008
***
An interesting exploration of gender genocide, though it would've been better as a miniseries. Or maybe I should've quit when the characters started to get on my nerves, but then I wouldn't have known how it ended... I can't remember now.
H. P. Lovecraft and S. T. Joshi, The Annotated H. P. Lovecraft
Read 2008*****
Lovecraft is overrated by horror fans, and he doesn't have that many really great stories, so any collection is going to be uneven. But then I remembered I used to have this, which includes his three best* works (Dunwich, Mountains, Colour), plus another one I could do with reading again (Rats), all guaranteed racism-free, plus handy footnotes. You can't ask for much more in a standard paperback. I didn't read them all at the time, finding his shorter ones more approachable than these titans, but I caught up eventually.
* According to some scholars.
Neil Gaiman, Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions / Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders
****
More than a decade on, I have a foggy sense of these stories and how they made me feel without remembering too many specifics, so they'd be well worth reading again. I remember preferring Fragile Things overall. The perpetually looping hell was my favourite.
Read 2008, re-read 2019
***
My first time reading long-form Gaiman, I should have worked my way up slowly rather than starting out with his longest book. I had plenty of time to spare in a job that didn't involve doing much more than pressing the 'Enter' key all day long, but this grounded tale of magic realism that skewed towards the realism wasn't the escapism I'd hoped for.
Read 2008
****
I don't think I've written anything about Derren Brown before, so you won't know how much I adore his stuff. Whether he's reinforcing rationality, helping people improve their lives or just bamboozling us and pretending to explain how, Derren's a global treasure. This isn't the ultimate sourcebook you might be hoping for, but it's got plenty of good advice for people smarter and more patient than me.
Read 2008
*****
There aren't too many certified Great Novels that I really get, but this is one of the stand-outs. Simultaneously fun and harrowing, and generally disorienting, it directly inspired the best episodes of Lost and Star Trek: TNG, which isn't a bad legacy.
Read 2008, re-read 2014
****
For some reason, I remembered this being noticeably on the short side. Maybe it just flies past. A classic of apocalyptic anthropology with plenty to untangle, I could give it another spin.
Read 2008, re-read 2012, 2019
*****
First time having Pullman's modern classic of magical atheism read to me while working low-effort overtime in a quiet office. I enjoyed the second book especially for its nostalgic CBBC drama vibe.
2009
Read 2009, re-read 2019
***
I waxed more enthusiastically about Neil's creepy kids' book when I read it as a young adult (if only I'd made more notes like that, this archiving would be a lot easier). It didn't seem so special when I read it again, ten years further detached from childhood. Don't grow up, kids.
Read 2009
***
I heard this being touted as best Dahl, and didn't want to miss out even if I was a decade or so over the appropriate age. It's impressively nihilistic and relentless for a children's book, the eponymous Twats Twits coming across like an amalgamation of Harry Enfield's most loathsome characters. They get whats coming to them.
Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine, Last Chance to See
****
Adams' books are arguably best in audio form. He read nearly all of them himself, which is even better, but if you were going to listen to him narrate just one, it should be this wildlife travelogue memoir starring his actual self. I appreciated it even more when I listened again after seeing more of the world, its creatures and its thoughtless overlords, especially for the cathartic travel frustrations.
Read 2009
***
It would be unfair if Fry was a great novelist on top of everything else, so I suppose it's comforting that this tale of upper-crust life was just okay. Except the bit where the kid rapes the horse, that's not okay.
Read 2009
***
I didn't think much of Fry's adult autobiographies when I read them later, but his childhood memoir's more interesting for being so unrelatable that it might as well be fiction.
C. S. Lewis, The Screwtape LettersRead 2009, re-read 2015
****
You don't have to live under the fear of divine tyranny to enjoy this Christian classic revealing the machinations of Satan and all his little wizards, especially in its definitive form read to you by John Cleese. Always worth another go.
Read 2009
***
I never would have bothered with the equally weighty sequel to Pillars if not for a passive audiobook that could drone on while I worked. I don't remember it being anywhere near as compelling or majestic as the first one. I mainly remember sex.
Read 2009
**
The insanely popular book that vexed literary snobs in the 2000s, I didn't have an axe to grind and was just hoping to enjoy a pulpy conspiracy thriller set in some familiar places. Unfortunately, it was pap.
Read 2009
****
An atheist Bible for those who grew up in faith and angrily rebelled, I didn't need any secularising and resented being told repeatedly that I had to read Dawkins' unholy book as if it was the required text for my lack of faith. I got around to it eventually, and it was a drag to learn the extent of the suffering that goes on in Their various names. I'm glad this was a big thing after all, it's probably relieved a bit of that suffering.
Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the DarkRead 2009
****
A sceptical classic from the heart, Carl's criticisms of credulity and fraudsters are milder than a Dawkins and less sarcastic than a Randi, so there's more chance of his message getting through. I prefer him when he's waxing lyrical about the cosmos, but you need to take your head out of the clouds occasionally.
Read 2009
***
I really liked Transpotting (book), but this sequel wallowed in the grime with less humour or hope of reprieve. They're older and stuck in their ways, so there's no light at the end of the tunnel. I remember walking home down dark Edinburgh streets while listening to the audiobook describe a rape taking place more or less where I was and wondering why I was doing this to myself.
Richard Herring, Bye Bye Balham: Warming Up Vol 1
Read 2009****
Richard Herring's daily blog had only been going for six years (now sixteen and counting) when he overambitiously decided to start publishing it in book form. The vanity project was shelved as presumably unprofitable after two books / one year, but it was a nice excuse to revisit that formative period when Warming Up was a conscious daily writing exercise, trying to extract humour from a specific thought or event rather than just being an intrusive diary. Warning: Includes number plate spotting.
Read 2009
****
The Wicker Man is one of my favourite horror films (slash police procedural folk musical mystery), so I was chuffed to find out its director had written a sequel. It's not the most inventive or eloquent novel in the world, but I had a good time.
Read 2009
****
We're all fucked, so we might as well laugh about it. Grumpy Will Self unexpectedly leads the charge to lighten up post-apocalyptic dystopias, with plenty of scathing religious satire for good measure. Stick with Dave, he gets better.
Read 2009, re-read 2015
****
Edinburgh Skeptics' Society regular Prof Wiseman celebrates odd and terrifying brain quirks for the fun and interest of it all, before he switched to the self-help genre that was presumably more profitable and where he could administer some valuable damage control with his actual credentials.
Read 2009, re-read 2014-15
****
Philosophy and morality for beginners (that's me), this is a neat collection of classic and contemporary paradoxes dealing with brains in vats and GM livestock at the end of the universe, all covered briefly with the aim of sparking further conversation.
Read 2009
***
Baggini's back with more animal clickbait belying a thoughtful compilation of fallacies perpetuated by the media and old wives. Not all are obvious and not all have easy answers.
Neil Shubin, Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human BodyRead 2009
****
I was never very good at science academically, but pop science that invites me to view the world and my own body in fresh ways is always interesting, and Jurassic Park gave me lifelong goodwill to paleontologists. If you're not willing to see the tiktaalik in you, that's your choice. I find it comforting that we're all one big family.
Robert Winston, The Human Mind and How to Make the Most of It
Read 2009****
I enjoyed watching Robert Winston's documentaries growing up, but I don't remember much about them apart from all the naked people and that time he got pissed. This explains why, and I took notes while reading about how the brain makes connections to retain memories to make sure I retained that memory in the future. What do you know, it worked! Shame I didn't do that for all the other knowledge across my life that went straight out of the other ear.
Read 2009
***
Not having studied psychology, this layman's guide was the first place I learned that I was an introvert. It was comforting to know I wasn't alone, even if that's how I prefer to be. It broke things down a bit further, but no need to complicate things when you've already got your category.
Read 2009
***
A closeted cultist enters the world in all its confusing sin, with surprisingly sympathetic results. Banks was mellowing out, but he hadn't lost his sense of humour. After an aborted journey down The Crow Road and stalling on The Bridge, this one kept me hooked all the way, even if it's not one of his best.
Read 2009
****
I listened to assorted Jeeves & Wooster audio collections around this time without keeping notes, and it doesn't help that some stories were repeated across books, but reading through the titles of this one (which made me laugh in themselves), they're all familiar. The atypical Jeeves-narrated one was somehow the first I listened to.
Jan–Aug 2010
Read 2010
***
I longed to get hopelessly lost in the castle, but it wasn't gripping me and my visits became less frequent. I picked up the trilogy where I left off after half a decade, having forgotten that it wasn't really my thing. Nice illustrations.
Read 2010
**
After he stopped writing for Alan Partridge and the like, Patrick Marber became one of them serious and edgy playwrights. These apathetic dialogues came across like an even smugger Coupling.
Read 2010
****
A less harrowing counterpart to Maus and Persepolis in the canon of graphic auto/biographies, there isn't as much to glean from Craig Thompson's teenage romantic awakening, but then I did read it on the wrong side of that hormonal apocalypse. Hm? Oh yeah, nice drawings as well.
Read 2010
****
Vintage internet comedy that horrifyingly turned out to be as prescient as Chris Morris' work. It's still the only place I've encountered my namesake in literature, starring in the classic Tetris the Movie. That doesn't even sound like a joke any more, does it? They probably made it.
Read 2010
****
A decade on, I'm spared remembering the specifics of what Brooker was having a go at in his columns, just the general sense that I attended some really satisfying primal scream therapy.
Read 2010
***
The Armando Iannucci Shows offered occasionally awe-striking insights into the thought processes of one of the world's top satirists, or just his sense of humour. His newspaper columns are good reading, but don't reach those same heights. Maybe the voice and face are required.
Robin Ince, Robin Ince's Bad Book Club: One Man's Quest to Uncover the Books That Time ForgotRead 2010
***
It's enjoyable to hear/read Robin Ince talk too fast about anything he's interested in, but his passion for collecting crap isn't as rewarding as his rambles about life, the universe and everything elsewhere, unless you share his ironic appreciation for real-life Garth Marenghis.
Read 2010
***
If you caught Richard's stand-up show Oh Fuck, I'm 40 a few years back and were curious about what happened next, it involves a champagne bottle going where the sun doesn't shine, among other things. He comes out of the other side eventually.
Read 2010
****
This story of the humans being more monstrous than the monsters is like an updated Twilight Zone, if it was commissioned by HBO. One of the first Barkers I read, I should pay a visit to Midian again some time. I haven't watched Nightbreed, I wouldn't want to tame my mental imagery like that.
Read 2010, re-read 2017
****
Old-school ghost stories accompanied most of my aimless walks around Edinburgh and surrounds, but most of those were radio dramas, so they don't get to count towards the total. I didn't know someone was keeping score, that's always a lesson learned too late.
