1990 / Audiobook / 253 pages / UK
**
I'm not sure why I was disappointed that a novel inspired by the discovery of the Titanic turned out to be a morbid tale of hubris, but however fitting, it wasn't very enjoyable.
2003 / Audiobook / 368 pages / UK
***
Iain Banks has an elaborate piss-up. I've read most of his books, but didn't know all that much about the man. He was keen to fill me in on the lot.
Richard Wiseman, Paranormality: Why We See What Isn't There
2011 / Ebook / 189 pages / UK*****
I followed the Prof's blog while he was promoting this, but didn't feel I needed to read it, since I'd read and lived enough sceptical debunking already. Enough time's passed that it managed to be nostalgic as well as entertaining, when it wasn't depressing. My scepticism hasn't waned, but the need to belittle people's wrong beliefs has, unless they're actively causing harm. The tone is cheekily educational rather than condescending, but as one of that lot, I would say that.
2015 / Audiobook / 233 pages / UK
****
The Bone Clocks didn't do much for me, partly for being so long-winded. Its more concise sequel/reworking is a much better version of the same thing, told as a haunted house horror anthology over five decades.
Grafton Tanner, Babbling Corpse: Vaporwave and the Commodification of Ghosts
2016 / Ebook / 104 pages / USA****
"Absurd, hilarious, unnerving, and sometimes boring."
A thoughtful exploration of the philosophy (presumably) underpinning vaporwave and YouTube Poop that makes the case for the intentionally shoddy, stolen, almost unlistenable music's artistry. Those satisfied consumers in YouTube comments enjoying it on the surface level are happy in their ignorance, don't take it away from them.
