Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

What I love about David Mitchell's writing style is that you have to work to understand the pattern of his story. For this reason, his novels are not easy reads to start so if you are going to pick one up make sure you are ready to invest some time early on to figure out the puzzle of his prose .

Cloud Atlas weaves six narratives set over a number of centuries together. Each story is distinctly unique with some definitely being far more engaging than others. The novel is broken into two parts working through each story until the reader comes to understand how one story is linked to another.

I have also read Ghost Written and Number9Dream. I clearly remember being lost and frustrated when I first started Number9Dream but once I had the pattern down I was enthralled. Mitchell's latest novel Black Swan Green is on my to read list.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal By Christopher Moore

This is a good book for the cold dark days of winter for it is sure to bring a smile to your face and more than a few outright laughs. I recommend not reading it on the subway if you want to avoid people thinking of you as the crazy laughing person sitting across from them. Lamb is the story of Jesus as told by Biff, his childhood best friend. Biff fills us in on the missing years from when Jesus was a child until his adulthood. The story also offers a few very entertaining explanations on where things like Judo come from.

I'm not sure where my copy of it is so if you have it, post a note. That way if anyone else wants to borrow it, we can arrange an exchange. I picked up a copy for Trent recently (see cold dark days of winter referenced above) from a used book store so there are definitely copies floating around.

I would definitely consider this one of my all time favourite books. It's hysterical and you can't help but have a good time reading it. Oh...and check out Christopher Moore's website. He has a striking resemblance to Zanta..though it could just be the hat.

I had a request recently for a section on my blog about what books I am reading or recommend. So here it is...On My Bedside Table.

I am going to try and update it regularly and am hoping to be able to post a few recommendations for some of my favourites from the past.

To start things off...

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.
I loved this book! I don't want to say much as I'd hate to ruin the story but basically it wraps elements of science fiction into a beautiful tragic love story that will leave you crying at the end (in my case bawling!) I had the pleasure of attending an author discussion at the IFOA several years ago where RC facilitated a discussion between Audrey and David Mitchell whose Cloud Atlas I shall recommend in a future posting.

The IFOA starts today (by the time you read this), October 18th. I will definitely miss not being in TO for this, as it's come to be one of my favourite events.