Books and Wrestling.

I figured it was finally time I updated the blog; being as I haven't since the snow came and did a remarkable job of grinding life to a halt. Part of the reason for the lack of updates is in waiting for a subject to come along and strike me, but I'm still waiting for that. Instead, I'm going to ramble on about little bits and pieces related to books and wrestling. Hence the title.

Firstly, I wanted to read more this year. I'm always reading something, but the list of books I've completed always feels inadequately low. This is down to a number of reasons. Firstly, I'm a very slow reader. An amount of prose someone may read in ten minutes may take me twenty-five; and I'm loathe to skim-read in case I miss something important, or even a well constructed line or neat simile. A typical 85,000 – 100,000 word paper-back might take me a month to complete as a result. Secondly, I'm always starting books and never finishing them. If I start five books, I'll finish one or two. I like to think this means that when I do complete a book, it means it was a good, worthwhile read that must have really struck a chord with me. It probably means I'm lazy and have a low attention span. Thirdly, I like to take 'breaks' in between reading novels or non-fiction to read short stories.

Anyway, I set myself a goal to read sixteen to eighteen books (that's novels or non-fiction books, not including short story collections/essays/joke books etc) this year. So far I'm on two and a half. Not bad going. I'll be recording books I finish (NOT simply start) in this blog. So far in 2011 I have completed;

- Horus Rising by Dan Abnett

- Confessions of a Con juror by Derren Brown (I wrote a review of this here)

I'm currently reading The Man Who Never Was (link provided because explaining it could take all night) and I know I'm going to finish this one! It is the true story of 'Operation Mincemeat', a truly ingenious piece of allied counter-intelligence during WW2.

On the subject of books, the pile I have to read is ever growing. I have a 'to read' pile by the bed already, and this pile has grown a lot today. I went to the library and picked up 'The Complete Polysyllabic Spree' by Nick Hornby and LA Confidential by James Ellroy; the challenge will be on to read them by the due date, but if I like 'em I can always renew them. As I was getting those, I noticed the shelf where they library sells off old stock and I brought two books from there, both in surprisingly good condition. I got The Killer Inside Me by Jim Thompson (book infinitely better than the film I hear) and – I hardback no less – Double Eagle by Dan Abnett; both for a combined fee of a whopping eighty pence!

This, in the same week that mum brought a Kindle, and thus thousands of classics are now at my finger-tips for free. I have enough reading material to last me several years I think.

Finally, on the subject of books, has anyone been watching 'My Life in Books' on BBC2? (Probably a rhetorical question, I know) It's been airing weekdays at 18:30, and will for the rest of the week. It's a show where Anne Robinson interviews various known people about their favourite reads from various points in their life. If anything it feels far too short, but this just demonstrates what an interesting, compact little show it is. You should be able to watch the series so far on iPlayer. Guests so far have included Sir Trevor McDonald, Rebecca Front, Richard Bacon, P.D James, Clare Balding, Peter and Dan Snow, Sister Wendy, Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen, Jeanette Winterson and Alastair Campbell among others.

Anyway, onto wrestling. I haven't checked out any puro for ages, so aside from reading results from the last few months, I've ordered a copy of the big NJPW show from early January, found some other matches to watch later, and today I watched a few matches from the NJPW/CMLL joint shows held at the end of January. From the first show I watched the main event, a good but far too short six man tag match, piting Hiroshi Tanahashi, Prince Devitt and Mistico against Shinsuke Nakamura, Tetsuya Naito and Averno. From the second show, I've watched the Mistico vs. Averno 2/3 falls match – good but nothing stellar; and the excellent match for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championhips – Apollo 55 vs. Golden Lovers (that's Prince Devitt & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kota Ibushi & Kenny Omega.) Only complaint is that, like the aforementioned six-man tag, it was far too short.

I really haven't watched much wrestling for months, beyond the Royal Rumble, so it felt good to finally watch some more. Looking forward to some big events coming up, like CHIKARA's King of Trios, and this little-known show called Wrestlemania...

That's enough for now, though I'm already working on another post about this summers' music festivals. Won't leave it so long next-time.

Ciao for now!

(I really need a better sign-off phrase.)