OK, my holiday reading was as follows:
The Sea by John Banville
Well, I had to find out what book could possibly be good enough to beat Arthur & George to the Booker. And maybe I was prejudiced against it because of my love of Julian Barnes, but I didn't really like it. I have to admit that his writing is exquisite - he has a beautiful turn of phrase and his description of people is wonderfully vivid, albeit fairly cartoony. And some of the ideas in the book about memory are interesting in a sub-Proustian kind of way. But I didn't much like the "story" (such as it was) and I saw the two big twists in the end coming a mile off (well, there's a revelation, which wasn't really a revelation to me because I worked it out, and there's an event which I broadly predicted though I didn't guess the detail of it). Still, I'm glad I read it.
Stories Of English by David Crystal
Based on Flying Monkey's recommendation, and its part in discussion in another thread, I thought I'd give this a go. I started off not liking the author's tone - he comes across as an academic trying to rework his thesis for a popular audience, so his attempts to inject humour sometimes have the "dad dancing at a wedding" effect. But I warmed to the book pretty quickly because the subject matter is so damned fascinating. Unfortunately, circumstances meant I couldn't get really stuck into it, and it's pretty dense reading at times so you do need to be able to concentrate on it, so I put it on the back burner and will pick it up again as soon as I have finished...
Homicide by David Simon
Yes, I am a Wire-aholic, so it was inevitable that I'd get around to reading this sooner or later. It's like methadone to The Wire's crack cocaine - a good way to wean yourself off the hard stuff but just as addictive if you're not careful. Utterly compelling, a real page-turner. David Simon has a real gift for picking out the narrative threads and weaving them into a gripping real-life drama. His characterisation is brilliant too, which may sound like a strange thing to say about a documentary work, but it's testament to his descriptive abilities. I have been finding this book very hard to put down, which has lead to complaints from my family that I have been neglecting them over the past few days. This is journalism of the very highest quality.
d.