Available as a poll over on Live Journal (you don’t need an LJ account to vote, just an OpenID account which means an account from WordPress.com, Google, Yahoo, Blogger, etc.)

Graphic Novels

• The Boys Volume 6: The Self-Preservation Society by Garth Ennis
• The Boys Volume 7: The Innocents by Garth Ennis
• The Boys Volume 8: Highland Laddie by Garth Ennis
• The Boys Volume 9: The Big Ride by Garth Ennis
• Dark Entries by Ian Rankin
• John Constantine, Hellblazer: Pandemonium by Jamie Delano
• John Constantine: Hellblazer: Bloody Carnations by Peter Milligan
• Angel: After the Fall Volume 3 by Brian Lynch and Joss Whedon
• Angel: After the Fall Volume 4 by Brian Lynch and Joss Whedon
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 8: Last Gleaming by Joss Whedon
• League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1969 by Alan Moore
• Tom Strong Volume 1 by Alan Moore
• Eternals by Neil Gaiman
• Fables Volume 15: Rose Red by Bill Willingham

Doctor Who

• Doctor Who: Dragon’s Claw by Steve Moore, Steve Parkhouse and Dave Gibbons
• Doctor Who: The Eyeless by Lance Parkin
• Doctor Who: The Indestructible Man by Simon Messingham
• Doctor Who: Wolfsbane by Jacqueline Rayner
• Elisabeth Sladen: The Autobiography by Elisabeth Sladen
• Running Through Corridors: Rob and Toby’s Marathon Watch of Doctor Who (Volume 1: The 60s) by Robert Shearman and Toby Hadoke
• Time, Unincorporated 3: The Doctor Who Fanzine Archives: (Vol. 3: Writings on the New Series) edited by Graeme Burk and Robert Smith?

Science Fiction and Fantasy

• Never the Bride by Paul Magrs
• Something Borrowed by Paul Magrs
• Enter Wildthyme by Paul Magrs
• I Shall Wear Midnight: A Story of Discworld by Terry Pratchett
• Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde
• Transition by Iain Banks
• Surface Detail by Iain Banks
• The City and the City by China Mieville
• Looking for Jake and Other Stories by China Mieville
• The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
• Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch
• Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

Other Fiction

• Flash for Freedom! by George MacDonald Fraser
• Flashman and the Mountain of Light by George MacDonald Fraser
• Flashman and the Redskins by George MacDonald Fraser
• Flashman at the Charge by George MacDonald Fraser
• Flashman in the Great Game by George MacDonald Fraser
• The Fort by Bernard Cornwell
• The Kingdom of Light by Giulio Leoni

Non-Fiction

• God Collar by Marcus Brigstocke
• Map Addict: A Tale of Obsession, Fudge & the Ordnance Survey by Mike Parker
• Millennium: The End of the World and the Forging of Christendom by Tom Holland
• Robin Ince’s Bad Book Club: One Man’s Quest to Uncover the Books That Taste Forgot by Robin Ince
• Seven Million Years: The Story of Human Evolution by Douglas Palmer
• The Story of English: How the English Language Conquered the World by Philip Gooden

Last Thursday evening I attended the launch of the Out of this World science fiction exhibition at the British Library. I’ve blogged about the exhibition for work.

The launch night was fun in a peculiarly geeky way as I got to play spot the author/critic/BNF. Some people (Kim Newman to give the obvious example) are easy to spot but far too many fall into the general category of middle aged men with greying beards. In fact I could easily have been looking at the crowd at Salute or @media instead.

At the same time that I was listening to China Miéville give a speech to open the show, Lettice was at a different exhibition launch with Cilla Black and Ringo Star. There’s probably something profound in that contrast but I’m really not sure what.

How many of my 2010 books have you read?

Available as a poll over on Live Journal (you don’t need an LJ account to vote, just an OpenID account which means an account from WordPress.com, Google, Yahoo, Blogger, etc.)

Fiction

• Alexandria by Lindsey Davis
• Saturnalia by Lindsey Davis
• Scandal Takes a Holiday by Lindsey Davis
• The Accusers by Lindsey Davis
• The Jupiter Myth by Lindsey Davis
• And Another Thing …: Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Part Six of Three by Eoin Colfer
• Holy Warrior by Angus Donald

Non-Fiction

• Extinct by Anton Gill
• Millennium: The End of the World and the Forging of Christendom by Tom Holland
• The Glorious Revolution: 1688 – Britain’s Fight for Liberty by Edward Vallance
• The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century by Ian Mortimer
• Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History by David Aaronovitch

Doctor Who and Torchwood

• Doctor Who: Coming of the Terraphiles by Michael Moorcock
• Time, Unincorporated 2: The Doctor Who Fanzine Archives: (Vol. 2: Writings on the Classic Series)
• Torchwood: Almost Perfect by James Goss
• Torchwood: Pack Animals by Peter Anghelides
• Torchwood: Slow Decay by Andy Lane
• Torchwood: SkyPoint by Phil Ford

Other TV spinoffs

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 6: Retreat by Jane Espenson
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 7: Twilight by Brad Meltzer
• Angel: After the Fall, Volume 2: First Night by Joss Whedon
• Spike: After the Fall by Brian Lynch
• Star Trek New Frontier: Stone and Anvil by Peter David
• Star Trek New Frontier: After the Fall by Peter David
• Star Trek New Frontier: Missing in Action by Peter David
• Star Trek New Frontier: Treason by Peter David
• The Big Book of “Top Gear” 2011

Superheroes

• The Boys Volume 5: Herogasm by Garth Ennis
• Bullseye: Greatest Hits by Daniel Way
• Cable Volume 1: Messiah War by Duane Swierczynski
• Cable Volume 2: Waiting For The End Of The World by Duane Swierczynski
• Civil War by Mark Millar
• Brit Volume 2 AWOL by Robert Kirkman
• Alias Vol. 1 by Brian Michael Bendis
• House Of M: World Of M Featuring Wolverine by Brian Michael Bendis
• New Avengers: Revolution by Brian Michael Bendis
• Mighty Avengers: The Ultron Initiative by Brian Michael Bendis
• Punisher MAX: In the Beginning by Garth Ennis
• Punisher MAX: Kitchen Irish by Garth Ennis
• Punisher MAX: Long Cold Dark by Garth Ennis
• Punisher MAX: Mother Russia by Garth Ennis
• Punisher MAX: The Slavers by Garth Ennis
• Punisher Max: Up Is Down And Black Is White by Garth Ennis
• NYX X-23: Innocence Lost by Zeb Wells
• Saga of the Swamp Thing Book Two by Alan Moore
• WildC.A.T.S: Homecoming by Alan Moore
• Wildstorm: Armageddon by Christos Gage
• Wolverine: Enemy of the State by Mark Millar
• X-Force Volume 1: Angels And Demons by Craig Kyle
• X-Force Volume 3: Not Forgotten by Craig Kyle
• X-Men: Endangered Species by Mike Carey
• X-Men: Legacy – Sins Of The Father by Mike Carey
• Uncanny X-Men: Manifest Destiny by Ed Brubaker
• Supreme Power: Hyperion by J. Michael Straczynski

Other Graphic Novels

• Elephantmen: Wounded Animals by Richard Starkings
• Grandville by Bryan Talbot
• Fables: 1,001 Nights of Snowfall by Bill Willingham
• Fables: Great Fables Crossover by Bill Willingham
• Fables: Witches by Bill Willingham
• Jack of Fables: Americana by Bill Willingham
• Jack of Fables: Bad Prince by Bill Willingham
• Jack of Fables: The (Nearly) Great Escape by Bill Willingham
• Jack of Fables: The Big Book of War by Bill Willingham
• John Constantine Hellblazer: Hooked by Peter Milligan
• John Constantine Hellblazer: India by Peter Milligan
• We3 by Grant Morrison
• The Umbrella Academy: Dallas by Gerard Way

Work

• HTML5: Up and Running by Mark Pilgrim
• Introducing HTML5 by Bruce Lawson and Remy Sharp
• jQuery Cookbook
• jQuery: Novice to Ninja by Earle Castledine
• Pro JavaScript Techniques by John Resig
• Secrets of the JavaScript Ninja by John Resig
• Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson

I’ve managed to catch up a little and by using the jQuery library plus a few plugins I’ve done some quite cool things despite not having the sort of knowledge that real JavaScript pros have these days.

I’m a front end engineer, I’m not a “proper” programmer, I don’t come from a programming background and have had close to zero formal training. I only vaguely understand the principles behind object oriented programming and design patterns and so on and I think that I think that they are good things, but I have no real idea of how to apply them to my code.

Speaking of which, unminified it’s 70Kb, 1500 lines and growing. There’s a big refactoring job that needs doing there before it becomes impossible to maintain. But how to start?

Bookwise, I have Jon Resig’s Pro JavaScript Techniques and Douglas Crockford’s JavaScript: The Good Parts and a few others. Are there any others that I should be looking at? What about training? Web sites? Blogs I should be following? Where do I go from here?

Very True Mood:  cranky

Then I went out and bought another two graphic novels… But it must be said that most of the comics I’ve read this year came from West Norwood library, and now that I’ve exhausted most of their good ones, and some of their bad ones, I think 2010 may be slightly less weighted towards graphic novels.

How many of my 2009 books have you read?

Available as a poll over on Live Journal (you don’t need an LJ account to vote, just an OpenID account which means an account from WordPress.com, Google, Yahoo, Blogger, etc.)

Any of these Doctor Who books?

• Doctor Who: Bunker Soldiers
• Doctor Who: The Sleep Of Reason
• Doctor Who: The Tomorrow Windows
• Doctor Who: More Short Trips
• Doctor Who: The Iron Legion
• Doctor Who: The Tides of Time
• Doctor Who: A Cold Day in Hell
• Doctor Who: The Forgotten
• Faction Paradox: Warring States
• Faction Paradox: Warlords Of Utopia
• Faction Paradox: Of the City of the Saved…
• Time, Unincorporated 1: The Doctor Who Fanzine Archives

Any of these Star Wars books?

• Star Wars: Agents Of Chaos 1 – Hero’s Trial
• Star Wars: Agents of Chaos 2 – Jedi Eclipse
• Star Wars: Balance Point
• Star Wars: Edge of Victory I: Conquest
• Star Wars: Edge of Victory II: Rebirth
• Star Wars Tales: Volume 4
• Star Wars: Crimson Empire

Any of these Fables graphic novels?

• Fables: Legends in Exile
• Fables: Animal Farm
• Fables: Storybook Love
• Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers
• Fables: The Mean Seasons
• Fables: Homelands
• Fables: Arabian Nights (and Days)
• Fables: Wolves
• Fables: The Mean Seasons
• Fables: The Mean Seasons
• Fables: War and Pieces
• Fables: Dark Ages

How about a bit of Alan Moore?

• Saga of the Swamp Thing
• Promethea Book One
• Promethea Book Two
• Promethea Book Three
• Promethea Book Four
• Promethea Book Five
• Skizz
• DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century 1910
• Captain Britain

Have you read these DC Superheroes?

• Superman and Batman Vs. Aliens and Predator
• Superman: For Tomorrow v. 1
• The Kingdom
• Kingdom Come
• JLA: Riddle of the Beast
• All Star Superman: Vol 1
• Batman: Year One

Or these Marvel Superheroes?

• Captain Britain and MI13: Secret Invasion
• Captain Britain and MI13: Hell Comes to Birmingham
• Captain Britain And MI13: Vampire State
• Civil War: Iron Man
• Iron Man: Haunted
• Iron Man: Director of SHIELD
• Heroes Reborn: Captain America
• Marvels (Kurt Busiek)
• Mighty Avengers Volume 2: Venom Bomb
• New Avengers Volume 1
• New Avengers Volume 2
• Spider-Man, Peter Parker: Back in Black
• Thor (J. Michael Straczynski)
• Thor: Ages Of Thunder
• Ultimate Origins
• House Of M Prelude: Excalibur
• House Of M
• X-Men: Messiah Complex
• X-Force/Cable: Messiah War
• X-Men: Original Sin
• X-Men: Fairy Tales
• Wolverine: Get Mystique
• Wolverine: The Death of Wolverine

Other Superheroes

• Astro City: Life in the Big City
• Astro City: Local Heroes
• Astro City: Confession
• Brit: Old Soldier
• Ex Machina: The First Hundred Days
• Ex Machina: Tag
• Ex Machina: Fact V. Fiction
• Planetary Vol. 1: All Over the World and Other Stories
• Planetary Vol. 2: The Fourth Man
• The Authority : Under New Management
• The Authority: Earth Inferno and Other Stories
• The Authority: Harsh Realities
• The Authority: The Magnificent Kevin
• Sleeper: Season One
• The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite
• The Boys Vol. 1: The Name of the Game
• The Boys Volume 2: Get Some
• The Boys Volume 3: Good for the Soul
• The Boys Volume 4: We Gotta Go Now

Random assortment of graphic novels

• John Constantine Hellblazer: The Roots of Coincidence
• John Constantine Hellblazer: Scab
• John Constantine Hellblazer: Chas The Knowledge
• Midnight Nation
• Ocean (Warren Ellis)
• Scarlet Traces
• Scarlet Traces: Great Game
• The Dreaming: Through the Gates of Horn and Ivory
• Y: The Last Man – Unmanned

• The Walking Dead Book 1
• The Walking Dead Volume 3: Safety Behind Bars
• The Walking Dead Volume 4: The Heart’s Desire
• The Walking Dead Volume 5: Best Defense
• Negima!: Magister Negi Magi Volumes 1-10 (‘cos I can’t be bothered listing them all)
• Angel: After the Fall, Vol. 1
• Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 Volume 4: Time Of Your Life
• Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 Volume 5: Predators And Prey

Some Novels

• Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett
• The Folklore of Discworld by Terry Pratchett and Jacqueline Simpson
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
• Cartomancy by Mary Gentle
• Microserfs by Douglas Coupland
• Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
• Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
• Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay

Historical Novels

• Outlaw by Angus Donald
• Sharpe’s Devil by Bernard Cornwell
• The Burning Land by Bernard Cornwell
• The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
• Clarissa Oakes by Patrick O’Brian
• The Wine-dark Sea by Patrick O’Brian
• The Commodore by Patrick O’Brian
• The Yellow Admiral by Patrick O’Brian
• The Hundred Days by Patrick O’Brian
• Blue at the Mizzen by Patrick O’Brian

And finally, have you read any of these?

• The Book of Bunny Suicides by Andy Riley
• Barcelona (Lonely Planet City Guide)
• Barcelona and Catalonia (DK Eyewitness Travel)
• Belching Out the Devil by Mark Thomas
• How Mumbo-jumbo Conquered the World by Francis Wheen
• Thank You for the Days by Mark Radcliffe
• Even Faster Web Sites by Steve Souders
• The Big Book of "Top Gear" 2009
• The Big Book of “Top Gear” 2010
• Socks’ Feline Miscellany

Now you’ve seen what I’ve read in 2009, recommend one book that I should read in 2010 in the comments.

I’ve been passing the time between parts one and two by dipping into the festering mire of DW fandom to see what crackpot speculation people have come up.

( Spoilers and Speculation )

So there you go, I’ve proved that almost everything that could happen in part two has already been done in the novels, and that I’m as anal and crackpot as any other fan.

I suspect that the reality of part two will be even more sane/crazy, predictable/unpredictable, clichéd/original than the above.

Very True Mood:  cranky

Raj’s new book. Out soon.

First up was the Robot Zoo at the Horniman Museum. Did you know that it took three people to drive a chameleon?

Then we did a bit of shopping. Lettice bought beads and I bought Doctor Who books.(About Time 3 2nd edition is 500 pages long and has an end note about the Chuckle Brothers, how can you not want it?)

If you missed James May’s plasticine garden at Chelsea you can now see it at the Royal Festival Hall.

Then we went on the London Eye. Yes, we live in London. Yes, we work in London tourism. Yes, it’s been open for nine years. No, we hadn’t been on it before.

Then there was yarn shopping. Followed by Yo! Sushi (between you and me, the County Hall branch is always nice and quiet in the evenings and only a short walk from the heaving, 45 minute wait to be seated, restaurants along the Southbank).

Anyway, I’ll do a proper image post either tomorrow or on Monday, in the meantime there are pictures on Flickr.

Very True Mood:  content

Your result for Which fantasy writer are you?…

Ursula K Le Guin

3 High-Brow, -7 Violent, -3 Experimental and 3 Cynical!

Congratulations! You are High-Brow, Peaceful, Traditional and Cynical! These concepts are defined below.

( More details )

Very True Mood:  grumpy