14) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

I picked up a couple of instalments of this late at night on the World Service a month or so ago when children were keeping me awake, and read it in one sitting this evening; now I have seventeen-month-old U on my lap and am trying to persuade her to fall asleep to the rhythm of the keys as I type this up.

Of course because of the narrator being a child with Asperger's Syndrome (at the very least) it's of particular interest to our family. My wife and her mother both read it and felt it was rather unrealistic in some respects. Well, to a certain extent. But good stories are often told about unlikely events. The only bit that I found really challenged my suspension of disbelief was where the narrator successfully bought a train ticket and got on the train. But it was necessary for the plot, so I thought forgiveable. Otherwise a gripping and moving book.

U's eyes are drooping, but I'll have to type a bit more before she falls asleep.

It will be interesting to see the performance of independent candidate John Gilliland in the Northern Ireland Euro-election - apparently he's doing well on the posters front anyway!

Brian May, guitarist with Queen, dropped out of an astronomy Ph D to become a full-time musician.

...but it's perfectly true:

Croatia's Euro 2004 squad warned against "acrobatic sex"