davidw's 1010 challenge

Keskustelu1010 Category Challenge

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davidw's 1010 challenge

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1davidw
lokakuu 15, 2009, 11:56 am

I've never attempted a category challenge before, and I thought this one would be an ideal chance to reduce my TBR pile(s), so here we are....

1. Books that have been in my TBR for far too long
2. Out of print/Neglected
3. Sports
4. General Non-Fiction
5. Penguin Classics
6. Childrens/YA
7. Military/War
8. Translated
9. Scotland
10. Anything that takes my fancy..

Since the main motivation behind doing this challenge is to clear my TBR pile, I already have the majority of categories filled, and now I can't wait to get started...

2davidw
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 28, 2010, 1:47 pm

None of my categories are in any order, and are liable to change at any time between now and the new year...

1. Books that have been in my TBR pile for far too long

1- American Gods, - Neil Gaiman Started 28/09/10, Finished 04/10/10 3/5
2- Blue Highways - William Least Heat Moon Started 28/01/10, Finished 05/02/10 3/5
3- American Tabloid - James Ellroy Started 01/01/10, Finished 06/01/10 5/5
4- Atomised - Michel Houellebecq Started 08/09/10, Finished 13/09/10 2.5/5
5- Carter Beats the Devil - Glen David Gold Started 06/03/10, Finished 09/03/10 4/5
6- Nausea - Jean-Paul Sartre Started 02/08/10, Finished 05/08/10 3/5
7- Life: A User's Manual - Georges Perec Started 05/11/10, Finished 17/11/10 5/5
8- Kiss Me, Judas - Will Christopher Baer Started 08/05/10, Finished 09/05/10 4/5
9- The Losers Club: Complete Restored Edition! - Richard Perez Started 30/03/10, Finished 31/03/10 1/5
10- Riddley Walker - Russell Hoban Started 12/06/10, Finished 22/06/10 4/5

3davidw
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 5, 2010, 3:07 pm

2. Out of print/Neglected

For this I am selecting books that I either found via The Neglected Books Page, or books that I can't buy new from Amazon UK (Some of these still appear to be available on the US site however).

1- The Deadly Percheron - John Franklin Bardin Started 10/05/10, Finished 12/05/10 4/5
2- Evolution Man - Roy Lewis Started 05/02/10, Finished 05/02/10 4/5
3- Corner Boy - Herbert Simmons Started 10/03/10, Finished 13/03/10 3.5/5
4- Fade out - douglaswoolf::Douglas Woolf Started 31/03/10, Finished 02/04/10 4/5
5- Two Hours To Doom - Peter Bryant Started 10/10/10, Finished 11/10/10 3/5
6- The Adventures of Jonathan Corncob - Jonathan Corncob Started 06/01/10, Finished 06/01/10 3/5
7- Night and the City - Gerald Kersh Started 10/08/10, Finished 13/08/10 4.5/5
8- No Man's Land - William Fairchild Started 05/08/10, Finished 07/08/10 2.5/5
9- When the Moon ran wild - Ray AinsburyStarted 23/10/10, Finished 26/10/10 3/5
10- A Walk In The Sun - Harry Brown Started 03/11/10, Finished 05/11/10 4/5

4davidw
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 22, 2010, 10:58 pm

3. Sports

1- I Said No Thanks: The Autobiography - Nacho Novo Started 01/06/10, Finished 02/06/10 2.5/5
2- Jim Clark: Racing Legend - Eric Dymock Started 29/09/10, Finished 01/10/10 3.5
3- Ball Four - Jim Bouton Started 17/11/10, Finished 22/11/10 4/5
4- Paper Lion - George Plimpton Started 14/03/10, Finished 17/03/10 4/5
5- Pointless - Jeff Connor Started 04/10/10, Finished 05/10/10 3/5
6- The Goalie: My Story - Andy Goram Started 03/04/10, Finished 04/04/10 2.5/5
7- The Fight - Norman Mailer Started 06/02/10, Finished 09/02/10 3/5
8- A Fan's Notes - Frederick Exley Started 24/09/10, Finished 27/09/10 5/5
9- The Thistle and The Grail - Robin JenkinsStarted 18/08/10, Finished 22/08/10 4/5
10- Stamping Grounds - Charlie Connelly Started 06/01/10, Finished 08/01/10 3.5/5

5davidw
Muokkaaja: lokakuu 20, 2010, 12:55 pm

4. General Non-Fiction

1- Leviathan, or The Whale - Phillip Hoare Started 10/02/10, Finished 13/02/10 5/5
2- Me:Moir - Vic Reeves Started 04/09/10, Finished 05/09/10 4/5
3- A Glasgow Gang Observed - James Patrick Started 04/04/10, Finished 05/04/10 4/5
4- Angels of Death: Inside the Bikers' Global Crime Empire - William Marsden Started 23/08/10, Finished 01/09/10 3/5
5- The Backroom Boys: The Secret Return of the British Boffin - Francis Spufford Started 13/05/10, Finished 17/05/10 2.5/5
6- Hell's Angels - Hunter S. Thompson Started 15/10/10, Finished 20/10/10 5/5
7- Corsairville: The Lost Domain of the Flying Boat - Graham Coster Started 18/03/10, Finished 20/03/10 3/5
8- Crack War - Mike McAlary Started 15/06/10, Finished 17/06/10 3/5
9- Volkswagen Military Vehicles of the Third Reich: An Illustrated History - Blaine Taylor Started 25/09/10, Finished 25/09/10 4/5
10- Both Sides of the Fence: A Life Undercover - David Corbett Started 08/01/10, Finished 09/01/10 2/5

6davidw
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 28, 2010, 1:47 pm

5. Penguin Classics

I chose Penguin Classics specifically for this category rather than Classics in general as I love the cover designs, and when looking to buy a 'classic' I usually end up buying the Penguin editions, and as a result have amassed quite a few.

1- We - Yevgeny Zamyatin Started 14/08/10, Finished 16/08/10 3.5/5
2- Winesburg, Ohio - Sherwood Anderson Started 02/09/10, Finished 04/09/10 4/5
3- This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen - Tadeusz Borowski Started 11/10/10, Finished 14/10/10 4/5
4- Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman (Penguin Classics) - E. W. Hornung Started 28/10/10, Finished 30/10/10 3.5/5
5- La Bas - Joris-Karl Huysmans Started 14/02/10, Finished 20/02/10 4/5
6- Oblomov - Ivan A. Goncharov Started 05/04/10, Finished 27/04/10 4/5
7- The Book of Disquiet - Fernando Pessoa Started 17/05/10, Finished 23/05/10 4/5
8- The Confusions of Young Torless - Robert Musil Started 09/01/10, Finished 11/01/10 3.5/5
9- A Hero Of Our Time - Mikhail Lermontov Started 21/03/10, Finished 22/03/10 5/5
10-The Annotated Archy and Mehitabel - Don Marquis Started 03/06/10, Finished 06/06/10 5/5

7davidw
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 18, 2010, 6:48 pm

6. Childrens/YA

1- Snotty Bumstead - Hunter Davies Started 11/01/10, Finished 12/01/10
2- The Machine Gunners - Robert Westall Started 17/05/10, Finished 17/05/10 5/5
3- The Twenty-One Balloons - William Pene du Bois Started 27/09/10, Finished 27/09/10 5/5
4- Coraline - Neil Gaiman Started 09/06/10, Finished 10/06/10 3/5
5- The Compleet Molesworth - Geoffrey Willans Started 02/08/10, Finished 10/08/10 3/5
6- Tim The Tiny Horse - Harry Hill Started 22/03/10, Finished 22/03/10 4/5
7- The Silver Sword - Ian Seraillier Started 18/05/10, Finished 18/05/10 3.5/5
8- The Bad Beginning - Lemony Snicket Started 06/10/10, Finished 06/10/10 2.5/5
9- The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm - Norman Hunter Started 16/02/10, Finished 23/02/10 1/5
10- Jennings Goes To School - Anthony Buckeridge Started 05/04/10, Finished 19/04/10 4/5

8davidw
Muokkaaja: lokakuu 27, 2010, 10:23 pm

7. Military/War

1- The Sorrow Of War - baoninh::Bao Ninh Started 26/10/10, Finished 28/10/10 4/5
2- Malvinas Requiem - Rodolfo Fogwill Started 22/03/10, Finished 23/03/10 2.5/5
3- The Next Moon - Andre Hue Started 28/05/10, Finished 02/06/10 4/5
4- Apache Dawn - Damien Lewis Started 12/01/10, Finished 15/01/10 2.5/5
5- Helmet For My Pillow - Robert Leckie Started 27/07/10, Finished 30/07/10 4/5
6- No Picnic on Mount Kenya: A Daring Escape, a Perilous Climb - Felice Benuzzi Started 20/10/10, Finished 23/10/10 4/5
7- Dispatches - herrmichael::Michael Herr Started 23/06/10, Finished 27/06/10 4/5
8- Jarhead - Anthony Swofford Started 07/08/10, Finished 10/08/10 3/5
9- Johnny Got His Gun - trumbodalton::Dalton Trumbo Started 28/04/10, Finished 30/04/10 4/5
10- 8937102::Scrimgeours Small Scribbling Diary: The Truly Astonishing Wartime Diary and Letters of an Edwardian Gentleman, Naval Officer, Boy and Son Started 24/02/10, Finished 03/02/10 3/5

9davidw
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 29, 2010, 10:17 am

8. Translated

1- Nazi Literature in the Americas - Roberto Bolano Started 27/11/10, Finished 29/11/10 3/5
2- All The King's Horses - Michèle Bernstein Started 04/09/10, Finished 04/09/10 2.5/5
3- Dirty Havana Trilogy - Pedro Juan Gutiérrez Started 01/07/10, Finished 06/07/10 3/5
4- Penguin Lost - Andrey Kurkov Started 15/01/10, Finished 21/01/10 3/5
5- A Life's Music - Andreï Makine Started 26/10/10, Finished 26/10/10 3/5
6- Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - Patrick Suskind Started 30/04/10, Finished 02/05/10 3.5/5
7- The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli Started 23/02/10, Finished 26/02/10 3/5
8- Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino Started 23/03/10, Finished 24/03/10 3/5
9- On Wine and Hashish - Charles Baudelaire Started 23/09/10, Finished 24/09/10 3/5
10- The Black Spider - Jeremias Gotthelf Started 02/06/10, Finished 03/06/10 3/5

10davidw
Muokkaaja: marraskuu 27, 2010, 4:08 pm

9. Scotland

I recently realised I don't read enough by authors from my own country, so this is an attempt to rectify that.

1- Cut And Run - Bill McGhee Started 24/05/10, Finished 25/05/10 3/5
2- The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner - James Hogg Started 27/02/10, Finished 06/03/10 4/5
3- Volapuk - Andrew Drummond Started 23/11/10, Finished 27/11/10 4/5
4- Tommy's War: A First World War Diary - Thomas Cairns Livingstone Started 07/09/10, Finished 14/09/10 4/5
5- 359384::The Good Fairies of New York - Martin Millar Started 11/10/10, Finished 11/10/10 2.5/5
6- Cain's Book - Alexander Trocchi Started 02/05/10, Finished 04/05/10 3.5/5
7- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson Started 16/09/10, Finished 19/09/10 4/5
8- A Glasgow Keek Show: Glimpses of City Life - Frank Worsdall Started 24/08/10, Finished 06/09/10 3.5/5
9- Cancer Party - Andrew Raymond Drennan Started 21/01/10, Finished 23/01/10 3.5/5
10- The Winter Whale - Jim Crumley Started 24/03/10, Finished 25/03/10 2/5

11davidw
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 2, 2011, 6:27 pm

10. Anything that takes my fancy..

1- The Tales of Belkin - Alexander Pushkin Started 23/01/10, Finished 26/01/10 4/5
2-The Thirteen Clocks - James Thurber Started 28/02/10, Finished 28/02/10 4/5
3- Documents Concerning Rubashov the Gambler - Carl-Johan Vallgren Started 25/03/10, Finished 29/03/10 4/5
4- Time Tunnel - Murray Leinster Started 05/05/10, Finished 08/05/10 3/5
5-Cautionary Verses - Hilaire Belloc Started 18/05/10, Finished 19/05/104/5
6-The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester Started 25/05/10, Finished 28/05/10 4/5
7-Three To Kill - Jean-Patrick Manchette Started 26/05/10, Finished 26/05/10 3/5
8- Notes For A War Story - Gipi Started 31/05/10, Finished 31/05/10 4/5
9- Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov Started 06/06/10, Finished 12/06/10 4/5
10-The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway Started 13/06/10, Finished 14/06/10 3/5
11- Laika - Nick Abadzis Started 23/06/10, Finished 23/06/10 4/5
12- Kick-Ass - Mark Millar Started 30/06/10, Finished 30/06/10 4/5
13- The Stand - Stephen King Started 08/07/10, Finished 26/07/10 5/5
14- Finding Violet Park - Jenny Valentine Started 29/11/10, Finished 30/11/10 3/5
15- Knockemstiff - Donald Ray Pollock Started 30/11/10, Finished 01/12/10 2.5/5
16- Explorers of the New Century - Magnus Mills Started 01/12/10, Finished 02/12/10 3/5
17- The Otterbury Incident - C. Day-Lewis Started 02/12/10, Finished 03/12/10 3.5/5
18- Slapstick, or, Lonesome No More! - Kurt Vonnegut Started 06/12/10, Finished 07/12/10 3/5
19- Around The World In Eighty Days - Jules Verne Started 07/12/10, Finished 09/12/10 4/5
20- The Great Gatsby - F. Scott FitzgeraldStarted 09/12/10, Finished 10/12/10 3/5
21- Ibid: A Life - Mark Dunn Started 13/12/10, Finished 15/12/10 2.5/5
22- Go Now - Richard Hell Started 15/12/10, Finished 17/12/10 2/5
23- The Average American Male - Chad Kultgen Started 19/12/10, Finished 19/12/10 1/5
23- Beyond the Great Indoors - Ingvar Ambjørnsen Started 20/12/10, Finished 23/12/10 3/5
24-First Light - Geoffrey Wellum Started 23/12/10, Finished 27/12/10 4/5
25- Candide - Voltaire Started 28/12/10, Finished 29/12/10 4/5
26- A Walk On The Wild Side - Nelson Algren Started 29/12/10, Finished 01/01/11 4/5

12VictoriaPL
lokakuu 15, 2009, 12:00 pm

Welcome!

13clfisha
lokakuu 15, 2009, 2:27 pm

Oh you have some cool books there! Volapuk by Andrew Drummond particullary caught my eye, I have been keen to try another of his books after reading Elephantina (which is great but odd, if you haven't read it). I admit I am also interested to see what you think of Iain Sinclair's London Orbital as I am struggling with Slow Chocolate Autospy right now (its good but I am totally confused).

14moneybeets
lokakuu 15, 2009, 3:22 pm

I like your categories! Lots of variety there. The "Neglected Books" look especially interesting. I assume these will be culled from Mt. TBR, since they're out of print? ;)

15avatiakh
lokakuu 16, 2009, 9:29 pm

I like the look of your booklist, some are on my 1010 challenge such as Life, a user's manual and some I read for this year's challenge such as The Savage Detectives. If you like football can I recommend Mal Peet's YA books Keeper, Penalty and Exposure, they are set in South America and very good reads.

16davidw
lokakuu 24, 2009, 9:50 pm

clfisha- I stumbled across Volapuk in a charity shop and thought it looked interesting. I'd never heard of Andrew Drummond before, but his other books look excellent. As for London Orbital- I'm not sure how that one will go actually- I'm not from London, so I'm not sure if this will affect how much I enjoy it.

moneybeets- Yep, all of the Neglected Books are from my TBR pile, picked up mainly from amazon marketplace over the last couple of years.

avatiakh- Thanks for the suggestions, I'll check those out.

17davidw
marraskuu 17, 2009, 7:37 am

Couple of minor changes made.
Just picked up 1001 Children's Books: You Must Read Before You Grow Up, so I can see the Childrens/YA section changing quite a lot between now and the start of the new year.
Can't wait to get started...

18avatiakh
marraskuu 17, 2009, 1:01 pm

I also have a copy of 1001 Children's Books: You Must Read Before You Grow Up and have used it for my children's category, listing some of the lesser known classics.

19davidw
tammikuu 6, 2010, 4:54 pm

And so it begins....

1- American Tabloid by James Ellroy/ 5/5

The first in Ellroy's 'American Underworld' trilogy, this view of the seedy underbelly of American life from the late 1950s to the assassination of John F. Kennedyin 1963. I've somehow managed to avoid reading any of Ellroy's books so far, but this definitely won't be the last, and I suspect the other 2 books in this trilogy may be making an appearance in my 10th category.

2- The Adventures of Jonathan Corncob by Jonathan Corncob 3/5
From my 'out of print' category comes a book described in the introduction as 'the Catch-22 of the American Revolution', and I can't disagree with that. This book appears to be all but forgotten - from what I can gather it's been in print once in 1976 since it's orginal release in 1787, and no one knows who the author really was. Well worth seeking out, it's a quick read and made me laugh out loud a few times.

20kristenn
tammikuu 6, 2010, 5:41 pm

Definitely trying the Corncob one.

21davidw
tammikuu 8, 2010, 8:27 pm

It's well worth tracking down- I got my copy from amazon marketplace quite cheaply, and last time I looked there were a few reasonably priced copies available.

3- Stamping Grounds: Exploring Liechtenstein and its World Cup Dream by Charlie Connelly 3.5

Having finished another travel book featuring Liechtenstein not long ago, I thought it would be the ideal time to read another. Sports journalist Connelly decides to follow the international minnows in the qualifying group for the 2002 World Cup, where their main aim is to score at least one goal, and not get beaten too heavily. It gives the impression that it's primarly a football book, but there is plenty to enjoy even if you're not a football fan. For the last few years I've really wanted to visit Liechtenstein, and after reading 2 books about it in quick sucession this desire is stronger than ever.

22davidw
tammikuu 9, 2010, 7:28 pm

4- Both Sides of the Fence: A Life Undercover by David Corbett 2/5

Not as interesting as I'd hoped. Corbett's tale of his time as a undercover cop and his career leading up to it has a couple of interesting moments, but in the early parts before his undercover work comes across as quite arrogant- painting himself as some kind of maverick, and indeed on one occassion declaring that he was the only one really interested in solving crimes while everyone else in his station was more interested in promotions and more money.

23davidw
Muokkaaja: helmikuu 11, 2010, 7:00 pm

5- The Confusions of Young Torless by Robert Musil 3.5/5
Decided to read this before I tackle the monster that is The Man Without Qualities at some point in the future. This short novel follows the insecurities and corruptions of Young Torless as he experiences life in a turn of the century military school in Austria.

6- Snotty Bumstead by Hunter Davies 3/5

From my childrens category, a book I remember reading and enjoying when I was younger. Snotty finds himself in a scenario I'm sure we've all dreamt about when we were younger- left on his own when his mother is called away on a top secret filming mission, he proceeds to make the best use of his freedom- eating burger and chips every night, consuming vast amounts of fizzy drinks and turning the front room into a football pitch amonst other things. Still a fun read even now I'm (supposedly) grown-up.

7- Apache Dawn by Damien Lewis 2.5/5
Damien Lewis tells the story of four pilots from the Army Air Corps as they fly their Apache attack helicopters in Afghanistan. Not as interesting as I had hoped it would be, outside the chapters dealing with the main 'action', much of the book is a bit dry and uninteresting.

24davidw
helmikuu 11, 2010, 6:59 pm

8- Penguin Lost by Andrey Kurkov 3/5
The sequel to Death and the Penguin follows on from where the last book left off. The first tells the story of a struggling Ukrainian journalist who writes obituaries for a local paper and his penguin rescued from an underfunded zoo. The 2nd book starts with Misha, the penguin, missing and follows Viktor's attempts to find him.
It's not as good as the first, and at first I regretted taking so long to read the sequel as I couldn't remember some plot details/characters, but that soon passed. Still worth a read if you enjoyed the first book.

9- Cancer Party - Andrew Raymond Drennan 3.5/5
I stumbled across this debut book by a young Scottish writer by accident, and I have to admit that the snippet of review on the back by the Scottish Catholic Alliance was what initially grabbed my attention- they described it as a "Godless little book". Set in Glasgow in 1997 as New Labour come to power, it follows 17 year old Adam as he tries to come to terms with the death of his mother and lack of relationship with his father whilst dealing prescription drugs to his peers who only seem to be interested in self-destruction. There are obvious comparisons to Trainspotting- it's Scottish and there's lots of drug abuse- but I enjoyed this more. Bleak, but very funny in places. And unlike Trainspotting, it's not written in dialect (I know some people struggle to understand the Edinburgh dialect- Glaswegian would be much worse).

10- The Tales of Belkin by Alexander Pushkin 4/5
I bagged this from the Early Reviewers group just after finishing and thoroughly enjoying Pushkin's most famous work, Eugene Onegin, so what better to pick as my first 'Anything that takes my fancy...' book. This was Pushkin's first work of prose, and is a series of fascinating interlinked stories. As this is an Early Reviewers book I'll have to write a decent review, but that will come later, as I'm not the best at it and will have to take some time over it. For the moment I will say that I enjoyed this collection, and the Hesperus Classics edition is a beautiful little book.

11- Blue Highways: A Journey into America by William Least Heat Moon 3/5
Made redundant and getting divorced in quick sucession, Least Heat-Moon decides one day to pack everything into his van and travel the US. Sticking only to the secondary roads, he takes a 13,000 mile round trip through small-town America and meets some fascinating characters on the way. This is something I'd love to do but realistically probably never will, so this is the next best thing. It's a strange book in that I enjoyed it, even though at times it dragged, and at other times I would sit down to read it only to wander off and do something else instead, and despite not being the longest book I've read so far( and it could probably have done with being a bit shorter), it's taken me longer to finish than anything else.

12- Evolution Man: or, How I Ate My Father by Roy Lewis 4/5
This is a book that popped up on many 'Neglected Classics' lists that I've seen. Set in the Pleistocene era, it's the story of a family of ape-men who've only recently 'come down from the trees' who speak 20th century English and follows their attempts to evolve themselves as Father discovers fire and tries to widen the gene pool, Mother discovers cooking by accident as Uncle Vanya burns himself on said fire, etc. A strange and very amusing little book.

13- The Fight - Norman Mailer 3/5
Mailer's account of the 1975 Heavyweight Boxing Championship fight between Muhammed Ali and George Foreman, in Kinshasa, Zaire. This is an OK book- the night of the fight onwards is excellent, but I felt that the first part of the book dragged slightly at times.

25arubabookwoman
helmikuu 14, 2010, 6:02 pm

I'm enjoying following your eclectic reading choices. I, too, am a fan of James Ellroy, and I'm pretty sure you'll like his other works since you liked American Tabloid so much.

Life: A User's Manual, which you have coming up, is one of my favorite books.

26davidw
maaliskuu 15, 2010, 6:02 pm

About time I got this up to date...

14- Leviathan, or The Whale - Philip Hoare 5/5
After reading (and loving) Moby Dick at the tail-end of last year, I was looking forward to getting stuck into this one. Hoare's story of his fascination with whales is a lot more interesting that you would expect and I couldn't put this down. You don't really have to have read Moby Dick to enjoy this, although if you haven't you may find yourself wanting to do so.

15- La Bas - Joris-Karl Huysmans 4/5
The story of Durtal, a writer who is working on a biography of the fifteenth century French nobleman, Gilles de Rais, who for one reason or another goes mental and commits a catalogue of vile crimes and is reputed to be the inspiration for Bluebeard. Whilst doing so he becomes interested in Satanism, and endeavours to discover if it was still being practised. Along the way he meets the mysterious Mme. Chantelouve who introduces him to the seedier side of 19th Century Paris. This is an interesting book and Huysmans writing style is excellent - there are a couple of very memorable parts that are going to stay with me for quite a while. I've since learned that this is the first book in a trilogy, so I'll be seeking the other two out as well.

16- The Incredible Adventures of Professor Branestawm - Norman Hunter 1/5
I picked this up as it's one of the 1001 Childrens Books... list. It follows the adventures of the absent-minded Professor of the title and the scrapes he gets into. This is apparently a classic, but I didn't enjoy it at all- after reading 3 or 4 of the stories it started becoming incredibly repetitive. Maybe I should have read it when I was (a lot) younger....

17- Scrimgeours Small Scribbling Diary: The Truly Astonishing Wartime Diary and Letters of an Edwardian Gentleman, Naval Officer, Boy and Son 3/5
This book reproduces the wartime diaries of Alexander Scrimgeour, and gives a fascinating look at the duties of a Royal Navy midshipman in the 1st World War, from the first days of the war, until his tragic death at 19 years old aboard the HMS Invincible. It ocassionally gets a bit repetitive, but there are plenty of interesting nuggets (and not just naval related, alexander gives plenty of detailed accounts of his social life when home on leave) and it's a beautifully designed book.

18- The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli 3/5
I don't need to say much about this one. An interesting read, certainly more interesting than I was expecting.

19- The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner - James Hogg 4/5
This book, set in early 19th century Edinburgh, tells the story of two estranged brothers from two points of view- the first from 'The Editor', and the second from the diary of one of the brothers himself, Robert. Robert has a strict religious upbringing, and upon being told that his place in heaven is assured, meets a mysterious character named Gil-Martin who convinces him that no sin he commits can take that place away from him, and talks him into commiting several murders, including that of his brother. Written in 1824, this book was clearly way ahead of its time, and has elements of whodunnit and horror amongst others. At times it can be a tough read, and the 'main character' is one of the most unlikeable I can remember coming across, but this book is well worth it.

20- The Thirteen Clocks - James Thurber 4/5
A wonderfully illustrated and fun take on the fairytale, it tells the story of an evil duke who belives he has killed time and the handsome prince in disguise who is trying to win the hand of his beautiful niece. Part of the New York Book Review Children's Classics series, this is a beautiful book and I'll be looking to collect the rest.

21- Carter Beats the Devil - Glen David Gold 4/5
Gold's ficitious account of the life of the stage magician, Charles Carter. This had been sitting on my to be read pile for a long time and I don't know why- this was another book I couldn't put down once I started it. Set at the start of the 20th century, it follows Carter from childhood through his career as a magician and all the highs and lows that happen along the way- being a suspect in the death of the President of the USA, running from the Secret Service and encounters with pirates included.

22- Corner Boy - Herbert Simmons 3.5/5
The Story of Jake Adams, a young drug dealer and gang member in late 1940s inner-city America, and his friends. A bit dated, but still worth a read.

27clfisha
maaliskuu 16, 2010, 9:35 am

I have had The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner on my tbr pile for a while. Its one of those books I really want to read but never seem to be in the mood for!

28AHS-Wolfy
maaliskuu 16, 2010, 10:30 am

I have Carter Beats the Devil scheduled for my challenge this year as well. Though I had been toying with the idea of replacing it with something else because it just doesn't look that appealing. You've convinced me to leave it in. Thanks.

29davidw
maaliskuu 16, 2010, 1:04 pm

That's the exact reason Carter Beats The Devil had sat on my TBR pile for a couple of years- I've lost count of the number of times I picked it up then put it down for something else. I forced myself to read it this time, and once I started it I was glad I did.

30davidw
Muokkaaja: toukokuu 22, 2010, 1:03 pm

23- Paper Lion - George Plimpton 4/5

At the age of 36, journalist George Plimpton joined the Detroit Lions pre-season training camp as a rookie quarterback and this book was the result. I'm not much of a fan of American Football, so there were parts that went over my head slightly, but this is a fascinating look behind the scenes of the game and very enjoyable.

24- Corsairville: The Lost Domain of the Flying Boat - Graham Coster 3/5

Picked this book up after it was mentioned in one of the Jeremy Clarkson books I read last year- described as the true story of how an Imperial Airways flying boat crashlanded in the Belgian Congo, and the subsequent rescue missions to retrieve it that allowed a village- Corsairville- to grow up around it. Unfortunately, very little of the book is actually about this as (at the time the book was written at least) the area where it was situated was inaccessible due to civil wars etc, and the flying boat itself had long since been scrapped. As a result the majority of the book is about the history of flying boats, and Costers own travel around the globe to seek out the very few flying boats left in use. It's still quite interesting, but I was hoping for a bit more.

25- A Hero Of Our Time - Mikhail Lermontov 5/5

A reread of one of my favourite books. The story of Pechorin, a classic anti-hero, told in 5 stories- the first two narrated as a story told by an acquaintance, and then in the final three from the journals of Pechorin himself. Young, but thoroughly bored, he gambles, seduces women and provokes people just to watch their reactions. Despite being written in 1839 this still feels modern, and is said to have been an influence on Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and Chekhov amongst others.

26- Tim The Tiny Horse - Harry Hill 4/5

This was a quick one- I think i sped through this in under 20 minutes. 10 amusing short tales starring a very tiny horse called Tim and his everyday life- including trying to make a reality tv programme, attempting to make it as a radio star and using the internet for the first time. This is a book that can be enjoyed by kids and adults alike, as there are a few things that would probably go over the heads of a younger audience.

27- Malvinas Requiem - Rodolfo Fogwill 2.5/5

I'd seen this described somewhere as being the Catch-22 of the Falklands War, so I gave it a shot based on that. During the last few weeks of the conflict, 24 deserters from the Argentinian army hide in an underground cave. Quite disappointing, and definitely doesn't live up to the Catch-22 comparison- I enjoyed it in parts, but the majority was rather dull.

28- Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino 3/5

A difficult book to describe- there's not really any plot here. It revolves around the premise that Marco Polo is describing to Kublai Khan the various cities of his vast empire, as Khan will never be able to visit them all. Almost a series of poems rather than a novel, it is beautifully written, but I must confess (and this may mark me out as some kind of Philistine) that it didn't do much for me. I can see why it gets the high praise it does though.

29- The Winter Whale - Jim Crumley 2/5

Like the previously mentioned Corsairville, this is another non-fiction book where the story it's supposed to be telling takes up very little of the actual book. The account of the Tay whale, a humpback which found itself in the Firth of Tay near Dundee in 1883, and which was subsequently hunted and killed, before being acquired by a local businessman who allowed a public dissection and examination, and then sent what remained of the carcass on a tour of the UK. I get the impression that after writing the account of this, however, Crumley found himself with only half a book and had to pad the rest out with a lot of repitition, a short biography of a poet who wrote a poem about the event, and one particularly bizarre chapter where he describes what would would have happened if the whale had been guided to safety by a dolphin (!) Even his own attempts to show how fascinated he is by whales comes across as being pretty poor compared to something like Phillip Hoare's account in Leviathan, or The Whale.

30- Documents Concerning Rubashov the Gambler - Carl-Johan Vallgren 4/5

It's approaching midnight on December 31st 1899, and Rubashov, a gambling addict who has thrown almost everything away has challenged the Devil to a game of cards just for the thrill. If he wins he only has the thrill of winning- but if he loses, he loses his soul and is condemned to immortality. You can guess what happens next- it would be a pretty short book if he'd won- and we get to follow Rubashov as he travels through the 20th century, meeting some of history's most infamous characters and being present at some of the worst atrocities carried out by humankind. This is a pretty bleak book at times, but very hard to put down.

31- The Losers Club: Complete Restored Edition! - Richard Perez 1/5

This book had been sitting in my TBR pile for a few years, and I must admit that I have no idea why I got this book in the first place. I can dimly remember seeing it mentioned in the Rough Guide to Cult Fiction and getting the impression that the ghost of Charles Bukowski was a character in the book. Being a big fan of Bukowski, I guess that must have been why I picked it up- mistake. Every cliche under the sun is in here- the main character is a struggling writer who is stuck in a dead end job and has no luck with women- he uses a telephone dating service and meets several women who are not right for him, except the one he falls in love with- but she just happens to be bi-sexual and in a relationship with a woman. I think you can guess how this ends up. The fleeting Bukowski references come as the main character idolises him and talks to a picture of him on a wall a couple of times. I should have done a bit more research into this one... At least I got it from Bookmooch so it didn't cost me anything.

32- Fade out - Douglas Woolf 4/5

A bittersweet little novel- the story of Mr Twombly and his best friend, a retired heavyweight boxer by the name of 'Behemoth' Brown, as they try to make their way to Arizona to start a new life after Mr Twombly is packed away to a nursing home by his daughter. A lot more funny and uplifting than it sounds, but at times very touching and sad. This is another book I came across via the Neglected Books Page, and although it doesn't appear to be out of print (although it does seem rather expensive on both Amazon UK and Amazon US for what is quite a short book), this is definitely a neglected book- there are only 17 people with copies on Librarything (including me and my mother). This is definitely worth seeking out.

33- The Goalie: My Story - Andy Goram 2.5/5

The autobiography of the man voted as the best Rangers goalkeeper of all time. I'm not normally one to read footballers autobiographies, but Goram is one of my favourite players, and an intersting character to boot. This isn't a great book however, and despite a few interesting anecdotes here and there, is a pretty dull read.

34- A Glasgow Gang Observed - James Patrick 5/5

James Patrick (an assumed name to protect his identity), a young teacher at an approved school (basically a boarding school for young criminals) is invited by one of the boys in his care to join him 'undercover' at weekends to see how the gang he is head of spend their time. This is a fascinating book- and perhaps slightly worryingly- one that despite being written in the 1960s feels like it could have been written in the last 10 years (give or take a few elements). Fascinating to me is the fact that almost every gang mentioned in this book still apparently exists today- googling the names reveals scores of pages on Bebo etc of 'neds' (the Glaswegian/Scottish term for what other people might call a 'Chav') declaring allegiances to their various gangs. Out of print since the 60s, this is a tricky and expensive book to track down- right now the cheapest copy on amazon marketplace is over £60- but well worth trying to track down via a library etc.

31davidw
toukokuu 22, 2010, 1:01 pm

I came very close to abandoning this challenge... the amount of books I was picking up that I wanted to read straight away but couldn't because they didn't fit into my categories was starting to get to me. Instead of quitting, however, I've decided to give up the '1 per category from the first to the last' method I was using, and from book 45 I'm going all over the place. I can see myself reading more than 10 in the final category...

35- Oblomov - Ivan Goncharov 4/5
Ilya Ilyitch Oblomov is Russian nobleman who is, to put it bluntly, incredibly lazy. Despite watching his life disintegrate, he can't muster the energy to do anything about it, and eventually risks losing the love of his life. Despite taking me a few weeks to finish the book, I really enjoyed it- not a lot actually happens (I believe it's almost 100 pages before Oblomov gets out of bed for the first time), and I had to be in the right mood for it, but it was well worth the read.

36- Jennings Goes to School - Anthony Buckeridge 4/5
The first in the Jennings series following the adventures of Jennings and his best friend Darbishire at a boys boarding school in the 1950s. I read these when I was younger and they still raise a smile even now, despite being slightly dated.

37- Johnny Got His Gun - Dalton Trumbo 4/5
This is a book that will stay with me for a while. Joe Bonham is a young American soldier who, after being severly injured by an artillery shell in World War 1, wakes up in a hospital bed to find that his mind is the only thing that still works. The book follows him as he drifts between fantasy and reality in his own head while desperately trying to communicate somehow with the outside world. More relevant now that ever, this anti-war classic is one of the most disturbing books I have read in a long time.

32davidw
toukokuu 26, 2010, 7:19 pm

38- Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - Patrick Suskind 3.5/5
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, born and abandoned on one of the hottest days of the summer in 18th Century Paris has a special talent- an exceptional sense of smell which means he can isolate odours from others without any effort. Before long he ends up working in the perfume industry creating the most exquisite scents due to his talents, but there's one scent he wants to capture more than anything - the scent of young virgins - and he has to kill to get it.
I'm on the fence about this book- it's unique and certainly well written, but I didn't find it as amazing as all the hype around it suggests.

39- Cain's Book - Alexander Trocchi 3.5/5
This is Trocchi's autobiographical description of living and working on a scow in the Hudson River in New York whilst being a heroin addict. An honest and unvarnished account, it loses its way a bit in the middle, but is well worth the read.

40- Time Tunnel - Murray Leinster 3/5
I bought a lot of 60s sci-fi books from Ebay recently, and this was amongst them. To quote the blurb on the back-
"One end was in 1964 - the other in 1804. People could go both ways. So could... things. For instance, brand new "antiques" for the 20th century, and marvels of modern industry for the Napolenic era.
But you had to be careful-because what would happen to "now" if you did something in 1804 that changed history? It was unthinkable.
Unfortunately, it happened...."
I wasn't expecting much from this book, but it was actually pretty decent.

33clfisha
toukokuu 31, 2010, 7:36 am

I have just finished Perfume and I was just left ferling a bit bemused when it was over. Odd little bit book and a bit to overwrought for my tastes.

34arubabookwoman
kesäkuu 2, 2010, 6:12 pm

I agree with you about Johnny Got His Gun. I wish more people would read it.

35RidgewayGirl
kesäkuu 2, 2010, 9:01 pm

Remember that Perfume was written over twenty years ago. What is new and unusual necessarily becomes less exciting over time.

36davidw
kesäkuu 5, 2010, 6:05 pm

I really should try and get this up to date...

41- Kiss Me, Judas - Will Christopher Baer 4/5

Another re-read, mainly because it's the first in a trilogy and having originally read this a few years ago, I wanted to get back up to speed so I can read the remaining parts in the near future.
Described by Baer as a "scary love story" - Phineas Poe, an ex-Internal Affairs cop, wakes up on his first morning of freedom after being released from a mental institution in a bath of ice with his kidney removed. What follows is Poe's quest to find out who did it and why...

42- The Deadly Percheron - John Franklin Bardin 4/5
Dr George Matthews is a psychiatrist. One day, he encounters a seemingly sane patient, Jacob Blunt, who tells him he is being paid by leprechauns to perform various tasks- one pays him to hand out quarters to members of the public, one pays him to wear various types of flower in his hair and another pays him to whistle at Carnegie Hall. Fascinated, Matthews agrees to accompany him to a meeting with one of these leprechauns, not believing that he will appear. But he does. And he gives Blunt a task that will make him a suspect in a murder, and turn Matthews life upside down...
This is a very strange book, but very enjoyable. It appears to be out of print now(maybe because it's so strange), but quite easy to get hold of, and it's well worth it. The edition I bought has 3 of Bardin's novels in one volume, and I'm looking forward to getting stuck into the other two.

43- The Backroom Boys: The Secret Return of the British Boffin - Francis Spufford 2.5/5
A series of short essays about some of the most important peaks in British engineering/science- including Concorde and the British space program. The subjects are interesting, but this book isn't.

44- The Book of Disquiet - Fernando Pessoa
This is an interesting book, and a tricky one to describe. Set out as the diary of Bernardo Soares, book-keeper from Lisbon, it contains his meditations on life, love and pretty much everything else. There's no story here, so it's probably a book thats best to dip in and out of rather than read from cover to cover (and it does get rather bleak at times, so reading something a bit light hearted at the same time is highly recommended)

45- The Machine Gunners - Robert Westall 5/5
This is a book I loved when I was younger. Chas McGill, the owner of the second best collection of war souvenirs in his home town of Garmouth stumbles across something that will see him comfortably take the top spot- an intact machine gun in the remains of a crashed German bomber. Removing it, Chas and his friends attempt to mount their own war defence...
A lot sadder in places than I remembered, but still every bit as enjoyable as it was when I first read it years ago.

46- The Silver Sword - Ian Seraillier 3.5/5
Seperated from their parents by the Nazis in wartime Warsaw, the Silver Sword tells the story of the Balicki family and their orphaned friend Jan as they struggle to cross a war-ravaged Europe to get to Switzerland to be reunited. Supposedly based on a true story, this is an exciting and moving read.

37davidw
Muokkaaja: kesäkuu 14, 2010, 4:04 pm

47- Cautionary Verses - Hilaire Belloc 4/5
One of the 1001 Childrens books to read before you grow up. Belloc's classic collection of humorous 'moral' poems parodying the overly-strict educational childrens verses that were popular at the time they were written are supposedly for children, but there is a lot to make adults chuckle here too.

48-Cut And Run - Bill McGhee 3/5
I picked this out of print book up after it was mentioned in another book I read earlier this year - A Glasgow Gang Observed. Set in 1960s Glasgow, it follows two young men from Glasgow, both members of a street gang. The narrator is tired of the life and is trying to distance himself from it, unlike his friend Ben who is becoming increasingly violent. Interesting enough, but I did have the nagging feeling throughout the book that the narrator didn't come across as a very convincing Glaswegian gang member.

49- The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester 4/5
Gully Foyle, alone and drifting in the wreckage of his spacecraft, is left to die by a passing craft. What follows is his attempt to find out who and why did this to him, and to take his revenge.
I've been dabbling in a bit of science fiction recently, and since this is apparently a classic of the genre I decided to give it a go and thoroughly enjoyed it.

50- Three To Kill - Jean-Patrick Manchette 3/5
A bit of French noir. Accidentally becoming a witness to a murder, Georges is thrust into the sights of a pair of hitmen. Following a bungled attempt on his life, he goes on the run to protect his wife and young children, and tries to track the killers down and deal with them before they get to him. fast paced and action packed, this is an entertaining read and I'll definitely be checking out Manchette's only other book available in English.

38AHS-Wolfy
kesäkuu 14, 2010, 6:36 pm

The Stars My Destination has been one of my favourite reads this year. Considering its age I think it holds up remarkably well and doesn't feel dated at all.

39clfisha
kesäkuu 16, 2010, 8:29 am

Two good recommendations for The Stars My Destination means I have to go and hunt this down, sounds intriguing.

40davidw
heinäkuu 2, 2010, 7:53 pm

51- The Next Moon - Andre Hue 4/5
The true story of Andre Hue, an Anglo-Frenchman recruited by the British Special Operations Executive during WW2. Parachuted back into France behind enemy lines, he was involved with uniting local resistance forces to make life as difficult as possible for the German occupiers in preparation for the upcoming Allied invasion.
A fascinating read about a part of history that I wasn't very familar with, although it could perhaps have done with a bit of editing.

52- Notes For A War Story - Gipi 4/5
The story of Giuliano and his two friends, teenage drifters in an unnamed and war-torn Balkan country. Falling in with a local gangster, Giuliano struggles to come to terms with the fact that he doesn't fit in. A bleak but gripping read with artwork that suits the story perfectly.

53- I Said No Thanks: The Autobiography - Nacho Novo 2.5/5
The autobiography of Nacho Novo, the Spanish striker who up until this summer played for Rangers. Novo is/was one of my favourite players, so I was slightly interested to read this book, but it was pretty much exactly your typical footballer's autobiography. A couple of interesting bits here and there but on the whole pretty forgettable.

54- The Black Spider - Jeremias Gotthelf 3/5
The inhabitants of a small village are terrorized by deadly black spiders after one of them fails to live up to a pact she made with the devil. This is a fairly standard 'don't deal with the devil' story, but it's interesting enough.

55- The Annotated Archy and Mehitabel - Don Marquis 5/5
This is an interesting one. Originally published by Marquis in his New York newspaper columns almost a century ago, this collection of poems are the work Archy, a 'free verse' poet reincarnated in the body of a cockroach who uses Marquis's typewriter to write down his thoughts and adventures. I didn't know what to expect from them- I certainly didn't expect to be laughing out loud on the bus while reading.

56- Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov 4/5
I don't think I need to introduce this. This is the first Nabokov I've read and I did enjoy it, even though it made me feel a bit grubby at points.

41davidw
elokuu 8, 2010, 7:50 pm

57- Coraline - Neil Gaiman 3/5
A decent little book, an enjoyable (and quick) read but I preferred The Graveyard Book, which I read last year.

58- The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway 3/5
Another one that doesn't need an introduction. I can't quite put my finger on why, but I did enjoy it... even though not much really happens.

59- Riddley Walker - Russell Hoban 4/5
I've never read another book like this... Set roughly 2000 years after a nuclear war has destroyed most of civilization and sent the survivors back to an iron-age style existence, the book follows the adventures of 12 year old Riddley. Written entirely in an invented dialect, 'Riddleyspeak', it can be a little tough to get into, but it's well worth the effort.

60- Crack War - Mike McAlary
The true story behind the murder of a New York police officer in the drug wars of late 80s, and the investigation to catch his killers. Being a big fan of The Wire and similar shows, this book seemed right up my street. It was pretty good, but it did drag in places. I'm surprised no-one had made it into a film/tv show...

61- Laika - Nick Abadzis 4/5
This is a fantastic graphic novel. It follows the life of Laika, the first dog in space and the characters who interact with her on her way to becoming one of the most famous dog in history. Fantastic artwork and a moving story.

42avatiakh
elokuu 30, 2010, 3:05 am

I've just managed to track down a copy of Riddley Walker and I'm keen to read it as it was referenced by Patrick Ness as an inspiration for his character Todd in The Knife of Never Letting Go. Do try the Chaos Walking trilogy if you haven't already.
I loved Laika and confess to having to wipe a few tears away every time I thought about the story for days after finishing it. Love Gipi's artwork and Notes for a War Story too. I haven't read many graphic novels lately except for Hicksville, and I have Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco here at present but it's such a thick volume I don't think I'll be getting through it.

43davidw
lokakuu 16, 2010, 11:28 am

I really am miles behind with this...

61- Dispatches - herrmichael::Michael Herr 4/5
Herr's classic accounts of the Vietnam war. I've not read much about the conflict so far, but this is easily the best.

62- Kick-Ass - Mark Millar 4/5
I originally had no interest in this, and I wasn't even aware that there was a comic book, but after hearing a friend say the film was surprisingly good, and seeing it on the shelf in my local library I picked it up on a whim. Great artwork and satisfyingly graphic.

63- Dirty Havana Trilogy - Pedro Juan Gutiérrez 3/5
I've heard this book described as being like a Cuban Bukowski, and I can see why- Gutierrez describes his life of sex, booze and poverty in 90s Havana. Not quite as good as Bukowski and a lot seedier.

64- The Stand - kings::Stephen King 5/5
I've never read any Stephen King before because I've never really been a big fan of horror. I've been enjoying a lot of post-apocalyptic stuff recently and this was mentioned as a classic of the genre, so I decided this would be my holiday book this year. I loved it and surprisingly, despite being over 1000 pages, I ripped through this a lot quicker than i expected- a real page turner.

65- Helmet For My Pillow - Robert Leckie 4/5
After watching The Pacific earlier in the year and having read Eugene Sledge's book last year, I decided it was about to read Leckie's memoirs. Not quite as enjoyable as Sledge's book, but still very good.

66-The Compleet Molesworth - Geoffrey Willans 3/5
Written from the perspective of a schoolboy at a English public school during the 50s, this is a humorous satire on both school life and life in general. Amusing, but maybe attempting to read the 'compleet' collection at once wasn't a good idea as it got slightly repetitive.

67- Nausea - Jean-Paul Sartre 3/5
Doesn't need much of an introduction. Quite interesting, but one I think i'll have to re-read to get the most from it.

68- No Man's Land - William Fairchild 2.5/5
One I've seen recommended in numerous 'best neglected book' discussions. Interesting premise- the narrator is bequeathed a copy of his grandfather's WW1 journals, and from these reads of his story of discovering secret underground tunnels- the 'no man's land' of the title- where soldiers from all sides who no longer want to fight have holed up. At first the military denies the existence, but when the war ends the narrator's grandfather is one of the men tasked with rooting them out. It starts well, but runs out of steam towards the end and features a silly 'twist' that I could see coming a mile away.

69- Jarhead - Anthony Swofford 3/5
Swofford's memoir of the Gulf War.

70- Night and the City - Gerald Kersh 4.5/5
Set in the seedy underbelly of 30's London, this is a sleazy tale of conmen, prostitues, dodgy pubs and various other shady characters. I've not read a book like this for a while- almost every single character is incredibly unlikeable. Despite this, it's an excellent and sadly neglected book (it's been reissued now, but was out of print at the time when I was trying to get hold of a copy).

44davidw
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 28, 2010, 1:45 pm

So far behind with updating this, maybe I should take a break from hurling abuse at Gran Turismo 5 and get on with it...

71- We - Yevgeny Zamyatin 3.5/5
Dystopian classic, and apparent inspiration for Orwell's 1984. Despite being 90 years old, it's not dated at all and very enjoyable.

72- The Thistle and The Grail - Robin Jenkins 4/5
Set in the fictional post-war town of Drumsagart, the book is the story of the relationship between the local community and its football team. The town is run-down and there are little prospects for the inhabitants so tensions and spirits rise when the team suddenly embark on a winning spree after many years of (worse than) mediocrity. I'm struggling to make this sound like more than just a cliched football book- it really is, and it's a book that can be enjoyed even if you're not a football fan.

73- Angels of Death: Inside the Bikers' Global Crime Empire - William Marsden 3/5
I've been watching and loving Sons of Anarchy recently, so I thought I'd get stuck into a book about biker gangs. This is ok, and follows the carnage caused by the Hell's Angels across the world and the law enforcement trying to bring them down, but its a bit long.

74- A Glasgow Keek Show: Glimpses of City Life - Frank Worsdall 3.5/6
An interesting wee book- excerpts from various newspapers, archives etc about life in Victorian Glasgow on a variety of subjects.

75- Winesburg, Ohio - Sherwood Anderson 4/5
A collection of short stories describing every day life in small town Ohio in the early years of the 20th Century. Anderson was apparently an influence on Hemingway and Salinger amongst others, and these short stories are well worth the read.

45davidw
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 28, 2010, 1:45 pm

76- All The King's Horses - Michèle Bernstein 2.5/5
This is about a group of French artists in 60s Paris. I think you can work out the kind of things that happen from that.

77- Me:Moir - Vic Reeves 4/5
The first part of Vic Reeves' memoirs, covering the first 20 years of his life. If you're a fan, you'll know exactly what to expect. Very enjoyable, and leaves me looking forward to the next installment.

78- Tommy's War: A First World War Diary - Thomas Cairns Livingstone 4/5
A First World War diary with a difference- rather than being from the perspective of someone involved in the fighting, this is a diary by an unremarkable Glaswegian clerk illustrating daily life at home. A Fascinating, funny and (in the edition I read at least) beautifully designed book.

79- Atomised - Michel Houellebecq 2.5/5
Very French. Very dull.

80- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson 4/5
Don't think this needs much introduction. Very enjoyable.

81- On Wine and Hashish - Charles Baudelaire 3/5
Another beautiful little Hesperus edition. A couple of short essays describing the useage and effects of 'Wine and Hashish'. Interesting.

82- Volkswagen Military Vehicles of the Third Reich: An Illustrated History - Blaine Taylor 4/5
Exactly what the title says. I'm a fan of air-cooled VWs, so I found it interesting, if you're not a fan, you probably wouldn't.

83- A Fan's Notes - Frederick Exley 5/5
An excellent book. Exley's "fictional memoir" of life, love, mental illness and alcoholism. A tough read at times, but well worth it.

84- The Twenty-One Balloons - William Pene du Bois 5/5
A fun little childrens book about a Professor who decides to get away from it all by building a balloon and travelling in it for a year. Unfortunately he ends up crashlanding on a remote island, where he discovers an isolated group of Americans living in what appears to be a utopia. Unfortunately, the island is Krakatoa, the year is 1883, and something big is about to happen...

85- American Gods, - Neil Gaiman 3/5
Another one that I don't think needs an introduction. I enjoyed it, but it did seem to drag at points and was a bit overlong.

86- Jim Clark: Racing Legend - Eric Dymock 3.5/5
A biography celebrating the life of the greatest Scottish racing driver (and quite possibly one of the world's greatest).

87- Pointless - Jeff Connor 3/5
Connor spends a season following (at that point) the worst team in British football- East Stirlingshire FC, a team where even getting a draw is an enormous achievement. An amusing look at the trials and tribulations of Scottish lower league football.

88- The Bad Beginning - Lemony Snicket 2.5/5
Think this is another one well known enough not to require an introduction. I realise I'm not the target audience for the book, but I enjoyed this a lot less than I was expecting- pretty dull overall.

89- Two Hours To Doom - Peter Bryant- 3/5
The book that apparently loosely inspired Dr Strangelove. A rogue military commander goes a bit mad and sets in motion a plan to nuke Russia- something the Russians are obviously not happy about. Standard cold-war 'impending end of the world' stuff, but worth a read.

90- The Good Fairies of New York - Martin Millar 2.5/5
A couple of outcast Scottish fairies find themselves in New York and get up to various hijinks. Average.