Another year of books

So, these posts seem to get later every year.  Ah well.  If anyone was actually waiting for it, here's the list of books I consumed in 2015.  Pretty much every one a winner.

Amanda	Palmer	The Art Of Asking
Nick	Catford	Secret Underground London
Neil	Gaiman	The Sleeper And The Spindle
Randall	Munroe	What if?
Harriet	Tuckey	Everest: The First Ascent
Stuart	Maconie	Never Mind The Quantocks
George R.R.	Martin	A Feast For Crows
John	Lanchester	What We Talk About When We Talk About The Tube (The District Line)
Alistair	Maclean	The Way To Dusty Death
Phill	Jupitus	Good Morning Nantwich
George R.R.	Martin	A Dance With Dragons: Dreams And Dust
George R.R.	Martin	A Dance With Dragons: After The Feast
Lucy	Wadham	Heads And Straights (The Circle Line)
Jen	Campbell	The Bookshop Book
Alistair	Maclean	Breakheart Pass
Miranda	July	No One Belongs Here More Than You
Andy	Frankham-Allen	Companions: Fifty Years Of Doctor Who Assistants
Jasper	Rees	I Found My Horn
Kitty	Ferguson	Pythagoras
Simon	Okotie	Whatever Happened To Harold Absalon?
Sarah	Henshaw	The Bookshop That Floated Away
John	O'Farrell	A History Of Capitalism According To The Jubilee Line (The Jubilee Line)
Mark	Forsyth	The Unknown Unknown
Mike	Gayle	His 'N' Hers
Julie	Gardiner	The Blitz
	Caught By The River	On Nature
William	Leith	A Northern Line Minute (The Northern Line)
Deborah	Cadbury	Chocolate Wars
Genevieve	Cogman	The Invisible Library
Anna	Hughes	Eat Sleep Cycle: A Bike Ride Around The Coast Of Britain
Mick	Conefrey	How To Climb Mont Banc In A Skirt
Brian	Viner	Cream Teas, Traffic Jams And Sunburn - The Great British Holiday
Julian	May	The Many Coloured Land
Terry	Pratchett, Ian Stewart & Jack Cohen	The Science Of Discworld IV: Judgement Day
J. B.	Morrison	Frank Derrick's Holiday Of A Lifetime
Sophie	Neville	The Making Of Swallows & Amazons
Dave	Gorman	Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure (Abridged)
Jon	Ronson	The Men Who Stare At Goats
Camila	Batmanghelidjh & Kids Company	Mind The Child (The Victoria Line)
Julian	May	The Golden Torc
Warren	Elsmore	Brick City: Lego For Grown Ups
Florence	Williams	Breasts. A Natural And Unnatural History
Melvyn	Bragg	The Book Of Books
Margalit	Fox	Riddle Of The Labyrinth: The Quest To Crack An Ancient Code
Dan	Brown	Inferno
Richard	Mabey	A Brush With Nature
Magnus	Anderson & Rebecca Levene	Grand Thieves & Tomb Raiders – How British Video Games Conquered The World
Philippe	Parreno	Drift (The Hammersmith & City Line)
Charles	Schulz	Waiting For The Great Pumpkin
Julian	May	The Non-Born King
Charles	Schulz	Snoopy's Thanksgiving
Magnus	Mills	A Cruel Bird Came To The Nest And Looked In
Jerry	Brotton	A History Of The World In Twelve Maps
Julian	May	The Adversary
Peter	York	The Blue Riband (The Piccadilly Line)
	Lemmy with Janiss Garza	White Line Fever
John	Scalzi	How I Proposed To My Wife: An Alien Sex Story
John	Scalzi	An Election

Probably not as much "diversity" as might have been hoped for after this post about attempting to widen out horizons, although things look better when you realise that Julian May is female...  The favourite of the year was Sophie Neville's account of the making of the Swallows and Amazons film - I have always loved the film as much as the books and so wish they had made more.  Hopefully the forthcoming new adaptation will lead to sequels (although I am not holding my breath, and am worried about plot changes I have seen bit of).  Oh, and although we got to meet Sophie at a screening of the film a few weeks after I read the book, it would still have been my favourite of the year.

I've still got one book left from the Penguin box set commemorating 150 years of the London Underground, and the second tranche of Julian May's Pliocene/Galactic Mileu saga to read but otherwise no plans for particular authors or subjects this year.  Just whatever is on the shelf and takes my fancy.  (Which can be interpreted as me trying not to buy too many new books this year and cut down on the unread ones I already own, but the chances of that working are slim).

Reading for reasons

Reading this blog post (and the original article mentioned) about diversity in reading material recently got me thinking about how my choices away from the straight/white/cis/male author arena stack up.  And as I have the last few years-worth of reading handily listed in posts here it is clear I’m not doing very well!  It does get a bit better when you throw in the Selected Shorts podcasts as I have been downloading and listening to them for a couple of years, and they do cover a good spectrum of gender, ethnicity and (presumably) sexuality of authors in the stories they present.  But then, this is not something I have ever really thought about before and has certainly never been a factor in choosing what to buy and read for me.

I’m not sure why though.  When it comes to non-fiction I guess there aren’t that many women writing about the history of bus services or fighter planes or some of the other subjects that fascinate me but that doesn’t mean I won’t be looking out for them from now on.  Of course in some areas it is going to be decidedly tricky to be more diverse -  the fact that nobody other than straight white men went to the moon makes it hard to read an autobiography outside that category and I’ve not seen any books about them from the female perspective either.  But there have been female and coloured astronauts since then so one of those must have a book out there.  And I have got Lilly Koppel’s “The Astronaut’s Wives Club” sat on the shelf waiting for me to pick it up.  Indeed I have actually done two ladies in my non-fiction this year already (Amanda Palmer – The Art Of Asking and Harriet Tuckey – Everest) and have a couple more in the waiting pile.

However, one thing I don’t often do in non-fiction reading is seek out other books by the same author unless they are on similar subjects or again look interesting.  For a (s/w/c/m) example – Charlie Connolly has written about the shipping forecast, Elvis and walking in three books I really enjoyed, but also about football in which I have no interest so will never delve into.  But I am going to be more pro-active here in future, especially when I find a non-fiction writer of the gay/coloured/female/trans (not necessarily all at once!) persuasion I enjoy the works of.

Fiction-wise I guess I have done better over the years, as I do enjoy female writers.  Anne McCaffrey, Jean M. Auel, Julian May and Katherine Kerr are particular favourites in the fantasy/sci-fi field, and as the basic unit of book there is the fat trilogy (often with many more than three books) there have been years they have dominated.  But when it comes to different ethnicities etc. I again admit to falling flat.  Mind you, I’d read two or three of his books before I discovered Mike Gayle was black, so there may be other surprises on my shelves.  But, despite listening to the short stories from Selected Shorts, I have not dashed out to buy anything from any of the authors featured other than those I was already a fan of.  Some of this must be from wanting the written equivalent of comfort food from my fiction.  I have heard tales of growing up black in the south, or as an oriental woman transformed into a mutant silkworm or whatever, but haven’t always found them enjoyable.  I think this is partly linked to my depression in that I see racial or religious strife on the news, and don’t want that when I’m trying to escape for a few pages.  In the same way that I know enough of the history of domestic service in the UK to never want to watch Downton Abbey, I am OK with a chapter or undercurrent about it in a history of country houses but wouldn’t want a story set amongst the occupants of such a home.  (Heck, I struggle with servants being abused in fantasyland castles, but then I’m already accepting dragons and wizards so I know it is not real people suffering).

So the question is, am I going to challenge myself to only read books by non-white/straight/cis males for a year?  Answer, no.  But I am going to attempt to mix things up more.  The main reason for this being that I have already set myself the challenge of not buying any more books until I’ve got through a significant percentage of my unread collection.  And I know most of that will not pass.  But then I don’t have the same issues with books by w/s/c/m authors that others do so avoiding them is not a way of improving my life or avoiding uncomfortable things.  But who knows, when I do let myself start buying books again, perhaps things will be over a much wider spectrum…

Here we go again! Books of 2014.

Another year done and the inevitable round up posts and hopes to post more often and more interestingly during 2015.  So, let us start with books.

The full list of what I consumed this year follows, and as is traditional audio books are italicised.  Not quite as many as last year, but I’m still quite pleased with the total and can even remember most of them!  There are a reasons for the dip in numbers – a couple of the books were pretty darn long (for example I finally caved in after years of wanting to and re-read the Lord Of The Rings.  This has been counted as just one book despite the option to divide into three (or even four if you take the appendices to their extremes)).  I also took two breaks from audio books, once when we were away (as I did not know if I would get the chance for regular enough listening to not lose track of my place – this extended for a month or so after we got back too as I had filled my phone up with music and had to listen through all of that before resuming) and also before Christmas as again I didn’t want to be in the middle of something with irregular availability.

I can also blame the acquisition of an iPad for distracting me from general book-based reading.  OK, I have used it for the Asterix books but where in previous years I might have turned a few pages while Joan was watching TV I am now more likely to be browsing blogs or other web-based distractions or playing Candy Crush.  The Kindle app on the phone has been useful in keeping the decline from being steeper though, as books like the QI ones are best digested in bite-sized chunks on the bus or between appointments rather than being for general bulk reading.

Not included in the list are books read by Mark Oshiro over at his Mark Reads project.  I have been in two minds about whether to include them or not, after all if I am happy to list audio books, why not videos of someone reading them out loud, with interjections?  I have been reading his reviews for a while, but drifted away from the site not long after he started doing the video reviews – mainly because he was covering books I wasn’t interested in and I prefer to read/listen to them myself before going for the Mark Reads experience.  But now he has started the Discworld books so I am glued to those posts.  If you go back through the older versions of this post it is clear from the word clouds, never mind the lists, that Terry Pratchett is probably my most-read author over the last ten years or so, so I felt no need to add to his size in the cloud by listing each one as Mark finishes them as well.

As is usually the case, I didn't meet a book I didn't enjoy this year.  This is partly through careful selection and knowing the sort of thing I like, partly through continuing series I have enjoyed and partly through having an open mind to seek out entertainment or information wherever I go looking.  So I feel confident in recommending anything on the list.  Some particular faves though:

The Writer’s Tale – an exquisite account of the last series and specials of the Russell T. Davies era of Doctor Who, basically reproducing emails between RTD and journalist Benjamin Cook.  A real insight into one way of writing and making  a hit TV series but making no claims to be the only way to do it.  It is also one of those books that makes me want to write more, and then get disheartened when I read my efforts back.  I really would like to study the art of writing more, and to get more practise so that words, images, metaphors and so forth flow more easily from me, but life does seem to get in the way.

The ongoing Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire saga – I am now at the same point in the books as the TV adaptation has reached and cannot decide whether to read on and get ahead of the visuals or not.  Following familiar paths but spotting the differences has been fun this way round, and I am not sure if I want to reverse that!

The Shadow Of The Seer – I remember devouring the first three of Michael Scott-Rohan’s “Winter Of The World” books at college and being thrilled a few years after graduating when he put a few more out.  I guess the last one must have appeared around when I first moved in with Joan, when we got married or when we bought the house as for one of those reasons time and cash was tight and I never got round to buying it.  As is the way of these things, some books just disappear from print rapidly and never seem to arrive in second hand bookshops either.  This one came back into my head when I first discovered Amazon and other online sources, but second hand copies were going for £30+ which I decided was way too steep.  Then finally this year it appeared on Kindle and I was bale at last to complete the saga.  It turns out this last book was not a direct follow-on to the rest of them tales so worked well in isolation, but has whetted my appetite for a complete re-read when time permits.

And of course it goes without saying that this is not a book of the year list – with the exception of the second QI entry I don’t think any of these are 2014 originals, just the books I happened to enjoy during those twelve months.  There were times when I couldn’t walk past Amberstones in Ipswich (or before that Clulows in Derby) without the latest work by an author I adored appearing in the window and having to be bought there and then for immediate enjoyment but these days I am happy to wait until time permits (and I have the entire set if appropriate) before diving in…  (Oh, and if anyone was wondering, the plan to do a photo of the day on a book or reading related subject was derailed by illness and never restarted.)

Robert	Macfarlane	The Wild Places
Neil	Gaiman	Fortunately, The Milk...
Michael	Palin	Himalaya
Terrance	Dicks	Doctor Who And The Brain Of Morbius
Joe	Bennett	Mustn't Grumble
David	Long	Tunnels, Towers and Temples: London's 100 Strangest Places
John	Lloyd & Jon Canter	Afterliff
Naomi	Novik	Empire Of Ivory
Rene	Goscinny & Albert Uderzo	Asterix And The Soothsayer
John	Lloyd, John Mitchinson & James Harkin	1339 QI Facts To Make Your Jaw Drop
Simon	Singh	The Simpsons And Their Mathematical Secrets
Bill	Bryson	At Home
Rene	Goscinny & Albert Uderzo	Asterix In Corsica
John	Wyndham	The Day Of The Triffids
George R.R.	Martin	A Storm Of Swords: Steel And Snow
Danny	Dorling	The 32 Stops (The Central Line)
Hunter	Davies	Behind The Scenes At The Museum Of Baked Beans
Rene	Goscinny & Albert Uderzo	Asterix And Ceasar's Gift
David	Fisher	Doctor Who And The Creature From The Pit
Mark	Forsyth	The Elements Of Eloquence: How To Turn The Perfect English Phrase
Michael Scott	Rohan	The Shadow Of The Seer
Terry	Pratchett	I Shall Wear Midnight
Rory	McGrath	Bearded Tit
Simon	Garfield	On The Map
Rene	Goscinny & Albert Uderzo	Asterix And The Great Crossing
Michael A.	Johnson	A 1980s Childhood
Terry	Pratchett	Raising Steam
Alistair	Maclean	Puppet On A Chain
Alain	De Botton	The Art Of Travel
Richard	Dawkins	The Selfish Gene
Julian	Barnes	The Pedant In The Kitchen
Mark	Billingham	Lazybones
Marcus	Hearn	Doctor Who – The Vault
Jon	Ronson	Them: Adventures With Extremists
Terry	Pratchett & Neil Gaiman	Good Omens
J.R.R.	Tolkien	The Lord Of The Rings
Travis	Elborough	Wish You Were Here
Rene	Goscinny & Albert Uderzo	Obelix And Co.
Patrick	Bishop	Wings
Jen	Campbell	More Weird Things Customers Say In Bookshops
George R.R.	Martin	A Storm Of Swords: Blood And Gold
Richard	Mabey	A Good Parcel Of English Soil (The Metropolitan Line)
Alistair	Maclean	Bear Island
J. B.	Morrison	The Extra Ordinary Life Of Frank Derrick, Age 81
Neil & Sue	Perryman	Adventures With The Wife In Space: Living With Doctor Who
Neil	Gaiman	The Ocean At The End Of The Lane
Travis	Elborough	The Long-Player Goodbye
Tim	Cahill	Hold The Enlightenment
John	Lloyd, John Mitchinson & James Harkin	1411 QI Facts To Knock You Sideways
Arthur	Conan-Doyle	The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes
Russell T.	Davies & Benjamin Cook	Doctor Who: The Writers Tale (The Final Chapter)

2013 books

2013 books, a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

So here we go again, another bunch of books consumed in a twelve month span. Audio in italics...

Terry Pratchett - Dodger
Alistair Maclean - The Golden Rendezvous
Barry Eisler (Ed) - 2:46: Aftershocks: Stories From The Japan Earthquake
Michael Palin - Hemmingway Adventure
Terry Pratchett - Making Money
JerryWhite - London In The 19th Century
JimBob - Driving Jarvis Ham
Alistair Maclean - The Satan Bug
Robert Macfarlane - Mountains Of The Mind
Neil Gaiman - A Calender Of Tales
Tim Cahill - Jaguars Ripped My Flesh
Mark Forsyth - The Etymologicon: A Circular Stroll Through The Hidden Connections Of The English Language
Arthur Ransome - Coots In The North & Other Stories
Guy Browning - Maps Of My Life
Jules Verne - Journey To The Centre Of The Earth
Erica Jong - Fear Of Flying
Derek Tait - A 1970s Childhood
Henning Mankell - The Man Who Smiled
Rene Goscinny & Albert Uderzo - Asterix In Switzerland
Mick Wall - Star Trippin'
Naomi Novik - Black Powder War
David Long - The Little Book Of London
Edward Enfield - Dawdling By The Danube
Francis Spufford - Backroom Boys
Alistair Maclean - Ice Station Zebra
Mark Billingham - Sleepyhead
Jean M. Auel - The Land Of Painted Caves
Jim Starlin et al - Batman: The Cult
Richard Cohen - Chasing The Sun
Arthur Conan-Doyle - A Study In Scarlet
Hardeep Singh Kohli - Indian Takeaway
Emma Marriott - The History Of The World In Bite-Sized Chunks
Esther Woolfson - Corvus: A Life With Birds
Michael Crichton - Jurassic Park
David Hewson - The Killing
Spike Milligan - Adolf Hitler: My Part In His Downfall
Rene Goscinny & Albert Uderzo - The Mansions Of The Gods
David Long - The Little Book Of The London Underground
Terry Pratchett - A Blink Of The Screen
Chris Abbott - Travels In Canada: In Search Of A Reasonably Priced Sandwich
Jules Verne - 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
Bill Bryson - Shakespeare
George R.R. Martin - A Game Of Thrones
Fantastic Man - Buttoned-Up (The East London Line)
Nick Hornby - A Long Way Down
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Alistair Maclean - When Eight Bells Toll
Mark Billingham - Scaredy Cat
Guy Walters - The Real Great Escape
Arthur Conan-Doyle - The Sign Of Four
Mark Forsyth - The Horologican: A Day's Jaunt Through The Lost Words Of The English Language
Terry Pratchett - Unseen Academicals
Seth Godin (Ed) - The Library Book
Max Arthur - Dambusters: A Landmark Oral History
Rene Goscinny & Albert Uderzo - Asterix And The Laurel Wreath
Alistair Maclean - Where Eagles Dare
Geoffrey Fletcher - The London Nobody Knows
Tim Cahill - Pass The Butterworms
George R.R. Martin - A Clash Of Kings
Paul Morley - Earthbound (The Bakerloo Line)
Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart &Jack Cohen - The Science Of Discworld
Neil Gaiman (Ed) - Unnatural Creatures
Alistair Maclean - Force 10 From Navarone

This year I am also doing "A year of reading" project on flickr, posting a book or something else to read every day...

2012 books

2012 books, a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

Yup, it's that time of year again, a list of all the books I read last year. WIth a fancy word cloud from Tagxedo.  Audio books marked with *, but I've not gone so far as to distinguish between paper and Kindle books!

John Farndon - Do You Think You're Clever?
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Bill Bryson - At Home
Alistair Maclean - The Dark Crusader *
Rene Goscinny & Albert Uderzo - Asterix At The Olympic Games
Henning Mankell - The Dogs Of Riga
Terry Pratchett - A Hat Full Of Sky *
Ken Livingstone - You Can't Say That
Jules Verne - From The Earth To The Moon/Round The Moon
Michael Palin - Around The World In Eighty Days *
Hardeep Singh Kohli - Indian Takeaway
Arthur Ransome - Secret Water
Alan Moore & David Lloyd - V For Vendetta
Dan Brown - Angels And Demons *
Manjit Kumar - Quantum: Einstein, Bohr And The Great Debate About The Nature Of Reality
Paul Brickhill - The Great Escape *
Naomi Novik - Temeraire
Nicholas Crane - Great British Journeys
Peter Ackroyd - London Under
Mike Gayle - Mr Commitment
Terry Pratchett - Going Postal *
Brian Switek - Written In Stone
Daniel Defoe - The Fortunes And Misfortunes Of The Famous Moll Flanders
Diana Preston - Before The Fall-Out *
Mark Mason - Walk The Lines
Arthur Ransome - The Big Six
Carl Sagan - Life In The Universe *
Bill Bryson - I'm A Stranger Here Myself (Notes From A Big Country) *
Andrew Marr - The Diamond Queen
Michael Palin - Pole To Pole *
Rene Goscinny & Albert Uderzo - Asterix And The Cauldron
Joe Casey, Chris Burnham, Marc Letzmann & Rus Wooton - Officer Downe: Tough Shit
Tim Powers - On Stranger Tides
Julian May, Marion Bradley & Andre Norton - Black Trillium *
Dava Sobel - The Planets *
Simon Singh - The Code Book
Terry Pratchett - Thud! *
Henning Mankell - The White Lioness
Dave Mustaine with Joe Layden - A Life In Metal
Bill Bryson - A Walk In The Woods *
Arthur Ransome - Missee Lee
Dan Brown - The Da Vinci Code *
Simon Loxley - Type
Carl Sagan - Pale Blue Dot *
Jules Verne - Around The World In Eighty Days
Stephanie Pain (Ed) - Farmer Buckley's Exploding Trousers : And other odd events on the way to scientific discovery
Rene Goscinny & Albert Uderzo - Asterix In Spain
Julian May - Blood Trillium *
Arthur Ransome - The Picts And The Martyrs *
William Gibson - Spook Country
Emma Kennedy - How To Bring Up Your Parents
Naomi Novik - Throne Of Jade
Craig Taylor - Londoners: The Days and Nights of London Now - As Told by Those Who Love It, Hate It, Live It, Left It and Long for It
Mike Gayle - Dinner For Two
James Hamilton-Patterson - Empire Of The Clouds
Michael Palin - Full Circle *
Rene Goscinny & Albert Uderzo - Asterix And The Roman Agent
Julian May - Sky Trillium *
James May with Ian Harrison - James May's Toy Stories
Charles Dickens - Oliver Twist
Bill Bryson - Down Under *
Dan Brown - The Lost Symbol *
Nicholas Rankin - Churchill's Wizards: The British Genius for Deception 1914-1945
Arthur Ransome - Great Northern?
Gerry Davis - Doctor Who And The Cybermen *
Simon Pegg - Nerd Do Well
Michael Palin - Hemmingway's Chair (Abridged) *
Terry Pratchett - Wintersmith *
Sissel-Jo Gazan - The Dinosaur Feather
Ian Marchant - The Longest Crawl *
John Lloyd and John Mitchinson - 1,227 QI Facts To Blow Your Socks Off
Helen Dyrbye, Steve Harris & Thomas Golzen - The Xenophobe's Guide To The Danes
Jon Savage - England's Dreaming
James Robinson et al - Batman: Collected Legends Of The Dark Knight
Jen Campbell - Weird Things Customers Say In Bookshops

Oh, and yes I am doing it again this year. And because I am a total loon I am tracking all the music I listen to as well and doing a picture a day project on flickr...

All The Books Of 2011

All The Books Of 2011, a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

As in previous years, let us kick off 2012 with all my reading matter from 2011. This includes audio books (in italics) and graphic novels (including those serialised in Clint Magazine).

Santa was kind enough to bring me a Kindle, and the SFX Star Wars guide right near the bottom is the first thing I have read on it. Not sure what it will do to my reading habits as yet, but I am enjoying the use of it.

As may be obvious from the list, I have still been listening to the works of Terry Pratchett a lot, but have thrown in Alistair Maclean to spread them out a bit now...

Mike Gayle Wish You Were Here
Terry Pratchett Hogfather
Bob Fischer Wiffle Lever To Full!
Richard Hammond and Andy Wilman What Not To Drive
Neil Gaiman et al 1602
Alistair Maclean HMS Ulysses
Stephen Fry The Fry Chonicles
Terry Pratchett Carpe Jugulum
Paul Magrs Doctor Who: Sick Building
Roland Chambers The Last Englishman: The Double Life Of Arthur Ransome
Neil Gaiman American Gods
Arthur Ransome Old Peter's Russian Tales
Alain De Botton A Week At The Airport
Grant Morrison and Klaus Janson Batman: Gothic
Terry Pratchett The Fifth Elephant
Bill Bryson Shakespeare
Terry Pratchett I Shall Wear Midnight
Alistair Maclean The Guns Of Navarone
Mark Millar, Steve McNiven etc Nemesis
Terry Pratchett The Truth
Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo Asterix The Gaul
Stephen Smith Underground England
Magnus Mills The Maintenance Of Headway
Peter Benchley Jaws
Simon Garfield Just My Type
Mike Gayle Men At Work
Dean Regan Windmills Of Suffolk
Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo Asterix And The Golden Sickle
Martin Watts Windmills
Jason Barlow (Ed) Top Gear: 100 Sexiest Supercars Of All Time
Neil Gaiman et al Eternals
Terry Pratchett Thief Of Time
Jean M. Auel The Land Of Painted Caves
Alistair Maclean South By Java Head
Terry Pratchett The Last Hero
Greg Gutfeld Lessons From The Land Of Pork Scratchings
George Orwell 1984
Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo Asterix And The Goths
Peter Anghelides Doctor Who: Pest Control
Henning Mankell The Pyramid
Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo Asterix The Gladiator
Roger Wardale Arthur Ransome Master Storyteller
Doug Moench, Paul Glacy and Terry Austin Batman: Prey
Terry Pratchett The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents
Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo Asterix And The Banquet
Mike Gayle My Legendary Girlfriend
Emma Kennedy I Left My Tent In San Francisco
Ian Harrison The Thames: From Source To Sea
Alistair Maclean The Last Frontier
Mark Millar et al American Jesus, Volume 1
Simon Schama The American Future - A History
Mark Gatiss The Devil In Amber
Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo Asterix And Cleopatra
James May Notes From The Hard Shoulder
Denny O'Neil et al Batman: Vow From The Grave
Terry Pratchett Night Watch
Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo Asterix And The Big Fight
Arthur Ransome Swallowdale
Richard Hammond A Short History Of Caravans In The UK
Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo Asterix In Britain
Herman Melville Moby Dick
Paul Brickhill Reach For The Sky: The Biography Of Douglas Bader
Colin Barker Ipswich Tramways
Tom Baker Who On Earth Is Tom Baker (Abridged)
Dan Brown Digital Fortress
Garth Ennis, Amanda Conner et al The Pro
Bill Bryson Mother Tongue
Arthur Ransome Racundra's First Cruise
Neil Gaiman and Yoshitaka Amano Sandman: The Dream Hunters
Terry Pratchett The Wee Free Men
Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo Asterix And The Normans
Rachel Hewitt Map Of A Nation
Arthur Ransome Peter Duck
Henning Mankell Faceless Killers
Alistair Maclean Night Without End
Denny O'Neil et al Batman: Challenge Of The Man-Bat
Chris Jones Too Far From Home
Mark Gatiss Black Butterfly
Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo Asterix The Legionary
David and Leigh Eddings The Redemption Of Althalus
Stewart Copeland Strange Things Happen
Mike Gayle Turning Thirty
Simon Singh Fermat's Last Theorem
Bill Bryson The Lost Continent
Stieg Larsson The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Arthur Ransome Winter Holiday
John Lloyd and John Mitchinson The QI Book Of The Dead
Jonathan Ross, Tommy Lee Edwards and John Workman Turf
Arthur Ransome Coot Club
Alistair Maclean Fear Is The Key
ReneGoscinny and Albert Uderzo Asterix And The Chieftain's Shield
Tim Severin In Search Of Moby Dick
Terry Pratchett Monstrous Regiment
Stieg Larsson The Girl Who Played With Fire
Richard Hammond Or Is That Just Me?
Arthur Ransome Pigeon Post
Paul Brickhill The Dambusters
Simon Garfield Mini
Bill Bryson Notes From A Small Island
Stieg Larsson The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest
Neil Gaiman Fragile Things
Joe Moran On Roads
SFX SFX's Unnoficial Star Wars DVD Viewer's Guide
Arthur Ransome We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea
Terry Pratchett Snuff

What books wil 2012 hold?

Down down, deeper and down

Mind the step a photo by The original SimonB on Flickr.

I'm currently reading Underground England by Stephen Smith, a follow-up to his previous book based on the capital Underground London. Both take us below the streets and fields of every day life to see what lurks beneath in tunnels, vaults, burial chambers and so forth. They also both stretch their definitions somewhat by covering issues that are blatantly above ground or underwater, but could be classed as "underground" in the sense of hidden or clandestine.

While I have never wanted to join the pot-holing or caving fraternity, I don't object to wandering about with a few feet of rock or building above my head when the opportunity arises. I enjoy the Underground in London for the simple fact that it exists despite all the engineering challenges they faced to build it as well as for it being a reasonably effective way from getting from a to b. And I'm more than happy to wander around a "show cave" in the Peak District or Cheddar Gorge when the opportunity arises.

But as well as the obvious and accessible deepness, what both of these books offer is a glimpse into the support structure of our daily lives. Peering through the gaps in the floorboards and negotiating with disinterested beuracracy is just as interesting as what becomes revealed through these actions. We all know what we do in our own daily lives, and how those we come into contact with don't often appreciate the backstage stuff that gets them their loaf of bread, bus stop or X-ray. What Smith has done in these two tomes is illuminate a whole bunch of institutions that help keep us going and also happen to be "below stairs" - literally or metaphorically.

There are more academic works out there about what goes on beneath our feet (London Under London by Trench and Hillman being one I would also recommend) but as an introductory delve I'd say you can't go far wrong with these.

Another year of reading

This is me in six books.
Originally uploaded by The original SimonB

OK, nobody asked for it but as I've been logging my books again for another year here's the full list. As with last year, audio books are in italics.

Peter Biddlecombe - The United Burger States Of America
Ian Hislop (Ed) - Private Eye Annual 2009
Terry Pratchett - Nation
Michael Harvey (Ed) - Top Gear Top Drives
Stephen Cole - Doctor Who: Sting Of The Zygons
Simon Schama - A History of Britain III: The Fate of Empire 1776-2000
Terry Pratchett - Sourcery
Matthew Brzezinski - Red Moon Rising
Terry Pratchett - Wyrd Sisters
Ian Fleming - Octopussy And The Living Daylights
David Eddings - Domes Of Fire
Emma Kennedy - The Tent, The Bucket And Me
Terry Pratchett - Unseen Academcals
Mark Cawardine - Last Chance To See
David Eddings - The Shining Ones
Mike Parker - Map Addict
David Eddings - The Hidden City
J. K. Rowling - The Tales Of Beedle The Bard
Terry Pratchett - Guards! Guards!
Mitch Albom - The Five People You Meet In Heaven
Terry Pratchett - Eric
Julian May - Conqueror's Moon
Stuart Maconie - Adventures On The High Teas
Elizabeth-Jane Grose - See Felixstowe With Me
Kim Stanley Robinson - Red Mars
Kim Stanley Robinson - Green Mars
Julian May - Ironcrown Moon
Kim Stanley Robinson - Blue Mars
Richard Hammond - As You Do
Terry Pratchett - Moving Pictures
Dava Sobel - Longitude
Terry Pratchett - Reaper Man
Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond & James May - Top Gear: The Best Of The Columns
Terry Pratchett - Witches Abroad
Julian May - Sorcerer's Moon
Mike Gayle - Turning Thirty
Terry Pratchett - Small Gods
Alan H. Cohen - Mr Everit's Secret
Neil Gaiman & Charles Vess - Stardust
Stephen Smith - Underground London
Charlie Connolly - And Did Those Feet
Terry Pratchett - Lords And Ladies
Vonda N. McIntyre - Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home
Dan Brown - The Lost Symbol
Terrance Dicks - Doctor Who And The Planet Of The Spiders
Neil Gaiman - Coraline
Mike Durrant - Felixstowe - Then And Now
Jeremy Clarkson - For Crying Out Loud: The World According To Clarkson 3
Terry Pratchett - Men At Arms
Alistair Maclean - The Way To Dusty Death
Martin Lampen - The Knickerbocker Glory Years
Jim Lovell and Jeffrey Kluger - Apollo 13 (Lost Moon)
Will Self - Grey Area
Seb Hunter - Hell Bent For Leather
Maxwell Roberts - Underground Maps Unravelled
Martin Day - Doctor Who: Wooden Heart
Bill Bryson - Down Under
Terrance Dicks - Doctor Who And The Giant Robot
Tony Hillerman - The First Eagle
Mark Barrowcliffe - The Elfish Gene
Terry Pratchett - Soul Music
Terry Pratchett & Jacqueline Simpson - The Folklore Of Discworld
Bill Bryson - A Short History Of Nearly Everything
Oli Smith - Doctor Who: The Runaway Train
Lynne Truss - Get Her Off The Pitch
Jenni Davis & Gill Knappett (Eds) - Ghosts Of Warwick Castle
Terry Pratchett - Interesting Times
Richard Dawkins - The Ancestor's Tale
Paddy Heazell - Most Secret: The Hidden History Of Orford Ness
Neil Gaiman - The Graveyard Book
Terry Pratchett - Maskerade
Matthew Engel - Eleven Minutes Late
Neil Gaiman - Smoke And Mirrors
Boris Starling - Messiah
Terry Pratchett - Feet Of Clay
Ben Goldacre - Bad Science
Mark Gatiss - The Vesuvius Club
John Lloyd and John Mitchinson - The QI Book Of Animal Ignorance

Pages have been turned

So here I am a week into a fortnight away from work and finally getting fingers to keys. MrsB has come down with Sinusitis and spent the last couple of days in bed, so we haven't been out and about as much as planned, but that does mean I've got through a couple of books which I am going to waffle on about today. Site reports from where we have managed to go another time.

Following the Fiction Fatigue mentioned previously, I decided to try something out of my normal comfort zone. Grey Area, a collection of short stories by Will Self has been sat on the shelf for a number of years (MrsB bought it for me when he first became a team captain on Shooting Stars) and part of me kind of wishes it was still there untouched. At least then I'd still have a reason to be unsure if I liked it or not! As it is, I just don't know. I have tended to shy away from what I call "literary fiction" over the years as the bits I have dipped into just don't seem to go anywhere. I want my books to engage me and give me something to look forward to beyond my life. But when I have to stop to look words up, or people just sit around not doing much I tend to lose interest. It is the same reason I don't watch certain films or tv shows.

Here we meet junkies, researchers, office workers, school kids and more - all of whom have been given enough of a tale to stop me skipping any of the stories, but not enough to have me jumping ahead to make sure they come out OK or to want to meet them again. So, nothing that really engaged me and I wouldn't agree with the rave review quotes on the jacket either. I'll maybe try something else of his if I see it cheap (or venture into the Library) but I'm not exactly rushing to Amazon.

Far more enjoyable (and back in the real world of non-fiction) was Seb Hunter's memoir Hell Bent For Leather. As may have been made obvious by posts about music, I do like a bit of the old heavy metal and Seb lived the lifestyle to the full. Born the same year as me, he picked up a guitar and made use of it rather than just listening in from the sides. Never made it big, so I can't comment on whether any of his bands were any good, but a real page-turner to find out what happened next. (And I've just spotted his website here which has MP3s, so will have to investigate those later - and he has more books I will now have to order). My only problem was that I bought this in Canada so it is a North American edition, edited for that market. Surely they can cope with the London Underground being referred to as that (or the Tube) and don't need every reference changing to the Subway? And other such cross-culturalism.

Anyhow, this brought back loads of memories for me relating how I felt about the same bands, clothes, magazines etc that Hunter mentions and has also made me dig out several old tapes to add to the "find this on CD or at least digitise it" pile. Recommended for anyone who has ever liked a guitar played loud.

Dangerous Reading

Swallowdale
Originally uploaded by The original SimonB

We watched the first part of choir-master Gareth Malone's new TV series last night - the Dangerous School For Boys. A fairly laudible attempt to improve the literacy levels of primary school boys who are lagging behind the girls across the country. He has taken over the boys from two year groups at an Essex primary school and is attmpting to get them more engaged with each other and the contents of books, poems etc with the aim of boosting the overall reading age by six months in the space of 8 weeks.

It looked like an interesting project, and what he has done so far did appear to be helping towards self confidence and expression for most of the lads involved. There was some negativity from the teachers, but I do feel he will be hampered mostly by the parents of the boys if anyone is going to drag the work down.

Now I know that when I was that age there were only three tv channels and all we had in the way of a computer was a ZX81, which when compared to the amount and quality of distractions available today may as well not have even existed. But the few parental interviews we saw appeared to back up the theory expressed by the boys themselves that reading and writing is boring. My view at that age was the polar opposite.

The first time my Mum pushed me into town in the pram she called in at the Library and I got my first membership card at less than a month old, never looking back. I would read and read all the time from as soon as I could get through a book on my own. In fact our primary school had "infant" and "junior" libraries and I was into the junior one a year or more before being old enough.

Yes I still watched tv, yes I played about on the computer, but there was always a book waiting for me. From Thomas the Tank Engine through Arthur Ransome and on to WIllard Price and more I have no idea how many books I devoured and re-read countless times before the age of 11.

Maybe it was parents and teachers who encouraged me, maybe I was just naturally a reader, but that's what I did whenever I had a spare moment. Which is why although I will watch the rest of the series, I'm not sure I'll be able to fully understand why those youngsters don't read.

Fiction Fatigue

Oh, go on then
Originally uploaded by The original SimonB

Just finished reading Julian May's "Boreal Moon" trilogy and it has been a bit of an effort. OK, so the three books total over 1500 pages and I have kept to the fiction/non-fiction rotation for my main reading (thus not counting "breakfast books", audio and other general page turning) but they seemd to take an age to get through. I've always enjoyed a good fantasy epic, and a whole new world from an author I have enjoyed for many eyars should have been a treat that would normally be raced through.

And yet, I found myself struggling to stay interested at times and even considered dropping written fiction for a while. The "world" felt right, had some novel twists on use of magic and didn't rely on a novice or suchlike to guide the reader through the system, simply got on with things without too much explanation. Normally that would have me racing through to find out what happened next, but more times than I care to admit I left the book alone and read something else instead for a day or two.

This has been the case with a few other works of fiction of late, but not all. Maybe I'm finally growing up and getting more discerning (I hope not!) but I haven't found myself bored when listening to stuff of much the same ilk. I certainly don't want to give up stories just yet - I do still love a good tale, however it is told (case in point, I thought the new version of Sherlock on the BBC last night was excellent, and am thinking I need to read the originals one of these days as while I have dipped in from time to time, and experienced assorted adaptations I haven't really spent proper time with the source material).

Perhaps I just need to throw some shorter books into the mix for the summer, then go back to the epics when I can curl up by the fire and not feel guilty about time I could be out and about/in the garden/washing the car etc.

Oh, and yes, the picture is a section of our collectionm, not one found just to illustrate the post!

Time spent in Bondage

Time spent in Bondage
Originally uploaded by The original SimonB

I've gradually re-read (or in some cases read for the first time) the entire Bond series over the last couple of years and loved every word. I did think of blasting through them one after the other (as I will often do with a good ongoing Epic) but as the links from tale to tale are often tenuous or non-existent I decided a steady drip-feed would be more interesting.

Thunderball and Dr No are closest to the films, but they really need to be forgotten about if you have never looked at the books before (Roger Moore in a Safari Suit is as far removed from the original Bond as Adam West as Batman is from Christian Bale). Fleming's Bond in these pages is a much more believeable person, inhabiting a world where the threats are real rather than being designed to draw in the crowds to the cinema and wow people with extravagant set design.

As the series goes on there are more links with the "real" world of the time (unless I just don't recognise the references earlier on) but despite the previous paragraph they are still definitely fantasy rather than full-blown detective procedural. Mind you, I do wonder why a so-called Secret Agent uses his real name so much. To the point that every organisation he comes up against knows his history and weaknesses etc with a full dossier to be slapped onto the head honcho's desk at an appropriate point in the narrative.

The books are also very much of their time when it comes to racial and sexual attitudes, but taking that into account they are gripping page turners and I can highly recomend them to anyone who has never dipped a toe in the waters.

Left on the shelf

Left on the shelf
Originally uploaded by The original SimonB

As I have now found time to sort out the stats, here are the the surprising number of books I managed to get through last year. Those marked * were audio, which I get through on the way to work, when travelling to meetings or site visits etc which helps the total numbers no end!

A few comments to add along the way, and more on some of the others another day. Oh, and these are in order of finishing them which may go some way to explaining how there are groups of audio or paper together at random. Some weeks I just don't have time for one type or the other.

Ian Fleming - Goldfinger
David Eddings - Enchanter's End Game* (the series wrapped over the year break)
Gareth Roberts - Doctor Who: I Am A Dalek
Stuart Maconie - Pies And Prejudice
Martin Wainwright - Morris Minor: The Biography
David Eddings - Guardians Of The West*
J. K. Rowling - The Tales Of Beedle The Bard (I came to the Potter books after being talked into a group outing to see the first film and while I found the series quite derivative and the later books full of padding did enjoy them)
David Quantick - Grumpy Old Men On Holiday
Andy Summers - One Train Later (possibly the best music book I have yet encountered)
David Eddings - King Of The Murgos*
Ian Fleming - For Your Eyes Only
David Eddings - Demon Lord Of Karanda*
Bill Watterson - There's Treasure Everywhere (Calvin and Hobbes is the greatest comic strip ever created and while I applaud Watterson for dropping out rather than be mega-exploited I'd kill for some more)
Bill Bryson - Neither Here Nor There
David Eddings - Sorceress Of Darshiva*
David Eddings - Seeress Of Kell*
Bill Watterson - It's A Magical World
Douglas Adams & Mark Carwardine - Last Chance To See* (Thought I had best re-visit this one before the Stephen Fry tv series aired)
Bram Stoker - Dracula (this was read in deliberate preparation for Paul Bibeau below)
David & Leigh Eddings - Belgarath The Sorcerer*
Andrew Collins - That's Me In The Corner
Mike Tucker - Doctor Who: The Nightmare Of Black Island (I have no problem with tv tie-ins if the story is gripping enough)
Mike Mullane - Riding Rockets
Ian Fleming - Thunderball (you may have picked up a pattern by now - more in a future post on this)
David & Leigh Eddings - Polgara The Sorceress*
Tim Fountain - Rude Britannia
David & Leigh Eddings - The Rivan Codex (Couldn't get this in audio so had to actually read it myself!)
Bob Kane et al - The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told Vol 2 (along with C&H I started to go back over comic collections as an alternative to magazines to accompany my breakfasts)
Paul Bibeau - Sundays With Vlad
Terry Brooks - First King Of Shannara*
Stephen Cole - Doctor Who: The Art Of Destruction
Nigel Slater - Toast
Ian Fleming - The Spy Who Loved Me
Jeremy Clarkson - Don't Stop Me Now
Terry Brooks - The Sword Of Shannara*
Terry Brooks - The Elfstones Of Shannara*
Bob Kane et al - Batman Vs The Riddler & Two-Face
Kim Stanley Robinson - The Years Of Rice & Salt (a hard slog but worth it)
Terry Brooks - The Wishsong Of Shannara*
Giles Chapman & Richard Porter - Top Gear: My Dad Had One Of Those (these were "Breakfast books" as well)
Don Hale - Mallard
Colin Brake - Doctor Who: The Price Of Paradise
Terry Pratchett - The Colour Of Magic*
Matt Master - Top Gear's Midlife Crisis Cars
Andrew Collins - Where Did It All Go Right?*
Terry Pratchett - The Light Fantastic*
Ben Fogle - The Teatime Islands
David Eddings - The Diamond Throne*
Ian Fleming - On Her Majesty's Secret Service
David Eddings - The Ruby Knight*
Bill Bryson - A Walk In The Woods
David Eddings - The Sapphire Rose*
Brian Augustyn et al - Batman: Gotham By Gaslight
Terry Pratchett - Equal Rites*
Peter Ashley - Pubs And Inns
Bruce Sterling - Schismatrix Plus
Terry Brooks - The Scions Of Shannara*
Terrance Dicks - Doctor Who: Made Of Steel
Terry Brooks - The Druid Of Shannara*
Richard Fortey - Dry Store Room No. 1
Terry Brooks - The Elf Queen Of Shannara*
Alan Witton - ECW Buses And Coaches (As made in Lowestoft, and a crying shame that the factory was replaced by a retail park)
Ian Fleming - You Only Live Twice
Tim Fitzhigham - In The Bath
Frank Miller et al - Batman: Year One
Mike Barr et al - Batman: Year Two
Terry Brooks - The Talismans Of Shannara*
Terry Pratchett - Mort*
Eric Clapton - The Autobiography* (read by Bill Nighy, who has the right sort of voice for the job, but I can't get the hang of something as personal as an autobiography not being read by the author!)
Jacquline Rayner - Doctor Who: The Last Dodo
Charlotte Morgan & Stan Fowler - The Little Book Of Camper Van
Richard Porter - Top Gear: Crap Cars
Simon Schama - A History of Britain I: At the Edge of the World? - 3000 BC-AD 1603*
Christopher Winn - I Never Knew That About London
Neil Oliver - Coast: From The Air
Dan Kieran & Ian Vince - Three Men In A Float (Lowestoft to Land's End in a milk float, absolutely hilarious!)
Simon Schama - A History of Britain II: British Wars 1603-1776*
Brian Minchin - Torchwood: The Sin Eaters* (I took an audio break for a month after this due to being in Canada and having no guaranteed listening time)
Ian Fleming - The Man With The Golden Gun (and so we end the year where we came in...)

Saturday's not what it used to be, so goes the Kingmaker song, and I'm inclined to agree. I seem to recall back in the dim and distant past that Saturdays were to be treasured as the first day of two away from work but it never seems to feel like that any more. If Joan is at work then I crack on with housework (and yet all my efforts never seem to make a difference - I may iron for hours but the pile never seems to go down or get rid of several sacks full of rubbish but there is always more to be found) and if she is off then the chances are we just work together. Or go shopping. Neither of which options seems to leave much room for the realxing, going out or having fun I'm sure weekends are supposed to consist of. We shall have to see what happens tomorrow, but I bet both shops and cleaning will be involved at some point. Possibly in an interconnected manner of course - especially if Joan agrees with my diagnosis that the new Dyson is making a strange racket as that may end up going back for another replacement. Makes me mad the way new things just don't work properly. Anyway, back to nicer things.

The trip to Rome seems to have been really good. OK, so Joan came back with some terrible blisters and a bit put off by the way some of her fellow travellers were a bit full of themselves but otherwise she had a really good time. Saw the Colliseum, Vatican and a bunch of other top sights, had some nice food and lots of sunshine. So that was good.

Wednesday we had a lazy day - went in to town and had lunch at The Office which opened around Christmas and we have been meaning to try it ever since. Very nice (we both had savoury pancakes) even if the portions were just too vast. Not a lot else doing though - just got her pictures done (and also the last few from Switzerland which were also in the camera - the perils of going digital meaning we have only used 1 normal film in a year!). Then another two days of work before today.

I did manage to finish A Short History... on Wednesday too. Really enjoyed it and I think I will have to go deeper in on some of the topics covered again at some point. Which may be helped by having re-joined the book club of course as at least now I might get to hear about some of the interesting science or engineering or historical books that I would otherwise miss. Never enough time to browse for them properly in the real or virtual worlds so a gentle reminder every month or so is nice. Am now about half way through The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie which I confess I only bought because it was cheap and I like Hugh's comedy work on the screen. Turns out to be quite good but not laugh out loud funny as implied by the quotes on the cover. Sort of spy thriller but based on an accidental involvement with the plot rather than a career spy. If that makes sense. Not going to become my favourite book but also not likely to never be read again...