An avalanche of books – or, what I plan to read
Oh my, oh my. Last night I went around with a notebook and came up with a list of all the outstanding books lying around the flat, belonging either to me or to , that I wanted to read. And here is the final list. I'm hoping that if I write them down here, it will give me some structure for reading them all:
Wish you were here: the official biography of Douglas Adams – Nick Webb. I bought this in the Charing Cross Road Waterstones branch and started reading it about 10 minutes later. It is an absolutely excellent read, although I would definitely recommend reading it alongside The Salmon of Doubt, edited by Peter Guzzardi. Doing that gives the insight that there was a Douglas Adams who existed beyond the Hitchhikers series, which is a timely reminder.
The Full Cupboard of Life – Alexander McCall Smith. The latest lovely volume of adventures from Mma Precious Ramotswe, her reluctant husband-to-be Mr JLB Matekoni, her business assistant Mma Makutsi, her two foster-children and all the other occupants of her little corner of Botswana. This is also underway.
Books still to be started:
The Birthday of the World – Ursula le Guin [still unread in Jan 2008 and not currently on Mount To Be Read (MTBR)]
Racundra's First Cruise – Arthur Ransome [still unread in Jan 2008, MTBR]
My Cousin Rachel – Daphne du Maurier [Have since read, is brilliant]
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddon [still unread in Jan 2008, MTBR]
The Ashdown Diaries – Paddy Ashdown [still unread in Jan 2008]
The da Vinci Code – Dan Brown [Have since read, is brilliant, stood up to a re-read pretty well, too]
No Logo – Naomi Klein [still unread in Jan 2008, MTBR]
Weaving the Web – Tim Berners-Lee [still unread in Jan 2008]
The Man in the High Castle – Philip K Dick [still unread in Jan 2008]
Maximum Bob – Elmore Leonard [still unread in Jan 2008]
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold [Have read, thought it was utter nonsense, that's several hours of my life that I wouldn't mind getting back]
Archangel and Enigma – Robert Harris [Archangel read, Enigma unread and on MTBR]
The Accusers – Lindsey Davis [Read, very good indeed]
Vernon God Little – DBC Pierre [Couldn't get into, will try again ]
A Short History of Nearly Everything – Bill Bryson [Read, serious commitment of time and energy but worth every minute]
Life of Pi – Yann Martel [Have since read, is brilliant]
Mountains of the Mind: a history of fascination – Robert MacFarlane [Have since read, is brilliant]
Vilette – Charlotte Bronte [still unread in Jan 2008, MTBR]
Man of the Hour – Peter Blauner [still unread in Jan 2008]