My Weekly Book

Here’s a list of the 50 books I actually read as part of LiveJournal’s 50 Book Challenge, listed by genre. Re-reads are labelled as such. Books I thought were standout excellent are marked with an asterisk. It appears that a full quarter of my reading matter was either crime or thrillers - that wasn’t in itself, so much of a surprise. I was interested to see that non-fiction was such a major genre for me and I also read more sci-fi and fantasy than I was expecting.

I came to the conclusion that it’s much easier to walk into a bookshop or a library, pick up a crime novel and get a decent read than it is to do the equivalent with a thriller. The quality of crime novels seems to be more consistent, which is why I read more of them. I enjoy a compulsive, page-turning, can’t-put-it-down thriller much more but it’s harder to be sure of finding good ones.

I hate the attitude that popular, genre or children’s fiction simply isn’t worth reading, especially if it’s something that’s really caught the public imagination. I think well-written genre fiction can challenge preconceptions and deal in the currency of ideas just as well as obscure lit-fic. I have a feeling that this is a product of my education, some of which took place at a university that put a premium on cultural studies, was one of the first in the country to offer a degree in film studies and routinely taught causes about Mils & Boon novels and comics before this was common elsewhere. I also reject the idea that enjoyment isn’t a worthwhile objective of reading a book.

Even so, I did try to make sure there were some slightly more challenging and literary entries in this list. And I think I might be trying to boost the numbers next year.

[Search for these books on eBay]

Read in 2006 - Books by genre (50):

Thrillers (8)

The da Vinci Code - Dan Brown – re-read (Jan)
The Sixth Lamentation – William Brodrick (Feb) *
Live Bait - PJ Tracy (March)
Dead Run - PJ Tracy (March) *
The Third Man and The Fallen Idol - Graham Greene (March)
Holy Smoke – Tonino Benacquista (April)
The Rainmaker – John Grisham (June)
At Risk – Stella Rimington (August)

Crime/Noir/Roman Policier (17)

Dead Lagoon – Michael Dibdin (Jan) *
Cosi fan Tutti – Michael Dibdin (Feb)
Scandal takes a Holiday – Lindsey Davis (March)
A Long Finish by Michael Dibdin (March)
Death Knock – Frederic Lindsay (April) *
Blood Rain – Michael Dibdin (April)
Have Mercy On Us All – Fred Vargas (May) *
Missing – Karin Alvtegen (May) *
And Then You Die – Michael Dibdin (May)
B is for Burglar – Sue Grafton (June)
Interface – Joe Gores (June) *
A is for Alibi – Sue Grafton (June)
C is for Corpse – Sue Grafton (August)
A Trouble of Fools – Linda Barnes (August)
The Lighthouse – PD James (September)
Medusa – Michael Dibdin (September)
See Delphi and Die – Lindsey Davis (September)

Non-fiction (8)

Everest South West Face – Chris Bonington (Jan)
Success in Politics: a comparative study – Neil McNaughton (Jan)
Touching the Void – Joe Simpson (Feb) *
Holding the Key: my year as a guard in Sing-Sing – Ted Conover (April)*
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim – David Sedaris (April)
You Can’t Tell The People – Georgina Bruni (May)
The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli (June)
Not Abba: the real story of the 1970s – Dave Haslam (August)

Graphic Novels (2)

V for Vendetta – Alan Moore (Feb) *
Tomorrow Stories (Books 1 and 2) – Alan Moore (May and August)

Literature (2)

The Professor – Charlotte Bronte (June)
Don Quixote – Miguel de Cervantes (July and October)

Contemporary/Literary Fiction (3)

Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafon (March) *
Rule Britannia – Daphne du Maurier (October) *
Eleanor Rigby - Douglas Coupland (October)

Horror (1)

Interview with the Vampire – Anne Rice (April) *

Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Far-Fetched Fiction (8)

The Whole and Entire Hitch-Hiker’s Quintrilogy – Douglas Adams – re-read (May)
The King of Elfland’s Daughter – Lord Dunsany (July) *
The Greatest Show Off Earth – Robert Rankin (August)
Good Omens – Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman – re-read (August)
Trouble with Lichen – John Wyndham (September)
The Antipope – Robert Rankin (September)
The Chrysalids – John Wyndham (September) *
Monstrous Regiment – Terry Pratchett (September)

Children’s (1)

The Eagle of the Ninth – Rosemary Sutcliffe (September) *

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 10th, 2006 at 11:03 am and is filed under 2006 reading challenge. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.