Tuesday 31 January 2012
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Thursday 19 January 2012
Wednesday 18 January 2012
Monday 16 January 2012
Friday 13 January 2012
Wednesday 11 January 2012
Friday 6 January 2012
2011 Book Report
I seem to have unwittingly committed myself to a tradition of recording all the books I read during the year. I have no reason to believe this will be of any interest to anyone else, but having persisted with it for the last few years I may as well carry on regardless. All titles are in order starting from January to December 2011, together with random comments thrown in for good measure.
Working the Room Geoff Dyer
(Brilliant, inspirational and made me cleverer which is always a good thing)
Morvern Callar Alan Warner
(I don't really hold with the idea of having a favourite book, or certainly not only one anyway. For the sake of convenience though, when I'm asked I usually mention this one and recommend it all the time. I thought I should probably re-read it just to see if it still held up. It's not the book I remember, and it was intriguing to see how my memory had changed it in my mind over the years. I'm not sure it's as good a book as I first thought, but I still think it's a great first novel and deserves to be better known)
The Light of Day Graham Swift
A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway
Freedom Jonathan Franzen
All Families are Psychotic Douglas Copeland
The Sportswriter Richard Ford
(Without doubt one of the best books I've read in a long time, and one I discovered from reading the Geoff Dyer above. It's hard to describe what makes it so special, but he writes beautifully and it's an oddly calming, very thoughtful novel)
Pilcrow Adam Mars-Jones
(Odd but fun)
Tokyo Year Zero David Peace
(I'm a big fan of David Peace, but this one didn't really work for me at all, I was very disappointed)
The Missing of the Somme Geoff Dyer
(Reliably excellent, although I prefer others of his more)
Ham on Rye Charles Bukowski
Netherland Joseph O'Neill
The Lacuna Barbara Kingsolver
(A recommendation from my parents. A thoroughly good read, very enjoyable)
Boxer Beetle Ned Beauman
Naples '44 Norman Lewis
(Brilliant piece of non-fiction about the life of a British intelligence officer in WWII)
Never Let Me Go Kazuo Ishiguro
A Rage in Harlem Chester Himes
Embers Sandor Marai
The Concrete Garden Ian McEwan
Port Mungo Patrick McGrath
(Nice and dark, covers some similar ground to the excellent 'What I Loved' by Siri Hustvedt)
Black Lamb and Grey Falcon Rebecca West
(This was another one recommended by Geoff Dyer in 'Working the Room'. It's a whopping 1,150 pages, but it's well worth the effort. Definitely the longest book I've ever read, and certainly one of the best)
Wind, Sand and Stars Antoine de Saint Expurey
The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things J T Leroy
(Nasty, gripping and entertaining little book. About as far from 'Black Lamb and Grey Falcon' as it's possible to get)
Bluebeard Kurt Vonnegut
Roseanna Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö
The Pleasures of Good Photography Gerry Badger
(A great set of thought provoking and inspirational essays, highly recommended if you're into photography at all)
Even the Dogs Jon McGregor
Hotel World Ali Smith
Fair Play Tove Jansson
Not such a bad haul, and I managed to avoid reading anything completely duff which always helps.
Working the Room Geoff Dyer
(Brilliant, inspirational and made me cleverer which is always a good thing)
Morvern Callar Alan Warner
(I don't really hold with the idea of having a favourite book, or certainly not only one anyway. For the sake of convenience though, when I'm asked I usually mention this one and recommend it all the time. I thought I should probably re-read it just to see if it still held up. It's not the book I remember, and it was intriguing to see how my memory had changed it in my mind over the years. I'm not sure it's as good a book as I first thought, but I still think it's a great first novel and deserves to be better known)
The Light of Day Graham Swift
A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway
Freedom Jonathan Franzen
All Families are Psychotic Douglas Copeland
The Sportswriter Richard Ford
(Without doubt one of the best books I've read in a long time, and one I discovered from reading the Geoff Dyer above. It's hard to describe what makes it so special, but he writes beautifully and it's an oddly calming, very thoughtful novel)
Pilcrow Adam Mars-Jones
(Odd but fun)
Tokyo Year Zero David Peace
(I'm a big fan of David Peace, but this one didn't really work for me at all, I was very disappointed)
The Missing of the Somme Geoff Dyer
(Reliably excellent, although I prefer others of his more)
Ham on Rye Charles Bukowski
Netherland Joseph O'Neill
The Lacuna Barbara Kingsolver
(A recommendation from my parents. A thoroughly good read, very enjoyable)
Boxer Beetle Ned Beauman
Naples '44 Norman Lewis
(Brilliant piece of non-fiction about the life of a British intelligence officer in WWII)
Never Let Me Go Kazuo Ishiguro
A Rage in Harlem Chester Himes
Embers Sandor Marai
The Concrete Garden Ian McEwan
Port Mungo Patrick McGrath
(Nice and dark, covers some similar ground to the excellent 'What I Loved' by Siri Hustvedt)
Black Lamb and Grey Falcon Rebecca West
(This was another one recommended by Geoff Dyer in 'Working the Room'. It's a whopping 1,150 pages, but it's well worth the effort. Definitely the longest book I've ever read, and certainly one of the best)
Wind, Sand and Stars Antoine de Saint Expurey
The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things J T Leroy
(Nasty, gripping and entertaining little book. About as far from 'Black Lamb and Grey Falcon' as it's possible to get)
Bluebeard Kurt Vonnegut
Roseanna Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö
The Pleasures of Good Photography Gerry Badger
(A great set of thought provoking and inspirational essays, highly recommended if you're into photography at all)
Even the Dogs Jon McGregor
Hotel World Ali Smith
Fair Play Tove Jansson
Not such a bad haul, and I managed to avoid reading anything completely duff which always helps.
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