Goodbye Everybody

That's the end of my year of reading dangerously. Thanks everybody for all your support! Now for my next project ... wonder what it will be?

And so farewell then, loyal readers

... as I have finished my 366th book! (I didn't manage to finish 365 by day 365, but I did manage 366 by day 366, so that's still a book a day for (one day over) a year. Thanks to David for mathematical mentoring.

I finished up with:

Lanterns and Lances by James Thurber - amusing so long as he didn't wander into word lists

Ten Italian Folktales by Italo Calvino - very enjoyable (surprisingly so as I don't normally like folk or fairy tales)

She Wasn't Soft by T. Coraghessan Boyle - kind of dark and edgy, it fulfills all the requirements of the short story (even if it was presented as a little book).

Killing the Angel in the House by Virginia Woolf - beautifully written essays and lectures. Feminism from the early days.

Oops, forgot to add this one: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume - these must have seemed radical at the time (early 1970s). Open and honest children's book (quite funny too).

THE END!

Books 360 and 361

The 27th Kingdom by Alice Thomas Ellis - beautifully written with interesting characters and with humour as well, but with a disappointing ending (to me).

Bon Voyage, Mr President and Other Stories by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - I normally avoid this author because I don't like magic realism. However the first 3 stories were enjoyable and stuck (reasonably closely) to realistic possibilities. The 4th didn't so I didn't enjoy that one.

I thought I had only 4 books to go, but David (who knows about sums) tells me that to achieve an average of one book a day, I have to read 6 by the end of tomorrow (or 5 by the end of today). Fortunately I still have a collection of very short books.

Up to book 359

Jill's Pony Trek by Ruby Ferguson - more old-fashioned but funny pony stories for girls. Worth reading by adults for the funny bits.

The Queen and I by Jay McInerney - a very short book (a Bloomsbury Quid). Very dark, about the drug and prostitution subculture in New York.

Up to book 357

The Magician's Nephew by C S Lewis: a prequel to the Narnia stories, and one which I didn't really remember. It fits in nicely when you find out who Digory turns out to be.

The Fight for Barrowby Hill by Jan Dean: a children's book and one which looks as though it was written for a specific age group. It suffers because of this, because surely a book should be written first of all because the author has a great story to tell (cf C S Lewis, above, who does have a great story to tell. Not even his Christian analogies get in the way!)

I'm glad I don't have a column to write everyday ...

because writing about a book a day is a lot harder than reading them! Here's what I've read recently:

Tiny books courtesy of Kim - The Kiss: a Romantic Treasury of Photographs and Quotes; Women's Wit and Wisdom; The Littlest Book of Scotland; The Paper Bag Princess by Robert N. Munsch; Private Habits by Ivor Cutler. Also two Disney flip books, which I'm not counting - yet!

Pandaemonium by Christopher Brookmyre (his new book - exciting, horrifying and hilarious).

Just after Sunset by Stephen King (his latest book of short stories - a great read).

Three Sketches from a Hunter's Album by Ivan Turgenev (hard-done-by peasants).

Azazel by Isaac Asimov (amusing short stories, and not really science fiction).

Day ? (the counting has gone awry) - however I'm at book 355 and I've got 5 reading days left, so that's 2 books a day to read. I can do it if the books are thin enough!

Ecclesiastes, or, The Preacher

I'm glad I read this because it has filled a gap in my amazing ignorance of the Bible. I liked the language too (King James authorised version), and it was instructive to learn that this was the source of so many of those sayings we use today eg "all is vanity", and "one generation passeth away, and another generation cometh, but the earth abideth for ever". It's not something I'm planning to read in its entirety again though.

My other book was The Kiss by Kate Chopin, which was a small selection of short stories. I'd never read this author before but her work was amazingly modern (she died in 1904). I'd like to read more of her work; the New Orleans setting is fascinating.

Day 358; book 353

More short books

The World According to Lucy by Charles M. Schulz - I had to sympathise with Lucy, who when she asks why her little boyfriend never calls her cutie and is told "Because I don't think you're very cute," says: "I hate reasons". Sometimes I hate them too.

Birds of a Feather by Ben Okri - you have to admire the self-confidence (however misplaced) of an author who begins by saying, "It sometimes seems to me that our days are poisoned by too many words" and then goes on with too many words himself for ANOTHER 14 PAGES! Next he writes an essay on story telling. He states that, "The great essays in story-telling are done in stories themselves". Despite this he continues with his essay on story-telling (and not as a story). I might have known I wouldn't like this because on the back it said it was "inspirational" - usually a warning sign for me.

A Model by Anais Nin - ooh, er, missus! Well-written and racy, although you sometimes long for the characters just to have a nice cup of tea instead ...

Scottish Names by Dougal McClintock (the short version given away by The Scotsman) - informative and sometimes witty guide to the origins and meanings of Scottish names.

Day 357; book 351

Sonny's Blues by James Baldwin

This was short stories, mainly set in post-war Harlem. Very evocative of time and place despite being written in a sparse sort of style, but kind of gloomy.

The Dragon on the Roof was a book of short stories by Terry Jones. Well-written and amusing but not that gripping (they are childrens' stories though).

Day 355; Book 347

Weekend reading

First, thanks to Gil for suggestions in Friday's comments (my own comment facility isn't working). I'll see if we've got those in the library. Thanks also to Jayne for a bag of skinny books - much appreciated.

Over the weekend I read:

Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett - not boring like I had feared but existential angst in plenty.

Esprit du Corps by Lawrence Durrell - having seen Gerald Durrell's viewpoint of his brother Lawrence I wanted to see what his writing was like. This is an amusing account of the post-war diplomatic service. I must try one of his novels though.

Happy Christmas by Daphne du Maurier - a clever but rather depressing reworking of the Christmas story.

More Friends of the Doctor by Isabel Cameron - well written but very dated pre-war fictional anecdotes set in the Highlands.

High and Low by John Betjeman and John Betjeman: poems, selected by Hugo Williams - two volumes of Betjeman's verse. He is the master of evocation, using familiar objects to bring out homely settings. Clever and amusing word-play. The end of the poems often have their own existential angst, though, all the more powerful for having had such a cosy setting.

Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart - I like this author so was pleased to find one I hadn't read before. Slightly dated but not too bad and a well-written mystery. I must try reading My Brother Michael again, by the same author, but set in Greece.

Day 354; book 345

My calculations are out!

Turns out I have only 14 days to finish 27 books! Looks like those books will be very short. Here's what I read last night:

The Frightful First World War by Terry Deary. Funny and horrifying in equal measures, but poor old Rupert Brooke gets it in the neck again. Posho Rupe seems like an easy target. He's criticised for glorifying war (although most people at that stage of the war thought similarly), and then at the same time he's criticised for not dying a hero's death himself (he died from an infected insect bite). He still wrote some wonderful poetry though and just because it doesn't fit in with today's interpretation of the war, which has the benefit of hindsight, doesn't mean that his poetry cannot stand alongside the anti-war poets like Wilfred Owen.

I also read George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl. I quite liked it, but I think a lot of its appeal to children must be the wish-fulfillment element of admitting that some relatives, even our nearest and dearest, can be quite horrible. Even better is the inflicting of horrible deaths on them!

Day 351 (new calculation); book 338 = 14 days to read 27 books!

Bluff your way in the quantum universe

I shall, thanks!

(Slightly disappointing to find out that some of this stuff I had studied in Physics at school. I was expecting something more sensational ...)

But I did like Schrodinger's cat, although apparently Stephen Hawking doesn't. If he really said this, it's very funny: "When I hear the words Schrodinger's cat," he said, "I wish I were able to reach for my gun."

I also liked the Double Slit experiment. Particles or waves? This will tell you.

Day 345; book 338

In which I raid the children's shelves again

I read The Five and the Mystery of the Emeralds by Claude Voilier, which is one of those books where an author continues a famous series (in this case the Famous Five). Not bad, but too modern for the Famous Five I thought. When I was little I didn't even like those editions of the Famous Five with modern illustrations - I liked the old-fashioned ones with Julian and Dick wearing those swimsuits with tops! It doesn't fool children when you try to update stories anyway.

Day 344; book 337

Anne proposes, Mr F disposes ...

of his income, ha ha.

We're going to hear Christopher Brookmyre speak at the Wigtown Book Festival. (My idea, Mr F's funds). He should be an amusing speaker, and his latest book is out now.

In the meantime I have been reading Asterix and the Golden Sickle.

Day 343; book 336

More Harry Hill

Didn't like it so much this time though - it was The Further Adventures of the Queen Mum and I didn't find it as funny. Plus nothing could compete with Tim *sighs fondly*

I also read Better Than a Rest by Pauline McLynn about Leo Street, who is a Dublin female private detective. Very amusing in parts and an interesting outcome, but I won't be rushing to get the others in the series. Pauline McLynn is the actress who played Mrs Doyle in the Father Ted comedies. She must be multi-talented because she also graduated in History of Art.

Then I read Asterix and the Great Crossing (Asterix accidentally discovers America ...)

Day 342; book 335

Tim the Tiny Horse at Large by Harry Hill

Another in the ultimate of cuteness that is Tim. This time Fly gets married and Tim is best man.

Day 339; book 332

Tim the Tiny Horse by Harry Hill

The sweetest book in the world ... ever!

Tim is a pony so small he lives in a matchbox with a Tic Tac conservatory. These are his adventures, during which not much really happens but it is all observed with the surreal humour of Harry Hill.

This is a children's book (supposedly) but I think it would be wasted on the little blighters.

Day 338; book 331

Asterix and Tintin

Thanks to Kim for lending me these comic books. I knew the characters of course but had never actually read them. There's a surprising amount of reading in them. My favourite has to be Snowy the dog who "comments" on the action with cute expressions on his face. The fact that Tintin is a boy detective who lives in his own flat seems to be one of those accepted comic book conventions. Asterix was less for children than I had thought - quite a few of the jokes I don't think children would get.

Day 337; book 330

ps my Books So Far list isn't letting me add any titles so I must remember to count them in these posts.

Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder

This is another children's book which I read last night. It's by the author of the Little House on the Prairie series, which are her memoirs from the last part of the nineteenth century. This is sentimental but not mawkish so I can recommend it. It is charming and the author has a good memory of what it is to be a child.

Here's a page about Laura Ingalls Wilder. It's interesting, because apparently there is some doubt about the authorship of the books - the consensus seems to be that Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote the books but that they were heavily edited by her daughter Rose Wilder Lane, who was a much more famous author at the time.

Day 336; book 328

E. Nesbit, Enid Blyton and other children's classics

Here's what I read over the weekend:

The Story of the Treasure Seekers by E Nesbit
The Secret Seven by Enid Blyton
Five on a Treasure Island by Enid Blyton
Jill Enjoys her Ponies by Ruby Ferguson

I loved these when I was little. I think those librarians who banned Enid Blyton because they said she wasn't a good writer were really making political decisions based on her attitudes to class and her sexism. She was of her day though, and to prevent children from reading them is to deprive them of a lot of fun (and to underestimate their intelligence and ability to recognise outmoded attitudes).

Ruby Ferguson's books are still jolly funny!

Day 335; Book 327