Brian.

The Fear Index by Robert Harris Synopsis His name is carefully guarded from the general public but within the secretive inner circles of the ultra-rich Dr Alex Hoffmann is a legend - a visionary scientist whose computer software turns everything it touches into gold. Together with his partner, an investment banker, Hoffmann has developed a revolutionary form of artificial intelligence that tracks human emotions, enabling it to predict movements in the financial markets with uncanny accuracy. His hedge fund, based in Geneva, makes billions. But then in the early hours of the morning, while he lies asleep with his wife, a sinister intruder breaches the elaborate security of their lakeside house. So begins a waking nightmare of paranoia and violence as Hoffmann attempts, with increasing desperation, to discover who is trying to destroy him. His quest forces him to confront the deepest questions of what it is to be human. By the time night falls over Geneva, the financial markets will be in turmoil and Hoffmann's world - and ours - transformed forever. (Taken from Amazon) My Thoughts I was planning to wait for this to come out on paperback before buying it as the price of hardbacks does make me wince. It was hard to resist as I really like Harris as an author. Fortunately I was given it as a Christmas present by my parents and it was most welcome. The basic plot was a little different than I assumed it would be. Although it's based on the financial markets the financial institution is an office in Geneva and not the 'stock market' trade exchanges as I had assumed. This is entirely down to me, I hadn't read anything about the book as I didn't want to spoil my enjoyment of it. Despite my incorrect thinking the plot is set up pretty quickly and the story goes along at a good pace. Alex Hoffmann is a social awkward and eccentric computer genius (aren't they all) who has set up a hedge fund with flashy trader Hugo Quarry. The big difference in this fund is that it uses a computer algorithm with learns as it goes along based on the human reaction to fear. Inevitably things start going awry and Hoffmann's world gets turned upside down. The book is based in a very short time period, if memory serves me correctly its a day, two at most. As he has done in may other books Harris uses a historical event (the stock market crash) as a major plot point in the book. Even though I knew that it was coming it does not have a detrimental affect on the story. The main plot twist I saw coming a mile off, in fact I was wondering when it was going to come. Without spoiling the story all I will say is that its been done before and was a let down if I am perfectly honest. There are a few nice twists and turns as the story develops but not enough to leave a lasting impression with me. In the end I would say that it is a decent book, easy to read and an enjoyable read. However, I have to say that it is not a patch on the Cicero books and probably not as good as Fatherland either. Its good but not great. I am going to use the goodreads ratings this year and so The Fear Index gets ... 3/5 (I liked it).

I managed to finish The Fear Index earlier so I will be doing a review shortly. However, in the mean time, I really like pics of peoples bookshelves so I thought I'd take a pic now that I have finished sorting them all out again. The middle bookcase is my fiction one and as you can see, my fiction collection is meagre in comparison to my non-fiction one.

I am going to go with The Fear Index by Robert Harris. I've enjoyed all his work that I've read so far and can't think of a better way to start the year.

I am a time traveller I did it to keep the format simple and so that I could C&P the format with every new book I read but with the new board software its not really needed anymore.

Flicking through the books I got as as pressie yesterday I realised the 2666 is absolutely huge at almost 900 pages long. I've also got a few Waterstones & Amazon goodie vouchers to spend Not too sure what to start the year with but I think I'll probably go with The Fear Index as I always enjoy Harris' books. Might start Crime & Punishment at the same time and read it in tandem with whatever I am reading at the time.

Umm, Frankie was right, your lists are hugely impressive and so organised. You must read books like a robot

Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something I am going to choose another non-fiction book I'm afraid. Robert Enke 'A Life Too Short' by Ronald Reng. Although I am a football fan I find footballers in general to be tedious people with little personality, due in no small part to the extensive media training they get these days. There are a lot of good things that they do, especially charity wise but we tend not to hear too much about it. The biggest thing that is easy to miss is the human element of the players. In Robert Enke 'A Life Too Short' Reng tells the true and tragic story of Robert Enke, a steady player haunted by depression and his eventual suicide. The book covers parts of the professional side of things but mainly the human relationships and everyday trudge of life. The biggest thing that stuck out for me is that Enke battled hard to hide his depression and most people never realised he was suffering as badly as he was. I guess in the end the book changed my thought that ALL players as basically rich, spoilt idiots. On a human level they are as vulnerable as all the rest of us, especially when it comes to mental illness. Its an amazing but ultimately sad book.

Phew, that first page of posts is EPIC. I'm going to have to sit down during a quiet moment and work and go through it all making a note of things to add to my meagre list. 300 books in a year , I thought I was bad with buying books, you do read loads more in a year than me though.

I've ticked off a few more titles since my last update. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini (I loved this book so much) Snow - Orhan Pamuk (I enjoyed this book despite it taking some effort to read) The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway (nice easy book to read) White Noise - Don DeLillo (didnt enjoy this one as much as I thought I would) Money - Martin Amis (I found this to be a good read, very enjoyable) Frankie the odd size text might have been due to it being copy and pasted? I noticed earlier that with the new board software if you C&P something it retains its original size unless you manual change it. I can't see it doing this with a post so old but its the only logical thing I can think of. You should be able to set it all to the correct size and font by highlighting it all in one go and choosing the font you want and the size I think.

Money by Martin Amis Synopsis Time Magazine included the book in its list of the 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005. The story of John Self and his insatiable appetite for money, alcohol, fast food, drugs, porn and more, Money is ceaselessly inventive and thrillingly savage; a tale of life lived without restraint, of money and the disasters it can precipitate. (Taken from Goodreads) My Thoughts When I bought Money I thought that it would be the tale of someone who work in the stock markets and that John Self would be the character that Patrick Bateman is in American Psycho. I always try to avoid reading too much into the details of a book before reading it. I find that ruins a lot of the storyline for me and in this case, not knowing much about it was a huge bonus. Unlike a lot of people who have read this, I didnt find it hilarious but there is a lot of dark humor in the writing. The story is like the life of Self, very messy, jumping around and chaotic. There are gaps in the story which only come to life later because Self is often drunk and forgets things easily. This can make it a little sketchy in places but really adds to the character and the narration of the tale. Given the underlying nature of the story it couldn't be more appropriate given the current state of affairs in Europe and America. Excess spending (of money that isnt really there) ties very well into this along with over eating, total consumerism and sexual irresponsibility. I also really liked the brand names that Amis uses, Self's car is a Fiasco in name and deeds for example. I'm looking forward to reading some more by Amis now even though I didnt find the book to be a real page turner. I tend to read in many short burst and every time I finished a mini stint I found myself mulling over what I had read and wondering where everything was heading. It was a steady burner for me, keeping my interest engaged but not to the extent that I couldn't put it down. A decent read. 8/10

I got slack again, Christmas is my excuse Day 22 – Favourite book you own If I ignore the content as the sole defining factor then I have to go with Complete Sherlock Holmes (Wordsworth Library Collection). Its a hardback collection of all of the Sherlock Holmes stories by Conan Doyle. It was a Christmas gift last year that was a complete surprise and I love it. The way it looks just fits in with what it contains. Day 23 – A book you wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t Crime & Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I bought it a little while ago but haven't managed to make myself start it yet. I think I must be concerned that I wont like it but feel obliged to finish it off because of the high esteem its held in. I've set myself a target that I must read it this year and decided to read it in conjunction with another book so that I can dip in and out of it over a long period of time if needed. Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read Again Stone Junction by Jim Dodge. Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most I can't say I've ever felt that I relate to a character to any great extent, certainly not in any fiction I've read so far.

We all have our demons but no, there is no need to worry, I just really like reading about the darker parts of the human existence. Excess, drug use, drinking and general debauchery all fall together and make something I can get my teeth into. Its not all I read but it does form a significant part of it BookMooch left me very disappointed, it looked like a great system but in practice it just didnt work out too great for me. People often react with surprise when I tell them that I pretty much only read non-fiction up until a couple of years ago. I wasn't intentional but just happened that way, I'm enjoying fiction far more than I thought I would and wish I had started earlier. I certainly owe a lot to Huxley. I haven't read it, I may have to take a look at it though and see if it piques any interest in me.

White Noise by Don DeLillo Synopsis Winner of the National Book Award, White Noise tells the story of Jack Gladney, his fourth wife, Babette, and four ultra­modern offspring as they navigate the rocky passages of family life to the background babble of brand-name consumerism. When an industrial accident unleashes an "airborne toxic event," a lethal black chemical cloud floats over their lives. The menacing cloud is a more urgent and visible version of the "white noise" engulfing the Gladneys-radio transmissions, sirens, microwaves, ultrasonic appliances, and TV murmurings-pulsing with life, yet suggesting something ominous. (Taken from Goodreads) My Thoughts I picked this up at a charity shop recently based on the fact that I've seen Don DeLillo mentioned many times in the '1001 Books' list. The synopsis on the back sounded interesting to me and I started with loads of enthusiasm for it. Sadly this was short lived. While I didn't dislike the book I can't say that I get what all the fuss is about really. I found the writing style ok, nothing earth shattering stood out to me. There is also no real plot to speak of and I found the characters very unrealistic. I found myself wondering during some parts of the book where it was going as it seemed to drift here and there at times. I really hope there is more for me in some of DeLillo's other books as he has many more in the '1001 Books' list but this one seems to be widely regarded as his best. 5/10

Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood I have good memories of an old book that I used to read in bed every night when I should have been sleeping. It was an old battered green hardback called The Adventures of Brer Rabbit. At the time I had no idea who it was by but research leads me to believe it was by Julius Lester. I still don't know where it came from and neither do my parents.

Ooops, I seem to have let this slip for a day or two, time for an update. Day 18 – A book that disappointed you American Psycho, I really wanted to like this book but I felt really felt let down by it. I didn't like the writing style particularly and I felt that at times the sexual violence had no purpose except to shock and that it was very over the top. Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie The Whale Rider. I think I've already mentioned this book in an earlier question, its that great. The movie is a perfect accompaniment to the book. It uses native actors for the vast majority of the parts and this lends big deal of authenticity to it. Day 20 – Favourite romance book I haven't read any romance books so I can't give an answer.

Day 17 – Favourite quote from your favourite book I don't remember any quotes from books at all. I've always found it a little odd that people do but it seems to be quite a common thing so maybe its me thats odd in that respect. I admire a turn of phrase or a piece of monologue from time to time but never enough to lodge it in my brain for any period of time.

Ok, so this thread is official launched I've got some ideas as to what I want to read next year. I want to be able to strike some more books off the '1001' list, preferably some of the more modern titles. I also want to expand the range of countries of authors I read, The Kite Runner was a real highlight of 2011 for me so its given me a push to explore this. I also want to get 1 tome read in 2012, either Crime & Punishment or Ulysses which I plan to read along side other things I'm read to prevent me getting bogged down too much. I've got a while pile of WWII and Cold War books that I bought last year that I'm still to read. I may as well just accept that there is no way I'm going to stop reading non-fiction. I'll try to at least alternate with fiction as I go along or read 1 fiction & 1 non-fiction title at a time.

Books Acquired The Fear Index - Robert Harris (Xmas Gift) Through My Eyes - Tim Tebow (Xmas Gift) The Human Stain - Philip Roth (Xmas Gift) Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami (Xmas Gift) 2666 - Roberto Bolano (Xmas Gift) The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen (Xmas Gift) The Dead Women of Juarez - Sam Hawken (Xmas purchase) The Savage Altar - Asa Larsson (Xmas purchase) Generation Kill - Evan Wright (Xmas purchase) Death in Perugia - John Follain (Xmas purchase) The Redbreast - Jo Nesbo

Wish List Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk IQ84 - Haruki Murakami Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami Snuff - Chuck Palahniuk Choke - Chuck Palahniuk All Hell Let Loose - Max Hastings Empire State - Adam Christopher Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress - Dai Sijie People Who Eat Darkness - Richard Lloyd Parry Three Comrades - Erich Maria Remarque

To Be Read Fiction Age of Reason - Jean Paul Sartre All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque Alone In Berlin - Hans Fallada Archangel - Robert Harris Cairo Swan Song - Mekkawi Said Casino Royale - Ian Fleming Catch 22 - Joseph Heller Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell Contact - Carl Sagan Crime & Punishment - Dostoyevsky Dracula - Bram Stoker Enigma - Robert Harris Foucault's Pendulum - Umberto Eco Frankenstein - Mary Shelley Germinal - Emile Zola Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad I, Robot - Isaac Asimov Lord of the Flies - William Golding Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden Money - Martin Amis Moth Smoke - Mohsin Hamid Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell Pompeii - Robert Harris Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe Slam - Nick Hornby Smiley's People - John Le Carre The Black Dahlia - James Ellroy The Collectors - David Baldacci The Dharma Bums - Jack Kerouac The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli The Satanic Verses - Salman Rushdie The Secret Agent - Joseph Conrad The Shipping News - E. Annie Proulx Ulysses - James Joyce Non-Fiction Arnhem: Operation Market Garden - Lloyd Clark Berlin - Antony Beevor Berlin Soldier - Helmut Altner Defying Hitler - Sebastian Haffner Fermat's Last Theorem - Simon Singh Selling Hitler - Robert Harris The Mitrokhin Archive - Christoper Andrew The Origin of the Species - Charles Darwin The Terminal Spy - Alan Cowell Triplex - Nigel West

I set myself a target of 50 books last year and fell a little short. I didn't end up logging every book I read which was a bit of a disappointment. 2011 was a good year of books for me, the stuff I read I mostly enjoyed with the exceptions being few and far between. The classics I read really surprised me as did the fact that I just can't help but read non-fiction on a regular basis. So here are the books I've read so far in 2012. 01. The Fear Index by Robert Harris 02. The Savage Altar by Asa Larsson 03. Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow 04. I'm With Fatty by Edward Ugel 05. Crime & Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky 06. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk 07. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller 08. Fly By Wire by William Langewiesche 09. The Dead Women of Juarez by Sam Hawken 10. Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne 11. Trafficked by Sophie Hayes 12. Slam by Nick Hornby 13. Going Buddhist by Peter J Conradi 14. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne 15. How to Practice by The Dalai Lama 16. I, Robot by Isaac Asimov 17. Foundation by Isaac Asimov 18. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque 19. Carra by Jaime Carragher 20. The Anatomy of England by Jonathan Wilson 21. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming 22. Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk 23. The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo 24. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga 25. Super Casino by Pete Earley 26. Pao by Kerry Young 27. Around The World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne 28. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami 29. Task Force Black by Mark Urban 30. Nemesis by Jo Nesbo 31. Superfreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner 32. Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada 33. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 34. The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy 35. The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo 36. The Infiltrators by Philip Etienne 37. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami 38. Skunk Works by Ben Rich 39. A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka 40. Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote 41. Live and Let Die by Ian Fleming 42. After Dark by Haruki Murakami 43. Underground by Haruki Murakami 44. I Am the Secret Footballer by Anonymous 45. Bloggs 19 by Tony Thompson 46. Ecstasy by Irvine Welsh 47. The Redeemer by Jo Nesbo 48. To Live Outside the Law by Leaf Fielding 49. Black Hearts by Jim Frederick 50. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov 51. The Secret Race by Tyler Hamilton 52. Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney 53. The Upgrade by Paul Carr 54. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden 55. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut 56. South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami 57. Brotherhood of Warriors by Aaron Cohen 58. 1984 by Geroge Orwell

Day 16 – Favourite female character Easy, Lisbeth Salander from the Millenium Trilogy. I loved the books and a huge part of that is down to the character of Lisbeth Salander. I really like everything about her, the broken childhood, being an outsider, brooding, the tattoos everything. The balance of her against Blomkvist is great. I was a little sad to reach the end knowing that there are no more books.

Day 15 – Favourite male character I was trying not to pick a character from a book I've read this year and its proving tricky. So I've given up on that idea and I'm going to pick Cicero from the books by Robert Harris. He isnt a character in the truest sense as he did exist and his exploits are documented. Harris fleshes out the character very well and I really like the way that his failings are exposed as well as his triumphs.

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway Synopsis A novella, The Old Man and Sea tells the story of an old fisherman, Santiago, and his long lusty struggle isn't so much over one fish, but the act of living—living fully, actively, robustly. (Taken from Goodreads) My Thoughts My first dip into some Hemingway and I decided on something short in case I didnt like it. I shouldn't have worried because I enjoyed the book. I have to admit I am a little surprised at the really high acclaim that this is held in by some. I found it to be a good story but not much else. One thing I did really like was the simplicity of the writing, it wasnt over the top. There is little else for me to add, excpet for the fact I will be searching out some more Hemingway soon. 7/10