Brian.

There are books I keep, in fact pretty much all the books I've bought. I've been trying to trim numbers for a while without just giving them away. I had a go at BookMooch the other year but there was little of interest in there. I sent away about 10 books and picked up Robinson Crusoe, The Kite Runner and The Shipping News in return but then ran dry. I ended up closing my account and giving the Mooch points away. I don't re-read books as a general rule so they either take up space or I end up giving them to people. I would much rather swap them for something I havent read than for them to sit looking pretty (and they do look pretty) on my bookcases. There are of course books I wouldnt give away. I have a lovely hardback complete works of Conan Doyle which was bought as a gift that I'll never give away for example. I only really started to read fiction about 18 months ago, before that I was pretty much a non-fiction only reader. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley changed all that. I bought the 1001 Books book as a way to find new stuff to read so have been dipping in and out of it since. Its certainly made me try stuff I would never had read otherwise. As for the Burroughs book Junky, its great if a little short. It mixes themes of post war America, Nomadic ways and realy gritty writing that appeals to me. Themes that are covered in On The Road but I just found Kerouac's writing style a bit difficult to work with at times.

I'll start with The Kite Runner and then go for Snow, sounds like a good plan to me.

Thanks for the reply Kidsmum, I shall take your advice and go for The Kite Runner. Not sure where I got it from, it looks a bit battered so it may have come from one of the few successful BookMooch swaps I did. I've decided to give the 30 day challenge question thing a bash so I'll start with #1. Day 01 – Best book you read last year Seeing as though the year is almost up I'm going to go for one from this year and a book that has just won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year. A Life Too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke by Ronald Reng. Given the recent tragic news of the suicide of Gary Speed its a very timely book. Its the story of Robert Enke, a German international goalkeeper and his battle with depression. Things got too much for the poor bloke and he killed himself on 10th Nov 2009. Ronald Reng had become good friends with Robert over the year and the book has been constructed with the help of Enke's wife, friends and his diaries. The story is handled with supreme care and thought by Reng and as he regularly reminds people, its not his book, its Roberts. Its a book I would recommend to everyone, even those with no interest in football.

The life of Pi sounds really good, I'm sure I've got a copy of it lying around somewhere but I've never read it. I will have to dig it out and add it to my pile of books to read before the year is out.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/gc On the right of the page is a kindle gift voucher tab although I suspect that any Amazon voucher would be redeemable against kindle purchases as long as its done via the website and not on the kindle itself.

Today google is commemerating Mark Twain, it would be his birthday I believe. It warms the heart a little, I woke up and found that amongst the usual celeb rubbish Mark Twain was trending and has been all morning.

Bit undecided what to read next, here is a short list of what I'm looking at. Anyone wish to offer any input as to what I should go for? The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini Age of Reason - Jean Paul Sartre Snow - Orhan Pamuk All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway Slave Girl - Sarah Forsyth It's So Easy - Duff McKagan

The Hacienda, How Not to Run a Club by Peter Hook Synopsis Peter Hook, as co-founder of Joy Division and New Order, has been shaping the course of popular music for thirty years. He provided the propulsive bass guitar melodies of 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' and the bestselling 12-inch single ever, 'Blue Monday' among many other songs. As co-owner of Manchester's Hacienda club, Hook propelled the rise of acid house in the late 1980s, then suffered through its violent fall in the 1990s as gangs, drugs, greed and a hostile police force destroyed everything he and his friends had created. This is his memory of that era and 'it's far sadder, funnier, scarier and stranger' than anyone has imagined. As young and naive musicians, the members of New Order were thrilled when their record label Factory opened a club. Yet as their career escalated, they toured the world and had top ten hits, their royalties were being ploughed into the Hacienda and they were only being paid GBP20 per week. Peter Hook looked back at that exciting and hilarious time to write HACIENDA. All the main characters appear - Tony Wilson, Barney, Shaun Ryder - and Hook tells it like it was - a rollercoaster of success, money, confusion and true faith. (Taken from Amazon) My Thoughts I decided this afternoon that after the slightly laborious 'On The Road' that I needed something lighter to read and plucked this off the shelf. It had been recommended to me by a couple of my friends, one who was into the club scene at the time and a few who werent. On starting it I was glad that Peter Hook doesnt spend any time talking about his life as a kid or anything prior to Joy Division. I bought the book to read about the Hacienda and have been disappointed about with tedious details about childhood in previous biographies. Joy Division is only briefly covered and there isnt a huge amount of detail about New Order, so its probably best to go elswhere if you want more about this. The book is broken up into chapters for each year of the Hacienda with some details about the accounts for that year and meeting minutes at the end of each one. In the middle of the book there are 8 pages of glossy pictures. The one thing that is really striking throughout the story is the mind staggering amount of money that was wasted during the time of the Hacienda. Its a surprise that it wasnt closed much earlier than it was. There is the inevitable drug and alcohol use throughout the story and towards the end, the violence that paid a huge part in the downfall of the club. I found myself not really feeling too much sympathy with anyone from the story except for Ang Matthews who was an assistant manager from 1989. She is cast as a bit of an unsung hero of the club. She stuck through with it until the end standing to gain not a great deal but exposing herself to a myraid of dangers. I would say this book is worth a read to anyone who is interested in the Hacienda, I got through it in no time at all. 7/10

Started reading 'The Hacienda, How Not To Run A Club' by Peter Hook.

I am an Aircraft Engineer, I maintain, repair and modify aircraft so they can keep flying throughout the year. Its pretty much all I've done since leaving college and most of the time I really enjoy it. At times, working outside in the cold and rain throughout the night gets irritating but at least it keeps things interesting. In the beginning I didnt think I would ever qualify but it made all the studying (5 years) worth it in the end.

Finished reading On the Road by Jack Kerouac. At one point I thought I was going to abandon it but eventually I got caught up in it. Still hard reading in places due to his way of writing but it also helps add life to some of the passages.

On the Road by Jack Kerouac Synopsis On The Road, the most famous of Jack Kerouac's works, is not only the soul of the Beat movement and literature, but one of the most important novels of the century. Like nearly all of Kerouac's writing, On The Road is thinly fictionalised autobiography, filled with a cast made of Kerouac's real life friends, lovers and fellow travellers. Narrated by Sal Paradise, one of Kerouac's alter-egos, this cross-country bohemian odyssey not only influenced writing in the years since its 1957 publication but penetrated into the deepest levels of American thought and culture. On the Road swings to the rhythms of 1950s underground America, jazz, sex, generosity, chill dawns and drugs, with Sal Paradise and his hero Dean Moriarty, traveller and mystic, the living epitome of Beat. Now recognized as a modern classic, its American Dream is nearer that of Walt Whitman than Scott Fitzgerald, and it goes racing towards the sunset with unforgettable exuberance, poignancy and autobiographical passion. (Taken from Amazon) My Thoughts I've had this sitting on my shelf for a little while now and pushed on by my enjoyment of Junky by Burroughs I decided it was time to give it a go. I actually also have 'The Dharma Bums' on my shelf but decided to go for this as its longer and also Kerouac's most famous work. As usual with the Penguin Modern Classics series there is an intro about the author and the book itself. This section of the book adds some interesting background to the story, especially the fact that he wrote it all in a 3 week burst on a single roll of paper. I have a rule where any book I pick up gets 100 pages to draw me in and gain my interest. If it fails to do this I tend to hand it away to anyone who wants it. So far this rule has served me well, I have only given up on a couple of books. Initially I thought that this book was going to be a disaster, I just couldn't get into it. I found the prose hard to follow in places, in particular because of Kerouac's tendency to insanely long sentences. I couldn't wait to hit page 100 knowing that I could put the book aside but at the same time feeling sad that a modern classic had passed me by without effect. Eventually though this changed and I started to find myself being drawn in and wanting to read on. The prose was still a pain to navigate at times but it has an energy to it. There is some real zeal to the writing especially in places where Moriarty is in a frenzied state of excitement. This is very evident when he is caught up in a new exciting place such as New Orleans or when they are watching Jazz musicians perform. During these parts I saw a glimmer or what caught the imagination of people when the book was first published. I could feel the excitement that the book would have created for young men wanting to travel carefree across America and beyond. I really liked Sal Paradise (Kerouac) although found his looking up to Dean Moriarty (Cassady) a bit bewildering. Moriarty didnt appeal to me, I understand being carefree and wanting to live the simple life but criminality stretches it too far for me. As the book progresses you can feel Moriarty starting to lose grip mentally. He starts off as a bit of a likeable pain and slowly becomes an asshole (excuse my language). Overall I liked the book, I found some of the prose great and some of it really self indulgent drivel. I had hoped it would be more like Burroughs in Junky and it was quite different. I don't think its a book I will return to, I think I may have come to it too late in life to full appreciate it's gift. I am however very glad I stuck with it, its not a book that I will instantly forget. I suspect I will read 'The Dharma Bums', just not for a while. I am more likely to read more Burroughs next time I am in a 'Beat' mood than Kerouac. 6/10

Lustrum by Robert Harris Synopsis A historical novel that cannily utilises elements of the thriller but attempts something far more challenging than most proponents of that genre. Harris’s continuing theme is the battle for power, and this Rome-set narrative deals with the years around 63BC when Cicero was Consul of Rome, building to the unstoppable accession to power of the canny and ruthless Caesar. Rome, in the process of consolidating its massive empire, resounds to the sounds of a no-holds-barred struggle for influence. The protagonists here are the canny consul Cicero, the equally Machiavellian Caesar, the Republic's eminent general Pompey and the hyper-rich Crassus. These real historical figures (and others, including the psychopathic Catilina) are stirred into a very heady brew by Robert Harris, beginning when the body of a child, grotesquely mutilated, is discovered. The trial and execution that follows plunges the city of Rome into a ferment as destabilising as anything it has faced. (Taken from Amazon) My Thoughts A word of warning to start with, this book is known as Conspirata in some countries and this has caught some people out. Harris has intended for there to be a trilogy in this series of books. The first one is 'Imperium' and this (Lustrum/Conspirata) is the second. The third is on the way, I wish he would hurry up but I understand that Harris' research takes a long time and he has just finished 'The Fear Index'. I would recommend reading 'Imperium' first although it is not required, in fact there has been a considerable time between my reading 'Imperium' and 'Lustrum'. So onto the book, it continues the tale of Cicero a Roman politician and his struggle for power in a very unstable time in Roman history. Cicero is an instantly likeable character in no small part to the fact that the story is told by his secretary and chief note-taker Tiro. The use of Tiro to tell the story is a very good move in my opinion because he is a humble narrator with little in the way of an agenda. One of the other instantly likeable aspects of the story is that unlike the first book, Cicero makes mistakes and is prone to mental meltdown and mood swings. He also gets carried away with his own power, in some respects turning into what he dislikes most about Roman society. To me this indicates the severity of the struggle he faces in comparison to the first book. I am not expert on Roman history but by using real people like Caesar it helps cut down the time and pages spent going over a back story. Even with this fact a knowledge of Roman times and customs is not required as everything just seems to fit and makes sense. Due to the deviousness of his enemies there is always something going on in the background. As the story went on I found myself wondering who was responsible for what and what plans were being thought of next. I read through the 450 pages of this book in 2 days, something I very rarely manage to do and I simply couldn't really put it down. Plot twists come thick and fast and there is always something going on. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I can't wait for the last one to come along. 9/10

That shop looks like a real gem of a store, its a shame that the independent bookshops are becoming more and more scarce.

I found the same with all 3 of the books in the trilogy. Slow to get going but once they did I raced through the books in no time at all. Blazed through the rest of Lustrum by Robert Harris today, fantastic book. I wish he would hurry up with the next one in the series.

Making my way through Lustrum by Robert Harris, so far read about 100 pages today. Great book full of intrigue so far.

2 more Robert Harris titles which may be worth considering. Imperium and Lustrum, both are based around Roman politics and are part of a trilogy (the 3rd is not published yet).

In my very humble opinion you will really enjoy it. If for some reason you don't get it let me know, I'm willing to swap it.

Cold War by Jeremy Isaacs & Taylor Downing Synopsis Cold War is the story of the half-century since the end of the Second World War - the story of our lives. Its framework is the confrontation, military and ideological, between two great powers that dominated the world during these years. It is a story of crises and conflict on a global scale: from the Berlin Blockade and the Cuban Missile Crisis, to the tanks in the streets of Warsaw, Budapest and Prague, to spies, student riots and encounters in space. In Cold War, Jeremy Isaacs and Taylor Downing record epic history through the detail of individual human experience: the recollections not only of statesmen whose decisions led to these momentous events, but also of the ordinary men and women whose lives were bound up in these years of conflict. Cold War is the first comprehensive history for the general reader to benefit from the recent opening of Soviet, East European and Chinese archives as well as formerly classified American documents. In a driving narrative that it both gripping and informative, the true story of the Cold War can at last be told. (Taken from Amazon) My Thoughts This is a very readable account of the Cold War and as I found out after I had read it, tied in with a TV series. Books on this kind of subject can be pretty hard to get through, especially being politcally based rather than 'war based. This book however is very easy to get through if a little simplified and American centric at times. I really liked the way that its split into a roughly chronological order but with each section focusing on an event rather than a rigid time line. I vaguely remember the wall coming down but my knowledge of the Cold War was limited to that prior to reading the book and I'm glad to say that my lack of knowledge didnt impede my reading of the book. Its a period of time I find fascinating so being able to flesh out the little bits I knew was great. I would have liked more photos in the book. There are a few black and white images printed throughout the book but no glossy colour photos in the middle like most non-fiction titles I read. Also throughout the book are notes detailing important people or events in a very succinct way. They werent really needed in my opinion but might prove useful for people who know nothing about the cold war. A fascinating read. 8/10

I didnt realise Bob Shepherd had written a novel. I've read his non-fiction title 'The Circuit' which is about working for private security firms in war zones around the world. Its a pretty good read so I might have to get a copy of 'Infidel'.

Junky by William S. Burroughs Synopsis Burroughs’ first novel, a largely autobiographical account of the constant cycle of drug dependency, cures and relapses, remains the most unflinching, unsentimental account of addiction ever written. Through junk neighbourhoods in New York, New Orleans and Mexico City, through time spent kicking, time spent dealing and time rolling drunks for money, through junk sickness and a sanatorium, Junky is a field report (by a writer trained in anthropology at Harvard) from the American post-war drug underground. A cult classic, it has influenced generations of writers with its raw, sparse and unapologetic tone. This definitive edition painstakingly recreates the author’s original text word for word. (Taken from Amazon) My Thoughts This is another book I bought on the strength of it being in '1001 Book to Read Before You Die'. I've wanted to get into some of the works of the 'beat' writers of the time and this seemed to be a good way in. Plus I do love collecting the Penguin modern classics. Usually I don't think the foreword add a huge amount to these books but I found this to be the exception. I really enjoyed the description of how the different editions were published and it seemed fitting that initially it was printed as an Ace Double. I really liked the tone taken by Burroughs in the text, somehow managing to sound autobiographical and not at the same time. His dry and straightforward observations fit perfectly with the subject matter. There is no pity asked or expected, everything is just laid out as is. The almost off hand way he deals with his homosexuality is striking, more so given the period of history it comes from. Its difficult to say how true to the time this is but it would seem that certainly in the early parts of the story drug use was rife and almost accepted as a norm. As the Feds step up the locking up of junkies you can feel the change of attitude from Burroughs. In one hand he hates it but in the other he comes across almost relieved at being almost forced into rehab. The coverage of the time spent in the Sanatorium is in equal parts fascinating and horrifying. I loved this book and really look forward to reading 'Queer' and other 'Beat' classics. 9/10