The Ig strives, seeks, finds and never yields.

Another decent year of reading in 2022 with most of my fare from the library or kindle unlimited, I'll do a more indepth review below when time permits.

Due to space concerns after moving to a smaller house last year from a large Victorian affair (with massive built in bookcases) I've kind of stopped buying books apart from a splurge of 50p bargins at my new local library that would have been criminal to pass on.

Need to get the TBR pile down though this year as it's gone up considerably in % terms after jettisoning 1/3 of my library in the move, and free up some space.
My once tidy bookcases are verging on double stacking with the horizontal spaces at the top full. From an aesthetic perspective, very poor ;)

I'll allow myself another (small) bookcase for my over sized books, but that will be it. Getting an increasing abhorrence of clutter as I get older.

review of 2022 and 2021 to come as never got around to it.

Past years:

No

2010: 54:
2011: 32:
2012: 46:
2013: 36: R8
2014: 76: L16 R4
2015: No review 53:
2016: https://www.librarything.com/topic/212975 66: L21
2017: https://www.librarything.com/topic/212975 67:
2018: https://www.librarything.com/topic/280916 52:
2019: https://www.librarything.com/topic/309753 83: 4 re-reads, 28 library, 46 Kindle.
2020: https://www.librarything.com/topic/315456 96: 11 Re-reads, 9 Library, 72 on Kindle.
2021: https://www.librarything.com/topic/328308 103: 16 Re-reads 29 Library 69 Kindle
2022: https://www.librarything.com/topic/341684 90: 21 Re-reads, 41 Library, 39 Kindle

found on a Harddrive - my pre - LT reading lists from 2010-2015 - will tidy up at some point.......

Very poor numbers there it has to be said .... think this was when I was still reading magazines and newspapers in my lunch break before realising that the latter was waste of time (and money) and could be better used reading something 'proper'. But still - 32 in all of 2011 and only one in July of that month ? Hmmmm ..... Didn't have internet distractions in netflix/prime as well back then.

2010

Beam me up Scotty - Michael Guinzburg
The prison house - John King

March

Goats - Mark Poirer
Car Camping - Mark Sundeem
Motel Life - Willy Valutin
Brown - Frank Pavloff
Naked Pueblo - Mark Porier

April

The Road - Cormac Mcaarthy (r)
Feeding the Rat - Al Alvarez
Human Punk - John King
Just after Sunrise - Stephen King
Slash Autobiography

May
unsung heroes - Mark Porier
modern ranch living - Mark Porier
toast - nigel slater (r)
Bring it back home - Niall Griffiths

June
Do not pass go - Tim Moore
The Giro Playboy - Michael Smith
Confederates in the ATtic - Tony HOwiz
Runt - Niall Griffiths
Northline - Willy Vlautin
Not Fade Away - Jim Dodge

July
Hearts in Atlantis - S.King (R)
Fight Club - Chuck Palenik
The life and times of thunderbolt kid - Bill Bryson
Feet in the clouds - R.Ashwith (R)
headhunters - John King
England Away- John King
no envy - N.Korea
Captain Cook - Tony Horwitz

Aug
Ark - S.Baxter
White trash - John King
Baghdad without a map - Tony Horwitz
Screen Burn - Charlie Brooker
The Stornoway Man - Kevin Macneill
Trials of a king - A.Pendragon and CJ Stone

sept
gone bamboo - anthony bourdarin
diving bell and butterfly
Philosophy of risk (haston bio) - Jeff Conner
Grits/Stump (R) - Niall Griffiths
last man standing - essex boys story

Oct
blokemiles - some bloke
charlie knows the words - roz patterson
are you experienced (R)- william sutcliffe
hp lovecraft short stories

Nov
Heavier than Heaven (kurt Cobain bio)
unchained america - Dave Gorman
futureproof - frank daniels
domain - James Herbert (r)
apartment 16 - adam lg nevill
banquet for the damned - adam nevill

Dec
Best of Post Apocalyptic SF - Various
the end of the line - various
heights of madness - Johnny Muir
pocket notebook - Mike thomas

54+?

2011

Jan
Alive book - Nanda Parrado

Feb
not about the bike - Lance armstrong
the leaping - tom fletcher
icebound - leornard guttridge

mar
kill your friends - john niven
the terror - dan simmons

apr
pocket traffic - simon lewis
go - simon lewis
lean on pete - willy vlautin

may
Dan rhodes - little hands clapping
the ritual - adam nevill

July
Monster Nation

aug
porno - irvine welsh (r)
duma key - s king
the golden calf - henry baum (rebel inc)
mooch - dan fante

sep
rumours of a hurricane - tim lott
spacemen 3 biography
mr shivers - robert bennet

Oct
Go now - Richard Hell
the ritual - adam nevill (r)

Nov
cycling the north sea route- bernie friend
penal colony - richard herley -k-

dec
the passage - justin cronin
cycling home from siberia - rob liliwall
aberesyith mon amour
touch the top of the world
last mad surge of youth - mark hodgekinson
kill your friends - john niven -r
pocket notebook - mike thomas -r
granta - necessary journeys
S.king short story collection - nightshire/4 past midnight/nightmares -r

32

2012

jan +feb

afterlight -alex scarrow -k-
last light - alex scarrow -k-
world war Z -k-
cycling in search of the perfect meal - tom

‘’------
bed david whitehouse -k
trainspotting -k -r
dave mustaine autobio -k

it - stephen king -k -r
magic cottage - james herbert -r

Mar
nerd to well - simon pegg -k
swansong - robert -k
flu - wayne simmons -k

Apr
The Damage Done - warren buffet
garden hopping =johnathen rendell
stonemouth - iain banks -k
hit and run - doug johnstone -k
the machine -d g jones -k
the hunger games - suzanne collins -k

May
1984 - George orwell -k (r)
blood,sweat and tea - tom reyonlds -k
the final winter - iain rob wright -k
smokeheads - doug johnstone -k
tombstoning - doug johnstone -k

June
learning to breathe - andy cave -r
skag boys - irvine welsh -k

July
banquet for the damned - adam nevill -r -k

Aug
one - conrad williams -k
walk in the woods - bill bryson -r
catch a fire - suzanne collins -k
full dark, no stars - stephen king -k
apartment 16 -adam nevill -r -k

Sept
kindness of strangers -mike mcintyre -k
summit fever - andrew grieg -r
this bloody mary is the last thing I own - jonathen rendell
12 grand - jonathen rendell -r
method actors guide to j+h - kevin macneill

Oct
the weekend fix - craig weldon
escape from luciana (mountaineering)
how I won the yellow jumper - ned boulting

Nov
253 - geoff someone
Last days - adam nevill
wheat belly -

DEC
Blood Harvest - SJ BOLTON
survival of the fittest - mike stroud
the terror - dan simmons -r -k
tough shit - kevin smith -k

46

JAN 2013

pyschovertical - andy fitzpatrick
quiet solder - adam ballinger -r
the guardians - andrew pryor
primal blueprint - mark sissons -k

Feb
muscle - jon hotten
death of bunny munro Nick Cave -r
Summer of night - dan simmons -k
moods of future joys - al humphreys -k -r

Mar
Aquariams of Pyongang -k
Reapers are the Angels -k
the great god Pan -k A.Blackwood?

Apr
Shopped - Joanna Blythman
smile you are travelling - h.rollins

May
the crew -k
naked pueblo - mark poirer -r

Jun
primal blueprint -r -k
killers guide to iceland
rise and fall of the iceman -k
refuge - richard herley -k
cairngorm john -L

July
Map Addict - Mike
Unpublished Stories - s.king -k
Zone One - Colson Whitehead
wormwood - dg jones -k

August
UR - S.king -k
Penal Colony -- Richard Herley k -r
The gunslinger - s.king -k

Sep
Thunder and Sunshine - Al Humphreys -k
Dreams of Max and Ronnie - Niall Griffiths

Oct
Maps of my life - Guy
Street - Tyler

Nov
skagboys - irwine welsh -r -k
bagdad without a map - tony horiwtz - r -k
never gymless - ross enamait -k

Dec
house of small shadows adam nevill -k
the terror of living - urban waite

36 R8

2014

Jan

There are other Rivers - Al Humphreys -k
Bobby Fischer goes to war

Feb
best american travel writing - edited bill bruford
Blaze - S.King -k
Naked - David sedaris -k
Oxyz+crake - Margaret Atwood -k
calm at sunset, calm at dawn - paul watkins

Mar
To live outside the law - Leaf Fielding
Me talk pretty one day - David Sedaris -k
Chump Change - Dan Fante
Duende, Search for Flamenco - Jason Webster
Beam me up Scotty - Michael Guinzburg -r
my unlikely journey to ultramarathon - scott jurek
the road - cormac mccarthy -r -k

Apr
child of god - cormac mccarthy
the road to Titalchia? - rupert
do I come here often? - Henry Rollins
dress your family - david sedaris-k

May
the girl who loved tom gordon - s.king -k
books of blood vol3 - clive barker -k
call of the wild - guy grieve -l
notes from a thin country - sara wheeler
barrel fever - david sedaris -k
footnote - Boff Whalley
Fiva - Gordon Stanforth

June
Best american travel writing - A.Bourdain editor
Run Wild - Boff Whalley
the fellowship of ghosts - paul watkins
age of absurditiy - micheal foloy
so the wind won’t blow it all away - Richard Brautigan -k
i am legend - richard matheson -r -k
as I walked out one midsummer morning - Laurie Lee -k

july
kanchelshis - andrei kanchelsis
curse of lono - hunter s thompson -k
travellers companion
people of the abyss - jack london -ki
popular music - mikael niemi
at the mountains of madness - hp lovecraft -k
the hawkline monster - richard Brautigan
Life on the Run: Coast to Coast- Matt Beardshall
dreaming of babylon - richard Brautgian -k
everest the unclimbed ridge - Chris Bonnington
heart of darkness - j conrad

Aug
Last Orders - Graham Swift
Pulp - Bukowski
reheated cabbage - irvine welsh -k
scar tissue - anthony keidis -k
american rust - phillip -k
racing through the dark: rise and fall of David Millar -l
Chucking it in - Max Scratchman -l

Sep
outpost - adam barker -l
far inland - peter urpeth
My Time - Bradley Wiggins -l
dark lies the island - kevin barry
straight white male - john niven -l
this overheating world - Granta
born to run - chris mcdougal -kl
what am I doing here - Bruce Chatwin

Oct
cold wars - andy kirkpatrick -kl
Wilderness Dreams - Mike Cawthorne -l
Primer for the looking Glass World
5 Gates of Hell - Rupert Thompson
cold water - john niven -l
the amatauers -john niven -l
the dog catcher - alexi sayle

Nov
Don’t tell mum I work on the rigs - paul carter
Mr Mercedes - SKing -k
October Skies - Alex Scarrow -k
Second Coming - John Niven -l
death of grass - John Christopher -k
brave new world - aldous huxley -r -k
thin white line - andy cave -l

Dec
running with the kenyans - ad.. fin -l
a supposedly fun thing I’ll never do - david wallace -l
my dark places - james ellroy
a guide's life - martin moran -l

76 R4 L16 K

2015

Jan
The Magnetic North - Sara Wheeler
Swing Hammer Swing - Jeff Torrington
Hard Rain Falling - Dan Carpenter -l

Feb
dirty havana trilogy - pedro
the scene - clarence cooper
Irvine welsh and the trainspotting phenomenon - john neil munro -l
moonwalker - alan -l
snows of kilimanjaro - ernest hemingway
Cain's Book by Alexander Trocchi
Adrift in Caledonia Boat-hitching for the Unenlightened by Nick Thorpe

March
Dr Sleep - Stephen King -l
horns - joe hill -k

Apr
Spanish Steps - Tim Moore
If you loved School - Irvine Welsh -k -r
824 - PG Robbins -k (M de Sable ebook)
explorers of the new century - magnus mills -r

May
Drought - Graham Masteron -k
Into the Abyss - Benedict Allen -r
FutureProof - Frank Daniels -r
In trouble again - Redmon O’Hanlan
The Troop - Nick Cutter -l

June
waterline - ross raisin -l
running high - hugh symonds -r
the busconductor hines - James Kelman
the chancer - James Kelman
hollywood - charles bukowski

July
Spitting off Tall Buildings - Dan Fante
z for zachariah - robert o ‘brein -r
finders keepers - S.king -k
infectious - scott sigler -k

Aug
contagious - scott sigler -k
no way down K2 - graham -k
week at the airport - alain de botton -k
blood river - tim butcher
death in valencia - jason webster

Sep
Rats in the Wall+others - HP Lovecraft -k
Climbing Chomongolua - Mark Horrell -k
In patagonia - Bruce Chatwin

Oct
Us - David Nicolls
30 days in Sydney - Peter Carey
wild coast - john gimlette -k

Nov
medium raw - anthony Bourdain -k
at the tomb of the inflatable pig - john gimlette
north (short stories polygon) - various
the genocides - thomas disch - r
exit music - iain rankin
independence day - richard ford -k
the willows - algernon blackwood -k

Dec
-?? Stephen King -k
station 11 - emily st chapel -l
the ossians -doug johnstone -l
they shoot horses don’t they - horace -l
hold the enlightenment - tim cahill -k

53

keep this for something ... ;)

and back to the present:

Jan. 2023

l library ; k kindle ; r repeat reading

1. I, Partridge: We Need to Talk about Alan by Steve Coogan -l

David.Manns review on the LT page says it all in style.

2. Project Hail Mary: From the bestselling author of The Martian by Andy Weir -l

A brilliant and engaging read although would have preferred to have been more clued on the science to really enjoy this and make it 5 stars. Bit too long and it does follow the Martian's premise of problem/solve problem/move to next one.
Ending was poignant. Imagine a film is to come of this.

3. Mayflies by Andrew O'Hagan -l

The 1st half reminds me much of Gordon Legge's writing; encapsulating the frenzied energy of youth when music rules your life. The second half - can't explain without plot spoilers - is the opposite in a way and covers an issue that is rarely discussed in depth and makes a lot of folk uncomfortable. It's not too hard to imagine yourself in the role of the protagonist at this moment and the ending is understandably quite emotional.

Welcome back! I'm pretty sure there's a movie of Project Hail Mary coming. 😀

>6 drneutron: Thanks Jim.

I'm wondering how many times an author thinks "now would this work in a film development?" when plot planning these days, especially if they are already known from a previous work that's been made to the screen.

Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if that was in the forefront!

4. Our Spoons Came From Woolworths (Virago Modern Classics) by Barbara Comyns -l

An author I'd never heard of who was introduced to me by Shaun Bythell in his Bookshop diaries. It's a rather drepressing semi-autobiographical (the author notes which chapters are biographical at the start, but I suspect more elements came through in the narrative) tale of a woman in 1930's London who is rather naive in some ways yet resilient in others who marries a 'struggling' painter/artist and ends up with a child and in the realms of poverty. It's an easy read without much dialogue (this is even referred to) and I polished it off in two sittings and glad things turned out the way they did. Will be seeing if I can get hold of some of her other works on the basis of this.

Happy reading in 2023, Ig!

Happy new year of reading, Ig.

>10 Ignatius777: I have a few books by Comyns and that is a timely reminder to go and brush them off.

>11 FAMeulstee: >12 PaulCranswick:

Thankyou both.

5. Ten Pound Pom by Niall Griffiths -k

Certainly not his strongest work - as an author known for 'edgy' fiction - but a readable travelogue for the most part. . Niall alternates chapters from his initial arrival in Australia as a child with a reminiscent trip with his elder brother, 30 years after leaving - the 10 pound Pom refers to an 'offer' of passage and residency in Australia in the 70's for UK folk. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Pound_Poms). The last chapter though he seems to take a massive dislike of (modern day?) Australia for what appears to be petty reasons and I thought this was unnecessary and certainly seemed a bit OTT. The prose itself when he refers to his childhood is very good in places but only a recommendation for Griffiths fans. (he also mentions his own books appearing in 2nd hand shops on more than one occasion which I thought was a bit micky).

6. Foster by Claire Keegan -l

One reading trait I've noticed over the last couple of years since I now seem to get half my books from the local library; is that I almost binge on author once I discover them, and borrow most of what the library has in stock.

I'd read Small things like these last year and so picked this small novella up last week. Read in just over an hour and most impressed by her story telling style and the scarcity of her prose. Layers are slowly revealed here, each seemingly sadder than the last.
Def. recommended but can see some being reduced to tears by the last chapter and scene. Irish writers seem to do melancholy better than everyone else... is it the rain maybe ? Living in Scotland, it's not exactly sunshine all the time, but our writers seem to turn to either a world beating weariness/stoic-ness or bitterness in our characters.

7. Homer And Langley by E. L. Doctorow -l

A very readable (highly)fictionalised account of the infamous hoarding brothers. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collyer_brothers) I was familar with parts of their story, and the author adds his own believable additions (maybe not the hippies though ...) on their behavioul change and ultimate decline. Last sentence was very poignant if you knew the real life ending. Was shortlisted for the Booker and can see why (sort of) - not exactly cutting edge literary material but just an enjoyable tale despite the sadness about the whole affair.

8. Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Troy Little -k

Excellent comic illustration of the book - really captures the insanity and decadence and being such a short novel, covers every scene in enough detail. Would purchase it if the price comes down - seems to be only available in the USA.

9. I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic by Zlatan Ibrahimovic -k

“Zlatan Ibrahimovic, he’s our Swedish hero,
On a free from PSG, he cost us f**king zero!

Man U terrace song - review to follow.

10. Along The Divide: Walking the Wild Spine of Scotland by Chris Townsend -ku

Chris is one of the world's most noted long distance walkers with numerous books to his name. Before the era of t'internet, I'd read a fair number of his from my local library. This whilst readable, is rather dry overall (and at times a bit unnecessarily political - noted by another LT reviewer) and from a man who lives for nature in all his forms it's a bit underwhelming.

I couldn't help contrasting this with Andrew Terrill's book - https://www.librarything.com/work/26985485- which I read last year, which was an incredible bit of travel/nature writing and even more being his first book - and published 20 years after his trip.

Without wishing to dwell on the political side of things - there is a moment towards the end of major hypocrisy as he (quite rightly) criticizes the creation of a massive wind farm in the untouched peat bogs of the Flow country (the wild area in the most NE of Scotland) and the fact that is was the Scottish govt approval despite many objections that allowed this travesty to be created.

However, earlier, he is all for the creation of a local government (which in Scotland is sadly the SNP) and their record on the conservation front is absolutely shocking. Their supporters seem to either not be aware of this, or conveniently forget it. For a senior figure in the protection of Scotland's wild habitats, he must know of this surely but doesn't allow his musings to extend to this - which I would have liked tbh if he is going to write on that front.

11. Plague Land by Alex Scarrow -ku

My guilty pleasure is post apoc books - there are lots of self published types on Kindle Unlimited, usually in series of 3 (yawn) but often quick decent. I'll list the ones below from a previous year that I rated - one was on apar with Cormac Mccarthy's road but even bleaker if possible.

Alex Scarrow is a more well known author recently specialising in YA type affair and this book seems to be more on that level that on his earlier two novels (Last light/ afterlight) - they were good overall but a few unbelievable plot holes (members of the army surrendering their weapons in a non threating situation- yes, in a post apoc world that is really going to happen .... ) made me no longer bother with any of this books.

Seeing this on KU thought I'd check it out. It is in two parts and has the same good/bad issues - again the first part when a virus hits the population is decent - the second though, yet again an unrealistic scenario is set up bringing the protagonists from part 1 and at the end, it just gets a bit silly. Won't be continuing. Had potential sadly.

Feb.

12. The Kerracher Man (Non-Fiction) by Eric MacLeod -ku

A book I'd wanted to read for quite some time and turning up on Kindle Unlimited didn't want to pass the opportunity. Engrossing read about a family quitting the rat race (well the author who was an accountant) in the SE of England to return to his grandparents croft in a remote part of Scotland in the 80's. When I say remote, I mean remote (esp in the UK) - no road access / no 'lecy - for years at the start / no phone / no running water ... and he's an accountant. However, he must have inherited skills by proxy as he does an exceptional job of renovating the derelict house - the cover of the book is the caravan the family lived in for quite some time - 4 of them as well - and making a living from the croft. The sea plays a major part in the tale, both for a source of food/income and just getting there - they could either cross the loch or walk 1.5m over a hill from the road end. Knowing the weather (and the midges) that the area is famous for - must have been some stoic levels of character to put up with this, esp at the start of the move.

The book itself flows nicely at a decent pace and is written well. No whinging/ no boasting just an attitude of meet all the challenges head on. Enjoyable and glad I finally got to read this.

13. Death is a Welcome Guest: Plague Times Trilogy 2 by Louise Welsh -l

I'd never read anything by Louise Welsh prior to this although knew her name from her first early Rebel Inc ( https://www.librarything.com/catalog/Ignatius777&tag=Rebel+Inc&collectio... associations.

I'm a sucker for post-apoc books and this for the first half of the novel was great. Based around an unusual protagonist - a stand up comic - it certainly captures the post gig set up very well at the start of the book ;).
There is then a major paradigm shift to a prison, where the outbreak that kills everyone does it's damage and this is - from what I can gather, accurate and well researched. The problems lie when the character(s) escape and move to a settled location. Actions here from all parties become increasing unrealistic scene by scene and the ending of this rather drawn out segment was hurried and confusing. I'll read the first and last book of this trilogy though - saw this in the library and didn't fully realise it was number 2/3 so have the others on reserve.

14. No Dominion (PLAGUE TIMES TRILOGY) by Louise Welsh -l

Number 3 of the series and my review from part 2 above could almost repeated. The 1st half; set on Orkney with a small group of characters is very well observered/ realistic and intriguing on to where the plots goes. The arrival of newcomers though changes things and as above " Actions here from all parties become increasing unrealistic scene by scene and the ending of this rather drawn out segment was hurried and confusing". A shame really; I've seen this before in more 'literary' type authors - a thriller type segment is just not in their writing repertoire and the books suffers because of it. Also, from a Scottish novelist (assuming from the Orkneys) there is a made up location in Scotland in the book that features reasonably heavily.
Why ? Really baffled about this and had to check that it wasn't a place I'd never heard of. (Google gave one result - a page from this book) - the place doesn't come out well in the story but still ....

I'll give part 1, collected from the library yesterday a chance though.

15. The Obesity Code: Unlocking the Secrets of Weight Loss by Dr. Jason Fung -l

A brilliant and strangely addictive read from a Dr not afraid to take on big pharma/food manufacturers. He breaks down all previous causes of Obseity and not afraid to also have a go at some of the more recent diet trends that people on social media entrall about e.g Keto et al .

As he explains, you don't become obsese over night or even over a year, it's a long process and their are various causes.

The main issue for your health though is insulin resistance which after this book, you'll completely understand and be able to lecture your work colleagues/family at length about :).

Your (grand)parents ate 3 meals a day and that was it for the most part; going back say a few hundred years, 3 meals for the average peasant would be a laughable concept. The concept of constantly elevated Blood sugar back then would be a problem for the King alone.

It's def worth reading regardless of whether you wish to lose weight or not - the key take aways are as is often/always the case basic - and stuff that everyone really knows - e.g. stay off the "processed" carbs ie sugar, don't eat constantly (so blood sugar doesn't remain elevated - hence insulin resistance) and that fasting isn't going to kill you and helps the body in a number of ways - autophagy / lowering blood sugar levels / training your body to stop feeling hungy when it doesn't get something every couple of hours. Your ancestors worked 8h+ day doing hard physical labour outdoors on a bowl of gruel if they were lucky - you don't require 500 calories of sugar to attend yet another mind-numbing meeting at work....although sometimes as we all know esp when HR are involved it really really helps ;)

I'm certainly guilty of the excess sugar and stuffing my face at all times (ahem) so will try to put down those tempting biscuits that go so so well with a brew.

I've had a decent share over the years to put it mildly so y'know maybe - he says looking at the last double choc cookie on a plate whispering sweet nothings at me.

16. A Lovely Way to Burn: Plague Times Trilogy 1 by Louise Welsh -l

The first book of a (stand alone) trilogy that I'm reading in an unusual order 2-3-1. This is far different to the others though as although a post-apoc theme is the basis of the three books, in here it's just starting and is the background to a crime book of sorts. It - like the other two - loses a bit at the end when it gets to more thriller scenario but apart from that is a decent read. The very slow build of the pandemic and how it starts affecting character's actions is well done and is quite unique from my perspective.

Def recommended but you may wish to leave the series there depending on your reading preferences.

17. Walk the Blue Fields: Stories by Claire Keegan -l

After reading the excellent Foster and award winning Small things like these, thought I'd try out a short story collection but sadly very disappointed.

Considering both those novels had the prose refined to an art, where every word counted; here - whilst well written - stories meandered on and needed to be reigned in. Short stories can be hit and miss but for me, few hit the mark.

18. Becoming the 0.1%: Thirty-four lessons from the diary of a Royal Marines by Gareth Timmins -k

A mixture of a diary taken at the time of the author's Royal Marine's training before he passes out (almost literally at times!), and lessons learned later on in life from this.

It's brutal and I mean brutal - we've all heard of the Navy Seals "Hell Week", I think it's fair to say that at times it's like hell month. 32 weeks of pure misery from my perspective. Amazed that anyone can go through this without the toughest of physical and mental resolve.

I do think he overplays pyschological angle a little bit though (as in how it plays out in real life later) but still an interesting read.

19. Love On The Dole by Walter Greenwood -l

Amazed that I'd not read this previously in my life considering where I was brought up - old man was from Salford - and we certainly never covered this or the issues behind it in high school. The first couple of chapters I was blown away as well by the style of writing - considering it was written in the early 1930's some of the language wouldn't have been out of place in a Comarc mccarthy novel at times -without the excessive adjectives anyway ... although this did peter out as the story took over.

The dialogue as well between characters, is written in such a thick Northern accent that even I struggled to read it - again, unusual for a book of that time to accurately represent this. The novel though is observation/commentary on poverty; the inability to escape from it and the mental and physical aspects of being long term unemployed and the control of the state on your life once you are on benefits.

March.

20.Nomadland by Jessica Bruder -l -k

Interesting in parts but like the film extremely over-rated. Would have been better as a long article / documentary - felt it was like a diary at time without interest.

21. Temperance Town by John Williams -l

A strange(ish) set of 3 vaguely linked tales in 3 seperate and noticable parts - the 1st concerning a 'loveable' shoplifting rogue - moderately entertaining but not exactly world shattering writing. Then a 5 page section about another character which I couldn't really see the point of. Finally, a novella about a cop returning to his home town (the one of parts 1 and 2) and what he finds there - this was a lot better, a bit bukowski-esque in places but the ending I felt let it down.

Not sure if I'll be checking anything else out by this author though, which is quite unusual for me in my library finds.

Doing my usual author binge - and what a writer I've 'discovered'.

22. A.A. Gill is Further Away by A. A. Gill -l

His usual split of 50% general articles - on subjects as diverse as morris dancing (!), Hyde Park, fatherhood and 50% on travel articles - from the Sunday times I think. Pretty much all exceptional which led me to buy one of this books that wasn't in my local library.

23. Uncle Dysfunctional: Uncompromising Answers to Life's Most Painful… by AA Gill -ku

Reprints of his agony Uncle columns from Esquire magazine - had me laughing out loud at times - cutting/ascerbic but also at times almost moving.

24. 1001 Outdoor Swimming Tips: Environmental, safety, training and gear… by Calum Maclean -l

Some useful stuff that I would have never thought - ear plugs ; fingers pistols for removing on your legs - but too get to 1001 (I originally thought a typo) there's some dross tbh. Book does reek of cash in a fair bit to the 'new' wild swimming craze.

25. This Rotten World: Rally and Rot by Jacy Morris -ku

I'd enjoyed the author's post-apoc zombie 4 story tale which had very decent characterization (and not afraid to kill a key player off) so this pre-breakout spin off looked interesting. It's set at a biker rally - author must be a biker for the accuracy I'm guessing - as the SHTF and whilst the last 10% was a bit slow, was an enjoyable read. Certainly felt an improvement in the writing on the previous books -which tbf was far better than a lot of these Amazon/KU zombie trilogy's that abound.

26. Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris -l

Unlike the title, these stories by DS are full of melancholy and take his father's dying/father's life as almost a leitmotif. A couple of laugh of loud moments but like Calypso, certainly not as funny as his first few books. Might be the last DS book I read - although he's still a very good observational type - although coming from AA Gill's books - maybe I noticed the difference in the writing - DS is a bit obvious at times whilst AA Gill pointed out the obvious which you would have never noticed. So wasn't obvious at all ...

27. Bodypower:Secret of Self Healing by Vernon Coleman -ku

Some interesting points from the ex-GP and 'scourge' of the UK health system. A great believer in letting the body heal itself rather than forcing various lab made solutions upon it. I'd read another great book last year about convalesce from another less-controversial GP which touched upon similar areas - when you are ill, stop rushing back to better again.

28. Ascent Into Hell: Mount Everest by Fergus White -ku

Despite the cheesy title and cover - this was one of the best Everest books I've ever read (and I've read a fair few). A full review will follow as this was that good - a paid client was Fergus but he catches the sheer physical demands of the task despite doing the ahem 'tourist' route' of the South Col and all the little things that could go wrong in even getting to the South Col for the final ascent. Considering the guy is an IT consultant - this is exceptionally well written as well.

Apr.

29. Bring It Back Home (Quick Reads) by Niall Griffiths

I feel that another clear-out of my library needs to happen, despite a major cull before a move a year ago (8 boxes, 30%+) for space and personal reasons. This was a slim affair - so not going to free up much bookshelf space ... - but Mrs Ig was reading it so flashed through it and in the charity shop pile it goes. More a short story about revenge with a twist but nothing that special.

30. Bird, Blood, Snow (New Stories from the Mabinogion) by Cynan Jones

Another small one to read and now go from my shelves - based on a modern interpretation of Welsh mythology (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mabinogion). I'd tried getting into a couple of Cyanan Jones's books from the library but struggled with his prose.
This was better and was quite cleverly written. Even a hint of a plot to give away would be a spoiler but despite the violence this was quite a unique read/and interpretation.

31. My Work Is Not Yet Done by Thomas Ligotti -k

Like others, I do struggle at times with Ligotti. He can obviously write well and his themes are cleverly explored, but sometimes a bit too obliquely. His prose as well can be a bit crushing in a way, although this may be possibly intended considering the subject matter.
These 3 stories; a novella and two small affairs - all concern the modern work place / alienation and elements of decay. There's a British author who touches on similar territory - whose name escapes me at the moment - who I find easier to relate to - not so much the Britishness but his tales are more in your face so to speak. If you have ever read Ligotti you'll know what I mean.

Still worth a read - the two small tales at the end are nothing special, but the main piece has some VERY dark elements and a couple of disturbing scenes that I'd possibly rather not read in a way as will stay with me.

32. The Pleasure of Thinking: A Journey Through the Sideways Leaps of Ideas
by Theodore Dalrymple -ku

A rather heavy duty read at times from the noted writer/critic about his love of books/bookshops. Very personal to him and his field (medicine) but some interesting sections. End dragged a bit.

After vowing no more library books or Kindle Unlimited subscriptions so I could tackle my TBR pile - I succumbed to the latter after seeing something I really wanted to read and seeing how much they would charge me to re-join. 99p for two months you say ... ok you've sold me.

33. The Highway Kind: Tales of Fast Cars, Desperate Drivers and Dark Roads:… by Patrick Millikin

I purchased this purely because it had a Willy Vlautin contribution and the theme looked interesting. A good choice on both accounts. These are as a rule dark tales (as the title suggests) from a number of author's who I'd never read before, and apart from one - which was nothing special in my eyes, all very good without anyone trying to be too 'experimental'.
Kudos to the editor for great judgement. You don't need to be a petrolhead to enjoy these - I'm certainly not - and worth checking out.

34. The Red Brain: Great Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos -ku - Various authors

A book that had been through 2 long kindle unlimited subscriptions that I had never got around to finishing; but finally ...
Overall a hit and miss collection, and rather overplaying the Lovecraft/Cthulhu angle - somewhat heavily at times. But it's a good marketing line these days and guarantees a few sales. Highlights were a great Mark Samuels tale and also the final story wasn't too bad either but others - including the Ligotti one didn't seem to do anything special or took their time getting to a rather poor climax.

The first story though - proper 'cosmic' horror with a fantastic last line.

Fair hammering through my TBR pile now.

35. The Last Grain Race by Eric Newby

Brilliantly written tale from the famous travel author of a young Eric (18 years old) joining one of the last large commerical sailing ships and the account of it's voyage from Belfast to Australia and back. Very readable - although I kept forgetting the Swedish translations mentioned earlier in regards to sails/ships orders - which slowed the narrative. You can pick up some of it but it might have been better had it all been written in English for the reader.

Also there is a lot of sail related jargon - not surprisingly - which is explained previously in the book but you'll probably forget. Certainly takes you back to a world where health and safety is a laughable concept.

36. Witch-Cult Abbey by Mark Samuels -ku

A Mark Samuels tale appearing on Kindle Unlimited that I hadn't read made me stop my TBR pile attack. This started off promising, with a decent sense of undread developing - reminded me a bit of the film "The Others" but then the prose got very Liggotti-ish. Dense and demanding and a bit over written IMO. A couple of images of horror stood out and a decent tale - referencing another of his story stories - but I found he was almost tying to be emulate Liggotti here a times.

37. Biography of Peter Cook by Harry Thompson

There's a great review on the LT page of this but my own quick summary - it's a VERY thorough biography, overtly ? flattering and does dwell on the Peter Cook/Dudley Moore relationship a bit too much. The author has certainly does his research and can't be faulted on that front but maybe a bit more objectivity ?
From a guy who pretty much had done everything and a lot by an impressionably young age, there is the feeling that there was a lot of unused potential, killed by booze and boredom.

quick update : reviews to follow

38. Stone Cowboy ("Rebel Inc" S.) by Mark Jacobs

May

39. The Door (Haunted Places) by Boris Bacic -ku

40. A Mountain Walked by Neil Gaiman -ku

41. Hellraisers: The Life and Inebriated Times of Burton, Harris, O'Toole… by Robert Sellers

A TBR from the shelves recently acquired - this was a quick 2 day easy read. It's not exactly well written (to put it mildly) and the author vaguely defends some actions that even back then were pretty pathetic. Burton's drinking though ... don't think I've ever read of anyone drinking that much - and surviving more than a few years -yet apparently Elizabeth Taylor consumed even more! Need to watch now "Who's afraid of VW" , " Laurence of Arabia" and "This sporting life" along with re-watching "The Field".

42. In It for the Long Run: Breaking records and getting FKT by Damian Hall -ku

FKT is fastest known time (although also what you think it refers to) and very apt in regards to his ultramarathons. The book follows an unconventional running 'career' which culminates in the fastest pennine way record set in 2020.

Very self-depreciating (good) but then ruins this behaviour by getting overtly preachy on climate change (which in his defence he gives a link to skip that section) - but there's a fair bit of hypocrisy in some of things he has done in the past which he now complains about others doing. ( he must have known the effects all about this before he was a 'convert').

43. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson -l

Enjoyable quick read, cleverly told although you do generally guess the twist recently quickly.

Found the payoff at the end a bit trite though for some reason.

44. Paradise by A.L. Kennedy -l

I've always struggled a bit with AL Kennedy's stories, both short and novel length; and have donated a couple of her books as I knew I'd never force myself to read them. This though was good, if slightly too long and dipped during the middle section where the character went too introspective and I found myself skim reading sections.
It's a 1st person account of Hannah, a 40year alcoholic ('proper' blackout for days job ..) and it's compelling, if saddening and at times quite gruesome reading. I don't know the author's background in regards to drinking but I having been in some baddish places with the booze myself - it's a Scottish thing ;) and it certainly feels accurate. Considering the subject matter or possible because of it, I found it the most approachable of her books. Not sure what that says about me.

45. Glue by Irvine Welsh -k

and from one Scottish author to a far more notorious one - an IW novel, that I'd started years ago and gave up around 70% in as a plot twist I found laughable developed.
Thought I should read again and yes, it's rather unlikely the scenario that develops. It was though a quite introspective (for Welsh anyway) look at friendship over the years through a group of 4 lads, and the bonds through growing up and how friendships and loyalty are tested.

Being Mr Welsh, it's full of booze, sex and a fair bit of drugs and it's written for the most part in a heavy Scots vernacular - I even had to re-read a few sections. Would probably offend a fair few folk ...

bit of a Welsh binge ...

46. The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins by Irvine Welsh -k
47. Reheated Cabbage by Irvine Welsh -k -r
48. The Blade Artist by Irvine Welsh -l -r

don't think reviews are required, you know the drill by now.

June.

49. Dead Men's Trousers by Irvine Welsh -l -r

Finishing off my re-read of a load of Welsh's novels. Apart from Trainspotting and the "Bedroom Secret's of the Master Chefs" - which I really liked for some reason despite it getting panned- this is probably my favourite - the Begbie 'reformation' is written more believably here than in the Blade Artist.

50. This Rotten World: Tempered in Blood by Jacy Morris -ku

Part 7 of a series that I started reading a few years back - subject matter ...hmm , cough, cough ... zombie apocolypse.

Ok - 3.5 from me - too much of the book is centered around one location though and it drags a bit there. One thing I like about this series (the rebirth so to speak which has a new area where things kick off) is that characters who you expect to last to the end of the book - and they are very well written, giving the author his due - die when you least expect it, I suppose reflecting the unpredicitably of a zombie infested world. A change from the Walking dead with it's amazing 'saved in the nick of time' scenario's that stretch all credibility.

Update required it seems:

51. Hell Train (The Cursed Manuscripts) by Iain Rob Wright -ku

According to the author - a homage to Stephen King's "The Langoliers" - some great characterization and the relationship between the those trapped on the train was really well done, but the supernatural element didn't really make sense and the story fell apart at the end in my view.

52. In the Spell of the Barkley: Unravelling the Mystery of the World's…
by Michiel Panhuysen -l

Interesting book about the Barkley; interspersed with the author's own ultra running background - very dry though and emotionless. I'm used to either slightly bombastic American runners or dry self deprecating UK ones, but the author's own experiences didn't really make this a worthwhile read IMO.

53. Low Life: The Spectator Columns by Jeremy Clarke -ku

Following on the from the notorious and legendary Jeffery Bernard was always going to be difficult, but Mr Clarke (I haven't read any of JB's columns' for comparison incidentally) has written some surprisingly touching columns (esp in regards to his relationship with his grandson) which aren't all about excess and the suffering afterwards due to it. I found as the book progressed, I enjoyed the pieces more.

54. Soho in the Eighties by Christopher Howse -l

Nothing from JB (see above) in my local library but this came up the search for him as he's mentioned a lot in this book. Written by a fellow barfly - this is a readable but ultimately forgettable account of various boozed up happenings' in a handful of pubs in Soho in the 80's (surprising that eh?) . Personally amazed this was published, as it's merely an account of a number of alcoholics/close to alcoholics daily comings and goings into various boozers and the odd event that occurred.
Pretty tame really.

Two rather similar books in their subject matter - where the protanganist is a middle aged man who doesn't like change. At all. In any form.

Looking inwardly to myself ? Me ... never ...well ....only when it's brought in by incompetant (and more highly paid) managers at my work who don't think anything through and expect me to stay late and mop up their mess(es) whilst they deludedly glorify to other management types it's success ...bitter me ? ... never ...;)
I suspect (sadly) though it's a scenario which I'm sure we have all experienced at some point...

One of our characters "Ove" learns to live with it if not embrace it and whilst I gave it 4 stars, it was a little bit cliched in the character and the storyline esp towards the end.

The former is far more direct and being set in the USA in the 30's probably reflects more the attitudes of the time. Both worth a read but for differing reasons.

55. Mr. Bridge by Evan S. Connell -l

July

56. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman -l

57. Demon Copperhead: A Novel by Barbara Kingsolver -l

Award winning novel and rightly so - think this will probably be my book of the year and would have been 5 stars apart from the last section.

It's the story of a boy born into deep poverty in Appalachia to an addict mum and his unenviable life for quite a while. Difficult to review more without spoilers but the entrance of Oxy(contin) into the scenario has the expected results.

Beautifully and cleverly written at times, it was the only the last section where the author's own message became too in your face through the main character. It was obvious enough throughout the book prior to this and was unnecessary IMO. Also felt it dragged a bit and after 500 pages previously which didn't - was glad to finish this in a way which was a shame.

Def. recommended though - large waiting list at my local library and I can see why - they won't be disappointed.

58. Pop. 1280 by Jim Thompson -l

A rather unusual and quite twisted affair this. As a few other reviewers have said - not 100% sure what to make of it - a very Machiavellian main character who you initially have down as a bit of a simpleton (despite being Sheriff) - the end went off on a bit of a tangent though where for once I would have appreciated an abrupt finish.

59. And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer: A Novella
by Fredrik Backman -l

Doing my usual - discover an author and then binge on what's available at my local library - this was very short, and a rather disjointed book; the subject matter is very sad being the slip into Alzheimer's/dementia of an old man and due his mental state the reminises are reflected in the way the tale is told (hence the feeling of being disjointed). Some beautiful poignant conversations between him and his grandson which I'm going to try to remember. May re-read before returning.

Gave up on Britt Marie was here though as seemed to be too similar to "a Man called Ove" in terms of what was going to happen and the character was more annoying than amusing.

60. Ways of Going Home by Alejandro Zambra -l

Apart from the dreaded 'dream sequence', my pet literary hate is writers whose main character is a writer (can be done well as in Misery but often it's just a lazy cop-out).

This ramps up the annoyance/pretentious/narcissist factor on that front as it's a story where the author's own novel writing comes in, but only in sections and serves no purpose. The main tale is roughly about (and I'm guessing the author's own experience) growing up in the Pinochet era which would have been enough with a secondary part about an earthquake. The main character then returns and elements of the first part of the tale are then explained.

As an adult, in his interactions with parents, he's also rather unpleasant in some ways and single minded/naïve in his views

It's very short and a quick read, but could have better far better IMO if it wasn't trying to be clever.

Have now reserved some Robert Bolano and Jorge Borges books as it's an type of literature where I have not read anything previously. Hope it's not too much in the same vein.

reviews to follow

61. Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands by Kate Beaton -l

62. The Deal of a Lifetime by Fredrik Backman -l

63.Tour de Force: My history-making Tour de France by Mark Cavendish -l

64. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: Haruki Murakami by Haruki Murakami -k

Aug.

65. The Wager by David Grann -l

5 stars from me and that's rare for probably my non-fiction book of the year. I was vaguely aware of the story behind this - probably from a wikipedia dive - but this is a brilliantly told tale that features an escape that in sheer naturical terms that possibly surpases Shackleton's.
So why isn't this well known ? Well it stems from a mutiny and there are various other unsavoury facts that I can imagine the Admiralty even now wish were swept under the carpet. Right from the start, this has their incompetence (and some even more unbelievable tales regarding press gangs) that really don't paint them as the efficient conquering power house that would like to think they were.
Def. recommended - reminds me a bit of Fergus Flemings books on the artic/NW passage in the way they are told.

66. The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers -l

Powerful tale; a little bit too poetic in the language at times considering the subject matter (soldiering in Iraq and the return home). It's fiction - I think - but how much was from real life experiences would be good to know.

67. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami -l

My first novel from him and whether something has been lost in the translation, failed to understand the plaudits for it. It's OK and readable but nothing spectacular from my perspective.

68.The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of… by Ryan Holiday -l

Each day has a small line/paragraph from the famous Stoic's (Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus) and a more modern translation below from the author.

A lot gave pause for thought and it proves timeless wisdom, is indeed timeless.

69. The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills by Charles Bukowski

Whilst a big Bukowski fan of his stories and prose, I've never really looked into much of this poetry. This is possibly not the best introduction though - despite the fame of it- and I probably bought it for the title alone, but the poetry is pretty weak with only a handful of memorable verses. This was his 1st book of poetry and reviews indicate that he had yet to find his voice in this genre so I won't write him off just yet on this front.

70. Educated: The international bestselling memoir by Tara Westover -l

Thoughts to follow on this .... it's good but is it 100% true ? If so, or even close to it; this must be one of the most messed up families (under the banner of religious beliefs) I've ever read about. It's noted by the author that certain key events are remembered by different family members in a different manner and that has got me wondering about certain other situations that arise. I've also noted that a few reviewers have also expressed doubts on some of the plaudits given to Tara's work at the Universities from the lecturers, and I'm kind of in agreement there.

Holiday reading - here possibly a record for a week... all done on my old-skool trusty Kindle Keyboard - which I far prefer to the more modern kindles.

5 Novels, one non-fiction, one novella, some Orwell essays and two books of Brautigan's poetry.

71. The Basketball Diaries by Jim Carroll -k

Seen the film and found this hiding in a folder. Entertaining if tragic for such circumstances/substance abuse at such an early age.

72. The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King -k -r

Decent collection, some hit and miss and obv I skipped the baseball story (and the poems).

73. A Face in the Crowd by Stephen King, Stewart O'Nan -k

Short story, bit too much baseball again for me (it's a British thing, we really don't understand the attraction and the games seem to go on even longer than American football - but cricket you reply ... ok, fair enough ...)

from father to son

74. Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill -k

Impressive debut from the boy, but the tension at the start dissolved a bit when it went into a more thriller type chase for the majority of the book. Like his dad, needs to reign it in a bit - 50 pages could have been easily lopped off. Would have preferred a more supernatural haunted house element (which it became at the start) as the main theme. Unique idea though.

75. Comedy in a minor key by Hans Keilson -k

Was expecting more of a black (and considering the subject matter) would have been a very black comedy but this was more a reflective tome at times. Felt more could have been covered here and rather disappointed.

76. No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

Obv. seen the film but for the first 3/4 was pretty much identical - the last 1/4 though was unnecessary and dragged and can see why the Coen brothers ended it at the car crash. Reading it though you can't think of anyone else other than Tommy Lee Jones for Sheriff Bell. One of CM's most readable books .... did try to start "All the pretty horses" again but 1 page being one paragraph with no punctuation wasn't conducive to pool side reading.

77. Loading Mercury With a Pitchfork by Richard Brautigan -k

First actual poetry from RB that I've read. Obv his prose and playfulness of language should lend itself to this form and there were a lot of enjoyable lines. One that I remember (roughly)
'I talked a good hello but she talked a better goodbye'.

78. Lay the Marble Tea by Richard Brautigan -k

This was his first collection though - self published and wasn't great to put it mildly ....

79. Superfreakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt -k

Easy read; some very interesting points about climate change raised by the IV group in this, but overall not as memorable as the first book.

Congrats on hitting the goal!

>55 Ignatius777: Congratulations on reaching 75!

>56 drneutron: Thankyou Jim.
>57 FAMeulstee: and thankyou Anita (& Frank)

Nice to hit the number earlyish in the year with em 'proper' books for the most part - as opposed to my literary weakness of post-apoc/zombie self published series on Kindle Unlimited which often pushes the numbers up. Some are actually well written to be fair, but others ...

Well done for passing 75 already Ignatius!

>59 PaulCranswick: Thankyou Paul.

80. The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi -l

The graphic novel format made this a quick(ish) read and it is quite illuminating, although nothing that was too unexpected (having known a little bit of history/social background from that era/country previously).
It's a format I rarely read and I would have liked better illustrations maybe ? Not too sure of the plaudits here personally.

81.At the Mountains of Madness Vol. 2by H.P. Lovecraft (Author), François Baranger (Illustrator) -l

To shamelessly paraphrase the great John Peel after introducing a 7 min guitar experiment from Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth)- oh HP, he's a card, loves a laugh.

I obv. knew the story but borrowed these two volumes from my local library due to the illustrations (which were exceptional) and also do convey to a degree - the mysterious mind-destroying horror behind the mountains whose description is deliberately left out of the book quite well.

However, I forgot that the second half of this tale especially, succumbs to HP's worst literary flaws. Overwritten - even by his standards - turgid adjective heavy prose that was a chore to read again. Fantastic ideas and proper cosmic horror but really could do with a re-write - considering the amount of so called HP inspired fiction these days - a lot often tenuous - no-one AFAIK has actually just re-written his books in the modern vernacular.

Would that be sacrilege though ? Maybe they would be scared of Cthulhu turning up un-announced on their doorstep one night to harvest their soul.

Could be off putting ...

82. The Fireman by Joe Hill -l

After a reading binge on holiday, this was the only book I read in 12days! It's long - 750 pages - and not exactly taxing either but it seemed to extinguish my reading va va voom.

Book itself was WAY too long - could have easily had 250 pages trimmed off it without spoiling the story which was OK, but nothing special. Had got the idea it was a version of his Dad's 'The Stand' but not ever close. Unique idea but did pander at times to his father excesses, and the characterization wasn't always great.

83. The Sound of Gravity by Joe Simpson -l

I've read all Joe Simpson's non-fiction (climbing) books at least once and enjoyed all of them. For someone who only started writing after his infamous escape/brush with death featured in Touching the Void, they were well written and engaging.

I'd also read his first hard to find fiction novel which wasn't great but not that bad.

This though ... it's short but felt as long as the Joe Hill book above - imagine nearly every noun with at least one adjective (not an exaggeration either sadly) .. from memory 'he woke up in a bare, austere room'. At least one of those wasn't required ?

Felt like a 1st year uni students attempt at a Novel. No idea why an editor didn't well 'edit'? The low rating on LT initially surprised me, now I understand. Few amazon reviews as well should have given me pause for thought - I nearly gave up, but the second section wasn't bad - bit more action - the pay off though was obvious and expected but by that stage I was skimming it.

84. Old God's Time by Barry Sebastian -l

Beautifully written tale for the most part - gets a bit over written in the 2nd half when it's a kind of internal dialogue at times - but prior to this contains some phrases/similes/metaphors that it seems only the Irish can write (thinking of Kevin Barry).

The problem I found was that due to part of the narrative being the protagonists decline in mental health, it gets unclear at time, what is actually happening and what isn't. The climax of the novel a case in point and sadly I was a little bit glad to finish this.

85. No Picnic on Mount Kenya by Felice Benuzzi -l

Three Italian POW decide to try to climb a mountain from their camp just because it's there and to alleviate boredom. Great story, well written and insightful into the mind of a POW.