the book I read...

Perhaps for the first time since he sang a song about some rabbits [warning - do not click this link unless you are prepared for tears], I have been somewhat inspired by Art Garfunkel. It turns out that Garfunkel has been keeping a list of all of the books that he has been reading since 1968. Book 1 was "The Confessions" by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and was finished in June 1968, and Book 1023, the most recent, was "The Magnificent Ambersons" by Booth Tarkington. Inbetween he's read all kinds of things, although most of them sound very serious indeed (Goethe, Jung, Darwin, Proust... stuff like that).

I'm going to start my own list.

I've already got a list of the gigs that I attend around here somewhere, which I originally started partly out of a sense of regret that I had long since thrown away the concert tickets that I had been collecting since I saw the Cult at Wembley Arena in about 1988. Those tickets provided solid, documentary evidence of all those ropey metal gigs I attended in my youth, and at some point I chucked them all away....

Anyway.

Keeping a list of the books that I read is something else that I've been meaning to do for ages and have never quite got round too (I've not found Shelfari terribly satisfactory in this regard). This isn't going to be the next Alphabeticon or anything like that, and I'm certainly not about to wander around my bookshelves detailing what I've read. This isn't going to be retrospective, it's simply going to be an ongoing list of the books that I've currently got on the boil.

I'm afraid it's not going to be as highbrow as Mr. Garfunkel's list by any stretch of the imagination, but I think my reading tastes may be as broad a church as my musical tastes.... perhaps broader.

So, here we go, listed by the date when I started them.

"+" next to the title means that I read it on the Kindle.

#	Dates:	Title:	Author:	Pub.
167	September 2014	Kafka on the Shore	Haruki Murakami	2002
166	September  2014	In One Person	John Irving	2012
165	August 2014	The Princess Bride	William Goldman	1973
164	August 2014	The Sea	John Banville	2005
163	August 2014	American Gods	Neil Gaiman	2001
162	July 2014	A Lot of Hard Yakka	Simon Hughes	1998
161	July 2014	Racing Through the Dark: the fall and Rise of David Millar+	David Millar	2011
160	June 2014	The Fell Sword+	Miles Cameron	2014
159	June 2014	The Red Knight	Miles Cameron	2012
158	May 2014	Erotic Lives of the Superheroes	Marco Mangassola	2013
157	April 2014	Montague Terrace	Warren & Gary Pleece	2013
156	March 2014	The Goldfinch+	Donna Tartt	2013
155	February 2014	Born to Run+	Christopher McDougall	2010
154	January 2014	The Shadow Rising (Wheel of Time Book 4)+	Robert Jordan	1992
153	Dec 2013	A Compendium of Collective Nouns: from an Armory of Aardvarks to a Zeal of Zebra	Woop Studios	2013
152	Dec 2013	Cat Sense: the feline engima revealed	John Bradshaw	2013
151	Dec 2013	Man Belong Mrs Queen: adventures with the Philip Worshippers	Matthew Baylis	2013
150	Aug 2013	The Dragon Reborn (Wheel of Time Book 3)+	Robert Jordan	1991
149	Aug 2013	The Great Hunt (Wheel of Time Book 2)+	Robert Jordan	1990
148	July 2013	The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time Book 1)+	Robert Jordan	1990
147	July 2013	The Ocean at the End of the Lane	Neil Gaiman	2013
146	July 2013	Everywhere We Went+	Ben Dirs	2012
145	July 2013	The Secret Race	Tyler Hamilton & Daniel Coyle	2012
144	June 2013	Festival: the Glastonbury Novel+	David Belbin	2001
143	March 2013	Cloud Atlas	David Mitchell	2004
142	March 2013	The Okinawa Dragon	Nicola Monaghan	2011
141	February 2013	The Crossing	Cormac McCarthy	1994
140	February 2013	All The Pretty Horses	Cormac McCarthy	1992
139	January 2013	The Hunter	Julia Leigh	1999
138	January 2013	Student+	David Belbin	2012
??	??	??inexplicable gap??	??	??
137	May 2012	Something Happened	Joseph Heller	1974
136	April 2012	Grimm Tales for Young & Old	Philip Pullman	2012
135	March 2012	The Sun Also Rises	Ernest Hemingway	1926
134	February 2012	Last Night In Twisted River+	John Irving	2009
133	February 2012	Dead Folk+	Charlie Williams	2004
132	January 2012	Travels	Michael Crichton	1988
131	January 2012	The Great Train Robbery	Michael Crichton	1975
130	January 2012	I Am Legend+	Richard Matheson	1954
129	January 2012	Golden Boy: Kim Hughes and the Bad Old Days of Australian Cricket	Christian Ryan	2010
128	January 2012	Ukulele for Dummies	Alistair Wood	2011
127	December 2011	What You Don't Know+	David Belbin	2012
126	December 2012	The Man With The Golden Gun	Ian Fleming	1965
125	November 2011	Next	Michael Crichton	2006
124	October 2011	Congo	Michael Crichton	1980
123	October 2011	The Lost World	Michael Crichton	1995
122	September 2011	Batman: Knightfall (vols 1, 2 & 3)	Doug Moench, Chuck Nixon et al.	1993-4
121	September 2011	Great Expectations	Charles Dickens	1860
120	September 2011	Beware of the Dog: Rugby's Hard Man Reveals All	Brian Moore	2009
119	September 2011	Jurassic Park	Michael Crichton	1990
118	September 2011	King Solomon's Mines	H. Ryder Haggard	1885
117	September 2011	Jaws	Peter Benchley	1974
116	September 2011	Well of Darkness	Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman	2000
115	August 2011	Ultimates (vols 1 and 2)	Mark Millar & Bryan Hitch	2002
114	August 2011	Lost in a Good Book+	Jasper Fforde	2002
113	August 2011	The Eyre Affair+	Jasper Fforde	2001
112	August 2011	Justice (vols 1, 2 & 3)	Alex Ross & Jim Krueger	2005-7
111	July 2011	A Dance With Dragons+	George R.R. Martin	2011
110	May 2011	The Book of Illusions+	Paul Auster	2002
109	May 2011	Feast For Crows+	George R.R. Martin	2005
108	May 2011	Storm of Swords+	George R.R. Martin	2000
107	May 2011	Clash Of Kings+	George R.R. Martin	1998
106	April 2011	The Game of Thrones+	George R.R. Martin	1996
105	April 2011	The Good Fairies of New York+	Martin Millar	1992
104	April 2011	Thraxas+	Martin Scott	2000
103	April 2011	Harold Larwood	Duncan Hamilton	2010
102	March 2011	A Last English Summer	Duncan Hamilton	2010
101	March 2011	The Club That Jack Built: Jack Walker and the Rise of Blackburn Rovers	Charles Lambert	2001
100	March 2011	Ice Cream and Sadness	Kris Wilson, Rob DenBleyker, Matt Melvin, Dave McElfatrick	2010
99	March 2011	Timbuktu	Paul Auster	1999
96-99	February 2011	The Death of Captain America, vols 1, 2 &3	Ed Brubaker et al.	2007/8
95	February 2011	Civil War: Captain America	Ed Brubaker et al.	2007
94	February 2011	Batman:R.I.P.	Grant Morrison & Tony S. Daniel	2008
93	January 2011	Choke	Chuck Palahniuk	2001
92	January 2011	Let The Right One In+	John Ajvide Lindqvist	2004
91	December 2010	Nikolai Dante: The Great Game	Robbie Morrison	2005
90	December 2010	Nikolai Dante: The Romanov Dynasty	Robbie Morrison	2004
89	December 2010	The Ballad of Halo Jones	Alan Moore & Ian Gibson	2001
88	November 2010	Emma+	Jane Austen	1815
87	November 2010	The Fry Chronicles+	Stephen Fry	2010
86	October 2010	Matterhorn+	Karl Marlantes	2010
85	September 2010	A Study in Scarlet+	Sir Arthur Conan Doyle	1887
84	September 2010	The Hobbit+	J.R.R. Tolkien	1937
83	September 2010	Unseen Academicals+	Terry Pratchett	2009
82	August 2010	David Copperfield+	Charles Dickens	1850
81	July 2010	The Siege of Krishnapur	J.G.Farrell	1973
80	June 2010	You Only Live Twice	Ian Fleming	1964
79	June 2010	On Her Majesty's Secret Service	Ian Fleming	1963
78	June 2010	The Pretender	David Belbin	2008
77	June 2010	Blindness	Jose Saramago	1995
76	May 2010	The Average American Male	Chad Kultgen	2007
75	May 2010	The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest	Stieg Larsson	2009
74	April 2010	The Girl Who Played With Fire	Stieg Larsson	2006
73	April 2010	The Spy Who Loved Me	Ian Fleming	1962
72	April 2010	The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo	Stieg Larsson	2005
71	April 2010	Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close	Jonathan Safran Foer	2005
70	March 2010	Little Dorrit	Charles Dickens	c.1856
69	March 2010	The Brooklyn Follies	Paul Auster	2005
68	February 2010	The Magus	John Fowles	1965
67	January 2010	Thunderball	Ian Fleming	1961
66	January 2010	For Your Eyes Only	Ian Fleming	1960
65	January 2010	Exit Music	Ian Rankin	2007
64	December 2009	The Naming of the Dead	Ian Rankin	2006
63	December 2009	Fleshmarket Close	Ian Rankin	2004
62	November 2009	God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything	Christopher Hitchens	2007
61	November 2009	A Question of Blood	Ian Rankin	2003
60	October 2009	America Unchained	Dave Gorman	2008
59	October 2009	Resurrection Men	Ian Rankin	2002
58	September 2009	The Falls	Ian Rankin	2001
57	September 2009	Set in Darkness	Ian Rankin	2000
56	August 2009	Last Seen Wearing	Colin Dexter	1976
55	August 2009	Last Bus To Woodstock	Colin Dexter	1975
54	July 2009	Dead Souls	Ian Rankin	1999
53	July 2009	Goldfinger	Ian Fleming	1959
52	July 2009	Beggar's Banquet	Ian Rankin	2002
51	June 2009	The Hanging Garden	Ian Rankin	1998
50	June 2009	Wisden 2009	Scyld Berry (ed.)	2009
49	May 2009	The God Delusion	Richard Dawkins	2006
48	May 2009	Black and Blue	Ian Rankin	1997
47	April 2009	Let It Bleed	Ian Rankin	1996
46	April 2009	Dr No	Ian Fleming	1957
45	March 2009	Mortal Causes	Ian Rankin	1994
44	March 2009	The Black Book	Ian Rankin	1993
43	March 2009	Bad Vibes: Britpop and My Part In Its Downfall	Luke Haines	2009
42	Feb 2009	Provided You Don't Kiss Me: 20 Years with Brian Clough	Duncan Hamilton	2007
41	Feb 2009	Strip Jack	Ian Rankin	1992
40	Feb 2009	Tooth and Nail	Ian Rankin	1992
39	Jan 2009	Hide and Seek	Ian Rankin	1991
38	Jan 2009	Knots and Crosses	Ian Rankin	1987
37	Dec 2008	The Art of Conversation	Catherine Blyth	2008
36	Dec 2008	Britain in Revolution 1625-1660	Austin Woolrych	2002
35	Nov 2008	Wolverine: Origins	Bill Jemas, Paul Jenkins, Joe Quesada	2001-2
34	Nov 2008	The New Avengers 2: Sentry	Brian Michael Bendis	2005
33	Oct 2008	The Graveyard Book	Neil Gaiman	2008
32	Oct 2008	Kingdom Come	Mark Waid & Alex Ross	1996
31	Oct 2008	The New Avengers 1	Brian Michael Bendis	2005
30	Oct 2008	Weapon X	Barry Windsor-Smith	1991
29	Oct 2008	Ultimate Marvel Team Up Ultimate Edition	Brian Michael Bendis	2001/2
28	Oct 2008	World War Hulk	Greg Pak, John Romita Jr	2007
27	Oct 2008	Planet Hulk	Greg Pak	2006
26	Oct 2008	Snuff	Chuck Palahniuk	2008
25	Sept 2008	The Tenant of Wildfell Hall	Anne Brontë	1848
24	Sept 2008	Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories	Ian Fleming	variously from 1960
23	Sept 2008	Sandman: Fables & Reflections	Neil Gaiman	1991,92,93
22	Sept 2008	Sandman: A Game of You	Neil Gaiman	1991/92
21	Sept 2008	Sandman: Seasons of Mists	Neil Gaiman	1990/91
20	Sept 2008	Sandman: Dream Country	Neil Gaiman	1990
19	Sept 2008	Sandman: The Dolls House	Neil Gaiman	1989/90
18	Sept 2008	Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes	Neil Gaiman	1988/9
17	August 2008	Batman: Dark Knight Returns	Frank Miller & Klaus Janson & Lynn Varley	1986
16	August 2008	Civil War: Front Line (vols 1 & 2)	Paul Jenkins	2006/7
15	August 2008	Civil War	Mark Millar	2006/7
14	August 2008	Civil War: Road to Civil War	Brian Michael Bendis & J. Michael Straczynski	2007
13	August 2008	Batman: Killing Joke	Alan Moore & Brian Bolland	1986
12	August 2008	Batman: Dark Victory	Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale	1999/2000
11	August 2008	Batman: Long Halloween	Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale	1996/7
10	August 2008	Batman: Hush (vol 1 & 2)	Jeph Loeb & Jim Lee	2003
9	August 2008	Daredevil: Yellow	Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale	2002
8	July 2008	Batman: Year One	Frank Miller & David Mazzuchelli	1987
7	July 2008	No Country for Old Men	Cormac McCarthy	2005
6	July 2008	The Road	Cormac McCarthy	2006
5	July 2008	Once Upon a Time in the North	Philip Pullman	2008
4	June 2008	You're Not the Only One (you can buy it here - it's for Charity and everything)	Sarah J Peach (ed)	2008
3	May 2008	Devil May Care	Sebastian Faulks as Ian Fleming	2008
2	April 2008	Wisden 2008	Scyld Berry (ed.)	2008
1	March 2008	Life: A Users Manual	Georges Perec	1978

Um. And that's it for now. Nothing else to see here for now. I'll just add this to my sidebar and keep it updated, for my own entertainment if for nobody else's.

Excellent.

That's another pointless list started then.