What I’ve been reading recently.

Posted on by Opher

As you can see I’ve been reading a number of different types of books – some classic Sci-fi, some books on Bob Dylan, Ian Dury, Phil Ochs, Beatles and Leonard Cohen (for both pleasure and because I’ve been writing books on them and doing some research), a variety of novels, some social/political material as well as some escapist light reading. Reading is nourishment for the spirit!

Thought this might be of interest.

300. FoundationIsaac Asimov
301. Foundation and EmpireIsaac Asimov
302. Second FoundationIsaac Asimov
303. Forward The FoundationIsaac Asimov
304. Chronicles Vol 1Bob Dylan
305. John, Paul, George, Ringo and meTony Barrow
306. Behind the ShadesClinton Heylin
307. Dylan on DylanDylan interviews
308. A Freewheelin’ TimeSuze Rotolo
309. Sect Appeal – The Downliners SectTerry Gibson
310. Stalin stole my HomeworkAlexei Sayle
311. Lost in the Woods (Syd Barrett)Justin Palacios
312. Early RiserJasper Fforde
313. The Thursday Murder ClubRichard Osman
314. The Murders at Fleet HouseLucinda Riley
315. Waging Heavy PeaceNeil Young
316.The Shell CollectorAnthony Doerr
317. ShakeyJimmy McDonough
318. Neil Young – Rolling Stone FilesVarious
319. The man who died twiceRichard Osman
320. The Philosophy of Modern SongBob Dylan
321. Born to RunMichael Morpurgo
322. Neil and MeScott Young
323. Four Seasons in RomeAnthony Doerr
324. LessonsIan McEwan
325. The bullet that missedRichard Osman
326. Fairy TaleStephen King
327. The heart goes lastMargaret Atwood
328. Then PlayMick Fleetwood
329. Childhood’s EndArthur C Clarke
330. The City & the StarsArthur C Clarke
331. The Sands of MarsArthur C Clarke
332. The old Man and the SeaErnest Hemmingway
333. Waiting for the sunBarney Hoskins
334. Death of a rebelMarc Eliot
335. There but for fortune – the life of Phil OchsMichael Schumaker
336. Walk the blue fieldsClaire Keegan
337. The noise of timeJulian Barnes
338. The DictatorRobert Harris
339. Naples ‘44Norman Lewis
340. Levels of lifeJulian Barnes
341. I’m Gonna Say It NowPhil Ochs
342. MetropolisJulian Barnes
343. Flauberts’s ParrotJulian Barnes
344. Talking it OverJulian Barnes
345. Leonard Cohen – HallelujahTim Footman
346. How they broke BritainJames O’Brien
347. Pincher MartinWilliam Golding
348. Understanding and helping an addictDr Andrew Proulx
349. Terry PratchetTruckers
350. Leonard Cohen – I’m Your ManSylvie Simmons
351. Illustrated Easy Way  Stop DrinkingAllen Carr
352. Act of OblivionRobert Harris
353. Babes In The WoodMargaret Atwood
354. Ballet of LepersLeonard Cohen
355. Ian Dury The definitive BiographyWill Birch
356. Ian Dury Song by SongJim Drury
357. Home FireKamila Shamshie
358. American DirtJeanine Cummings
359. Children at the gateLynne Reid-Banks
360. Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll : The Life of Ian DuryRichard Balls

Books I have read in the last four years! An update.

Posted on by Opher

I thought it was time I updated you on my reading.

I enjoy reading and like to have a variety of reading material. I often have a couple of books on the go at the same time. I enjoy fiction and nonfiction. I read for pleasure. I try to alternative heavier tomes with lighter stories. I read to stimulate the mind, to appreciate a story and to enable me to dream.

Of late my reading rate has slowed right down. I have a long backlog of books to read. The trouble is that I am writing so much I hardly have time to fit the reading in. If there is one thing I enjoy more than reading it is writing.

Anyone got any great books they think I should read?

Family, sex, travel, wine, eating, reading and writing. What could be better?

Some of us are born fortunate. We should never forget it!

Books I have read since retiring Sept 2011

1.Just Kids Patti Smith
2. Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel
3. Norwegian Wood Haruki Murakami
4. Kafka on the Shore Haruki Murakami
5. Maggie Girl of the Streets Stephen Crane
6. Great Singers of the 2oth Century David Spiller
7. East of Eden John Steinbeck
8. God is not Great Christopher Hitchins
9. The Alchemist Paulo Coelho
10. Full Dark No Stars Stephen King
11. 3 Cups of Tea Greg Mortenson & David Relin
12. Birdie Kurt Vonnegut
13. 11.22.63 Stephen King
14. IQ84 – Book 1 Haruki Murakami
15. IQ84 – Book 2 Haruki Murakami
16. IQ84 – Book 3 Haruki Murakami
17. Good Man Jesus scoundrel Christ Philip Pullman
18. After dark Haruki Murakami
19. After the quake Haruki Murakami
20. Long walk to forever Kurt Vonnegut
21. The Optimist Lawrence Shorter
22. The Atheist’s Bible Joan Konner
23. The portable Atheist Christopher Hitchins
24. The vanishing elephant Haruki Murakami
25. Salmonella men on planet porno Yasutaka Tsutsui
26. The Chrysalids John Wyndham
27. Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
28. A long way down Nick Hornby
29. Blind willow, sleeping woman Haruki Murakami
30. My dear I wanted to tell you Louisa Young
31. Grimus Salman Rushdie
32. South of the border West of the sun Haruki Murakami
33. The Return Victoria Hislop
34. Stonemouth Iain Banks
35. The girl at the Lion D’Or Sebastian Faulks
36. The Long Song Andrea Levy
37. Underground Haruki Murakami
38. My Family and other animals Gerald Durrell
39. One Flew over the Cuckoos nest Ken Kessey
40. Hard boiled Wonderland and the end of the world Haruki Murakami
41. Red Gary Neville
42. The colour of Magic Terry Pratchett
43. The light fantastic Terry Pratchett
44. Dance Dance dance Haruki Murakami
45. Portnoy’s complaint Philip Roth
46. The lost Symbol Dan Brown
47. Guards Guards Terry Pratchett
48. What I talk about when I talk about running Haruki Murakami
49. A Maggot John Fowles
50. Who I am Pete Townsend
51. The story of Free & Bad Company Steven Rosen
52. Sputnik Sweetheart Haruki Murakami
53. Mr Stone and the knights companion V S Naipal
54. The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot
55. Mister God, I am Anna Finn
56. The Birthday book Haruki Murakami
57. A precocious autobiography Yevgeny Yevtushenko
58. The wind-up bird chronicles Haruki Murakami
59. Siddharta Herman Hesse
60. Hydrogen Sonatta Iain M Banks
61. The bonesetters daughter Joy Tan
62. Keep the Asphidistr flying George Orwell
63. Birds, animals and friends Gerald Durrell
64. Garden of the Gods Gerald Durrell
65. Andy Warhol Diaries Andy Warhol
66. First born Arthur C Clarke
67. Sweettooth Ian McEwan
68. Arguably Christopher Hitchins
69. Bring up the bodies Hilary Mantell
70. Equal Rites Terry Pratchett
71. Mort Terry Pratchett
72. Cutting for stone Aham Verghese
73. Sourcery Terry Pratchett
74. The particular sadness of lemon cake Aimee Bender
75. The dovekeepers Alice Hoffman
76. The Ginger Man J P Donleavy
77. The great Gatsby F Scott Fitzgerald
78. Dharma bums Jack Kerouac
79. For whom the bell tolls Ernest Hemmingway
80. A wild sheep chase Haruki Murakami
81. Fug you Ed Sanders
82. A hat full of sky Terry Pratchett
83. Ring world Larry Niven
84. Wintersmith Terry Pratchett
85. The Quarry Iain Banks
86. Stoner John Williams
87. Blowing the Blues Dick Heckstall-Smith
88. The heart of things A C Grayling
89. Things the Grandchildren should know Mark Oliver Everett
90. Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck
91. The Comfort of Strangers Ian McEwan
92. The Trial Franz Kafka
93. Tarantula Bob Dylan
94. Bound for glory Woody Guthrie
95. Flaubert’s parrot Julian Barnes
96. Talking it over Julian Barnes
97. Raw spirit Iain Banks
98. The favourite game Leonard Cohen
99. Beautiful losers Leonard Cohen
100. Corrections Jonathan Frantzen
101. The Stranger Albert Camus
102. The three Musketeers Alexander Dumas
103. After the flood Margaret Atwood
104. Hellraiser Ginger Baker
105. A Casual Vacancy JK Rowling
106. Wind through the Keyhole Stephen King
107. The Ragged Trousered Philantropists Robert Tressell
108. Maddadam Margaret Atwood`
109. Ringworld Engineers Larry Niven
110. The sense of an ending Julian Barnes
111. Ringworld children Larry Niven
112. Breakfast of champions Kurt Vonnegut
113. The blind assassin Margaret Atwood
114. The Midwich Cuckoos John Wyndham
115. The Rights of Man Thomas Paine
116. Wyrd Sisters Terry Pratchett
117. Juliet Naked Nick Hornby
118. Confessions of a crap artist Philip K Dick
119. Doctor Sleep Stephen King
120. White Rooms & imaginary Westerns Pete Brown
121. Moral disorder Margaret Atwood
122. The hare with amber eyes Edmund de Waal
123. Apocalypse D H Lawrence
124. The Cosmological eye Henry Miller
125. The last continent Terry Pratchett
126. Thud Terry Pratchett
127. A tale for the time being Ruth Ozeki
128. Survivor Chum Mey
129. Falling leaves Adeline Yen Mah
130. Catch 22 Joseph Heller
131. Go Now Richard Hell
132. Bluebeard’s egg Margaret Atwood
133. Life before man Margaret Atwood
134. Life after life Kate Atkinson
135. The Who & the story of Tommy Nigel Cawthorne
136. Mr Mercedes Stephen King
137. Umbrella Will Self
138. The Eyre Affair Jasper Fforde
139. The Children’s act Ian McEwan
140. The Magic of Reality Richard Dawkins
141. The Shack Wm Paul Young
142. The last interview Kurt Vonnegutt
143. Strong motion Jonathan Franzen
144. Soul Music Terry Pratchett
145. The sun also rises Ernest Hemingway
146. The Woman who died a lot Jasper Fforde
147. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki Haruki Murakami
148. On the Road – original scroll Jack Kerouac
149. Discomfort zone Jonathan Frantzen
150. The Establishment and how they get away with it Owen Jones
151. The Kill List Frederick Forsythe
152. The Song of the Quarkbeast Jasper Fforde
153. One of our Thursdays is missing Jasper Fforde
154. No Matter What Sally Donovan
155. The story of my heart Richard Jefferies
156. Time must have a stop Aldous Huxley
157. Immortal coils Kurt Vonnegut
158. Chavs Owen Jones
159. Revival Stephen King
160. In God I doubt John Humphrys