Reading Challenge 2016

Another year, another reading challenge, and I’ve only gone and finished it again. Fewer categories this year, admittedly, but I still ended up reading more books. Go figure. Here are my thoughts on this year’s haul.

 

Title: The Man in the High Castle

Author: Philip K. Dick

Year published: 1963

Date finished: 30th January

Criteria fulfilled: A dystopian novel

Comments: As you’ll likely have surmised, this book appeared on my radar towards the end of last year, after hearing about the Amazon TV series based upon it. Having enjoyed Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which I read for the 2015 challenge, I thought I would read the book before watching the adaptation (which I didn’t get round to for a couple of months after finishing the book, incidentally). It wasn’t quite the story I was anticipating, as Dick seemed to defy expectation, weaving quite a different tale from the one implied by the premise (an alternate history in which the allies lost World War II). It took me a little while to get into it, but once I did, I really enjoyed it. It was very cleverly done, and I liked what they did with the TV adaptation as well.

 

Title: The Girl on the Train

Author: Paula Hawkins

Year published: 2015

Date finished: 3rd February

Criteria fulfilled: A book that’s becoming a movie this year

Comments: Late to the party once again, but I’m getting closer. This isn’t the type of book I’d normally go for, but I did find it hard to put down, as the old adage goes. It’s no Gone Girl, but it certainly does what it says on the tin. I wasn’t hugely impressed with the film version, but then, I rarely am.

 

Title: Unfaithful Music and Disappearing Ink

Author: Elvis Costello

Year published: 2015

Date finished: 13th February

Criteria fulfilled: A book with more than 600 pages

Comments: I understand that Elvis isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but he’s been one of my favourite musicians for as long as I can remember, and this book is a terrific read. It’s bound to be more interesting to his fans, but if you like music (as many of you likely do), it’s probably worth a go even if you don’t like his. Elvis tells many stories about rubbing shoulders and bumping elbows with musical royalty, such as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Joe Strummer, Aretha Franklin, Tom Waits, Johnny Cash, and Van Morrison, which paint him as a somewhat reluctant and bemused musician’s musician. Elvis has also collaborated with a number of big names, including Burt Bacharach, Allen Toussaint, and Paul McCartney, which is a particularly lovely story after reading about how Elvis grew up listening to The Beatles, even choosing George as his confirmation name (both Paul and John were banned). He also has a good deal of insight into music both as an art and as an industry, and writes at length about his inspirations (not heroes), who come from almost every point on the musical spectrum. As you might expect, he also has plenty to say about social and political issues of every day from his childhood through his career and into his semi-retirement. This lengthy memoir from a man who has spent four decades in music is both touching and amusing, and provides a lot of interesting background information on his extensive and eclectic back catalogue.

 

Title: The Spanish Game

Author: Charles Cumming

Year published: 2006

Date finished: 21st February

Criteria fulfilled: A book set in Europe

Comments: A sequel to A Spy By Nature, which I read last year, this book is set, as you might expect, in Spain, which, as you may know, is in Europe. This book was much less about spying, though, and a lot more about Spanish politics and identity. This is an area that has long interested me, so I enjoyed reading Alec Milius’s deepening involvement with a number of shady persons, and testing his resolve not to return to his spying days. A well-woven tale that ties in perfectly with its predecessor, and a familiar and identifiable protagonist, as well as the themes of identity and culture all made for a thoroughly thrilling read.

 

Title: Tuesdays With Morrie

Author: Mitch Albom

Year published: 1997

Date finished: 27th February

Criteria fulfilled: A classic from the 20th century

Comments: I knew the premise of this book before I started it, and having as I do a heart of stone, I didn’t expect to be particularly affected by its content. Boy, was I in for a shock. It’s not easy to turn off one’s humanity (I should know, having tried many times), and it’s not easy to be unaffected by this poignant, first person tale.

 

Title: The City of Shadows

Author: Michael Russell

Year published: 2012

Date finished: 7th March

Criteria fulfilled: A book recommended by a family member

Comments: Very similar thematically to The Spanish Game, I was recommended this book by my mum, who has read all of the books and knows which are best. Based on historical truths about which I knew nothing (the Free City of Danzig and the Nazi party in Ireland, to name a couple), it tells the story of a Dublin polis who becomes wrapped up in a mystery involving a priest, a fake doctor, a homosexual, a Nazi, another priest, and a non-pregnant woman seeking an abortion. Cracking stuff. Give it a go.

 

Title: Lord of the Flies

Author: William Golding

Year published: 1954

Date finished: 10th March

Criteria fulfilled: A book set on an island

Comments: One of those books that everybody seems to have read at school, but I didn’t, so I finally got round to it, what with it being set on an island and all. It’s not bad, but it’s no Thomas Hobbes. I can see why it has prompted so much discourse around the state of nature, but I can also see why teachers are so utterly sick of talking about it. It packs quite a lot in for a short book, but as a work of fiction, does it really tell us anything about human nature? Discuss (but not with me).

 

Title: Animal Farm

Author: George Orwell

Year published: 1945

Date finished: 13th March

Criteria fulfilled: A book that is under 150 pages

Comments: This was another classic that had passed me by, so I very cleverly found a way to slot it in here. Again, I knew more or less what to expect, but that did not stop me enjoying the somewhat unlikely, and yet entirely true, world that Orwell concocted. I seem to think I had expected a little more subtlety, but he doesn’t exactly pull his punches, particularly towards the end of the story. It’s a very short book, but it does everything it sets out to do, and not only proves that a classic novel need not be long, but also that it takes a great degree of skill to tell a story and make one’s point so succinctly. Well done, Dode.

 

Title: Skagboys

Author: Irvine Welsh

Year published: 2012

Date finished: 22nd March

Criteria fulfilled: A book and its prequel

Comments: As I mentioned in last year’s round-up, I had planned to read some more of Welsh’s work after reading Trainspotting, but it didn’t quite work out that way. I thought this a worthy prequel to his best-loved work, introducing younger versions of the main characters and charting their decline. I was also very pleased to make the acquaintance of Keezbo, mentioned in Trainspotting only fleetingly. Although it’s not quite as good as its parent work, it’s well worth reading if you like that sort of thing.

 

Title: Trainspotting

Author: Irvine Welsh

Year published: 1993

Date finished: 27th March

Criteria fulfilled: A book and its prequel

Comments: While I am very fond of the film, there’s really no comparison between it and the book. Indeed, Trainspotting is only loosely a novel, more a series of extended vignettes. While there is definitely a main story, there are various smaller stories and characters that spin off from it, and provide a wider overview of the community of which our intrepid junkies are part. I doubt there’s much I can say about this book that will be original and worthwhile, so I’ll condense it to my fierce opinion that everybody should read it, although not everyone will like it.

 

Title: Porno

Author: Irvine Welsh

Year published: 2002

Date finished: 1st April

Criteria fulfilled: A book set in your home state

Comments: One more? Go on, then. The gang gets back together (sort of) for a reunion (of sorts), and this time, Juice Terry’s coming along for the ride, if you’ll pardon the pun. Porno suffers from the inevitable curse of all sequels – that it will always be decried as inferior to the original, as though that’s in any way important. There’s a story here that’s worth telling, and Welsh found a way to tell it well, which is all that should matter, really.

 

Title: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Author: Mark Twain

Year published: 1876

Date finished: 11th April

Criteria fulfilled: A book at least 100 years older than you

Comments: I needed a bit of a break from Renton, Sick Boy, Begbie, Spud and pals, so I went for something completely different. Something of a precursor to Holden Caulfield, Tom Sawyer is what you might call a bad apple, but you might also call him a loveable scamp. This is yet another book I should probably have read before now, but I made up for lost time by reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn immediately afterwards, even though it did me no good in terms of the challenge. Two terrific reads; I have no hesitation in declaring Mark Twain to be quite a good writer.

 

Title: Dark Places

Author: Gillian Flynn

Year published: 2009

Date finished: 22nd April

Criteria fulfilled: A New York Times bestseller

Comments: Hey, it’s no Gone Girl, but it’s not a bad read if you like that sort of thing. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that this is an excellent example of a whodunit, why, how, and inwhatorder thriller. From quite early on, it’s clear that things are not as they appear, but it’s still very difficult to work out exactly where things are heading. Every time I thought I had it figured out, I was wrong, and every detail I dismissed as a red herring turned out to be important. If you like to be kept guessing, give it a go. Don’t bother with the film, though.

 

Title: The Perfect Fool

Author: Stewart Lee

Year published: 2001

Date finished: 28th April

Criteria fulfilled: A book written by a comedian

Comments: Between buying this and reading this, I was surprised to learn that Stewart Lee is not particularly happy with the finished article. Having read it, I am slightly less surprised. In terms of the narrative, it reminded me very strongly of another book, but I have helpfully forgotten which one. I very much enjoyed it, though it was less funny than I had expected, and it dragged a little in places. That’s not to say it wasn’t funny; if you like a somewhat silly plot, then you’ll like this. And even if you don’t, it’s worth it for the Jefferson Starship reference alone.

 

Title: Johnny Got His Gun

Author: Dalton Trumbo

Year published: 1939

Date finished: 3rd May

Criteria fulfilled: A National Book Award winner

Comments: I can’t claim to have enjoyed this book at all, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t an extremely powerful and poignant read (it was). It was actually very unpleasant and distressing to read at times, such is the terrifying picture Trumbo paints of the horrors of war. (If you’re not familiar with the book, it’s written from the point of view of a young man whose life is just beginning when he’s sent off to war, and is abruptly ended by injury.) One to avoid if you’re looking for a laugh, but if you like having emotions, then what are you waiting for?

One style note for Mr Trumbo – a little less communism, a little more comma usin’. (Seriously, I don’t think there’s a single comma in this book, which was like World War I for the eyes.)

 

Title: Nineteen Eighty-Four

Author: George Orwell

Year published: 1949

Date finished: 10th May

Criteria fulfilled: A satirical book

Comments: I’m ashamed to say that this was another book I hadn’t read before, but hey, that’s rather the point of such a challenge, I think you’ll find. I expect this book becomes more and more troubling to readers with each passing year, since, although the future/past that Orwell predicts is not one we have reached, it is scarily close in many ways. Not a particularly original sentiment, I know, but certainly we need to acknowledge the importance of this work in terms of all subsequent fiction, and, sadly, a good deal of subsequent fact.

 

Title: An Abundance of Katherines

Author: John Green

Year published: 2006

Date finished: 13th May

Criteria fulfilled: A YA bestseller

Comments: On a lighter note, this was a slightly cheerier book, if very silly. There are plenty who will sneer at anything on the young adult shelf, and while this wouldn’t be the first place I would head for in a bookshop, the idea that there is no merit in the genre is unfair and patronising. I am definitely not the target audience for this book, but I enjoyed it nonetheless; indeed, after two very heavy novels, it was a welcome relief to read something that inspired less despair.

 

Title: Consider Phlebas

Author: Iain M. Banks

Year published: 1987

Date finished: 27th May

Criteria fulfilled: A science fiction novel

Comments: As a big fan of Mr Banks’ non-sci-fi work, this was the obvious place to go when required to step out of my comfort zone. It’s not that I don’t like sci-fi, I just find it quite hard to follow a lot of the time, and I certainly don’t know how anyone can write it without getting themselves into difficulty. I found this one tough to get into, but once I did, I would say I understood a good 80-90% of what was going on, so it’s a gold star for me. I would have liked to read a couple more of these books and really get into the Culture universe, but one of the downsides of the challenge is that you have to move on quite quickly, most of the time.

 

Title: The Dream Shall Never Die

Author: Alex Salmond

Year published: 2015

Date finished: 31st May

Criteria fulfilled: A political memoir

Comments: I haven’t always been Alex Salmond’s biggest fan, but by the end of his reign as First Minister of Scotland, I was very sorry to see him go. This book is a collection of his diary entries in the 100 days leading up to the first referendum on Scottish independence (#IndyRef1 for short). I’m always suspicious of comments along the lines of “regardless of your politics,” because I think that to say such a thing often disregards the politics of others; if we could get our heads round how other people think, then politics wouldn’t be half as divisive as it is. I therefore won’t say that this book would be enjoyed by anyone regardless of their politics (if you think he’s a smug prick, you’ll continue to think he’s a smug prick), but I think anyone who is sympathetic to Scottish independence – or anyone who knows little about the movement – would find it an engaging read. Salmond has a delightful syntax, which should not come as a surprise, as he has always been very well spoken, and even though the book is in a diary format, it reads very much like a novel. Indeed, it reminded me of perhaps my favourite non-fiction book – Stone of Destiny, by Ian Hamilton (incidentally, featuring (in my copy, at least) an introduction by Alex Salmond). Both of these books are sure to rouse and delight any supporter of Scotland’s resilient and righteous mission to free itself from the tyranny of our southern dictators, and infuriate anyone unable to detect a tongue-in-cheek remark.

 

Title: The Blade Artist

Author: Irvine Welsh

Year published: 2016

Date finished: 4th June

Criteria fulfilled: A book that is published in 2016

Comments: After a bit of a break from this delightful/terrifying universe, I returned to read the further adventures of Francis “Frank” “Franco” “The Beggar Boy” Begbie. I was much less impressed with this latest instalment; while there were plenty of good ideas here (Begbie rebuilding his life and his new self struggling with his old one), it felt as though these weren’t explored very deeply, and the book overall seemed a bit rushed. There was certainly some re-treading of Porno ground, with the long-delayed homecoming, but there was very little about Begbie’s return to Edinburgh that was warm and familiar. It’s not that the book was bad, I just thought it could have been done better with a bit more time and rubbing down the rough edges.

 

Title: The Tales of Beedle the Bard

Author: J. K. Rowling

Year published: 2008

Date finished: 9th June

Criteria fulfilled: A book you can finish in a day

Comments: This is a very small book (hence my reading it in a day), and a lot of the content is covered in Deathly Hallows, but it was an enjoyable companion piece. Only for the hardcore fans, I would say.

 

Title: Canal Dreams

Author: Iain Banks

Year published: 1989

Date finished: 20th June

Criteria fulfilled: A book about a culture you’re unfamiliar with

Comments: I’m not very familiar with Panama because I pay my taxes!! This book may take place on the Panama Canal, but it’s mostly about Japanese culture, of which I know very little. As a big Banks fan, this was one of the few I had yet to read, and while I enjoyed it, I did find it a little flat in places. The narrative is a little strange, moving from very slow paced in the first half or so to much more action-focused towards the end. Banks later confessed himself disappointed with the book, saying it didn’t work well as a political thriller, and that it would be easy to turn a potential film adaptation into CIA propaganda, which I think is a fair assessment. A good read, but not his best.

 

Title: Creation Stories: Riots, Raves and Running a Label

Author: Alan McGee

Year published: 2013

Date finished: 9th July

Criteria fulfilled: The first book you see in a bookstore

Comments: This was a good book for me to choose, because I like music (as many humans do), but I knew next to nothing about Alan McGee. I now know quite a lot about Alan McGee after reading his book, which I found in a bookstore. The story of Creation Records is a very interesting one, it turns out, if you like that sort of thing. I don’t know a great deal about the behind the scenes side of the music industry, but I’d be prepared to bet that Creative was a fairly unique label, set up by two complete novices and managing to remain both hip and profitable for most of its existence. Of course, there were times when it was less profitable, and McGee’s tendency to work with volatile and unreliable artists meant that the label was constantly in jeopardy, hence the intrigue.

 

Title: The Hotel New Hampshire

Author: John Irving

Year published: 1981

Date finished: 19th July

Criteria fulfilled: A book with a blue cover

Comments: I loved this book when I was 26, but I think I would have loved it even more when I was 17. I don’t remember who gave it to me (probably my mum), or when, but it has sat on my shelf unread for years, to my eternal regret. It took me until about a third of the way through to properly get into it, but I think that was more to do with my being unsure of what the book was supposed to be than any shortcomings on its part. By the time I reached the end, I was absolutely blown away by the amount of emotion, humour and plot that Irving had managed to cram in, and the balance he had struck between all three. It felt like a book that I will enjoy reading again and again, perhaps more and more each time, as there was a lot going on, and I’m sure some of it was too subtle even for me to catch the first time around.

 

Title: Moab is my Washpot

Author: Stephen Fry

Year published: 1997

Date finished: 25th July

Criteria fulfilled: An autobiography

Comments: I read a bit of this with my eyes, but to be honest, the audiobook was much too tempting, and most of it was read with my ears. National treasure Stephen Fry has led an interesting life, and published several volumes of autobiography; this, the first, deals with the first 20 years of his life, including his conviction for credit card fraud, about which I only had a passing knowledge. Unless you don’t like Stephen Fry, with which I’m not at all on board, the only criticism I can think of that applies to this book is that he does waffle on a bit about life at boarding school, which is interesting, but doesn’t quite justify the number of pages (or minutes) he devotes to the minutiae of routines and schedules. Aside from that, though, this is a funny, touching, and insightful memoir. His gorgeous voice only adds to the delightful experience.

 

Title: One Hundred Years of Solitude

Author: Gabriel García Márquez

Year published: 1967

Date finished: 8th August

Criteria fulfilled: A book from Oprah’s book club

Comments: I’ll be honest – I found this one tough going. It was a good book with an engaging narrative, and one unlike most of the books I read, but it was extremely difficult to follow, given that the many characters only have four or five names between them. Perhaps this is an issue with the translation, rather than with the book itself, but I found it quite an obstacle in keeping track of who was dead and who was alive (because also a lot of people die in it).

 

Title: Naked Lunch

Author: William (S.) Burroughs

Year published: 1959

Date finished: TBC

Criteria fulfilled: A book about a road trip

Comments: I had read less than a third of this book when I lost it. I’m not sure exactly what happened: I was on the bus, reading the book, and then when I got home, I didn’t have it any more. The bus company never found it (or so they claim) and it didn’t turn up in the house, either, so I don’t know how the book ends. I expect I’ll get back to it some time.

 

Title: The Wire in the Blood

Author: Val McDermid

Year published: 1997

Date finished: 19th August

Criteria fulfilled: A murder mystery

Comments: I had read the first of these (The Mermaids Singing) a couple of years ago, and finally managed to squeeze the follow-up into a challenge. I tend to read crime novels sparingly, because I think it would be all too easy to fall down a rabbit hole and read 10 or 20 of them back-to-back. (I’m not altogether sure why this would be a bad thing, but I seem to have decided that it is.) This became an immediate favourite, with a plausible yet genuinely terrifying villain, and it’s always nice to return to familiar investigating characters. Unlike its predecessor, this is less of a whodunit and more of a howaretheygoingtobecaught, but it does have a shocking twist early on, so that’s great.

 

Title: Wake Up, Sir!

Author: Jonathan Ames

Year published: 2004

Date finished: 1st September

Criteria fulfilled: A book about a road trip

Comments: With my copy of Naked Lunch still missing, I decided to start afresh with this book I received for my birthday from my dear friend Simon. I was familiar with Jonathan Ames from his HBO comedy series, Bored To Death, but I hadn’t read any of his prose. This book tells the story of a well-to-do young chap who goes on a road trip with his butler, named, and I shit you not, Jeeves. There’s enough plot to keep you engaged if you like that sort of thing, but it’s also extremely funny in an Adrian Mole/David Sedaris kind of way, so if you like that sort of thing, this is the sort of thing that you’ll like.

 

Title: The World According to Garp

Author: John Irving

Year published: 1978

Date finished: 12th September

Criteria fulfilled: A book with a protagonist who has your occupation

Comments: Vienna, bears, sex, sudden violent deaths – all my favourite ingredients from The Hotel New Hampshire return in a different order to form a very different experience. I liked this book almost as much, perhaps because I had a better idea of what to expect this time around. Whichever is the better of the two, though, I can thoroughly recommend both to all fans of whimsy, humour, delightful prose, and bears.

 

Title: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Author: J. K. Rowling, John Tiffany & Jack Thorne

Year published: 2016

Date finished: 25th September

Criteria fulfilled: A book that’s guaranteed to bring you joy

Comments: J. K. Rowling said that once we’d seen it, we’d understand why the eighth story was a play rather than a novel. I haven’t seen it, but I have read it, and I understand why. It was really rather nice to sit down and read a new Harry Potter story, something I thought I would never be able to do again, but the story is clearly much more suited to the stage. Unlike reading a novel, reading a play is not the complete experience, but I found myself imagining the action, as it were, in a more intense way. I have no plans currently to see the play, but if someone were to donate me a large some of money, that may change.

 

Title: Crime and Punishment

Author: Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Year published: 1867

Date finished: 3rd October

Criteria fulfilled: A book translated to English

Comments: As you might remember, although I don’t like to go on about it, I read War and Peace last year, and ended up enjoying it rather more than I’d expected. The same was true of the other Russian novel, Crime and Punishment, but I did find it a tougher read, even though it is significantly shorter. I don’t really want to use the word “slog,” because it sounds quite negative, but in places it was difficult. In other places, it was a right good laugh, and throughout, it was a well-spun yarn, paced in such a way that you almost don’t notice that very little actually happens. Give it a go if you like reading and feeling that you’ve achieved something.

 

 

Title: Atonement

Author: Ian McEwan

Year published: 2001

Date finished: 10th October

Criteria fulfilled: A book that takes place during summer

Comments: With my finger well and truly on the pulse as ever, I decided to read the book that everybody’s talking about. I loved the pace of the first part of this book, everything leading up to The Event, putting everything in place, establishing all the characters, sewing seeds of suspicion, and then everything changed and I hated it. Then, once I had come to terms with the second part, everything changed again, and I hated it. A book that can do that to you is one that you love, no matter how much you might think you hate it.

 

Title: Naked In Death

Author: J. D. Robb

Year published: 1995

Date finished: 19th October

Criteria fulfilled: A romance set in the future

Comments: As perfectly readable as I found this book, I did not immediately rush out and purchase the 42 sequels that have somehow been written in the last 20 years. This crime/romance/future novel is set in a future in which using a gun to murder someone is shocking. Guns have been replaced by lasers, although newspapers and discs are still available in abundance. Of course, it’s easy for me to criticise, which is the main reason I do it.

 

Title: Assassin’s Apprentice

Author: Robin Hobb

Year published: 1995

Date finished: 2nd November

Criteria fulfilled: A book recommended by someone you just met

Comments: This was recommended to me by a girl at my work, and it’s not the kind of thing I would normally read, but I really enjoyed it. It’s a fantasy novel, but unlike Game of Thrones, it isn’t shit, so that was nice. It involves assassination and the like, and subterfuge, which is one of my favourite fuges. Give it a go if you like fantasy, or if you don’t think you do.

 

Title: Where Am I Now?

Author: Mara Wilson

Year published: 2016

Date finished: 7th November

Criteria fulfilled: A book written by a celebrity

Comments: Again, I found the audio version quite tempting for much of this very personal story. Mara (you might remember her from such films as Matilda and Mrs. Doubtfire) talks about growing up in the public eye, and how she became less popular with the movie-going public as she behaved less and less like the person she was expected to be. Despite a brief burst of stardom, and losing her mother in the midst of all of this while she was still very young, Mara seems to have come through all of this relatively well-adjusted, which is remarkable, when you consider the high disaster rate of former child stars. This story of fame, falling, loss, love, anxiety, foibles and whimsy is sure to delight people who like that sort of thing. She certainly can write, that’s for sure. She spins a good yarn. She knows her way around a pen.

 

Title: Ash

Author: Malinda Lo

Year published: 2009

Date finished: 11th November

Criteria fulfilled: A book based on a fairy tale

Comments: I am not the target audience for this retelling of Cinderella, but I still managed to read it all the way to the end.

 

Title: The 7 Secrets of Awakening the Highly Effective Four-Hour Giant, Today

Author: The Gang

Year published: 2015

Date finished: 24th November

Criteria fulfilled: A self-improvement book

Comments: I have definitely been improved by this book. Brought to you by the It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia gang, it’s a book I think you could enjoy if you’re not familiar with the show, but you will definitely get more from it if you’re a fan. I do like a book with absolutely no direction and bags of laughs, so this was ideal. Definitely much better than an actual self-improvement book and taking things seriously. Yuck.

 

Title: Freddie Mercury – The Definitive Biography

Author: Lesley-Ann Jones

Year published: 2011

Date finished: 5th December

Criteria fulfilled: A book from the library

Comments: I clocked this book knocking about my local library back in March when I was hiding from the decorators, and then months later, I managed to go back and get it. Having now gone to the trouble of actually reading it, I’m not entirely sure what I thought about it. Jones had met Freddie a few times and followed his career closely, even interviewing him on at least one occasion, which is almost unheard of. She had also spoken to various key players in Freddie’s life, including what seemed like extensive interviews with his partner, Jim, and his personal assistant, Phoebe. However, some of the stories and claims in the book were contradicted by other things I’ve read about Freddie and Queen, which is a big problem when trying to piece together the life of a long-dead man who was very private and wasn’t always entirely truthful. I think an autobiography is always much more reliable, and more of a worthwhile experience than a third-party biography, but of course, Freddie was not the type to stop living his life and write down as much of it as he could remember and that he was willing to share. When he knew he didn’t have long left, he didn’t want to do anything but record as much music as he could. I think he made the right call.

 

Title: The House That Groaned

Author: Karrie Fransman

Year published: 2014

Date finished: 6th December

Criteria fulfilled: A graphic novel

Comments: My mum recommended this to me, and I went in completely blind, with no idea what to expect. It tells the interconnected stories of the occupants of six different flats in an old groaning house. I really liked the style of the drawings, particularly the turquoise monochrome, and the ways in which the nuances of the individual people were revealed, as well as the things not revealed, and how everything fitted together nicely. Definitely one to go for if you like some pictures with your words, and if you’re interested in how people work.

 

Title: Voice-Over

Author: Norman MacCaig

Year published: 1988

Date finished: 7th December

Criteria fulfilled: A book of poetry

Comments: I’ve never really known how to read poetry, but I took this book seriously, even selecting music without lyrics to accompany it on my morning commute. I remember reading a few of MacCaig’s poems at school, and preferring him to John Donne (shit) and Rabbie Burns (goes on a bit). The majority of these poems were short and sweet, although some were short and sour. Poetry is one of those things that I really do quite like, but I always forget that I do, like apples and vacuuming.

 

Title: The Ruby in the Smoke

Author: Philip Pullman

Year published: 1985

Date finished: 9th December

Criteria fulfilled: A book you haven’t read since high school

Comments: I loved these books when I was a little ankle-biter (teenager). Written before His Dark Materials, the Sally Lockhart series enjoyed a new burst of popularity after Pullman’s name became a household one. I think I was about 13 when I first read these, but they have sat on my shelf for many years now, and I intentionally left this until the end so that, if I had some time left in the year, I could then re-read the subsequent three (which I have now done). Unsuccessfully adapted for TV with former Doctor Who companion, Billie Piper, and future Doctor, Matt Smith, the curse of Pullman’s work being un-filmable appears to continue. The books are terrific, though, if you can stand that sort of thing. They’re a bit like a long blog.