On reading Judy Finnigan on a barrow near Stonehenge

I thought Judy Finnigan was like Jilly Cooper, although since reading Caitlin Moran's semi-autobiographical take on feminism I've learned that Jilly Cooper is not who I thought she was anyway (I didn't realise that "Riders" was actually a double entendre title, thinking that the book was all about innocent teens and the love of horses).  Anyway, I didn't know that Judy Finnigan was the none other than Judy from "Richard & Judy".  Ah, well played Ms Finnigan..  Create a bookclub, then publish a book that instantly becomes a best seller as a result of the fact of your own celebrity.

The first few chapters certainly read as such, and then suddenly before you know it you're drawn into the life of the main protagonist in a way that closely resembles the charm and fragility that the author herself is known to possess.  Well played indeed!

Yes, this is an easy read, but delightful all the same.  At 400+ pages this double spaced text flashes by at lightning speed.  I read the first few chapters some time after midnight (we had returned late having been at an old friend's 40th birthday party where the theme was to dress like our favourite rock stars - David went as Lemmy and I was Twisted Abba... ach, you had to be there to fully appreciate those looks).

A further 50 pages were read in the morning (shortly before and shortly after the consumption of my partner David's fabulous cooked breakfast).  Then we all hopped in the car - our nephew Joel and his girlfriend Jemma have come to stay with us from Oz, so along with our son Zack we took a roadtrip to Stonehenge, and, because I've been a few times now already, I went and had a lie down on a barrow and read another 50 pages whilst everyone else explored the stones.

I now hope to read another 100 or so.  I think getting through half of it in a day is appropriate, but the great thing about it is, now that I've finished a quarter of it, I want to know more, I'm actually quite enjoying it.  I wonder if I'll feel the same about Jilly Cooper once I get to her novel.... appropriate for a 13 year old Caitlin Moran who's just learning how to masturbate maybe.... not so sure this 43 year man really needs that kind of titillation.... 

What is now much more obvious to me is that I am now feeling a lot more confident that I'll get through 100 books in a year.  I have even found a secondary list, one that I will use now only if (a) I cannot actually locate an item from the first list; or (b) I have already read the item from the first list and I don't feel like re-reading it; or (c) the item on the first list is quite ridiculous to consider actually reading from cover to cover in the first place.  See here if there is any confusion about how I can change the rules at a moment's notice.

I will be picking other books from a list that the Observer published in 2003 as being the 100 greatest books ever published so I also feel I'm raising the bar a little as well and increasing the difficulty of the challenge. I will be publishing this list separately tomorrow, along with mine and David's little yes/no/maybe symbols, and if you haven't already guessed as much, David already most of them.  I think if I set David this challenge to read these 100 books in 100 days he would still be able to do this alongside his normal day-to-day tasks.  Quite possibly one of the reasons why I love him.  That and his fabulous cooked breakfasts.  Provided he doesn't moan too much while he's making them about how I'm not helping with anything because I've got my head stuck in a book.

Days Left:    360

Books Left:  100

On How To Be A Woman

I picked up Caitlin's book without the faintest idea of what it was about.  Sure the title is quite descriptive, I mean How To Be A Woman should be fairly self explanatory.  I think I was expecting some sort of autobiography from a Comedienne.  I wasn't really certain who Caitlin Moran was.  Did I see her once on the Jonathan Ross show?  I noted his comments printed on the cover, as well as Nigella's of course (anyone who has been reading my blog on cook books will appreciate why Nigella's commendation would be enough for me to consider a book worthwhile reading).

You know a book is popular when you borrow it from the library and there are two copies sitting side by side on the shelf.  I suppose i should say "You know a book was popular..." because in truth if the book was still popular it would be like when I'm checking the availability of Jilly Cooper's Riders (currently unavailable and not due back until April 14th... 2015!!).  Published in 2011, Moran's book was shortlisted for the Galaxy National Book Awards... and it won.

Caitlin Moran is very funny.  I didn't really know who she was before I started reading (and if David hadn't googled her I wouldn't know much about her at all), but I certainly wasn't aware of how funny she could be as I read her prologue.  Yes, the references to the dog licking it's vagina were humorous, but, you know, it's not really classy and it doesn't make me laugh out loud.  I'm not against crass humour per se, but I was worried I was going to be subjected to 300+ pages of it and I was kind of hoping for a bit more.  Chapter 1 (I Start Bleeding) had me giggling constantly, so I knew that this was just Caitlin warming up, and I figure that as I read further (and now I actually want to read further) I will be laughing out loud by the time I'm halfway through.

I start to read Chapter 2 (I Become Furry) and this time I'm completely thrown back to my own childhood.  I remember when my mother declared to the family, after undressing hurriedly after a family workday where we ended up covered in dust and taking my turn in the shower, that I was growing a "puscheligen schwanz" (a furry tail).  The way my father and mother snickered indicated to me that they were not referring to the hair growing over my bottom.  I remember being somewhat mortified by all this, but aware somehow that to show this would be the wrong thing to do.  Like Caitlin I went for the nonchalant approach, and failed terribly, of course.  

And now I'm hooked.

The blurb on the back describes this book as a rewrite of The Female Eunuch... from a  bar stool.  I think I'm getting this.  This is feminism... this is also humour.  I like Caitlin's style combining the two.  I like that fact that Caitlin is brave enough to show the world that the two can be combined.  I have for a long time given up on being a sour faced Gay Rights Activist - I refuse to stop being a happy homosexual just to make the establishment feel better about itself.  I'm very happy to be reading Caitlin's work and very very happy indeed that it is popular.

Days Left:    361

Books Left:  100

On why it takes such a long time to read a brief history of it

I woke up this morning to David leaning over to kiss me awake.  It was one of those strange moments when you open your eyes to find somebody leaning over you millimetres away from your face.  I wasn't disturbed but I was surprised.  It was a nice surprise.

I had dreamt about being in Israel, attending the first Jewish wedding to be had in the country for 5,000 years (?).  A total of 9 million Jews attended this historical event.  I also dreamt about a baby dying and we insisting on the funeral having an open casket.  I was shopping for baby caskets and an elderly couple told me of how in the olden days, when babies died, people just buried them in the backyard with a few choice memorable items.  He remembered a time in his life when this happened, and began to describe how the memorial items chosen on that particular occasion were a little strange.... annoyingly, on waking, I cannot remember just why they were strange, but they weren't teddy bears or baby things, I guess.

I blame the latter part of the dream on yesterday's book.  I won't go into too much detail, you may not have read the book.  I still haven't finished it, about 80 pages to go.  I was tempted to

break my own rules again and continue on with reading this one, but instead after David brought me coffee I started reading A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking.

 

David described this book as dense, if you've been following my blog, you'll note that I've described this book as quite small (it's not much more than 200 pages in length).  About the time it takes me to drink my coffee, I get to the end of chapter one (Our Picture Of The Universe) and there is the bookmark from a previous reader.  Apparently, this is one of the most widely owned but rarely read books.  A bit like the christian bible then.   David comes in with the breakfast (fried noodles, halloumi, eggs and baked beans.  We watch the latest episode of Glee.

After breakfast, I get to the end of Chapter 2 (Space and Time) and although I feel like I've understood the concepts described within these pages I also just have to accept on faith that the majority of the information described to me here is factually correct.  I really have no way of verifying whether it is or it isn't.  I'm looking forward to Chapter 3 (The Expanding Universe) because I figure that my love of all things Sci-Fi has given me a better foundation than for the previous chapter.

One thing that I'm really noticing is that I am having to reread a heck of a lot of the material as I progress.  Also, my brain is constantly trying to distract me after nearly every paragraph to just stop trying to understand this stuff and instead focus on something else, anything else!  It is almost ludicrous how desperate it is at attempting to divert my attention away from what Stephen Hawking is saying, some of the distractions are quite hilarious indeed.  I can only imagine this is going to get harder as I progress through the pages.  Ah well, sometimes popular is painful, I imagine that this one is going to take the full 3.5 days to finish, maybe even longer, but read it all I shall.

Days Left:    362

Books Left:  100

On watching films in parallel universes

Somehow, somewhere, perhaps in an alternate universe, I have seen this story before.  Actually I think I may have seen the film.  Or perhaps even seen a documentary about the film.  However this is most definitely in an alternative universe, because I've just watched the trailer and the real actors playing the characters just do not match up to the ones that are playing these roles in my head.

When I first picked up this book I noted the publishing date and thought to myself "meh.... 2005, it's (less than) 10 years old! Popular today, tomorrow to be replaced by something else..." but now that I'm well into the story I think I might have been a little mistaken.  This is not just another teen trash novel.  This is worthy of high praise.  A veritable Stand By Me for generation Z (or are we back to A again, I haven't really kept up with the lettering...).

I love stories about geeky youth set in boarding schools.  I was a geeky youth placed and went to two boarding schools.  I never actually boarded but there was a part of me that REALLY wished I had.  I think this was also the same part of me that wishes I had to wear glasses.  It was certainly the part of me that decided from one school to the next that I would forever be known as "Kyle".  In fact, it was Kyle who attended, as a day student,  the schools that had boarders.

I remember once a young girl came up to me in a Ballarat restaurant and spoke to me as if she knew me.  I was a little shocked because I was engaged in conversation with the Director of my show.  He turned to me later and said "Why did she call you Carl?".  Well that's the Australian accent for you.  Kyle/Carl.  Nowadays if people don't call me by my own name, they call me David. I used to love it when they had just met me because I used to reply "Oh no, you are mistaking me for my lover."  This used to get some of the finest looks.  Now if it happens I don't even draw attention to it.  At least it starts with "D". 

Days Left:    363

Books Left:  100

On beginning my challenge (and beginning to soften somewhat to the sad git that once was Piers)

Well the first day is nearly over and I'm well into Piers Morgan's recollection of the decade that was 1994 - 2004.  In fact, I'm nearly reached the end of 1995.  I'm surprised at how interesting the read has been so far.  The man was such a prat whilst he worked for Murdoch, but an interesting prat nevertheless.

This is definitely not a book I would ever have picked up by myself and then thought "I know, I think I'll read that," so it actuallyu is a great one to start the challenge with.  It truly epitomises what this little project of mine is all about - namely that one should not just choose things to do within the confines of an already well established little personal comfort zone.

I'll admit that I am now already looking forward to moving onto another tome from the list, even though my dear friend +kym brown has decided I truly am a nut job because it is just insane to "jump from book to book".  Clearly she has missed the point of what this exercise is about.  I hope now that she has read these words she can now easily follow the processes that make up my mind....  well, at least the first few calls - after that it all becomes a little to profound for anyone to be able to follow, I'm fairly certain..... ;-)
   

I must to bed, to bed, to read some more of Morgan's insights.  I forgot just how crazy the whole Diana & Charles break-up time had been - all those crazy little memories of the craxy little lives of  these Royal's other members of our society who held, sometimes all too briefly, positions of great power.  Piers truly was, in his own words, "trashing people's lives" during those days he was editor of News of the World... a "cocky little git" - but then those lives that he was splashing across his pages were hardly blameless souls and often desperately seeking the attention that he gave them.

On a completely different note, John Green's Looking for Alaska arrived in the post today - finally a book arrives that I have actually ordered from Amazon.  As it has reached my doorstep on Day 1 I feel I should add this one to my current reading pile.  It's less than 300 pages and it's double spaced, so this one should be a cinch to read in 3.5 days.  I will begin with this tome tomorrow.  Tonight, I will read some of Piers which, I fear, may take me slightly longer.

To my annoyance, I find that I am beginning to become a little fond of him even.....

Days Left:    364

Books Left:  100

On why I am obssessing about obsessing when there are so many other things I could be obsessing about.

Oh the night before the full moon.... and I've managed to gather two more volumes.  One of them is Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time".  It seems very brief indeed, it is such a small book!  Apparently this is a much owned volume but very people have actually ever read it.  I have never read it but I also have never owned it.  I borrowed my copy from the Barbican Library.  It's the Updated 10th Anniversary Commemorative Edition and it's only 225 pages long.

Somehow I expected this book to be exceedingly massive.  People have always spoken of this volume with such awe.  It seems a quick read.  David tells me it's exceedingly dense.  I'm actually looking forward to starting it.  Perhaps I will begin with this one.

On second thoughts, perhaps I should start with Piers Morgans The Insider.   This looks like a completely ridiculous piece of trash.  The private diaries of a scandalous decade....!  Oh pur-lease....!  It's a shame the libraries have a self service checkout nowadays. I mean, I borrowed this volume along with Stephen Hawking's.

I've decided I will focus on 1 book a day.  Then I will switch to another volume and keep changing until I get to the same day on the following week.  Then I go back to my first book.  I can allow myself approximately 3.5 days on each book.  Some books I'm figuring will take less.  I'm hoping not many will take more.  I'm getting worried, of course.  I see myself staying up all night forcing myself to finish the 700+ pagers in precisely 3.5 days.  That's just silly though.  I'm not that obsessively compulsive a person... am I?

David has just commented about how hard I hit the keys on my laptop whilst typing and has also surmised that this is why my fingers get sore.  I don't recall complaining about my fingers getting sore before.  My back gets sore, goodness... I think I've complained about nearly everything getting sore but I cannot remember mentioning my fingers before...?  Perhaps he is just jealous because I can type over 100 words per minute.  Actually, now that I think of it, the only time my fingers get sore is when I don't type regularly.  Yet now that I'm thinking about it my fingers are starting to get sore.  Dammit!  Clearly he's a witch.

It is very quiet in our kitchen tonight, normally we have some background music playing so maybe this is why it is sounding like I am hitting the keys very hard.... and there I go again, obsessing about something that David just mentioned in passing. . Clearly it's time for bed.  Which is a good thing, because I really have to finish The Hollow Hills before the stroke of midnight.  Only 100 pages left to go....

.......and then it's onto an item from the list!

It's my challenge and I'll change the rules if I want to

Two days before my challenge commences and I have decided on a few things:

1. I will not be reading the books on the list in any order.  As long as I read them within the year, I will consider the challenge complete.
2. I may decide not to re-read some of the items that I have read before.  This ties in with #3
3. If I have already read a book and I don't feel like re-reading it I will select a title from an alternative list.  This list can be any top 100 list that has ever been compiled.  And I am open to suggestions.

My main reason for changing the rules are:

1. It's my challenge, I set it myself and I made up the rules in the first place.
2. I didn't officially have any rules to begin with, I'm just kind of making this up as I go along and as I haven't officially started my challenge, I can change the bloody rules can't I (see #1)?
3. I have ordered the first 2 items on the list (or is that the last 2, since they are numbered 100 and 99....) from Amazon marketplace and these are due to arrive anytime between March 28 and April 11..... as my challenge starts on March 27 I going to be incredibly behind if I don't start reading something off that list come Wednesday.

I have managed today to borrow from the Barbican library #98 The Autobiography of Jack the Ripper and #67 Cloud Atlas.  Tomorrow I will be returning my two Claude Levi Strauss books from the same establishment.  These are books that analyse the myths of the South American Indians and there is something very sad about the fact that even though I haven't quite finished these, I will returning them and replacing them with The Inside by Piers Morgan and The Snail In the Whale by Julia Donaldson.  Okay, maybe not so much the latter one.....  clearly this picture book for children is #87 on the list for a good reason.  but Piers?  Why is Piers #85 on any list?

This should be enough to keep me going for a week or two.  On average I should be reading 2 books a week.  Some of these are children's books.  Some are not science textbooks.  And then there is Piers Morgan...... He once pushed past me trying to get into Guy Ritchie's pub in Mayfair.  It used to be my local... Honest!  It was my local before Guy bought it! Although I've just read that he's only just today gone and sold it.  Probably because he's realised that giving away free drinks to your mates is not a clever way to run a pub.

Anyway, I've just snapped at David because he has been distracting me with news stories from the internet while I've been trying to write my blog so I better go and give him a cuddle.

And then I'll read a bit more of The Hollow Hills.  Only 185 pages to go.... Och seriously! I have to start reading faster or I am never going to make it through this list before the end of March 2014.

Sourcing the items on the List

The Watford local library's collection resides in a grand old building but the interior is reminiscent of a school library, although it, like most libraries nowadys I am guessing (I'm also a member of the Barbican library), has a futuristic self borrowing scanning machine where you scan the barcode of your library card, place your items on an electronic mat and watch as the computer checks out the items for you.

I went to see if I could source the first ten items on the list from this local collection.  I figured that as this list was the 100 most popular items owned by UK residents that a local library would contain many of the items.  Of course, this is in fact true, many of the items are indeed part of my local library's collection.  The trouble is, they are so popular that they are rarely not already borrowed by another member.  The only book I managed to find was #96 - Tulisa Contostavlos' autobiography.

I then scoured the local charity stores to see if I could find any of the items available there - again, no luck at all.  These books, being so popular, are rarely being donated to charity it would seem.  Or, if they are, they are being snapped up by eager shoppers.

I began to despair.  I had managed to borrow an electronic version of #100 The Hare With Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance but due to software restrictions I wasn't able to get the darn thing to open on my Samsung Galaxy tablet - so that either means reading it on my laptop.... something I am not keen on doing, or ordering a copy from Amazon.  I went for the latter in the end.  I mean, even reading on my tablet is not the same as actually holding a paper copy of the book.  Call me old fashioned, but I like to physically turn the pages.

Ideally I would like to skip into the future about 200 years.  I'm pretty sure that there will be virtual devices available that will allow me to appreciate e-copies.  I love the idea of being able to carry my 3,000 books in my pocket, don't get me wrong, but somehow reading items on glarey screens.... well..... it's not the same.  And yes, I love the Kindles design of electronic ink, it's ability to be read in the daylight.  I just hate the idea of a corporate ultimately being able to wipe my library remotely.... and the legal ownership of electronic media is still a very hazy area.  I've heard it said that there is no way for me to actually resell or even gift my e-books to others if they are in Kindle format.  Nope, not happy about that at all.  If I buy a book, I expect to own that book.  Completely.  No hidden clauses please.

Yet I digress.  We went to the movies today, David and I along with our son.  We met up with his great uncle who works in the cinema screening industry and we all went to see Cloud Atlas (the book is #67 on the list, and boy am I looking forward to reading that baby now that I've seen the Warchowski screen interpretation - extraordinary is one word that John (Zack's great uncle) was heard to say as the movie finished - and I have to agree with him.  It truly is a wonderful experience.  We all highly recommend it - except for Zack, who only managed an "alright", however we're letting him sit on it for a few days before he truly commits to a final verdict.

On the way in, I noted that Zack was reading #87 on the list - The Hundred-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared.  He had picked up a copy in the bookstore at Gare Du Nord when we were returning from Paris on the Eurostar along with a couple of other books.  Bonus!

David and I are both finishing Mary Stewart's trilogy.  He's working his way through the final instalment, The Last Enchantment.  There are three days left and I'm still only a quarter of the way into the Hollow Hills.  Have I bitten off more than I can chew?  Yeah, probably but ask anyone who knows me and they'll tell this is quite normal behaviour.

Kymmers, my good friend for many years now has suggested after my last blog entry that I don't attempt to re-read all the books I have already read - that I make a concerted effort to leave some space for the odd book of my own choosing.  Sound advice from an avid reader.  I may well follow it.

Of course re-reading isn't such a terrible thing - especially when the last time you read a book was approximately 30 years ago (as is the case with the Mary Stewart Merlin Trilogy) but I will have to take it as it comes.

I am very tempted now to be more lax about the order of the list though - I think I am going to have to settle for just reading items that are actually on the list.  Mainly because of the fact that I am concerned that I won't be able to source them all as quickly as I will need them in order to complete the list in the allotted time.  Also because one of the items, #90, is currently retailing for approximately £100 and so far isn't available at any of my local libraries.  Ouch!

Oh, and also I really want to read David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas now.  Honestly, go see the movie.  It truly is wonderful.

Thoughts on second thoughts

So I'm excited about my latest challenge, and a little nervous and apprehensive at the same time.

Many questions run through my head as the full moon approaches.  First and foremost: "why do I feel the need to set myself these challenges?"  David (my partner of 16+ years) is always pointing out that I have many projects, a multitude of tasks and a daily to-do list that never manages to get done even on a good day, so why suddently decide to add 100 books to my reading list?

To be honest, I'm not really sure is about the best answer I can come up with.

Maybe it is just so I have something to write about, although writing is always on my daily to-do list, so it probably has something to do with my childhood......?

Maybe it's because we own over 3,000 books and I would like to think that I have enough time left in my life to one day sit down and read all of the ones that I have not read yet, or at least not finished (there are many non-fiction titles that I have picked up, read the first few chapters and then quietly put in a box in the roof to finish off some other day).  I'm currently 43 years old.  Maybe I am trying to tell myself that if I can read 100 books in one year, and let's say I have approximately 2,000 books left to read, I can feasibly do this before I get to the age of 65.  Maybe.

 I love bookshops.  I love books.  I love to collect books.  I don't necessarily have to read them all.  It is similar to my cook book obsession, which I am blogging about here.  Although cook books are like ideas journals - you don't have to read each one, you can browse through them and find items that currently appeal to you at that particular moment.  In three years time you may go back to the same cook book and find a completely different you standing there browsing and selecting a totally different set of ingredients to cook with.

 The more I try to find an answer to that initial question, the more I start to wonder why I chose THAT particualr list.  I've done a basic google search and there are PLENTY of lists of the 100 best/most popular/most pretentious/most literary etc.  I could have chosen a whole BUNCH of books to read.  Instead I chose this one.  Why?

That question is easier to answer.  I remember joining a bookclub when I worked at Forsters Solicitors about five years ago and I really enjoyed the fact that somebody else apart from myself was choosing the titles for us to read. This bookclub was run by the head librarian. When I was about 13 and settling into High School I remember one of the librarians being quite concerned that I was slowly working my way through the Lord of the Rings.  She wanted me to choose another book, any other book, provided that it was not of the fantasy genre.  She litterally forced me to start reading things that I wouldn't normally read.

I'm extremely grateful to her for doing this.  I started reading Historial fiction instead.  Rosemary Sutcliffe to begin with but later many other authors.  I'm currently re-reading Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy and am on the second and favourite book of the three, The Hollow Hills (US readers try here). I was kind of hoping to be able to finish the trilogy and read two other novels related to the trilogy prior to starting my "challenge" but maybe I won't have time after all.

You see, this is where the worry starts to creep in and attempts to get me to give up before I've even begun.... now that I have a large list of books to read I am immediately concerned that I may want to read other books... but surely I'll be able to fit in a couple of other titles here and there.....won't I?

The List

Ask anyone that actually knows me and I'm pretty sure they'll all agree on the answer - how would I respond to a list of 'things to do'?  I would start ticking off items on the list that I have already accomplished and then set about wondering how to tick the rest of them off in the least amount of time possible.  So it was when the Metro presented me today with a list of the top 100 most popular books (apparently) compiled by researchers at http://www.bookmarkyourlibrary.org.uk/.

Trouble is, of course, I can't find this list anywhere on their website.  Although, no matter, I'm already hooked now by the idea that I will actually read all of these titles.  I've read at least 23 of them already and quite possibly another 8 more (I am 42 and started reading seriously from about age 12 so I think I'm allowed to forget if I actually read something in case you're criticising) and quite frankly, I need a bit of a challenge, so I'm giving myself a year to finish this list.  I invite you all to join us.  David has already signed up for it.  Go on, you know you want to... imagine all the dinner party conversations you could be having... not to mention how popular you will become with the local librarian(s).

Granted, some of these titles below are a little trashy (it's a popular list after all....) and others are just plain crazy (do people actually read The Official Highway Code cover to cover?  And what about Jamie Oliver's 15 Minute Meals.... ?? But David and I intend to be reading these over the course of the next year.  And we'll be starting at Book 100 and working our way to through to that top spot and we'll re-reading the ones that we've already covered, Bible included.

Reading Enid Blyton at Drama School Camp... many moons ago

Of course I'll keep you posted after each read with our thoughts and comments.  I plan to start on the next full moon and am hoping that I'll be done by this time next year.  Do we need luck with this one?  Well, wish it to us anyway.  I could always do with a lottery win.  I'd have more time to read at least.
 
Anwyay, here is the list:

#	Title	Author	Daniel	David
100	The Hare With Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance	Edmund de Waal	No	no
99	Eloise	Judy Finnigan	No	no
98	The Autobiography Of Jack The Ripper	James Carnac	No	no
97	Looking For Alaska	John Green	No	no
96	Honest: My Story So Far	Tulisa Contostavlos	No	no
95	Over The Moon: My Autobiography	David Essex	No	no
94	The Snow Child	Eowyn Ivey	No	no
93	Ratburger	David Walliams	No	no
92	Running My Life	Seb Coe	No	no
91	Entwined With You	Sylvia Day	No	no
90	The James Bond Archives	Paul Duncan	No	no
89	My Animals And Other Family	Clare Balding	No	no
88	A Street Cat Named Bob	James Bowen	No	no
87	The Hundred-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared	Jonas Jonasson	No	no
86	Football!  Bloody Hell	Alex Ferguson	No	no
85	The Inside	Piers Morgan	No	no
84	Bring Up The Bodies	Hilary Mantel	No	no
83	Still Standing: The Savage Years	Paul O'Grady	No	no
82	Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography	Walter Isaacson	No	no
81	The Snail And The Whale	Julia Donaldson	No	no
80	We Can Remember It For You Wholesale	Phillip K Dick	?	no
79	12th Of Never	James Patterson	No	no
78	A Thousand Splendid Sons	Khaled Hosseini	No	Yes
77	World War Z	Max Brooks	No	no
76	Frank Skinner	Frank Skinner	No	no
75	Me Before You	Jojo Moyes	No	no
74	Mr Stink	David Walliams	No	no
73	Blood Of Dragons	Robin Hobb	No	no
72	The Pillars Of The Earth	Ken Follet	No	yes
71	Riders	Jilly Cooper	No	no
70	The Casual Vacancy	J. K. Rowling	No	no
69	How To Be A Woman	Caitlin Moran	No	no
68	Secret Diary Of A Call Girl	Belle de Jour	No	no
67	Cloud Atlas	David Mitchell	No	no
66	Bradley Wiggins: An Autobiography	Bradley Wiggins	No	no
65	Being Jordan	Katie Price	No	no
64	On The Road	Jack Kerouac	Yes	Yes
63	Call The Midwife: A True Story Of The East End In the 1950s	Jennifer Worth	No	no
62	Wonders Of The Universe	Brian Cox	No	no
61	Life And Laughing	Michael McIntyre	No	no
60	The Princess Diaries	Meg Cabot	No	no
59	Gone Girl	Gillian Flynn	No	no
58	Diary Of A Wimpy Kid	Jeff Kinney	No	no
57	Artemis Fowl	Eoin Colfer	No	yes
56	American Psycho	Bret Easton Ellis	No	Yes
55	Kane And Abel	Jeffrey Archer	No	Yes
54	Men Are From Mars Women Are From Venus	John Gray	No	Yes
53	Brief History Of Time	Stephen Hawkin	No	Yes
52	Wolf Hall	Hilary Mantel	No	no
51	The Perks Of Being A Wallflower	Stephen Chbosky	No	no
50	The Godfather	Mario Puzo	No	Yes
49	My Booky Wook	Russell Brand	No	no
48	Moby Dick	Herman Neville	Yes	Yes
47	The Kite Runner	Khaled Hosseini	No	Yes
46	One Day	David Nicholls	No	no
45	Mort	Terry Pratchett	?	no
44	Is It Just Me?	Miranda Hart	No	no
43	My Sister's Keeper	Jodi Picoult	No	no
42	Silence Of The Lambs	Thomas Harris	Yes	Yes
41	The Magic Faraway Tree	Enid Blyton	Yes	Yes
40	Far From The Madding Crowd	Thomas Hardy	?	no
39	Memoirs Of A Geisha	Arthur Golden	No	Yes
38	Life Of Pi	Yann Martel	Yes	Yes
37	Game Of Thrones	George R R Martin	Yes	Yes
36	Confessions Of A Shopaholic	Sophie Kinsella	No	no
35	The Shining	Stephen King	Yes	Yes
34	The Story Of Tracy Beaker	Jacqueline Wilson	No	no
33	Lord Of The Flies	William Golding	Yes	Yes
32	Emma	Jane Austen	No	no
31	The Picture Of Dorian Gray	Oscar Wilde	Yes	Yes
30	Lovely Bones	Anne Sebold	No	Yes
29	David Copperfield	Charles Dickens	No	Yes
28	The Catcher In The Rye	JD Salinger	Yes	Yes
27	The Hunger Games	Suzanne Collins	Yes	Yes
26	Time Traveller's Wife	Audrey Niffenegger	No	Yes
25	George's Marvellous Medicine	Roald Dahl	No	no
24	The Secret Garden	Frances Hodgson Burnett	?	Yes
23	Dracula	Bram Stoker	Yes	Yes
22	Romeo And Juliet	William Shakespeare	Yes	Yes
21	Little Women	Louisa May Alcott	?	Yes
20	Bridget Jone's Diary	Helen Fielding	No	Yes
19	The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo	Stieg Larsson	No	Yes
18	1984	George Orwell	Yes	Yes
17	Animal Farm	George Orwell	Yes	Yes
16	The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy	Douglas Adams	Yes	Yes
15	Great Expectations	Charles Dickens	?	Yes
14	The BFG	Roald Dahl	?	Yes
13	Jamie's 15 Minute Meals	Jamie Oliver	No	no
12	Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers	J. R. R. Tolkien	Yes	Yes
11	Pride And Prejudice	Jane Austen	?	Yes
10	Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King	J. R. R. Tolkien	Yes	Yes
9	To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee	Yes	Yes
8	Fifty Shades of Grey	E. L. James	No	no
7	The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe	C. S. Lewis	No	Yes
6	The Official Highway Code	Department of Transport	No	Yes
5	Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban	J. K. Rowling	Yes	Yes
4	The Da Vinci Code	Dan Brown	Yes	Yes
3	The Bible	Anon	Yes	Yes
2	The Hobbit	J. R. R. Tolkien	No	yes
1	Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire	J. K. Rowling	Yes	Yes