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Just finished reading “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy. Devestatingly well written.

I like having a long list of books that I want to read. That way there is usually one or more available at the Library for me to choose when I finish the previous one.

I’m managing about 16 books per year, reading about fourty minutes a day.

I am averaging about 18 books per year and my “life” list is turning over quiet well. I’ve read 227 of the 348 on the list – of course the list grows!

I am amazed how well stocked the University and Public libraries are. However, there are some books that I am really battling to find -one is “The Moviegoer” by Walker Percy.

I belong to two libraries and recently joined a third as the book was on their on-line catalog. Regretably it seems to be missing there!

I’ll attempt to get a copy through the “Interlibrary loan system” as I see there are copies in other far-flung libraries.

I was slack at school, only reading the bare minimum to pass, and hardly any novels. Studying Science at University meant reading technical books rather than novels.

When I finally did a University English literature course, I realized what I had been missing. I started off reading a lot of traditional English novels from the 18th/19th century.

The turning point was the publication of “the best 100 20th Century novels” some years ago. I got stuck in, reading +- 20 per year. When the list got thin, I added on the Booker, Whitbread, Commonwealth, National and Pulitzer novel winners and the Time Top 100 novels of the 20th Centuary.

The combined lists top the 340 mark to date (2006) and I have read over 190 so far.

Some of the best in my opinion: