A
The Man in the Tower by Aravind Adiga
Where did the book come from? A charity shop for about a pound I think
I'd already enjoyed The White Tiger and After the Assassinations by Adiga but this one sat on my shelf for a couple of years after purchase, the main reason being that it was hardback and I like my books to be portable, pocket-sized (parka coat pocket-sized at least) and this rat-swatter of a tome didn't meet that requirement. I'd missed out though - this is a great book that explores the caste system of India. I feel like most of my favourite books over the last five years have been set in India and this was a fascinating study of capitalist greed and a study of people. The premise is that a large corporation are buying a tower-block to redevelop it. They're paying over the odds and most of the residents are keen except for an old man whose memory of his deceased wife is tied up with his simple home. Freedom of personal choice and sacrifice for the good of the majority vie violently with each in this book in a really interesting way.
B
No Nonsense by Joey Barton
Where did the book come from? A Christmas present from my mother-in-law
I've read quite a few football autobiographies and while I am somewhat obsessive about football, the reality is this category of book is in the main, quite boring. I thought that this one might be different, mainly because Joey Barton quotes George Orwell on Twitter and so I thought, he might channel GO and play with the football autobiography genre and cast himself in a dystopian future where football is a hypnotic mind-control tool to tame the masses. He didn't and, to be honest, after enjoying some sections, I started to get bored. The football books that I think are genuinely wonderful are Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby, Cantona: The Rebel Who Would be King by Philippe Auclair and Irons in the Fire by Russell Brand - read those instead if you want to read a football book.
C
The Childhood of Jesus by J.M. Coetzee
Where did it come from? Another Christmas present from my mother-in-law (I'd made an Amazon list and with the reading challenge in mind, had put a few potentials on the list)
J.M. Coetzee has written some of my favourite books, in particular the masterful trio of autobiographical texts, Boyhood, Youth and Summertime. He is a wonderful experimental writer and Diary of a Bad Year is probably him at his weirdest and experimental best. This book, I didn't enjoy that much. The blandness of the setting and of the characters was a deliberate alternate reality but it made for a frustrating read. The title was perplexing: it wasn't actually about the childhood of Jesus and although there were a number of intertextual moments, it wasn't an exploration of Jesus' childhood in a way that I found interesting or illuminating.
D
Room by Emma Donoghue
Where did it come from? A colleague, Holly, lent it to me
My last school did a wonderful thing in encouraging people to recommend books to each other. I was at letter D so I scoured the list or recommendations and fellow English-teacher Holly recommended another book by Emma Donoghue: The Wonder but when I chatted to her, she suggested Room as one she thought I would enjoy more. It was one of those books that you feel compelled to keep reading. It deals with abduction and is told from the perspective of a boy who has never seen anything other than the room he has been imprisoned in his whole life. It's so good.
E
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Where did it come from? My mum maybe although I actually think this copy was bought in a charity shop, perhaps in Leicester
Fourteen years ago, when I was thinking about doing an English Literature degree, my mum lent me Middlemarch. At the time, I was mainly reading John Grisham thrillers and hadn't really prepared my mind for the more challenging task of a hefty Victorian novel. I made it through about two-hundred pages and then all the characters that I had been getting to know disappeared and there was a committee meeting discussing complicated things that went over my head and I floundered and gave up. After my degree, I thought I would be ready for Middlemarch and I probably was. I'd really enjoyed Daniel Deronda which another Eliot novel of the same length but again, I got to the same moment and my interest dwindled and Middlemarch remained a quarter-read. This year, the alphabetical challenge depended on its completion and, with the additional carrot of the alphabet-completion and the fear of failing a third time at the same book, I completed it. This all makes it seem like it was unenjoyable, but, although it was really challenging at times and there were occasional chunks of the plot that were less interesting, I really loved it. Silas Marner is my favourite of Eliot's novels and I think, perhaps, I might read a bit more of her stuff.
F
Faulks on Fiction by Sebastian Faulks
Where did it come from? Amazon
This is the first non-fiction book in my list and having enjoyed, in slightly decreasing amounts, Engleby, Birdsong, Charlotte Gray and A Week in December (all Faulks' novels), I thought reading his thoughts on some of the big characters in fiction would be interesting. If I hadn't been doing this challenge though, I would not have read his thoughts about characters from novels that I hadn't read for those thoughts meant very little to me and to be honest, some of the characters were a little blurry in my recollection, for his thoughts to be that coherent as well. Perhaps, a quarter of the book was interesting or it would be fairer to say that a quarter of it was personally interesting to me. It's perhaps weird that I persisted but I did.
G
Paradise by Abdulrazak Gurnah
Where did it come from? Amazon
At university, one of the units I studied was African Literature. Africa has always felt like it has tugged at my heart but the novels I studied revealed that my romantic notions were far from the truth of how brutal life in Africa can be - or certainly was in most of the novels I read. By the Sea was the Gurnah book I read at university and I don't really recollect much about it but I did recognise the simmering violence that bubbles and regularly bursts in this novel. It's tough and important to face up to what the world is like.
H
Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes
Where did it come from? Amazon
I stumbled across this collection of poetry a few years back. I wanted to teach a poet's work as a collection and this worked perfectly in that it had a narrative thread running through it: namely, the tumultuous relationship that the poets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath shared. Their story is horribly tragic. The poems were released as Hughes was dying. He had been criticised often for the way he treated Syliva, cheating on her and leaving her and some of her supporters blamed him for her suicide. He chose not to defend himself and only late on in life did he release his thoughts on the relationship. The poems are incredible, the imagery so perfect, the emotion so incisively expressed. The narrative is painful and uncomfortable but they are great poems and what is also satisfying about these poems is that there is not really a sense of justification from Hughes, just a painful remembering.
I
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Where did it come from? My mum
My birthday is in March and I let some of my family know that I was in around this point in the alphabet, so some of the gifts I received were books that slotted into position. My main go-to gift is a book and although often I tell people what I want, I quite like the idea of someone perusing a shop or reading a book and then thinking that I might like it. It's a dystopian novel that deals with cloning. What was jarring was futuristic content and the setting of Hailsham which felt a little incongruous.
J
The Hundred-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
Where did it come from? Amazon
This had been close to being selected by the Book Group that I was part of but never quite made it through the final cut. I don't often read books that aim to amuse because often I fail to be amused but this was successful in part. I enjoyed the crazy plot swerves and the bizarre images it managed to conjure.
K
Making Sense of God by Tim Keller
Where did it come from? A birthday present - I don't recollect who it was from, perhaps my mother-in-law
As a Christian, it's true to say that often, my faith confuses me and makes me ask uncomfortable questions. Tim Keller has an incredible ability to discuss confusion and doubt in a real way. The book that is in some ways, an introduction to this book, The Reason for God was superb and helped me both to understand my own faith and also reaffirm things in my own mind. Making Sense of God is similar in its aim, but goes to more complex and philosophical positions. For example, in understanding morality, he leads the reader to consider the fact that morality is ingrained in who we are as humans, ingrained in the stories we tell and therefore, suggests that we are not random beings but created beings with a moral core that links us directly to our maker and His moral core.
L
Beetle Boy by M.G. Leonard
Where did it come from? Coldean Library
This is the first book in this list that I read aloud. I sit with my boys most evenings and read to them and as the years have rolled by, the books have got increasingly enjoyable to read as the complexity level has risen. These are precious times and the books we've have at times, prompted discussions about injustice, racism and other important issues. Without these books, I don't know where and how I'd have introduced conversations about equality in a way that would be meaningful and interesting to them. I dread the day when I have to stop because they've got 'too old' for it or have simply moved out (I imagine it will be earlier than that). I'd recommend this book; it's a dark adventure about a boy who finds he is able to communicate with beetles.
M
Wake Up, Percy Gloom by Cathy Malkasian
Where did it come from? Jethro, my brother
My brother and I share a liking for graphic novels and my collection is probably 50% gifts from him. This was one that I'd never heard of before and it was a bizarre, bonkers story that, I think, was an allegory about the formation of organised religion. It portrayed the religions as ridiculous, mainly through showing their formation as random accidents.
N
The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
Where did it come from? Coldean Library
O
Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell
Where it come from? My mother-in-law
P
Curfewed Night by Baccarat Peer
Where did it come from? Amazon
Q
Zazie on the Metro by Raymond Queneau
Where did it come from? Amazon, recommended by Alison Perkin
R
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Where did it come from? A Christmas present from over ten years ago
S
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Where did it come from? Chailey School
T
Light Shining in the Forest by Paul Torday
U
Sacred Hunger by Barry Utters
V
Enjoying God's Grace by Terry Virgo
W
Who's Tom Ditto? by Danny Wallace
X
Sky Burial by Xinran
Y
What's so Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancey
Z
The Messenger of Athens by Anne Zouroudi
I'd already enjoyed The White Tiger and After the Assassinations by Adiga but this one sat on my shelf for a couple of years after purchase, the main reason being that it was hardback and I like my books to be portable, pocket-sized (parka coat pocket-sized at least) and this rat-swatter of a tome didn't meet that requirement. I'd missed out though - this is a great book that explores the caste system of India. I feel like most of my favourite books over the last five years have been set in India and this was a fascinating study of capitalist greed and a study of people. The premise is that a large corporation are buying a tower-block to redevelop it. They're paying over the odds and most of the residents are keen except for an old man whose memory of his deceased wife is tied up with his simple home. Freedom of personal choice and sacrifice for the good of the majority vie violently with each in this book in a really interesting way.
B
No Nonsense by Joey Barton
Where did the book come from? A Christmas present from my mother-in-law
I've read quite a few football autobiographies and while I am somewhat obsessive about football, the reality is this category of book is in the main, quite boring. I thought that this one might be different, mainly because Joey Barton quotes George Orwell on Twitter and so I thought, he might channel GO and play with the football autobiography genre and cast himself in a dystopian future where football is a hypnotic mind-control tool to tame the masses. He didn't and, to be honest, after enjoying some sections, I started to get bored. The football books that I think are genuinely wonderful are Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby, Cantona: The Rebel Who Would be King by Philippe Auclair and Irons in the Fire by Russell Brand - read those instead if you want to read a football book.
C
The Childhood of Jesus by J.M. Coetzee
Where did it come from? Another Christmas present from my mother-in-law (I'd made an Amazon list and with the reading challenge in mind, had put a few potentials on the list)
J.M. Coetzee has written some of my favourite books, in particular the masterful trio of autobiographical texts, Boyhood, Youth and Summertime. He is a wonderful experimental writer and Diary of a Bad Year is probably him at his weirdest and experimental best. This book, I didn't enjoy that much. The blandness of the setting and of the characters was a deliberate alternate reality but it made for a frustrating read. The title was perplexing: it wasn't actually about the childhood of Jesus and although there were a number of intertextual moments, it wasn't an exploration of Jesus' childhood in a way that I found interesting or illuminating.
D
Room by Emma Donoghue
Where did it come from? A colleague, Holly, lent it to me
My last school did a wonderful thing in encouraging people to recommend books to each other. I was at letter D so I scoured the list or recommendations and fellow English-teacher Holly recommended another book by Emma Donoghue: The Wonder but when I chatted to her, she suggested Room as one she thought I would enjoy more. It was one of those books that you feel compelled to keep reading. It deals with abduction and is told from the perspective of a boy who has never seen anything other than the room he has been imprisoned in his whole life. It's so good.
E
Middlemarch by George Eliot
Where did it come from? My mum maybe although I actually think this copy was bought in a charity shop, perhaps in Leicester
Fourteen years ago, when I was thinking about doing an English Literature degree, my mum lent me Middlemarch. At the time, I was mainly reading John Grisham thrillers and hadn't really prepared my mind for the more challenging task of a hefty Victorian novel. I made it through about two-hundred pages and then all the characters that I had been getting to know disappeared and there was a committee meeting discussing complicated things that went over my head and I floundered and gave up. After my degree, I thought I would be ready for Middlemarch and I probably was. I'd really enjoyed Daniel Deronda which another Eliot novel of the same length but again, I got to the same moment and my interest dwindled and Middlemarch remained a quarter-read. This year, the alphabetical challenge depended on its completion and, with the additional carrot of the alphabet-completion and the fear of failing a third time at the same book, I completed it. This all makes it seem like it was unenjoyable, but, although it was really challenging at times and there were occasional chunks of the plot that were less interesting, I really loved it. Silas Marner is my favourite of Eliot's novels and I think, perhaps, I might read a bit more of her stuff.
F
Faulks on Fiction by Sebastian Faulks
Where did it come from? Amazon
This is the first non-fiction book in my list and having enjoyed, in slightly decreasing amounts, Engleby, Birdsong, Charlotte Gray and A Week in December (all Faulks' novels), I thought reading his thoughts on some of the big characters in fiction would be interesting. If I hadn't been doing this challenge though, I would not have read his thoughts about characters from novels that I hadn't read for those thoughts meant very little to me and to be honest, some of the characters were a little blurry in my recollection, for his thoughts to be that coherent as well. Perhaps, a quarter of the book was interesting or it would be fairer to say that a quarter of it was personally interesting to me. It's perhaps weird that I persisted but I did.
G
Paradise by Abdulrazak Gurnah
Where did it come from? Amazon
At university, one of the units I studied was African Literature. Africa has always felt like it has tugged at my heart but the novels I studied revealed that my romantic notions were far from the truth of how brutal life in Africa can be - or certainly was in most of the novels I read. By the Sea was the Gurnah book I read at university and I don't really recollect much about it but I did recognise the simmering violence that bubbles and regularly bursts in this novel. It's tough and important to face up to what the world is like.
H
Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes
Where did it come from? Amazon
I stumbled across this collection of poetry a few years back. I wanted to teach a poet's work as a collection and this worked perfectly in that it had a narrative thread running through it: namely, the tumultuous relationship that the poets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath shared. Their story is horribly tragic. The poems were released as Hughes was dying. He had been criticised often for the way he treated Syliva, cheating on her and leaving her and some of her supporters blamed him for her suicide. He chose not to defend himself and only late on in life did he release his thoughts on the relationship. The poems are incredible, the imagery so perfect, the emotion so incisively expressed. The narrative is painful and uncomfortable but they are great poems and what is also satisfying about these poems is that there is not really a sense of justification from Hughes, just a painful remembering.
I
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Where did it come from? My mum
My birthday is in March and I let some of my family know that I was in around this point in the alphabet, so some of the gifts I received were books that slotted into position. My main go-to gift is a book and although often I tell people what I want, I quite like the idea of someone perusing a shop or reading a book and then thinking that I might like it. It's a dystopian novel that deals with cloning. What was jarring was futuristic content and the setting of Hailsham which felt a little incongruous.
The Hundred-Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
Where did it come from? Amazon
This had been close to being selected by the Book Group that I was part of but never quite made it through the final cut. I don't often read books that aim to amuse because often I fail to be amused but this was successful in part. I enjoyed the crazy plot swerves and the bizarre images it managed to conjure.
K
Making Sense of God by Tim Keller
Where did it come from? A birthday present - I don't recollect who it was from, perhaps my mother-in-law
As a Christian, it's true to say that often, my faith confuses me and makes me ask uncomfortable questions. Tim Keller has an incredible ability to discuss confusion and doubt in a real way. The book that is in some ways, an introduction to this book, The Reason for God was superb and helped me both to understand my own faith and also reaffirm things in my own mind. Making Sense of God is similar in its aim, but goes to more complex and philosophical positions. For example, in understanding morality, he leads the reader to consider the fact that morality is ingrained in who we are as humans, ingrained in the stories we tell and therefore, suggests that we are not random beings but created beings with a moral core that links us directly to our maker and His moral core.
L
Beetle Boy by M.G. Leonard
Where did it come from? Coldean Library
This is the first book in this list that I read aloud. I sit with my boys most evenings and read to them and as the years have rolled by, the books have got increasingly enjoyable to read as the complexity level has risen. These are precious times and the books we've have at times, prompted discussions about injustice, racism and other important issues. Without these books, I don't know where and how I'd have introduced conversations about equality in a way that would be meaningful and interesting to them. I dread the day when I have to stop because they've got 'too old' for it or have simply moved out (I imagine it will be earlier than that). I'd recommend this book; it's a dark adventure about a boy who finds he is able to communicate with beetles.
M
Wake Up, Percy Gloom by Cathy Malkasian
Where did it come from? Jethro, my brother
My brother and I share a liking for graphic novels and my collection is probably 50% gifts from him. This was one that I'd never heard of before and it was a bizarre, bonkers story that, I think, was an allegory about the formation of organised religion. It portrayed the religions as ridiculous, mainly through showing their formation as random accidents.
N
The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
Where did it come from? Coldean Library
O
Shooting an Elephant by George Orwell
Where it come from? My mother-in-law
P
Curfewed Night by Baccarat Peer
Where did it come from? Amazon
Q
Zazie on the Metro by Raymond Queneau
Where did it come from? Amazon, recommended by Alison Perkin
R
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
Where did it come from? A Christmas present from over ten years ago
S
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Where did it come from? Chailey School
T
Light Shining in the Forest by Paul Torday
U
Sacred Hunger by Barry Utters
V
Enjoying God's Grace by Terry Virgo
W
Who's Tom Ditto? by Danny Wallace
X
Sky Burial by Xinran
Y
What's so Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancey
Z
The Messenger of Athens by Anne Zouroudi
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