13 August 2006

List No.1 Books

Its a tradition on blog’s to have lists, like top-10-songs or films, best of year, holidays, favourite things to do at weekends, the list of lists is endless. I decided to start with books. I started reading a lot more during the past 10 years. I have lots of hours in airports and on planes while travelling with my work, so I read to pass the time in a constructive way. I also love to read on holiday or on a Sunday afternoon. I can’t put this list into an exact order of merit…that would be too hard, so its my “the-top-10-books-I-liked-most” list, from the ones I can remember just now anyway!

1 “White Teeth” by Zadie Smith
This is simply a great book, a story of family and relationships with a fascinating mixture of cultures, set in modern day London.
2 “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time” by Mark Haddon
This is simply a must read for everyone on the whole planet, it’s a brilliant insight into the world as seen by an autistic boy. Its both sad and funny and compelling reading.
3 “High Fidelity” by Nick Hornby
This must be the book that made “lists” popular. Funny story about music and relationships with girls, a must for all the lads out there, just a shame the film version was crap.
4 “Tokyo” by Mo Hayder
This was the first of her books for me, interesting story and at the same time quite scary…if you like this one, read her other books, Bird Man and The Treatment, they are very scary police thrillers.
5 “Popular Music from Vittula” by Mikael Niemi
I think this will make you laugh, I did, I read it in Swedish, so I hope the translation is good. Story of a boy’s life in a small Swedish town and his rise to greater things.
6 “Angles and Demons” by Dan Brown
OK so there not classics, but I like this one best. A good story with lots of twists to keep you reading to the end.
7 “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien
The prologue to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, a lighter and funny story of a Hobit and his introduction to “the ring”.
8 "Star Man Jones" by Robert A. Heinlein
This one is in the list because I started reading Science Fiction as a boy and I think this was possibly the first real book I ever read. Enthralling story about travel in the stars.
9 “Kings of Albion” by Julian Rathbone
I love'd his mixture of east and west, set in the 1460’s, its funny and historical and un-predictable, all in the same book.
10 “A Long Way Down” by Nick Hornby
OK, so I have two by the same author! Well I just love his quick, sarcastic style and I read this book on holiday this year in Greece and laughed out loud many times. A very good read.

Let me know if you liked any of these too?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I 've read book 2 and 3 and both liked them. I think Nick Hornby is even more funny in English, so I have to remember to borrow one next time.
Maybe I start my own list one day, but I know by now that I will struggle to decide! Maybe I should start with a list that is more easy to compile, best sushi bars for example..... or maybe, things I want to do with Mr S. anytime.... What do you think?

Anonymous said...

Yeh...that last list would make interesting reading:)