IrishHolger's 11 in 11 list

When it comes to New Years's resolutions I opted to not have any for 2011. For the longest time I figured goal setting is the way to go but I recently figured I am generally more contented when I let things come naturally. If I like what I am doing I achieve a lot anyway. And I just stress myself out over the smallest goals I am not tackling, so what's the point?

So the first thing I am doing before the year has even started is.... to set myself some reading goals. Oh my.....

Well, I am reading anyway and after looking at my 999 challenge (that I managed to fail magnificently) and my two 1010 challenges (that I passed thank you very much) I noticed that these 11 categories are the kind of books that I'd read anyway so it's no biggie. Plus I gave myself a nice little all inclusive final category anyway.

I am planning a "step" approach from 1 - 11 books and the one stretch for me here is to actually read 66 books as I haven't managed that number ever though over the last two years at least managed 50+ books.

I won't know in advance which categories will be the ones with whatever number of books so will play it by ear and see how things will develop during the year.

Without further ado:

1. Pulps/1970s style Men's fiction series
I still got a ton of unread Nick Carters, Malkos and other series left lying around.
2. Serial heroes and anti-heroes
I like reading short stories but prefer reading novels. And as much as I love novels I then prefer reading novel series. So this is where I focus on the likes of Fu Manchu, James Bond, Fantomas etc
3. Crime/Mystery
Categories 1 and 2 show how much I like serial crime fiction but outside I also read individual books from the likes of Cornell Woolrich & Co
4. Books about cinema
I am a cinema buff so also read a lot of books about it.
5. Travel books
Travel experiences, country reports et al.
6. Magick books
Books about Magicians, magical societies etc
7. 1001 books
Seriously, can there be an 1111 list without this category?
8. History books
Pretty self explanatory
9. Science Fiction
I used to read a lot of Science Fiction but not in a while and even in 2010 only read one book (STRANGER IN A STRANGE LAND) that strictly speaking could have also been tagged for the 1001 Books but I definitely want to explore this further again
10. Autobiographies/Biographies/Memoirs
Definitely want to continue my Casanova reading but also like other books in that vein
11. Other
The big cop out. All books that don't fit into any of the other categories plus an overflow category for any category where I end up reading more than the required number of books

I guess that settles that. Let 2011 commence.....

1001 books

1. Dashiell Hammett: The Glass Key (also: Crime/Mystery)
2. H. Rider Haggard: King Solomon's Mines (also: Serial heroes and anti-heroes )
3. Heinrich Boell: Billard um halbzehn
4. James Joyce: Ulysses
5. Thomas Mann: Der Zauberberg

Books about Cinema

1. Peter Osteried: Dr. Mabuse: Der Klassische Kriminalfilm 1
2. Mark Clark: Smirk, Sneer and Scream: Great Acting in Horror Cinema
3. Ed Wood Jr: Hollywood Ratrace
4. Matt Blake/David Deal: The Eurospy Guide
5. Daniel Ekeroth: Swedish Sensationsfilms
6. Bruce Hallenbeck: Hammer Fantasy & Sci Fi
7. Thomas Winter: Miss Marple: Der Klassische Kriminalfilm 3
8. Beat Presser: Kinski
9. Michael McGlasson: The Unknown Peter Cushing

Pulps/1970s style Men's fiction series

1. Gerard De Villiers: The Portuguese Defection (Malko)
2. Robert Hawkes: The Delgado Killings (Narc)
3. Nick Carter: Operation Moon Rocket (Killmaster)
4. Frank Scarpetta: Stone Killer (The Marksman)

Serial heroes and anti-heroes

1. Leslie Charteris: Knight Templar (The Saint)
2. Jeff Lindsay: Dexter by Design (Dexter)
3. Sax Rohmer: President Fu Manchu (Fu Manchu)
4. Shane Briant: The Dreamhealer (The Dreamhealer)
5. Ruth Rendell: Some Lie and Some Die (Inspector Wexford)
6. John Creasey: There Goes Death (Patrick Dawlish)
7. Ian Rankin: Knots & Crosses (Rebus)
8. Philip Jose Farmer: The Peerless Peer (Sherlock Holmes/Tarzan)
9. Carole Bugge: The Star of India (Sherlock Holmes)
10. August Derleth: The Casebook of Solar Pons (Solar Pons)
11. Robert Ludlum: The Bourne Identity (Jason Bourne)

Crime/Mystery

1. Fredric Brown: A Plot for Murder
2. Louis Weinert-Wilton: Teppich des Grauens
3. Shane Briant: Hitkids
4. Jo Nesbo: The Redbreast

Travel books

1. Helge Timmerberg: In 80 Tagen um die Welt
2. Bryn Thomas: Trans-Siberian Handbook: Seventh Edition

Magick books

1. Blanche Barton: The Secret Life of a Satanist (also: Autobiographies/Biographies/Memoirs)

Horror

1. Graham Masterton: Charnel House
2. James Herbert: Haunted (also Serial heroes and anti-heroes: David Ash)
3. Peter Tremayne: Dracula Unborn
4. James Herbert: The Survivor
5. Richard Matheson: A Stir of Echoes

Science Fiction

1. Ray Bradbury: The Martian Chronicles
2. Bron Fane: U.F.O. 517 (also: Serial heroes and anti-heroes)
3. Gordon Eklund: The Starless World (also: Serial heroes and anti-heroes)
4. Douglas Adams: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

Autobiographies/Biographies/Memoirs

1. Giacomo Casanova: History of My Life, Vol. 4
2. Christian David: Kinski
3. Charles Altamont Doyle: The Doyle Diary

Other

1. Bastian Sick: Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod
2. Henry James: The Aspern Papers
3. Catherine Ryan Howard: Self-Printed: The Sane Person's Guide to Self-Publishing
4. T.S. Eliot: The Waste Land
5. John Locke: How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months
6. Umberto Eco: Die Kunst des Bücherliebens
7. Felix Dennis: Tales From the Woods
8. Icon Critical Guide: James Joyce
9. Umberto Eco: Der Friedhof in Prag
10. Declan Kiberd: Ulysses and Us

Eight days into the new year and I have only read one book so far: Dashiell Hammett's The Glass Key. I blame it on my trip back home to Germany where I focused more on being force fed than reading a lot. I have recently started (re-)reading the Dashiell Hammett novels and found that they didn't often stand the test of time, but THE GLASS KEY was by far the best of his books that I explored over the last couple of months. It's wonderfully cynical about a town in the grips of a bunch of corrupt politicians with practically no positive hero in sight.

I placed the book into the 1001 BOOKS category though it could also belong to Crime/Mystery. Later on this year I may need to maneuver some books between categories, but for the time this is where it will remain.

Peter Osteried: Dr. Mabuse: Der Klassische Kriminalfilm 1
An excellent German language overview over all the classic Mabuse movies with a fantastic choice of pictures and promotional material.

#13 I've also only finished one book so far this year. Too tired to read at bedtime. I have been exhausted from work. Influenza patients are hitting us hard this year. At least you got to take a trip back home to Germany.

Thanks Violet. Well, if influenza patients were hitting you this time of year, I could have been one of them. Was sick the week between Christmas and New Year. ;-)

Just finished off my third book now: Leslie Charteris' Knight Templar where The Saint prevents WW2..... that is the kind of WW2 that would have happened in 1931 without Simon Templar. Quite a good read. I am somewhat torn about The Saint stories and generally like the novels (such as this one), but feel a bit indifferent about the short stories.

Mark Clark's Smirk, Sneer and Scream: Great Acting in Horror Cinema does exactly what it says in the second part of its title.... focus on great acting in the horror cinema. In contrast to the first part of the title it does actually focus on some of the subtle nuances deployed by the classic horror stars, not on over-the-top mannerisms and hammy acting.

Finished another one and am borderline on schedule: Jeff Linday's Dexter by Design. I like the Dexter books but I love the TV show. Proof that the old adage that the book is always better than the film is just that, an old cliche.

This time Dexter doesn't just visit Paris but also Cuba. Apart from that: A lot of the usual.

On a roll.... Helge Timmerberg: In 80 Tagen um die Welt

One has to wonder what the purpose of this book is. The author purports to follow in the footsteps of Phileas Fogg but never once explains what attracted him to Jules Verne's original novel in the first place. In actual fact he very rarely mentions Verne or the novel at all and often strays from Phileas Fogg's original path. Apart from his chapter about Cuba (yep, that wasn't in the novel either) one never gets a feeling for the countries or the people visited. He hates Ireland but only ever visits Temple Bar. If he meets other people it is primarily other Germans. Instead he whinges about getting older, bitches about travelling and moans about not being able to make up his mind about anything. Definitely not the kind of guy you would want as a travel companion for a week, let alone 80 days.

What a coincidence: Just noticed that my last two books have references to Cuba. That nearly warrants a separate category. ;-)

H. Rider Haggard: King Solomon's Mines
Really loved this one. I only discovered Haggard's books two or three years ago after reading SHE. I was pleasantly surprised how much I had enjoyed this so promised myself to explore more novels from him. Looks like he is definitely a classic author to look out for.

Ed Wood Jr.: Hollywood Ratrace
A How-To-Make-It-In-Hollywood manual written by the most famous Hollywood failure ever towards the end of his life. It's actually pretty well written with chapters about the casting couch, how (not) to live in Tinseltown without money, a lengthy anecdote about introducing Bela Lugosi to stage work late in his career etc. Don't forget to bring your best angora jumper as you may need to pawn it at some stage in your career.

Sax Rohmer: President Fu Manchu
Fu Manchu trying to gain control over a new US President to be elected in an America that it strangely bordering on the brink of a dictatorship. Cracking stuff.

Bryn Thomas: Trans-Siberian Handbook - Seventh Edition
Preparing for a trip with the Transsib later this year.

Hey, what is it with LT: I recently am having lots of trouble linking to books from my posts here? The loading process is unending and doesn't bring up any results.

Gerard De Villiers: The Portuguese Defection (Malko)
A quick 2-hour read. Fast and fun but nothing substantial. Then again, what do I expect from a 70's pulp series? ;-)

Heinrich Boell: Billard um halbzehn
An absolutely wonderful book that manages to be both epic in scope yet very intimate, encompassing 50 years of German history during a single day of preparing for a birthday party in the 1950s. Definitely worth the 1000 Books category.

Bastian Sick: Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod

The first entry in the OTHER category. This is a series of often humorous German language articles on the correct use of German. All the articles are also available for free online but I am a sucker for print editions.

Graham Masterton: Charnel House

I heard great things about some of Masterton's other books but this is the first I have read of him. Finished it in one go, loved the premise and the writing and am now curious to explore more of his Native American based on horror yarns.

Shane Briant: The Dreamhealer

A follow-up to Briant's Worst Nightmares that is pretty entertaining although maybe not quite on a par with the first book's clever book-within-a-book structure.

Ruth Rendell: Some Lie and Some Die

My first Inspector Wexford mystery and it has me hungry for more. Great characters and a succinct psychological evaluation at the end.

Matt Blake/David Deal: The Eurospy Guide

It does what it says on the tin. Exactly overview about all those European James Bond clones from the 1960s.

John Creasey: There Goes Death

First time I read a Patrick Dawlish story. John Creasey appears to have been an immensely popular author at his height. He writes pretty well and it is surprising that he is virtually forgotten about these days.

Henry James: The Aspern Papers

I had read THE TURN OF THE SCREW in 2009 and must admit that it left me somewhat underwhelmed so I was pleasantly surprised that the lesser known ASPERN PAPERS ended up so much more rewarding than its more highly praised companion: A wonderfully haunting novella about literary obsession amidst decaying Venetian splendour.

James Joyce Ulysses

Yes it took me a couple of years maybe just as long as it took Joyce to write this but yes today marks the day that I have finally finished Ulysses difficult but satisfying as it is on so many levels I had already started rereading it three quarters through but yes am I glad I persevered yes.

Congrats on finishing Joyce's Ulysses. That is an accomplishment. I have that one labelled as "the stranded on a desert island with no distractions" book that I hope I may get to, sometime during my lifetime. ;-)

Seconding the congratulations on Ulysses! I only got through it because a professor at Uni assigned the whole book, but we read it along with Ulysses Annotated and had about 20 other people to discuss it with, so that helped... :)

Thanks for the congrats everyone. Yes, I am quite proud of that achievement. It did take me long enough but in the end I made it. Its complexity was both a curse and a blessing. A curse because it made the going quite tough; a blessing because a lot of the images, scenes, descriptions etc are likely going to be staying with me far longer for ULYSSES than for many other book that will be forgotten in no time.

Reading up about it while studying the novel was half the fun. Along the way I discovered Frank Delaney's delightful Re: Joyce podcast, the Ulysses "Seen" webcomic and a number of other insightful writers who helped make sense of what was happening to the Blooms, Stephen Dedalus & Co.

I think to celebrate this joyous occasion I may visit Bloomsday for the first time this year. I earned my badge. ;-)

That was my favorite part too - submerging myself in that world! Such a great piece of writing!

Definitely recommend Bloomsday in Dublin - I was there in -98 and in -99 and had just the best of times!

You put me to shame: I notice that you're from Sweden and now live in the States but have been to Bloomsday in Dublin twice. Me? I am from Germany but now live in Cork.... just 2.5 hours away from Dublin, yet haven't made it to Bloomsday yet. Definitely something I need to change this year.

Just finished Book #22: Fredric Brown's A Plot for Murder.

Quite a quick read but something that I needed after Ulysses. I get a feeling that Brown's Sci Fi writing seems to be what he is mainly remembered for these days but I much prefer his Crime fiction. A Plot for Murder is as much about the process of writing as it is about the crimes: A writer of radio soap operas becomes a murder suspect when two killings occur that mirror ideas he had for a new series of radio dramas.

A murdering Santa Claus. Writers Block. Boozy lunches and screaming chess pieces. References to Through the Looking-Glass. Writing that is often borderline self reverential. Sterling stuff altogether.

I'm late, but let me add my congratulations to you for Ulyssess! You deserve a feather in your cap for that one.

@39

If it makes it any easier to digest, I was living in Edinburgh at the time, so Dublin was close-ish. :)

I'm late too -- finally trying to catch up of some threads -- but I also want to congratulate you on finishing Ulysses! It's quite an accomplishment, and one that I'm unlikely to ever achieve.

@43: Never say never. Just take your time and avail of any resources along the way to help you with the novel and I am sure you, too, will be able to not only finish it but actually enjoy this marathon effort.

Daniel Ekeroth: Swedish Sensationsfilms

A great overview about a largely ignored chapter of International genre movie history: The Swedish Exploitation movies.

LOL! I'm Swedish and I don't even know what a "Swedish Exploitation" movie is. :) I can guess at one title, but that's about it.

Haha, that's too funny. The most famous one is probably THRILLER - A CRUEL PICTURE with Christina Lindberg, one of the few movies covered in this book that I have actually seen. It also includes all those infamous nudie pics (e.g. I AM CURIOUS - YELLOW) as well as low budget action movies by Matts Helge Olsson. I was intrigued to read about the initial critical acclaim and subsequent downward spiral of Arne Mattson's films and reputation and amused to read how the "public service" film STOCKHOLMSNATT was mandatory for all Swedish pupils at a time and backfired badly with an increase in public violence. And, hey, looks like you Swedes also created a couple of lingonberry westerns! ;-)

I have seen I am Curious Yellow, but it's fairly benign nowadays. Thriller - A Cruel Picture was the one I figured was in there. It's such a dreadful film, though. Stockholmsnatt spawned a whole group of "celebs" in Sweden - all baddies who beat people up for kicks. File under "Oops." :) Paolo Roberto did clean up his act eventually - I think he was even on the Swedish version of "Strictly Come Dancing."

LOL! Never heard that expression, "Lingonberry Westerns!"

It's amazing what you can learn about a country's society when you start looking at their trash movies. ;-)

Oh, and is it true that practically everyone and their parents at one time had probably watched FAEBODJAENTAN?

LOL! Well, not everyone, but an inordinate amount of people have seen (and will admit to seeing) Fäbojäntan. It's become a cult-classic, if that's possible for a porno (the sausage scene is the part that is most commonly referenced in popular media).

Yep, the sausage scene was also mentioned in the book. LOL

It's not pretty. :)

Louis Weinert-Wilton: Teppich des Grauens

Louis Weinert-Wilton used to be one of the most popular German crime fiction writers but these days hardly anyone even remembers his name. I am planning to read some of his books this year to see what had made him so popular. This one translates as "Carpet of Fear" and comes across as a Teutonic version of Edgar Wallace. Little wonder that some of his books (including this one) had been adapted in the 1960s for the cinema when the Edgar Wallace movies were at their most succesfull.

Ray Bradbury: The Martian Chronicles

The first Sci Fi novel (or should I say series of short stories?) for the year. Overall a great read though some of the stories have aged worse than others. "Way in the Middle of the Air" doesn't seem to have anticipated the Civil Rights Movement at all and is seriously anachronistic. Which is probably the worst that can be said about Science Fiction.

Catherine Ryan Howard: Self-Printed: The Sane Person's Guide to Self-Publishing

Absolutely loved this one: A no-bullshit manual about just about any aspect of self-publishing (pardon: printing): marketing, formatting, selling etc etc. Highly entertaining to boot making even the more technical chapters readable. Methinks this is mandatory for just about anyone who ever considered self-printing, is in the process of self-printing or did it in the past and wants to improve sales. Also useful for general advise on online presence.

Bron Fane: U.F.O. 517

Bron Fane is one of the myriad of pseudonyms from Reverend Lionel Fanthorpe, a prolific British Sci Fi author who mainly published his novels for Badger Books. He is known to have written two novels in one weekend and at least one of his books is supposed to be one of the worst Science Fiction stinkers of all time.

I had this book lying around for quite some time. Knowing the author's reputation I wasn't expecting much. The cover promised the usual UFO hysteria Sci Fi.

Imagine my surprise when I was completely sucked into the book right from the word go. It is very well written and combines not just your usual Sci Fi elements but also some supernatural mystery, time travel and pirates. Two of the main characters, Val Stearman and La Noire, are apparently recurring figures in Fanthorpe's oeuvre: Stearman, an adventurer/journalist; La Noire, a mysterious timeless beauty who has been around for centuries.

Don't care what the rest of the world thinks. This has been one of the most enjoyable pulp fiction reads in ages for me and a great discovery. I'll certainly check out more of his work.

That's always great, when you get surprised by a book you expected nothing from! Much better than the opposite, which happens more frequently, unfortunately...

"one of his books is supposed to be one of the worst Science Fiction stinkers of all time"

Not the claim to fame one would want! :)

Here's an interesting overview about the author: http://www.peltorro.com/intro.htm

UFO 517 had the elements of padding that are mentioned but I must admit I got a great kick out of them as they were often quite quirky.

As for claims to fame, Fanthorpe is quoted as saying:

"So you sold a couple of hundred pulp novels and anthologies back in the Fifties and Sixties-and nobody offered you a Nobel Prize or a Hugo. What the hell! Make the most of it! There's no such thing as bad publicity-although some is better than others. You were, after all, the World's most prolific SF and Fantasy writer. Talk about it. Cash in on it." Or as the dying Wyatt Earp was alleged to have told the cub reporter who wanted the real story of the OK Corral: "To hell with the truth, kid. Print the legend!"

The expression "laughing all the way to the bank," springs to mind. :)

BTW... I bought my first Ian Rankin today. Knots & Crosses will likely been on the agenda this weekend.

It's not the best of the series, but it provides a good start - and Rebus is quite a hilarious character at times! Hope you like it enough to continue!!!

BTW, did you make it to Dublin for Bloomsday??

Bloomsday? Don't ask. ;-)

So no, I didn't this time round but definitely will go next year. Apparently it will be the biggest Bloomsday ever as 2012 will be the year when Joyce's works will be in the public domain and it will now actually be possible to quote more than just a word or two.

Read Knots & Crosses in one go which is always a good sign. It's not a perfect book with little detection going on, little mystery and too many coincidences like conveniently forgetting such a traumatic moment in ones life and then equally conveniently having a brother who happens to be a hypnotist bring it out again. But, yes, I liked it a lot and look forward to reading more. Maybe not as quickly as you did though. LOL

LOL! I did get to go to my local pub (owned by an Irish couple, so it counts), but Dublin was too far away. :)

No need to mow through the Rebus-books as fast as I did! :) They will get better and better as you move along in the series, so if you could bear this one, you'll be fine with the rest!!

Thomas Mann: Der Zauberberg

Yet another mile stone out of the way. Must admit I am getting a great kick out of the 1001 Books this year. When I started properly focusing on them one or two years ago I came across a bunch of works that - though historically perhaps important - didn't really do anything for me at all (American Psycho, The Yellow Wallpaper or The Turn of the Screw come to mind) but this year was so much more rewarding and while reading Der Zauberberg I had also started reading a book of short stories and novellas by Mann that'll keep me entertained well into the next year as it is another 1100 pager.

Nick Carter: Operation Moon Rocket

This was written by Lew Louderback. A typical Nick Carter book written just a few months before the first moon landing giving it this extra bit of "authenticity".

T.S. Eliot: The Waste Land

Gotta love reads that are short but absolutely essential at the same time. This is definitely a poem I will be revisiting time and again.

->67 IrishHolger:

That was a Uni-read for me. I'm still a bit traumatized... :)

68: Traumatized? In what way? Didn't you like it? Or didn't you like the subsequent Uni analysis?

John Locke: How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months

Reading in times of the Internet.

The first I heard about John Locke was just 24 hours ago. He is the first self-published author to hit the one million sales mark for Kindle eBook sales. Within the space of just half a year. With part time work (as he also has another business or two as his main income earners). To say I was gob smacked is putting it mildly.

Then later on in the day I read a review about this by Catherine Ryan Howard. I had read her Self-Printed earlier on this month and really loved it and got engaged in a little chat with her about John Locke's book through her blog.

I had initially read the first 20% online which were pure sales fluff and had no intention of buying this. Catherine said she thought it was ultimately worth a read but that I may not like it. In the end I bought it.

It's a quick read (less than two hours) but gave me enough points to think about.

It does get better after the first 20%. The fluff stops there though the next shortish chapter is probably equally useless as it deals with mistakes not to make. As those had cost Locke $25.000 over a year and involve hiring publicists and setting up shop outside Barnes & Noble etc, it is fair to say this would be out of my price range anyway and not really anything I would have done.

When we finally come to the last two thirds of the book it starts getting interesting. It actually isn't just one big reveal as I had initially suspected but a series of steps. None of which are necessarily anything new; most of them are Modern Marketing 101 but sometimes it is handy to be reminded again what needs to be done to promote a book (or in fact any other service) and Locke puts a neat spin to some of those methods that you can't help thinking about ways on how to improve your own online presence.

I sure won't go out writing any serial fiction anytime soon. In actual fact I never wrote fiction and probably never will but I do write non-fiction and most importantly have my German lessons and Massages to promote. As such I always enjoy reading Marketing books from different areas. Let's face it: There isn't a whole lot of info out on how to promote yourself as a private German tutor in Cork but Marketing is Marketing so it is possible to get tips from other areas I am also interested in. All it generally takes with those books are two or three good ideas to make it worth a read and get your money's worth.

So all in all: Not great but good enough.

Oh, just noticed that was book #32 this year. Which is handy as I am aiming at 64 books this year and we are just one day away from the year's halfway mark. Couldn't have planned it nicer.

->69 IrishHolger:

I went from incomprehensible to comprehensible to analyzed-to-death. And once I really had had enough of it all, it was time to write my paper. I think maybe the trauma comes from the memory of that short weekend trying to write, not from the work itself. :)

Congrats on half-way!!

James Herbert: Haunted

An OK ghost story, effective but also predictable. I much preferred Herbert's insane Rats Trilogy.

72: Love that phrase "I went from incomprehensible to comprehensible to analyzed-to-death. " Will definitely steal it and claim as my own. ;-)

It's a very apt description of what can happen when dealing with literature at Uni level. I wrote my M.A. about Bulgakov with a heavy emphasis on Master and Margarita. It is still one of my all time favourite books..... but strangely enough it's been years since I last read it.

LOL! I did dig out that old paper and read it and it seems as if I not only understood, but actually liked it. A lot. So, it was definitely the time-restraint, not the actual work that caused the trauma. :)

Love Master and Margarita, but wouldn't want to write on it...! I exited Uni with a BA in lit and that was enough for me. :)

I studied history in college, but I took several lit classes my senior year. It made me glad that I hadn't gone for a BA in literature, because I just like to read books and say whether or not I liked them. I don't like picking them to pieces. Since I read fiction solely for pleasure, writing lit analyses is like an animal lover taking a science course that is heavy on the dissection of cute and furry creatures. Also, since most of my classes were in American lit, I got to read Bartleby, the Scrivener over and over and over. I don't like it. I don't get it. I don't understand why it's considered brilliant. It's about nothing. Thirty pages of nothing. (But I'm not bitter; not one bit.) :)

I loved doing my degree - basically my dream come true to read fiction all day long! Some works got over-analyzed for sure, but the overall benefit I received from it definitely outweighs the negatives!!

LOL @ Bartleby the Scrivener - my "over and over and over" read was Madame Bovary, which I abhor with a passion.

Haha, sounds like I just may give Bartleby a try regardless. You had me at 30 pages. ;-)

> 78 It must not be as bad as I make it out to be, because some people think it's brilliant. The length does vary by edition, though; I always read it in massive lit anthologies that had "Bible paper" pages and insanely small print. It is long enough to be considered a novella rather than a short story.

Philip Jose Farmer: The Peerless Peer

Speaking of novellas..... This book (well the recent edition) is marketed as a novel but at least a quarter of the paperback are ads, previews of what's to come, an afterword or blank pages.

I'd say that the actual story doesn't take up more than a 100 pages max, maybe 90 minute of reading time.

Now I like the Wold Newton Concept and I have no problem with Sherlock Holmes pastiches but I draw the line at Holmes parodies where Holmes never deducts, calls Watson a dunce and a blockhead and throws up over him. The Peerless Peer by the way is Tarzan in case you wonder.

Not great really.

I'll pass on that one, but I have to say that the cover would have piqued my interest - talk about two characters I would never have imagined in the same book!! :)

The cover is indeed stunning. Titan Books have a whole series of Holmes pastiches out now, most of them new editions of older books. And they all look stunning. And hopefully most of them will be better than The Peerless Peer.

Blanche Barton: The Secret Life of a Satanist

The first half of the book is the authorised biography of Anton LaVey; the second half an introduction into his - surprisingly sane and often common sensical - belief system. When I read LaVey's Satanic Bible two years ago I was surprised how much of it appeared to be a precursor to all those self help books that are now stocked up in every bookstore and seem to have copied abundantly from him (with the ideas of "psychic vampires", visualisation etc). This biography is quite clearly biased and at times too gushing but still a very interesting overview over one of the 20th century's most intriguing counter cultural characters.

Carole Bugge: The Star of India

Another one in Titan's series of Holmes pastiche re-releases and much better than Philip Jose Farmer's Peerless Peer. The Titan series is definitely well worth checking out even if not every single entry is first class.

Gordon Eklund: The Starless World

An enjoyable quick Star Trek read with the Original Crew travelling into a Dyson Sphere encountering a God who is also a star and referencing War and Peace, Marcel Proust and Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar novels.

Giacomo Casanova: History of My Life, Vol. 4

Ages ago I have read the first six volumes of Casanova's momentous 12-volume autobiography. Over the last year or two I have slowly started re-reading them and just finished Vol. 4 which also includes his account of being imprisoned in the Leads, the prison of the Doge's Palace, and his subsequent escape. Casanova was one of only a few people who ever managed to escape from there and the relevant chapters are reminiscent of Dumas' The Count of Monte Christo. Fascinating stuff.

Bruce Hallenbeck: Hammer Fantasy & Sci Fi

Much has already been written about Hammer's classic horror movies but this is the first in depth analysis of their Sci Fi and Fantasy output. Great stuff if you're into their movies.

August Derleth: The Casebook of Solar Pons

Solar Pons is a carbon copy of Sherlock Holmes and Derleth's collections of short stories even carry Doyle's canonical style titles. This is #4 in the series. I may have read it before as at least one of the stories vaguely rang a bell and I know that ages ago I had read some Pons.... though can't recall which ones. Well written and entertaining though lacking the certain je-ne-sais-quoi of the original Holmes stories.

Just noticed that my Serial Heroes/Antiheroes category now has 11 titles which means I have finished the largest category. It also means that I'll need to do some creative re-shuffling as there is no way I won't read anymore of those kinds of books until the end of the year. ;-)

Congrats on the partial complete and welcome to doing the shuffle! I've been moving books and categories on like mad - maybe next year I'll do better at sticking to them....

Thorsten Winter: Miss Marple: Der Klassische Kriminalfilm 3

Great, richly illustrated overview over the Miss Marple movies with Margaret Rutherford. Don't care whether there may have been other actresses who were closer to Christie's vision of her, for me Rutherford's interpretation is by far more appealing than Christie's original.

I vaguely remember seeing Margaret Rutherford as Marple, but I'll have to look into watching something again!

You "vaguely" remember seeing Rutherford? Oh my, she has been one of my most influential childhood/teenage memories when the movies were shown over and over again on German television. Definitely go and check her out.

Umberto Eco: Die Kunst des Bücherliebens

According to the German book title essays about the art of "loving" books, however, should be more specifically called the art of book "collecting". The first part deals with a range of interesting topics about different types of bibliophiles and bibliomaniacs, then goes into more specific niche subjects that would not have been of interest to anyone outside a very hardcore collectors group.... if it wasn't for the fact that they were written by Eco who can do little wrong for me. Mind you, the book was published in German in 2009 yet the youngest piece in it is from 2004 and it still features essays about E-Books that have already aged very badly. The publishers also couldn't be bothered annotating remarks about currencies (say: Lira) into Euro and instead kept references to the Deutschmark.

Beat Presser: Kinski

Just what I need to quickly catch up with this project: a catalogue for an exhibition of Klaus Kinski photos by Beat Presser. Apart from two short texts by Presser and Werner Herzog with can just marvel at some of the amazing photography and be done with it in less than half an hour. ;-)

Felix Dennis: Tales From the Woods

Overall I love Felix Dennis' poetry though tree inspired poetry is hardly on the top of my list. I am glad I purchased this as a dirt cheap iPad app that also features readings by Dennis for all the poems and videos for some. Those poems (like most really) best need to be read out aloud for greatest effect.

Christian David: Kinski

As a biography the best out of an overall very mediocre selection of books about this larger-than-life actor. The ultimate book on Kinski must still be written though.

Icon Critical Guide: James Joyce

"The student guide to secondary sources."

In other words a book about all the books written about two books (ULYSSES, A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN).

For the most part simply lengthy passages from books and essays about these two novels, largely uncommented but representing a chronological overview to their critical analysis.

And, yes, by and large more confusing to read and comprehend (and far less fun) than ULYSSES itself.

Shane Briant: Hitkids

Decent thriller that starts of well and even surprising and then goes through the usual motions.

This is my busiest reading year but at my current reading speed I'll probably still miss my 11 in 11 goal. Still, I am having fun and that's what counts.

Peter Tremayne: Dracula Unborn

How Vlad Dracul became Dracula, the Vampire. Great little horror novel with insights into the historical Vlad Tepes.

Robert Ludlum: The Bourne Identity

Over the last few years, nay: decades, I have first become engrossed with Richard Chamberlain's Bourne, then the XIII series of comic books (which are Bourne in all but name), then with the Matt Damon movies but I had yet to actually read the source novel. Delighted I finally caught up with it. Great start, great finish, a bit of fluff in the middle and probably 150 pages too long but I will definitely continue with the series.

Haha, I agree about The Bourne Identity being about 150 pages too long, but it was definitely enjoyable on the whole.

I've seen the movies, but I do want to try the books as well. I'm guessing it'll be a good airplane read - sucking up time! :)

What surprised me with reading this book (despite seeing a variety of adaptations of sorts before reading it) was that Bourne's antagonist in the book was none other than the real-life assassin Carlos the Jackal! Of course this aged the book (though not necessarily in a bad way) and I can understand why the adaptations didn't bother continuing along that path.

And yes, definitely good airplane read.

Started changing categories. Replaced "History" with "Horror" as I hadn't read a single historical non-fiction book but my "Other" category was starting to burst at the seams and I had already two horror novels in and am currently reading a third one. I also added James Herbert's Haunted from the "Serial heroes and anti-heroes" as this fits into that new category as well. At least now I can claim I have covered 11 categories and passed the 11-in-11 that way. Just took on a new full time job on top of my freelance projects so 12-hour days and weekend work abound and getting that 66 books step approach to the challenge done and dusted looks more and more unrealistic..... though will keep working at it.

James Herbert: The Survivor

Herbert may have been the first writer (or at least one of the first) to come up with a story of the only guy to survive a serious plane crash but it doesn't stop the story from becoming terribly predictable. Just an OK read: Nothing more, nothing less.

Umberto Eco: Der Friedhof in Prag

Eco is probably the author I own most books of in my little library yet for his last three novels I found him somewhat wanting. THE PRAGUE CEMETERY is, however, a return to form again and his best book since Foucault's Pendulum. In actual fact his new novel may even be considered some kind of prequel to his earlier work and it certainly helps to be familiar with its premise as THE PRAGUE CEMETERY may otherwise be difficult to comprehend. Once familiar with the historical background it is, however, one of the cleverest books of the last few decades with a lot of modern relevancy despite being set in the 19th century.

Frank Scarpetta: Stone Killer (The Marksman)

Wow, THE MARKSMAN is probably one of the more extreme men's pulp adventure series of the 70s. The format is the usual: Man takes up revenge against the Mafia. But what's different is that the protagonist is just as nasty and downright unpleasant as the criminal goons he is fighting. At one stage he prepares to even rape an unconscious girl involved with the Mafia. Not the kind of stuff you could see on the book shelves these days. I think I now need a shower.

Michael McGlasson: The Unknown Peter Cushing

This is quite an usual book as it is more about the unknown Peter Cushing Family History rather than about Cushing, the man. A lot of painstaking genealogical research has been done to come up with facts about Peter Cushing's family background, even unearthing an 18th century actor and predecessor who occasionally appeared in identical roles! Not the first book you would want to pick up on Cushing but fills in some gaps if you are already familiar with the other works about him out there.

I've seen a few reviews of The Prague Cemetery, but it seems as if, like you say, those well-read in Eco love it and those not well-read are somewhat bemused. He's a bit intimidating to me, but I will give him a try eventually.

I love Umberto Eco. A lot of people found The Name of the Rose very intimating but I found it utterly fascinating. In actual fact he is the only author whose novels I buy in hardcover right the moment they're released. It has become somewhat of a tradition with me throughout the years.

The Prague Cemetery is actually a relatively easy read.... provided you are familiar with some of the 19th century history that he focuses on. If you're not, then first of all read Foucault's Pendulum. The two books aren't directly related but cover some similar areas. Foucault's Pendulum is a fun but intelligent (yet not overly complicated) read and definitely the book I would recommend as the introductory book into his world.

I also have a shelf full of his non-fiction books and essays. Some of them are quick and easy reads, others will leave your head scratching and are way more academic.

Declan Kiberd: Ulysses and Us

Always good to read a bit more about Ulysses to help with the understanding. This book has an unusual slant: The author believes that the novel was written for the Average Joe but over the decades was taken over by academia and that hidden within the novel are instructions on how to live your life sensibly.

Weeeelllllll........

I really take this premise with a huge saucer full of salt. There is no way anyone in their right mind would ever attempt to write a book as overly complex as Ulysses with the intention to have the Ordinary Citizen on the street as its ideal reader.

Seeing Bloom as the shining example of how to live one's life sensibly also assumes that we should all be as fascinated with our bodily fluids as he is. Throughout the book Bloom is constantly referred to as a "womanly man" even for the sequences with Dirty Gerty where he is quite removed from being a New Man and displays a fascinating horror with her being a cripple. (And of course jerks of looking at her.)

For the most part the book is a chapter by chapter run through Ulysses but Kiberd irritatingly replaces the generally accepted chapter headings with new ones such as "Eating", "Singing", "Wandering". The chapters are short enough to support his main line of argument but of course are far too short to really offer a proper in-depth analysis of the relevant chapters in the novel.

By far the best chapters in Ulysses and Us are towards the end when he no longer focuses on a chapter by chapter review but instead compares Ulysses with the Odyssee, the Bible, Hamlet etc. I got far more out of those ones than out of the Self Help Manual Thesis.

Overall, an interesting but not essential addition my Joyce collection.

And now I think it's time to start approaching Finnegans Wake.....

I own (for some reason) not one but two copies of the Name of the Rose, so I'll probably try that one first. Foucault's goes on ye olde wishlist, though! :)

The Name of the Rose is a classic and absolutely fascinating. You're not gonna regret it.

Richard Matheson: A Stir of Echoes

I always enjoyed films and TV shows written by Richard Matheson, yet this was only his second novel I read (after the excellent I am Legend). A STIR OF ECHOES was enjoyable but probably not anything I will remember for terribly long afterwards. This may just have been one of the first modern novels dealing with being haunted by dead people's voices but a bunch of his plot points have since become a bit cliched.

So what's left for the project? To successfully finish it I will need to read another ten books, something like:

1 Autobiographies/Biographies/Memoirs
1 Crime/Mystery
1 Science Fiction
1 1001 books
3 Pulps/1970s style Men's fiction series
3 Horror

Now ten books are the most I have ever read in a month so I have compiled a bunch that should be relatively fast reads but given that I am currently more than busy work wise, that all the Christmas duties are around the corner and that I do actually have a few other interests, this could be a tough one. Yet I have never been so close to finishing one of those yearly challenges!

12-in-12 will be too difficult for me.... unless I stick to the most basic format, i.e. just 12 books which clearly would be so simple I wouldn't even call it a challenge.

So for the New Year I'll probably just stick to 50 (or maybe 75) book challenges.

I have also just enrolled in a leisurely Around the World Challenge that I would like to focus more on over the coming months and years.

'Nuff said. Let's save my energy and focus on that final sprint.

Good to have had you with us this year! I've starred your Reading Globally to check in on your journey. I have a thread over there too, but it has stalled a bit... :)

Charles Altamont Doyle: The Doyle Diary

What an interesting piece that I found cheaply in a Second Hand book store. An art diary by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's father Charles Altamont Doyle drawn during his time in an asylum. Images are dominated by fairies, botanical pictures and mixed with word play. The foreword reveals research that finally established the exact dates and reasons for his incarceration: predominantly alcoholism but also epilepsy. Charles Altamont may not have been a top rate artist but probably someone who had deserved some more recognition.

Douglas Adams: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

I have read this one before and it is just as good if not even better than the first book. If I recall correctly than the third book in this series may be the first one I haven't actually read.... though I have over the years been so immersed in Hitchhiker lore I may still find that one very recognisable as well.

From the previews on Amazon, that Doyle book looks beautiful! It's going on my wishlist. And, "cheaply in a Second Hand book store" is never bad. :)

-Eva-
(formerly bookoholic13)

Yeah, it is definitely worth checking out. I have read a lot by and about Doyle but I had never actually heard about that particular book before so it came as a nice surprise for me when I discovered it. And the price was sweet as well. ;-)

Oh, and you no longer are a bookoholic? ;-)

LOL - yes, I certainly am still a book-addict, but I figured on this particular site, that's hardly a distinguishing factor. :)

Haha, too true. ;-)

Jo Nesbo: The Redbreast

Came across this by chance (got it as a present from someone who thought I may like who got it as a present from someone who thought she may like it) and indeed loved every bit of it. I think it is fair to say that this is probably the first Norwegian book I ever read and after Stieg Larsson only my second Scandinavian crime writer. Really amazed at some of the similarities between the two authors: Both feature their country's involvement with the Nazis in WW2 and its repercussions in the present. And both focus on violent acts and abuse of women by authority figures.

I really love stories that go back and forward over generations until (most of) the threads finally join together at the end. And I love it when not all will be revealed in one fell swoop. Epic and with a cast of great characters. Will definitely check out more of Nesbo's books.

Still reading my last book of the year that alas I won't finish tonight so it'll be my first book for 2012. So just as a summary here's my list of books read. Challenge was a blast even though I didn't manage to read the required number of books.... but still more than in any other year.

The books in bold are the categories I finished, the others that still required this little bit extra.

Have a wonderful 2012 everyone!

Magick books

1. Blanche Barton: The Secret Life of a Satanist (also: Autobiographies/Biographies/Memoirs)

Travel books

1. Helge Timmerberg: In 80 Tagen um die Welt
2. Bryn Thomas: Trans-Siberian Handbook: Seventh Edition

Autobiographies/Biographies/Memoirs

1. Giacomo Casanova: History of My Life, Vol. 4
2. Christian David: Kinski
3. Charles Altamont Doyle: The Doyle Diary

Science Fiction

1. Ray Bradbury: The Martian Chronicles
2. Bron Fane: U.F.O. 517 (also: Serial heroes and anti-heroes)
3. Gordon Eklund: The Starless World (also: Serial heroes and anti-heroes)
4. Douglas Adams: The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

1001 books

1. Dashiell Hammett: The Glass Key (also: Crime/Mystery)
2. H. Rider Haggard: King Solomon's Mines (also: Serial heroes and anti-heroes )
3. Heinrich Boell: Billard um halbzehn
4. James Joyce: Ulysses
5. Thomas Mann: Der Zauberberg

Crime/Mystery

1. Fredric Brown: A Plot for Murder
2. Louis Weinert-Wilton: Teppich des Grauens
3. Shane Briant: Hitkids
4. Jo Nesbo: The Redbreast

Pulps/1970s style Men's fiction series

1. Gerard De Villiers: The Portuguese Defection (Malko)
2. Robert Hawkes: The Delgado Killings (Narc)
3. Nick Carter: Operation Moon Rocket (Killmaster)
4. Frank Scarpetta: Stone Killer (The Marksman #8)

Horror

1. Graham Masterton: Charnel House
2. James Herbert: Haunted (also Serial heroes and anti-heroes: David Ash)
3. Peter Tremayne: Dracula Unborn
4. James Herbert: Survivor
5. Richard Matheson: Stir of Echoes

Books about Cinema

1. Peter Osteried: Dr. Mabuse: Der Klassische Kriminalfilm 1
2. Mark Clark: Smirk, Sneer and Scream: Great Acting in Horror Cinema
3. Ed Wood Jr: Hollywood Ratrace
4. Matt Blake/David Deal: The Eurospy Guide
5. Daniel Ekeroth: Swedish Sensationsfilms
6. Bruce Hallenbeck: Hammer Fantasy & Sci Fi
7. Thomas Winter: Miss Marple: Der Klassische Kriminalfilm 3
8. Beat Presser: Kinski
9. Michael McGlasson: The Unknown Peter Cushing

Other

1. Bastian Sick: Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod
2. Henry James: The Aspern Papers
3. Catherine Ryan Howard: Self-Printed: The Sane Person's Guide to Self-Publishing
4. T.S. Eliot: The Waste Land
5. John Locke: How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months
6. Umberto Eco: Die Kunst des Bücherliebens
7. Felix Dennis: Tales From the Woods
8. Icon Critical Guide: James Joyce
9. Umberto Eco: Der Friedhof in Prag
10. Declan Kiberd: Ulysses and Us – The Art of Everyday Living

Serial heroes and anti-heroes

1. Leslie Charteris: Knight Templar (The Saint)
2. Jeff Lindsay: Dexter by Design (Dexter)
3. Sax Rohmer: President Fu Manchu (Fu Manchu)
4. Shane Briant: The Dreamhealer (The Dreamhealer)
5. Ruth Rendell: Some Lie and Some Die (Inspector Wexford)
6. John Creasey: There Goes Death (Patrick Dawlish)
7. Ian Rankin: Knots & Crosses (Rebus)
8. Philip Jose Farmer: The Peerless Peer (Sherlock Holmes/Tarzan)
9. Carole Bugge: The Star of India (Sherlock Holmes)
10. August Derleth: The Casebook of Solar Pons (Solar Pons)
11. Robert Ludlum: The Bourne Identity (Jason Bourne)

In fairness, we do write about other things than the war. Sometimes at least. :) Congrats on the challenge!! Reading more than expected is always good. :) Have a great new year!!

Haha, yeah, I didn't doubt it but was intrigued at some of the similarities between those two books.

I know I said I wouldn't participate in a 2012 challenge but of course changed my mind after reading your own one. So I nicked your idea and am going for something similar: http://www.librarything.com/topic/130002 :-)

Very good!! *going off to take a look*