This book has been appropriated as a book journal for 2014

(11/01/14)
Read 1
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

(26/01/14)
Read 2
Inflight Science by Brian Clegg

(13/02/14)
Read 3
The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach

(26/02/14)
Read 4
The Visitor by Lee Child

(09/03/14)
Read 5
Itch by Simon Mayo

(21/03/14)
Read 6
The Moon Tunnel by Jim Kelly

(29/03/14)
Read 7
:59 Seconds by Richard Wiseman

(04/04/14)
Read 8
Digital Fortress by Dan Brown

(01/05/14)
Read 9
NW by Zadie Smith

(15/05/14)
Read 10
You Only Live Twice by Ian Fleming

(31/05/14)
Read 11
Teatime for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith

(17/06/14)
Read 12
Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult

(24/06/14)
Read 13
Echo Burning by Lee Child

Behind the Wall by Colin Thubron (Not finished)

Futurewise by Patrick Dixon (Not finished)

(07/07/14)
Read 14
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

(31/07/14)
Read 15
Raw Spirit by Iain Banks (not registered)

Given the circumstances, what looked like an open license to travel round Scotland drinking malt whisky, you can see why Banks jumped at the chance. However, it did feel like a personal self-indulgent scrapbook of random thoughts, family history, and messy travelogue. I liked some of the descriptions of the process and the tastes (reading about tasting!), but missed some order and structure, a map maybe, some pictures. Maybe that's just me, a fine [fiction] author deserves to try anything once...except maybe the jumping off the wall bit! A couple of new words to take away: 'peatreek' the name for homemade illicit farmyard Whisky, that remains an undiscovered secret. And 'Orcadian', the name of the nation of Orkney, proudly not Scottish. Plenty here to plan future tours of Scotland and a wish-list of Scotch Whiskys to try and maybe even distillerys to visit :)

(04/08/14)
Read 16
House of Cards by Michael Dobbs

(19/08/14)
Read 17
Lexicon by Max Barry

(26/08/14)
Read 18
What on Earth is Going On? by Tom Baird & Arthur House (not registered)

This is a brilliantly conceived and written guide to 'stuff' in the news, current affairs and popular culture (albeit a few years ago), that aren't properly explained or contextualised. It is made up of short essays on hot-spots, religions, political systems, and a raft of interesting topics from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, Free Trade to Blogging, Devolution to Nuclear Power. I read it from cover to cover, which is probably not the intended way, but I still enjoyed it :)

(19/08/14)
Read 19
Death Wore White Jim Kelly

(10/09/14)
Read 20
Air Babylon Imogen Edwards-Jones & Anon.

(19/09/14)
Read 21
Tomorrow Graham Swift

(30/09/14)
Read 22
The Consolations of Philosophy Alain de Botton

(07/10/14)
Read 23
The Cuckoo's Calling Robert Galbraith

(07/10/14)
Read 24
Book of Intriguing Words Paul Hellweg

(16/10/14)
Read 25
India! The Golden Jubilee Granta 57

(19/10/14)
Read 26
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

(29/10/14)
Read 27
Wordpower by Edward de Bono (not registered)

De Bono is normally good value for clear non-technical writing. Here he puts together a digest to explain some of the ideas and concepts that leak into the public domain from medicine, psychology and business (etc.) Using simple examples and illustrations he tries to demystify some of the Jargon (also included) so that layman can confidently talk about interfaces or ecology, collectivism or indexation. Ok, but a bit simplistic, and in some cases too cursory and bitty for my liking.

(18/11/14)
Read 28
Two Brothers by Ben Elton

(23/11/14)
Read 29
44 Scotland Street by Ian McCall Smith

(27/11/14)
Read 30
The Man with the Golden Gun by Ian Fleming

(29/11/14)
Read 31
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel by Deborah Moggach

Margrave of the Marshes - not finished

(05/12/14)
Read 32
Memoirs of my Imaginary Friend by Matthew Green

(19/12/14)
Read 33
A Clue to our Lives: 80 Years of the Guardian Crossword by Sandy Balfour

(20/12/14)
Read 34
The Shack by William Paul Young

(21/12/14)
Read 35
God's Utility Function by Richard Dawkins

(27/12/14)
Read 36
The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allen Poe