This is my list of entries for the 2007 UK Unconvention Reverse Scavenger Hunt. The pictures are within the journal entries. You should be able to click on the links to get the pages up.

1) The Book of Evidence by John Banville.
Released “Somewhere literary” – outside the library.

2) The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts by Louis de Berniers
Released “Somewhere with a person's name” – by a plaque to William Friese-Greene, who was involved in early experiments with film.

3) Swimming to Itacha by Simon Mawer
Released “Somewhere exotic” – outside a restaurant called Havana

4) Pizza Wars by Ahmed Debani
Released “Somewhere modern” – outside Pizza Express, which is just near to Zizzi. Ok so it's a bit tenuous, but I think pizzas have rather become a feature of modern life!

5) The Desert Rose by Laura McMurtry
Released “With flowers” – in the Pavilion Gardens, by a rose bush.

6) The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch
Released “Somewhere wet” – there were no lack of wet locations, but I lef this outside the Prince Regent Swimming Centre.

7) Enigma by Robert Harris
Released “Somewhere mysterious” – struggled a little, but settled on the old west pier - funny how it is half-wrecked and also how do you get to the end bit!

8) The Kingdom by the Sea by Paul Theroux
Released “Somewhere especially Brighton” – on the pier (the one that isn't a wreck!) looking out to the sea.

9) Blood from a Stone by Donna Leon
Released “Somewhere rocky” – by the sign to the Rock Shop near the pier.

10) Eve Green by Susan Fletcher
Released “Somewhere green(e)” – in the gardens near to the pier.

11) The Queen and I by Sue Townsend
Released “Somewhere royal” – on the steps of the Queen's Hotel.

12) Sea Otters gambolling in the wild, wild surf by John Bennett
Released “With sand” – found a small patch of sand on Brighton beach.

Thanks to the organisers for the game - very enjoyable!


*****

Below are some favourite reads from 2006...

Eve Green by Susan Fletcher
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Last Orders by Graham Swift
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Our Fathers by Andrew O'Hagan
The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris
Inconceivable by Ben Elton
White Noise by Don Delillo
The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella
The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd
City of Spaces by Colin MacInnes
Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich
The Alchemist by Paul Coelho


From my 2005 reading, here are my dozen favourites (not in any order):
1. The Way of an Eagle by Ethel M Dell
2. America Gods by Neil Gaiman
3. Saturday by Ian McEwan
4. Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller
5. The Life of Pi by Yan Martell
6. The God of Small Things by Arundati Roy
7. The Kite Runner by Kaled Hosseini
8. Illywhacker by Peter Carey
9. Rebecca by Dapne Du Maurier
10. On Beauty by Zadie Smith
11. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
12. The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst

And here's one suggestion - try reading some Raymond Chandler. He wrote crime, mainly set in the 1930s and 1940s in and around Los Angeles. It's gripping stuff - I came across it when reading a book of essays by W Somerset Maugham (The Vagrant Mood); Somerset Maugham wrote that he loved a good detective novel when feeling ill. They work pretty well on long flights too.