Oh I said that’s a clichéd phrase and anyway I like it when the rain goes

Right, Sci Fi and Fantasy next, probably my least favourite genre of all time. Here goes nothing.


Read
Iain Banks - The Wasp Factory
Anthony Burgess - A Clockwork Orange
William Golding - Lord of the Flies
James Hogg - Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
JK Rowling - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty Four

Still on Shelves
Michel Houellebecq - Atomised
Mary Shelley - Frankenstein
Bram Stoker - Dracula
Robert Louis Stevenson - The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Book I Started But Put Down Pretty Quickly
Douglas Adams - The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Special Mentions
Daniel Keyes - Flowers for Algernon
Francois Rabelais - Gargantua and Pantagruel
CS Lewis - The Chronicles of Narnia


Well, it could have been worse. It is obvious from the list I think that I veer towards the non-spaceships/non-hobbits/non-magical quest side of the genre (Harry Potter aside, but to me the series is classic boarding school romp, with a bit of magic thrown in, and I mean that as a compliment). The fact that I picked up the Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, and got bored with it as soon as the world ended probably sums up my feelings about this genre quite succinctly. As far as the special mentions go, I read the short story version of Flowers For Algernon; I have read Gargantua, but not Pantagruel, and the only one of the Chronicles of Narnia that I managed to finish was The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, which I read about 8 times while on holiday in Portugal (the only other book I had taken with me was, rather inexplicably, The Blue Peter Book of Limericks). However, I think putting a whole series of books on the list is cheating. Which leads me to His Dark Materials, which is on the Guardian's list. I only got three-quarters of the way through Northern Lights, which meant I didn't even think it really warranted a special mention, except to say that I am the only person I know who doesn't like it.

Any of these books make my own list? Well, possibly Private Memoirs and Confessions of A Justified Sinner, as it really is a wonderful book, and this list reminded me of its very existence.

So the running total is 78, with only one category to go.