For the last few years, I've aimed to read 100 books each year, but in 2008 I decided to do something different. I have a long list of books that I own but haven't read yet, books that I would like to reread, or just books that I really want to read. So I decided to read as many of those books as I could. The trouble is, because I keep buying books, or finding new ones to read, this list keeps growing.

I started the list in October 2007, and by the end of 2008, I had read over half of them (33 out of 61), which I was quite happy with.

They were, in the order I read them:

(* = read for the first time)

Artemis Fowl: The Seventh Dwarf - Eoin Colfer
Pass The Butler - Eric Idle
Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code - Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception - Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl & The Lost Colony - Eoin Colfer
*Tales Of The Greek Heroes - Roger Lancelyn Green
*Doctor Who: Wetworld - Mark Michalowski
Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows - J. K. Rowling
So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish - Douglas Adams
Wicked - Gregory Maguire
Mostly Harmless - Douglas Adams
That's Anarchy! - Chrissie MacDonald
Good Omens - Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
*The Forsyte Saga (Volume 1) - John Galsworthy
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
*The Last Enchantment - Mary Stewart
*Witches Abroad - Terry Pratchett
The Big Over Easy - Jasper Fforde
Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman
*Lords and Ladies - Terry Pratchett
*Fool Moon - Jim Butcher
The Fourth Bear - Jasper Fforde
*Grave Peril - Jim Butcher
*The Looking Glass Wars - Frank Beddor
*Maskerade - Terry Pratchett
*Journey To The Centre Of The Earth - Jules Verne
*Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett
*The Catcher In The Rye - J. D. Salinger
*Around The World In Eighty Days - Jules Verne
*History's Worst Decisions and the People Who Made Them - Stephen Weir
*Hollywood Rat Race - Ed Wood Jr
*Harpo Speaks! - Harpo Marx
*If on a winter's night a traveler - Italo Calvino


As well as that, I did make it to 100 books last year (108 to be exact). 87 of them I read for the first time, and 15 were non-fiction, both of which are the most I have done since I started keeping lists in 2003. So, here's the list of everything I read last year.



(* = read for the first time)

JANUARY: eight books

Good Omens - Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
*Book Of The Dead - Patricia Cornwell
*I Am Legend - Richard Matheson
*The Chaser Annual 2007: The Other Secret
*The Forsyte Saga: The Man Of Property - John Galsworthy
*The Forsyte Saga: In Chancery - John Galsworthy
*The Forsyte Saga: To Let - John Galsworthy
The Road To Mars - Eric Idle

So, that's one of my favourite books ever (The Road To Mars), plus five others that I really loved (Good Omens, I Am Legend, The Forsyte Saga Books 1-3). Also, one book that I didn't really enjoy (Book of the Dead - My mum and I used to read a lot of Patricia Cornwells' books, but now I can't stand her. Completely unrelated, but I'm currently reading another book with the same title, but this one is much more enjoyable - it's about zombie movies!)


FEBRUARY: six books

*The Va Dinci Cod - A.R.R.R. Roberts (Adam Roberts)
*JPod - Douglas Coupland
The Stars' Tennis Balls - Stephen Fry
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
*The Last Enchantment - Mary Stewart
*Doctor Who: The Encyclopedia - Gary Russell

One parody book (and the only one for the whole year as well!), and one that really confused me (not the story itself, but the actual book).
The first time I read the Stars' Tennis Balls it was under the American title, Revenge. A few people recommended it to me, so when I found it and read the blurb, I thought "Huh? Stephen Fry has written another Count-Of-Monte-Christo style revenge book? That's a bit weird....." Then I started reading it and realised that I had read it before!


MARCH: ten books

*Witches Abroad - Terry Pratchett
The Big Over Easy - Jasper Fforde
Red Dwarf - Grant Naylor
Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman
*Lords & Ladies - Terry Pratchett
*Dis Information and Other Wikkid Myths - Dr Karl Kruszelnicki
*The Prince and the Pilgrim - Mary Stewart
*Greenwitch - Susan Cooper
*Storm Front - Jim Butcher
*The Zen Of Zombie - Scott Kenemore

My first ever Dresden Files book!


APRIL: 13 books

*Son Of A Witch - Gregory Maguire
Asterix The Gaul - Goscinny and Uderzo
Asterix And The Golden Sickle - Goscinny and Uderzo
Asterix And The Goths - Goscinny and Uderzo
*Airman - Eoin Colfer
*Fool Moon - Jim Butcher
Asterix and the Actress - Goscinny and Uderzo
*Asterix and the Class Act - Goscinny and Uderzo
*Asterix and the Falling Sky - Goscinny and Uderzo
*The Marvelous Land Of OZ - L. Frank Baum
*Blame Canada! South Park and Contemporary Culture - Toni Johnson-Woods
The Fourth Bear - Jasper Fforde
*Ozma Of Oz - L. Frank Baum

2 Oz books, and a multitude of Asterixs. Reliving my childhood much?
Also, serious book about how South Park isn't just a grotty little cartoon. I wish more people would realise that.


MAY: eight books

*Grave Peril - Jim Butcher
American Hoax - Charles Firth
*New Moon - Stephenie Meyer
*The Looking Glass Wars - Frank Beddor
*Summer Knight - Jim Butcher
*Doctor Who: The Pirate Loop - Simon Guerrier
*The Sword In The Stone - T.H. White
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood


JUNE: nine books

*His Majesty's Dragon - Naomi Novik
*Maskerade - Terry Pratchett
*Doctor Who: Wishing Well - Trevor Baxendale
*Journey To The Centre Of The Earth - Jules Verne
*My Booky Wook - Russell Brand
Mister Monday - Garth Nix
*Groucho & Me - Groucho Marx
Grim Tuesday - Garth Nix
*Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett


JULY: ten books

Drowned Wednesday - Garth Nix
*Seeing Red - Frank Beddor
*Atonement - Ian McEwan
*The Firemaster's Mistress - Christie Dickason
*Death Masks - Jim Butcher
*Eclipse - Stephenie Meyer
*Throne of Jade - Naomi Novik
Sir Thursday - Garth Nix
Lady Friday - Garth Nix
Asterix the Gladiator - Goscinny and Uderzo


AUGUST: eleven books

*Superior Saturday - Garth Nix
*My Chemical Romance: The Inside Story - Mona Gale
The Zombie Survival Guide - Max Brooks
*Doctor Who: Snowglobe 7 - Mike Tucker
*Doctor Who: The Many Hands - Dale Smith
*Encyclopedia of the Undead: A Field Guide To The Creatures That Cannot Rest In Peace - Dr. Bob Curran
*Blood Rites - Jim Butcher
*The Wee Free Men - Terry Pratchett
*Spongebob Exposed! The Insider's Guide To Spongebob Squarepants - Steven Banks
*The Host - Stephenie Meyer
*Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer


Anyone who likes MCR: don't bother reading that book! I don't know a huge amount about them, but even I could see all the huge mistakes in it. And hideous spelling! It was quite obviously rushed into publiction to make much moneys. Luckily, I just borrowed it from the library, thinking that it might be interesting. Most of it was lifted from interviews, etc in magazines that I read years ago.


SEPTEMBER: nine books

*Black Powder War - Naomi Novik
*The Picture Of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
*The Prestige - Christopher Priest
*Doctor Who: Martha In The Mirror - Justin Richards
*Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox - Eoin Colfer
*Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz - L. Frank Baum
*Dead Beat - Jim Butcher
*The Catcher In The Rye - J.D. Salinger
*Little Women - Louisa May Alcott

In which I'm not impressed by The Catcher in the Rye.


OCTOBER: ten books

*Empire Of Ivory - Naomi Novik
*Anything Goes - John Barrowman
*Around The World In Eighty Days - Jules Verne
*History's Worst Decisions and the People Who Made Them - Stephen Weir
*Hollywood Rat Race - Ed Wood Jr
*The Antipope - Robert Rankin
*A Hat Full Of Sky - Terry Pratchett
*Victory Of Eagles - Naomi Novik
*Torchwood: Another Life - Peter Anghelides
*The Essential Chaplin: Perspectives on the Life and Art of the Great Comedian - Edited by Richard Schickel

4 non-fiction books, including two directors from opposite ends of the quality spectrum, and a very fun biography.


NOVEMBER: eight books

*Harpo Speaks! - Harpo Marx with Rowland Barber
*Proven Guilty - Jim Butcher
*If on a winter's night a traveler - Italo Calvino
*Doctor Who: Peacemaker - James Swallow
*The Vesuvius Club - Mark Gatiss
*The World According To Clarkson - Jeremy Clarkson
*Armageddon: The Musical - Robert Rankin
*Wintersmith - Terry Pratchett


DECEMBER: six books

*The Vampyre - Tom Holland
*White Night - Jim Butcher
*The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies Of The Apocalypse - Robert Rankin
*The Mighty Book Of Boosh
*On The Road - Jack Kerouac
*The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman

Another small book mention.


Also, another achievement, since I reread The Zombie Survival Guide in August, all of the books I've read have been for the first time, which is quite strange for me, because I reread most books that I like (mainly because I have a very bad memory!).


Multiple books from the same author/series:

9 Jim Butcher
8 Terry Pratchett
7 Asterix
7 Doctor Who
6 Garth Nix
5 Naomi Novik
4 Neil Gaiman
4 Stephenie Meyer
3 L. Frank Baum
3 John Galsworthy
3 Robert Rankin
2 Frank Beddor
2 Eoin Colfer
2 Jasper Fforde
2 Mary Stewart
2 Jules Verne


I've also updated the Book Meme from June. I'm now up to 35!


Sam asked me the other day what my goal is for this year, but I hadn't really thought about it. I guess I'll probably just do what I did this year: try and get through more of my list, and try to read stuff that I like!