Saturday, December 02, 2006

What Kind of Worm Are You?

Each one of us has their own personal reading ratio. Some are higher than others. I would say mine leans more towards the lower figures. I've heard of people who read a book each month or, more astonishingly, each month! Me? Really depends.

Many people seem to assume that being a writer, I must read a whole lot. To an extent, that would be a safe assumption, if only it were true. I don't read as much as I should or would like, we all say that don't we? But people for some reason seem a little disappointed at me or let down when I tell them I'm not a fanatic reader. I'm pretty moody when it comes to it. I suppose I should feel bad, because I always advise aspiring writers to 'read' more! Practise what you preach and all that nonesense.

Anyway, I decided to find out how many books I did read so far. And the ones I could remember came up to more than I at first imagined. Here is my book list (in no particular order)....

See You Later – Christoper Pike
Crime & Punishment – Dostoyevsky
Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
For Love of the Game – Michael Shaara
The Sandman series (12 graphic novels) – Neil Gaiman
Smoke & Mirrors – Neil Gaiman
Stardust – Neil Gaiman
American Gods – Neil Gaiman
Neverwhere – Neil Gaiman
Coraline – Neil Gaiman
Anansi Boys – Neil Gaiman
Fragile Things – Neil Gaiman
Wolves in the Walls – Neil Gaiman
The High Cost of Living – Neil Gaiman
1602 – Neil Gaiman
Across the Nightingale Floor – Lian Hearn
Brilliance of the Moon – Lian Hearn
Grass for His Pillow – Lian Hearn
Surrender, Dorothy – Meg Wolitzer
Bluegrass – Brat Schneider
The Five People You Meet in Heaven – Mitch Albom
Coastliners – Joanne Harris
Five Quarters of the Orange – Joanne Harris
Blackberry Wine – Joanne Harris
Uncle Rudolf – Paul Bailey
Survivor – Chuck Palahniuk
Choke – Chuck Palahniuk
The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy – Tim Burton
The God of Small Things – Arundhati Roy
Tell No One – Harlan Coben
One False Move – Harlan Coben
Gone for Good – Harlan Coben
No Second Chance – Harlan Coben
Revolutionary Road – Richard Yates
Flying Leap – Judy Budnitz
Mortal Engines – Philip Reeve
The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho
Goodnight, Nebraska – Tom McNeal
Kingdom Gone – Frank Lean
Beggars Banquet – Ian Rankin
On Writing – Stephen King
The Partner – John Grisham
A Painted House – John Grisham
The Testament – John Grisham
The Brethren – John Grisham
The Client – John Grisham
The Summons – John Grisham
The Man Who Ate the 747 – Ben Shrewood
Our Fathers – Andrew O'Hagan
Disgrace – J.M. Coetezee
Gravity – Erica Wagner
The Constant Eye – Candida Clark
Bee Season – Myla Goldberg
Soho – Keith Waterhouse
The 13th Warrior – Michael Crichton
With Your Crooked Heart – Helen Dunmore
Dangerous Parking – Stewart Browne
Dressing Up For the Carnival – Carol Sheilds
Green for Danger – Cristina Brand
Foreign Correspondence – Cindy Blake
God is a Bullet – Boston Tearn
Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell
The Time Traveler's Wife – Audrey Niffenberger
Yes Man! – Danny Wallace
Preacher series (9 graphic novels) – Garth Ennis

I think that comes up to around 85 books, give or take. I probably left out one or two. I suppose that's not bad considering I've only really started reading books at the of 20!!! Does that qualify me as a book worm?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello, I also love reading :)
it`s so great!
I enjoy Paulo Coelho`s books!!!!
Do you know that he has a newsletter?
http://www.warriorofthelight.com/engl/index.html
You comment with other readers your impressionscan on his blog ... it's simply wonderful!http://www.paulocoelhoblog.com

BuZain said...

Give www.librarything.com a try. It is a great website for socializing with other book worms like us :)

Ali Al Saeed said...

thanks aart for stopping by.

I've always been meaning to read another of Coelho's books but never been able to decide which one to go for! Any recommendations?

Thanks for the tip buzain. I'll be sure to check that one out.

Anonymous said...

Dear, Ali Al Saeed!
welcome ;)
try Veronika Decides to die.... so great!
The Zahir!
11 Minutes good!
I realy love it all :)
The Alchemist :o)
Pilgrimage i realy enjoy!

cheers!!!!

June said...

Hi Ali. I really liked Veronika Decides to Die and The Devil and Miss Prym. I'm surprised by your Joanne Harrises and John Grishams :/

Ali Al Saeed said...

ah, thanks june. You see I went through a phase. Thankfully thats over now! The last Grisham book I tried to read I couldn't get past the 10th page!

tree said...

you should read eleven minutes by coelho. the beginning is quite intruiging. and siri hustdevt and paul auster. you should definetly reading them. their way of writing is sort of similar, or at least i think so. maybe it is because they're married. have you read anything by bukowski, or burroughs?
you should. now stop reading grisham, he is not worth wasting your brain on. haw haw. cheers. :)

Ali Al Saeed said...

Thanks for the comment Tree. I'm not big on classics, they rarely intrigue me. I am more into modern/contemporary literatue. Someone lent me a book by Haruki Murakami which I'm quite enjoying. Although, I think I wouldn't mind reading a Kafka book!