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the great urban75 2016 reading challenge thread

how many books do you anticipate reading in 2016?

  • Total voters
    79
1/75 - Belinda Bauer - The Facts of Life and Death
2/75 - Stuart MacBride - Broken Skin
3/75 - David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas
4/75 - Daniel Woodrell - Winter's Bone
5/75 - Kate Atkinson - Case Histories
6/75 - Margaret Atwood - Lady Oracle
7/75 - Jon Ronson - So You've Been Publicly Shamed
8/75 - Kate Atkinson - One Good Turn
9/75 - Lewis Carroll - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
10/75 - Iain Banks - Espedair Street
11/75 - John Steinbeck - East of Eden
12/75 - Ruth Rendell - Make Death Love Me
13/75 - Stephen King - The Bazaar of Bad Dreams
14/75 - Keith Waterhouse - Billy Liar
15/75 - Kate Atkinson - When Will There be Good News?
16/75 - Stephen King - Finders Keeper
17/75 - Jonathan Franzen - The Corrections
18/75 - Wendy Cope - Family Values
19/75 - Kate Atkinson - Started Early, Took my Dog
20/75 - David Mitchell - Ghostwritten
21/75 - Kent Haruf - The Tie that Binds
22/75 - Val McDermid - Splinter the Silence
23/75 - Anthony Doerr - About Grace
24/75 - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - We Should all be Feminists
25/75 - Julian Barnes - The Sense of an Ending
26/75 - Iain Banks - Canal Dreams
27/75 - Belinda Bauer - The Shut Eye
28/75 - Margaret Atwood - The Heart Goes Last
29/75 - Mario Puzo - The Godfather
30/75 - Annie Proulx - Fine Just the Way It Is: Wyoming Stories 3
31/75 - Ruth Rendell - From Doon With Death
32/75 - Kate Atkinson - A God in Ruins

33/75 - Joe Hill - The Fireman
 
1. "11.22.63" - Stephen King
2. "Blind Eye" - Stuart MacBride
3. "The Inspector and Silence" - Hakan Nesser
4. "Dark Blood" - Stuart MacBride
5. "Old Man's War" - John Scalzi
6. "Night Music (Nocturnes 2)" - John Connolly
7. "Bloodline" - Mark Billingham.
8. "Shatter the Bones" - Stuart MacBride
9. "Apple Tree Yard" - Louise Doughty
10. "Close to the Bone" - Stuart MacBride
11. "Empire State" - Henry Porter

12. "Foxglove Summer" - Ben Aaronovitch. Enjoyed it
 
1/20 - Peter Straub - Ghost Story
2/20 - Duncan Falcolner - First Into Action
3/20 - William Gibson - Neuromancer
4/20 - Paul Trynka - Starman: David Bowie - The Definitive Biography
5/20 - Robert A. Heinlein - Starship Troopers
6/20 - Patrick DeWitt - The Sisters Brothers
7/20 - Terry Pratchett - Wyrd Sisters
8/20 - Carl Sagan - Contact
9/20 - Irvine Welsh - The Blade Artist
10/20 - Jon Ronson - Them: Adventures with Extremists
11/20 - Jonathan Lethem - Motherless Brooklyn
 
1/51 - Multiculturalism and Its Discontents by Kenan Malik
2/51 - Slade House by David Mitchell
3/51 - The True History of Merlin the Magician by Anne Lawrence-Mathers
4/51 - SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard
5/51 - Double Bind: The Muslim Right, the Anglo-American Left, and Universal Human Rights by Meredith Tax
6/51 - The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck
7/51 - The American Slave Coast: A History of the Slave-Breeding Industry by Ned and Constance Sublette
8/51 - Félicie by Georges Simenon
9/51 - Epistolophilia: Writing the Life of Ona Šimaitė by Julija Šukys
10/51 - What Was Socialism, and What Comes Next? by Katherine Verdery
11/51 - We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
12/51 - Maigret Gets Angry by Georges Simenon
13/51 - Deer Hunting With Jesus: Guns, Votes, Debt and Delusion in Redneck America by Joe Bageant
14/51 - The Retreat from Class: A New 'True' Socialism by Ellen Meiksins Wood
15/51 - Blood Salt Water by Denise Mina
16/51 - Mouse in Eternity by Nedra Tyre
17/51 - Maigret in New York by Georges Simenon
18/51 - Late Marx and the Russian Road: Marx and 'the Peripheries of Capitalism' edited by Teodor Shanin
19/51 - Maigret's Holiday by Georges Simenon
20/51 - Maigret's Dead Man by Georges Simenon
21/51 - Maigret's First Case by Georges Simenon
22/51 - Rednecks, Queers & Country Music by Nadine Hubbs
23/51 - New Hope for the Dead by Charles Willeford
24/51 - The 39 Steps by John Buchan
25/51 - What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn
26/51 - Light Reading by Aliya Whiteley
27/51 - The Goodbye Look by Ross MacDonald
28/51 - The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America by Gerald Horne
29/51 - Spin Cycle by Zoë Strachan
30/51 - Heroes and Villains by Angela Carter
31/51 - Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley
32/51 - The Last One Left by John D. MacDonald
33/51 - Zeppelin Nights: London in the First World War by Jerry White
34/51 - Train Dreams by Denis Johnson
35/51 - In Letters of Blood and Fire: Work, Machines, and the Crisis of Capitalism by George Caffentzis
36/51 - Viper Wine by Hermione Eyre
37/51 - The Death of Bees by Lisa O'Donnell
38/51 - Shadows On Our Skin by Jennifer Johnston
39/51 - The Free by Willy Vlautin
40/51 - Yuki Chan in Brontë Country by Mick Jackson
41/51 - Sylvia Pankhurst: Suffragette, Socialist and Scourge of Empire by Katherine Connelly
42/51 - Fatale by Jean-Patrick Manchette
43/51 - Dirty Weekend by Helen Zahavi
44/51 - The Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism by Rodney Hilton etc
 
Just upped my target to 40. I think I need something to aim at.

1/40 My Story - Steven Gerrard
2/40 Ancient Sites In West Penwith - Cheryl Straffon
3/40 Execution Sites Of Devon And Cornwall - Richard Peirce
4/40 Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights - Salman Rushdie
5/40 Pegasus Descending - James Lee Burke
6/40 The Story Of Kullervo - J.R.R. Tolkein
7/40 Walking The Himalayas - Levison Wood
8/40 Narcopolis - Jeet Thayil
9/40 The Doors Of Perception - Aldous Huxley
10/40 Doctor Sleep - Stephen King
11/40 Autobiography - Morrissey
12/40 I Swear I Was There: The Gig That Changed The World - David Nolan
13/40 Stranger Than We Can Imagine: Making Sense Of The Twentieth Century - John Higgs
14/40 So You've Been Publicly Shamed - Jon Ronson
15/40 The Psychopath Test - Jon Ronson
16/40 Raw Spirit - Iain Banks
17/40 Them: Adventures With Extremists - Jon Ronson
18/40 A Decent Ride - Irvine Welsh
19/40 The Road To Little Dribbling: More Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
20/40 A Game Of Thrones - George R.R. Martin
21/40 The Men Who Stare At Goats - Jon Ronson
22/40 Kaleidoscope - Laura Taylor
23/40 Work! Consume! Die! - Frankie Boyle
 
Voley said:
Just upped my target to 40. I think I need something to aim at.

1/40 My Story - Steven Gerrard
2/40 Ancient Sites In West Penwith - Cheryl Straffon
3/40 Execution Sites Of Devon And Cornwall - Richard Peirce
4/40 Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights - Salman Rushdie
5/40 Pegasus Descending - James Lee Burke
6/40 The Story Of Kullervo - J.R.R. Tolkein
7/40 Walking The Himalayas - Levison Wood
8/40 Narcopolis - Jeet Thayil
9/40 The Doors Of Perception - Aldous Huxley
10/40 Doctor Sleep - Stephen King
11/40 Autobiography - Morrissey
12/40 I Swear I Was There: The Gig That Changed The World - David Nolan
13/40 Stranger Than We Can Imagine: Making Sense Of The Twentieth Century - John Higgs
14/40 So You've Been Publicly Shamed - Jon Ronson
15/40 The Psychopath Test - Jon Ronson
16/40 Raw Spirit - Iain Banks
17/40 Them: Adventures With Extremists - Jon Ronson
18/40 A Decent Ride - Irvine Welsh
19/40 The Road To Little Dribbling: More Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
20/40 A Game Of Thrones - George R.R. Martin
21/40 The Men Who Stare At Goats - Jon Ronson
22/40 Kaleidoscope - Laura Taylor
23/40 Work! Consume! Die! - Frankie Boyle
Click to expand...
thank you for unwittingly reminding me of something
 
Pickman's model said:
i don't know how you did it but after looking through your list i remembered i meant to order kenneth williams' diaries for my summer reading :oops:
Click to expand...
Mentioning Morrissey perhaps? He's a bit of a fan of the Carry On films.

220px-SmithsVeryBest.jpg
 
1/60 The Lost Starship - Vaughn Heppner.
2/60 The Lost Command - Vaughn Heppner
3/60 The Lost Destroyer - Vaughn Heppner
4/60 The Lost Colony - Vaughan Heppner
5/60 Why it is still Kicking Off Everywhere - Paul Mason
6/60 The Lady From Zagreb - Philip Kerr
7/60 Anzio - Wynford Vaughan Thomas
8/60 Extinction Point : Genesis - Paul Antony Jones
9/60 Station Eleven - Emily St John Mandel
10/60 Lucifer's Hammer - Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
11/60 Blood Relatives - Ed McBain
12/60 Blood on Snow - Jo Nesbo
13/60 Raven Black - Ann Cleeves
14/60 White Nights - Ann Cleeves
15/60 Even Dogs In The Wild - Ian Rankin
16/60 Bryant & May : The Burning Man - Christopher Fowler.
17/60 Red Bones - Ann Cleeves
18/60 Blue Lightning - Ann Cleeves
19/60 Dead Water - Ann Cleeves
20/60 Thin Air - Ann Cleeves
21/60 Radical Cities : Across Latin America in Search of a New Architecture - Justin McGuirk.
22/60 Deep South - Paul Theroux.
23/60 Constitution - Nick Webb.
24/60 Then We Take Berlin -John Lawton
25/60 The Cold Dish - Craig Johnson
26/60 Chavs - Owen Jones
27/60 Gathering Prey - John Sandford
28/60 Chasing the Dead - Tim Weaver
 
1/75 - Belinda Bauer - The Facts of Life and Death
2/75 - Stuart MacBride - Broken Skin
3/75 - David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas
4/75 - Daniel Woodrell - Winter's Bone
5/75 - Kate Atkinson - Case Histories
6/75 - Margaret Atwood - Lady Oracle
7/75 - Jon Ronson - So You've Been Publicly Shamed
8/75 - Kate Atkinson - One Good Turn
9/75 - Lewis Carroll - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
10/75 - Iain Banks - Espedair Street
11/75 - John Steinbeck - East of Eden
12/75 - Ruth Rendell - Make Death Love Me
13/75 - Stephen King - The Bazaar of Bad Dreams
14/75 - Keith Waterhouse - Billy Liar
15/75 - Kate Atkinson - When Will There be Good News?
16/75 - Stephen King - Finders Keeper
17/75 - Jonathan Franzen - The Corrections
18/75 - Wendy Cope - Family Values
19/75 - Kate Atkinson - Started Early, Took my Dog
20/75 - David Mitchell - Ghostwritten
21/75 - Kent Haruf - The Tie that Binds
22/75 - Val McDermid - Splinter the Silence
23/75 - Anthony Doerr - About Grace
24/75 - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - We Should all be Feminists
25/75 - Julian Barnes - The Sense of an Ending
26/75 - Iain Banks - Canal Dreams
27/75 - Belinda Bauer - The Shut Eye
28/75 - Margaret Atwood - The Heart Goes Last
29/75 - Mario Puzo - The Godfather
30/75 - Annie Proulx - Fine Just the Way It Is: Wyoming Stories 3
31/75 - Ruth Rendell - From Doon With Death
32/75 - Kate Atkinson - A God in Ruins
33/75 - Joe Hill - The Fireman

34/75 - Mark Twain - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
 
Almost halfway through the year - how we all shaking? I have done 11 of 20 so bang on target, although by end of month I'll anticipate I'll have done 13 as I'm reading a pretty schlocky page turner at the mo, and plan to read the sequel straight after.
 
1/12 - The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco
2/12 - Communal Luxury: The Political Imaginary of the Paris Commune by Kristin Ross
3/12 - Eric by Shaun Tan
4/12 - Orange is the new Black by Piper Kerman
5/12 - The Book of Phoenix by Nnedi Okorafor
6/12 - The Rise of Islamic State: ISIS and the New Sunni Revolution by Patrick Cockburn
7/12 - Orlando: A Biography by Virginia Woolf
8/12 - Noise Uprising: The Audiopolitics of a World Musical Revolution by Michael Denning
9/12 - The Night Watch by Sarah Waters
10/12 - Capitalism: A Ghost Story by Arundhati Roy
11/12 - The Accidental by Ali Smith
12/12 - The Hedgerow Handbook: Recipes, Remedies and Rituals by Adele Nozedar
13 - Benefits by Zoe Fairbairns

14 - Separate and Dominate: Feminism and Racism After The War On Terror by Christine Delphy
I like Christine Delphy - her feminist theory is spot on and she's an active longstanding leftwing feminist and anti-racist. Although the English translation of this book came out last year, most of the essays in it were written between 1996-2006, so I was a little disappointed by this, although she does bring things up-to-date in the introduction, showing how recent developments in French and international politics stem from what she has written about. However i did really enjoy the book - her dissection of liberal arguments, and her exposure of the fallacies of racist and anti-working-class feminists (she doesn't spare sexist and racist leftwingers either) - and of how feminist demands can be manipulated for conservative/neoliberal ends - is all scalpel sharp.
 
Last edited:
D'wards said:
Almost halfway through the year - how we all shaking? I have done 11 of 20 so bang on target, although by end of month I'll anticipate I'll have done 13 as I'm reading a pretty schlocky page turner at the mo, and plan to read the sequel straight after.
Click to expand...

I think I'm just about on track to meet my target.
Another 3 books will see me to halfway there and I can probably manage that by the end of the month.
 
1/15 Foundation - Isaac Asimov
2/15 Edge of Infinity - ed. Jonathan Strahan
3/15 The Suicide Club - Robert Louis Stevenson
4/15 The Lurking Fear - H. P. Lovecraft
5/15 The Fourth Science Fiction Megapack - various
6/15 The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
7/15 Midnight Sun - Jo Nesbo
8/15 20th Century Ghosts - Joe Hill
9/15 The First Science Fiction Megapack - various
10/15 The Death of Grass - John Christopher
11/15 Descent - Ken MacLeod
12/15 Butch is a Noun - S. Bear Bergman
13/15 Wolf - Mo Hayder
14/15 The Girl in the Spider's Web - David Lagercrantz
15/15 Becoming a Visible Man - Jamison Green
16/15 Altered Carbon - Richard K. Morgan
17/15 The Nearest Exit May Be Behind You - S. Bear Bergman
18/15 Reheated Cabbage - Irvine Welsh
19/15 Divergent - Veronica Roth
20/15 War Dogs - Greg Bear
21/15 Killing Titan - Greg Bear
22/15 Nobody Passes: Rejecting the Rules of Gender and Conformity - ed. Mattilda aka Matt Bernstein Sycamore
23/15 Unquenchable Fire - Rachel Pollack
24/15 Small Gods - Terry Pratchett
25/15 The Long Earth - Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter
26/15 The Thief - Fuminori Nakamura
 
1/50 Jeff Vandermeer - Annihilation
2/50 Justin Cronin - The Twelve
3/50 Neil Oliver - A History of Ancient Britain
4/50 Jeff Vandermeer - Authority
5/50 Jeff Vandermeer - Acceptance
6/50 Neil Gaiman - Neverwhere
7/50 Svetlana Alexievich - Zinky Boys
8/50 Lisa Tuttle - The Mysteries
9/50 A M Homes - This Book Could Save Your Life
10/50 Allan Ahlberg - My Brother's Ghost
11/50 Margaret Elphinstone - The Gathering Night
12/50 Lauren Beukes - The Shining Girls.
13/50 Sarah Hall - The Carhullan Army
14/50 Tove Jansson - Moominvalley Midwinter

15/50 Ursula le Guin - a Wizard of Earthsea
16/50 Ursula le Guin - The Tombs of Atuan
17/50 Ursula le Guin - The Farthest Shore

I had only ever read the first of these before. My mind is totally blown.
 
1/20 - Peter Straub - Ghost Story
2/20 - Duncan Falcolner - First Into Action
3/20 - William Gibson - Neuromancer
4/20 - Paul Trynka - Starman: David Bowie - The Definitive Biography
5/20 - Robert A. Heinlein - Starship Troopers
6/20 - Patrick DeWitt - The Sisters Brothers
7/20 - Terry Pratchett - Wyrd Sisters
8/20 - Carl Sagan - Contact
9/20 - Irvine Welsh - The Blade Artist
10/20 - Jon Ronson - Them: Adventures with Extremists
11/20 - Jonathan Lethem - Motherless Brooklyn
12/20 - Steve Alten - Vostok
 
1/20 - The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith
2/20 - The Friends of Eddie Coyle by George V Higgins
3/20 - The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson
4/20 - Prayers for Rain by Dennis Lehane
5/20 - Gypsy Boy by Mikey Walsh
6/20 - The Last Detective by Robert Crais
7/20 - The 100 Most Pointless Arguments in the World Solved by Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman
8/20 - The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
 
1/40 My Story - Steven Gerrard
2/40 Ancient Sites In West Penwith - Cheryl Straffon
3/40 Execution Sites Of Devon And Cornwall - Richard Peirce
4/40 Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights - Salman Rushdie
5/40 Pegasus Descending - James Lee Burke
6/40 The Story Of Kullervo - J.R.R. Tolkein
7/40 Walking The Himalayas - Levison Wood
8/40 Narcopolis - Jeet Thayil
9/40 The Doors Of Perception - Aldous Huxley
10/40 Doctor Sleep - Stephen King
11/40 Autobiography - Morrissey
12/40 I Swear I Was There: The Gig That Changed The World - David Nolan
13/40 Stranger Than We Can Imagine: Making Sense Of The Twentieth Century - John Higgs
14/40 So You've Been Publicly Shamed - Jon Ronson
15/40 The Psychopath Test - Jon Ronson
16/40 Raw Spirit - Iain Banks
17/40 Them: Adventures With Extremists - Jon Ronson
18/40 A Decent Ride - Irvine Welsh
19/40 The Road To Little Dribbling: More Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
20/40 A Game Of Thrones - George R.R. Martin
21/40 The Men Who Stare At Goats - Jon Ronson
22/40 Kaleidoscope - Laura Taylor
23/40 Work! Consume! Die! - Frankie Boyle
24/40 More Fool Me - Stephen Fry
 
inching forward


1/50 Special Deluxe - Neil Young
2/50 The Edible woman - Margaret Atwood
3/50 The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
4/50 Sacrilege - S.J. Parris
5/50 Easily Distracted - Steve Coogan
6/50 Autobiography - Morrissey
7/50 The Ice Owl - Carolyn Ives Gilman
8/50 Angel of Europa - Allen M. Steele
9/50 The Ants of Flanders - by Robert Reed
10/50 The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary - by Ken Liu
11/50 Kiss Me Twice - by Mary Robinette Kowal
12/50 The Bell Jar - by Sylvia Plath
13/50 Downbelow Station - by C.J. Cherryh
14/50 Paying Guests - Sarah Waters
 
1/75 - Belinda Bauer - The Facts of Life and Death
2/75 - Stuart MacBride - Broken Skin
3/75 - David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas
4/75 - Daniel Woodrell - Winter's Bone
5/75 - Kate Atkinson - Case Histories
6/75 - Margaret Atwood - Lady Oracle
7/75 - Jon Ronson - So You've Been Publicly Shamed
8/75 - Kate Atkinson - One Good Turn
9/75 - Lewis Carroll - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
10/75 - Iain Banks - Espedair Street
11/75 - John Steinbeck - East of Eden
12/75 - Ruth Rendell - Make Death Love Me
13/75 - Stephen King - The Bazaar of Bad Dreams
14/75 - Keith Waterhouse - Billy Liar
15/75 - Kate Atkinson - When Will There be Good News?
16/75 - Stephen King - Finders Keeper
17/75 - Jonathan Franzen - The Corrections
18/75 - Wendy Cope - Family Values
19/75 - Kate Atkinson - Started Early, Took my Dog
20/75 - David Mitchell - Ghostwritten
21/75 - Kent Haruf - The Tie that Binds
22/75 - Val McDermid - Splinter the Silence
23/75 - Anthony Doerr - About Grace
24/75 - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - We Should all be Feminists
25/75 - Julian Barnes - The Sense of an Ending
26/75 - Iain Banks - Canal Dreams
27/75 - Belinda Bauer - The Shut Eye
28/75 - Margaret Atwood - The Heart Goes Last
29/75 - Mario Puzo - The Godfather
30/75 - Annie Proulx - Fine Just the Way It Is: Wyoming Stories 3
31/75 - Ruth Rendell - From Doon With Death
32/75 - Kate Atkinson - A God in Ruins
33/75 - Joe Hill - The Fireman
34/75 - Mark Twain - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

35/75 - Bill Bryson - The Road to Little Dribbling
 
BoatieBird said:
It was fairly twee, but made me laugh out loud several times.
My late father was a big fan of Bill's and there were loads of bits that made me want to phone him so I could read them to him.
Click to expand...

I see him in interviews and I'm always tempted to yell at the screen: "You're from Iowa, you twit!"
 
What's wrong with being from Iowa? One of my friends is from there and is not nearly as annoying as Bryson.
 
Voley said:
Same here. He annoys me sometimes but he does make me laugh. His catastrophic outbursts of irritation that end in him looking like a tit always amuse.
Click to expand...
there was a very funny parody of Bill Bryson in Craig Brown's Diaries in Private Eye last year
Can only find this online:
 
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