Bookworm

There's a lot that happens in the bedroom when the lights dim and the cocoa's steaming on the bedside table. However the rustling noises are not the sounds of crisp, starched sheets being flung around in acts of abject passion, but rather the turning of pages, as another book is devoured.

In the interests of something to do, below is my selection of the books you should be reading to keep you entertained at night, or even during the day if you're feeling that way inclined...

However, feel free to disagree - it's not as easy as you think...

Top 10 Reads

A young, but tired, father recommends what makes good bedtime reading. Quite a challenge to come up with a top 10 as most of its forgotten within twenty seconds of putting the book down. Anyway, these are some of those that have stuck in the mind...

1. 1984 - George Orwell
2. High Fidelity - Nick Hornby
3. Julian - Gore Vidal
4. 1776 - Bernard Cornwell
5. The Dice Man - Luke Reinhert
6. The Flashman Series - George MacDonald Fraser
7.Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
8. Papillon - Henri Charriere
9. Waterloo: A Near Run Thing - David Howarth
10. Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

Recent Reads (Top read = 5*)

Vagabond - Bernard Cornwell
As a bit of a fan, hard not to recommend this series!
****
Wilful Murder - The Sinking of the Lusitania - Diana Preston
Easy WWI read about the sinking of the Lusitania. Was it a ploy to get the US into the war?
****
The Road to McCarthty - P McCarthy
Travel/humour - easy going bedtime reading with the occasional laugh, but no plot.
***
Berlin - Anthony Beevor
Great book, but about 100 pages too long.
***

Others Recommend...
Always happy to receive other's thoughts even if they are complete garbage, just like the random selections below:

The Dull Accountant - Al recommends reading for those days in the office when the calculator overheats

Noble House - James Clavell
Flashman At The Charge - the one & only George MacDonald Fraser
Day of The Jackle - Freddy Forsythe
Bird Song - S. Faulks
Enigma - Robert Harris
Lord of The Rings - JRR Tolkein (well, I did see the film)
Dune - Frank Herbert
City of Gold - Len Deighton
The Fist of God - Freddy F
Mr. American - George MacDonald Fraser

Dr Cooke's brainy collection. Who could read an OU Module for fun and be declared quite sane?

The Golden Bowl - Henry James
Wellington's Peninsular Correspondence
The Book about Maps that Mr Puddle-dick Pain hasn't returned
On the Beach - Nevil Shute
The Aubrey and Maturin Series - Patrick O'Brian
Island Biography - Robert Whittaker
The Honourable Company - John Kay
Gap onto Power Series - Stephen Donaldson
Open University Module on Catalytic Chemistry
Running Blind - Desmond Bagley

Dr Puddle-dick Pain in true accountancy fashion couldn't make 10, and lists a completely bizarre selection...

A Cure for Cancer - Michael Moorcock - pure madness
Seven Pillars of Wisdom (TE Lawrence) - not for the content, but for the arrogance of the introduction and the quality of the book itself
The collected works of Derek and Clive
Anything by Richard Scarry...
The Book about Maps that I must remember to return

Bookworm Recommendations - Humour
The Best A Man Can Get - John O'Farrell
All of Ben Elton's books (!)
The Liar - Stephen Fry

Bookworm Recommendations - Other
England Away - John King
Liars Poker - Michael Lewis

Bookworm Don't bother
Ladysmith - Giles Foden
Fell asleep half way through - nowhere near as interesting as his Last King of Scotland.

Recommendations - History

Power & Greed- Philippe Gigantes
Literally a short history of the world - if you want to bluff then this is the book for you...
King Leopold's Ghost - Adam Hochschild
All about fun and games in the Congo. Bloody Belgians.
The Man Who Broke Napolean's Codes - Mark Urban
Very, very easy read about the Peninsula campaignif you're into that sort of thing
Rebel - Bernard Cornwell
Much better tha Sharpe, and enough to get you into the American civil war

Recommendations - Travel

Into Thin Air - John Krakauer
An account of a trip up Everest that goes badly wrong. Enough to put you off walking up hills.
The Great Game - Peter Hopkirk
Could be seen to be historical - the phony war between the British and Russians to control Afghanistan and India