The Book Tower
debut novel coming soon

Jack Pickard has tagged me for this bookish meme. I realised we did something similar almost a year ago with Jack’s Literary Meme, although it’s always good to revisit old themes (I mean memes).

Total Number of Books Owned

Jack estimates his own book collection as bordering on 1500. I’ve arrived at my own estimate based on the number of books on a typical shelf in my house which is 50 (possibly even more because we have taken to double-stacking our books). Using this as a guide I calculated roughly 200 books on the shelves at the top of the kitchen stairs alone. Add another 200-300 for the rest of downstairs and allowing for the books in the bedroom and those packed into the two spare rooms in the loft I could also comfortably estimate 1500. This is shelf space on three sets of floor to ceiling shelves put up by my good self and five bookcases.
Disclaimer: this meme does not equate for the amount of books in my daughter’s bedroom, which probably also fits the 50-on-a-shelf rule, and the boxes of old comics and papers that also fill our spare rooms.

Last Book Bought

As mentioned a few posts back, this was Darkmans by Nicola Barker. It’s an 800 page hardback, so will take up more shelf space when I’m done with it. The rucksack I take to work with me, which usually contains some bits of paperwork, a mobile phone and two pairs of specs, has just increased in weight tenfold.
Darkmans is part comedy part weird ghost story. I really can’t say any more than that at this stage because it’s taking its time to develop.

Last Book Read

One I can guarantee you’ve never heard of: Portrait of Soper by Donald Purcell. Researching my family tree last year I dicovered I was related to the socialist and pacifist Donald Soper. He caused some controversy when he accused Margaret Thatcher in her heyday of being un-Christian in her policies. Ian Paisley also famously threw a Bible at him.

Four Books That Mean a Lot to Me

I recently discovered the fiction of Cormac McCarthy and have read a few of his books this year, although the one that has had the most affect on me was his latest novel The Road. It’s a very dark and thought provoking story about a man and his young son on a journey across a post apocalyptic landscape. Not quite science fiction or horror, although many readers have certainly found it horrific. I was quite moved by it, and can’t really add much to my original thoughts.

This year I also reread Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut when I heard that he’d died. Don’t call me a meme cheat, but my original thoughts still stand on this one too. Sci-fi elements again, but not really sci-fi.

Mentioning Sebastian Faulks earlier brings Birdsong to mind, and this is a book I find myself always mentioning to people both online and off. This book couldn’t be more different to Slaughterhouse Five, although its anti war message is just as strong.

Another book I ought to recommend to people but forget to is Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. It has one of those endings that creeps towards you, punches you in the chops and then saunters off. It’s all been so brief but yet so dense and multi-layered. You’re left in a daze, thinking “eh?” or “but..” and have to go back to read it all again.

Four People to Tag

I don’t normally tag because the people who always spring to mind never do memes. So if you’re reading – and fancy a go – consider yourself tagged!

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From Booking Through Thursday:

Do you need the light just right, the background noise just so loud but not too loud, the chair just right, the distractions at a minimum?
Or can you open a book at any time and dip right in, whether it’s for twenty seconds, while waiting for the kettle to boil, or indefinitely, like while waiting interminably at the hospital–as long as the book is open in front of your nose, you’re happy to read?

If I’m engrossed in a book I can just about read it anywhere; queueing to check in at the airport, waiting for my daughter to decide on which pair of shoes to wear, that moment between pouring the hot water over the tea bag and pausing to take it out of the mug. The best book can almost possess you, so that it is with you at every waking moment – if you are not reading it in all of your spare minutes you might as well be because it will be occupying your thoughts anyway.

With a less enchanting book the distractions can give you excuses to not read it. The television in the next room isn’t really that loud, the cat doesn’t really want your attention, the choice of shoe isn’t really that unsuitable but they all combine to somehow release you from a dull book. The weaker read will fail but the best books will always overcome everything that’s buzzing around you.

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From Booking Through Thursday.

Who’s the worst fictional villain you can think of? As in, the one you hate the most, find the most evil, are happiest to see defeated? Not the cardboard, two-dimensional variety, but the most deliciously-written, most entertaining, best villain? Not necessarily the most “evil,” so much as the best-conceived on the part of the author…oh, you know what I mean!

Of all the books I’ve read recently, my favourite literary villain has got to be Steerpike from the Gormenghast trilogy. He’s certainly evil, but he’s also deliciously conceived as you can really see his mind ticking over as he hatches his plots and schemes to get what he wants. When he meets his downfall you’ve been with him for a long time, over the course of two lengthy novels, and his passing creates a mixture of jubilation and regret.

The most evil villain I’ve recently encountered is Chigurh from Cormac McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men; devoid of any moustache twirling charm, but a captivating character nevertheless. He inhabits a world where the villain has certainly left the pantomime stage behind…

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From The Pickards.

1. Available: Mondays and Fridays
2. Birthday: June
3. Confused: You will be
4. Last Drink You Had: Grolsch
5. Easiest Thing To Do: Drink Grolsch
6. Favourite Music/Group/Band: All time: Beatles/Smiths, currently: Good the Bad and the Queen/Cherry Ghost
7. Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms: Both
8. Hometown: London
9. Instruments: Surgical
10. Juice: Orange
11. Killed Someone: Only in my dreams
12. Longest Car Ride: Bristol to the South of France
13. Milkshake Flavour: Strawberry
14. Number of Pets: Two
15. One Wish: It’s already come true
16. People you hung out with last: See above
17. Quiet or Loud: In between
18. Reasons to smile: See two up
19. Surgeries you’ve had: Extreme dental
20. Time you wake up: In the dentist’s chair, screaming
21. Underwear: Mondays and Fridays
22. Violent: Only in computer games
23. Worst Habit: Memes
24. X-Rays You’ve Had: Teeth
25. Your Favourite Animal: Cat
26. Zodiac Sign: Gemini

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This is based on Jack Pickard’s Three Meme, although I’ve shuffled it around. Nine questions, three answers for each. Three cubed. Here goes:

Objects Within One Metre of You

1. Cat litter tray
2. Bicycle pump
3. Deflated giant sized Union Jack toy hammer

Teachers at School

1. Mr H (now deceasd)
2. Mrs G (I let her down)
3. Mr C (what a card)

TV Programmes You Won’t Watch

1. Grease is the Word
2. Trinny and Tranny
3. Desperate Housewifes

Favourite Trivial Pursuit Categories

1. Pink
2. Brown
3. Yellow (least favourite: blue)

Superpowers You’d Like to Have

1. Ability to regenerate when the going gets tough
2. Ability to turn into a cat like Maggie Smith in Harry Potter
3. Ability to become invisible without need of invisibility cloak

Things on the Horizon

1. Spiderman 3
2. Harry Potter 7
3. Changing cat litter tray

Newspapers, Magazines or Periodicals Read Regularly

1. Fortean Times
2. Radio Times
3. Mojo

Songs You Dislike

1. Love Shack by B52s
2. Man on the Moon by REM
3. When the Going Gets Tough by Billy Ocean

Three Things to do Tomorrow

1. Take a deep breath
2. Open front door
3. Face world

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