Book of the Year

The Purple book award 2011 goes to "The Law of Dreams" by Peter Behrens. It's set in Ireland during the potato famine. A great book with an apocalyptic feel to it. I am looking forward to the release in March of his latest book, "The O'Briens" which follows the same family a generation later.

Books I've read 2011

• 41. The Fear by Charlie Higson
• 40. The Last Dog on Earth by Daniel Ehrenraft
• 39. This Crowded Earth by Robert Bloch
• 38. Burn Down the Sky by James Jaros
• 37. The Dead by Charlie Higson
• 36. The Mad God's Amulet by Michael Moorcock
• 35. The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell
• 34. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
• 33. The Jewel in the Skull by Michael Moorcock
• 32. Time of the Great Freeze by Robert Silverberg
• 31. The Autobiography of a Super-tramp by W H Davies
• 30. Plague by Jean Ure
• 29. The March by E L Doctorow
• 28. Eternity Road by Jack McDevitt
• 27. Day by Day Armageddon by J L Bourne
• 26. Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock
• 25. The Law of Dreams by Peter Behrens
• 24. Dog Blood by David Moody
• 23. Consider Her Ways and Others by John Wyndham
• 22. Tsunami by Crawford Kilian
• 21. The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski
• 20. The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrat
• 19. Trouble With Lichen by John Wyndham
• 18. Burma Boy by Biyi Bandele
• 17. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
• 16. The City, Not Long After by Pat Murphy
• 15. Player One by Douglas Coupland
• 14. Depraved by Bryan Smith
• 13. Bone Dance by Emma Bull
• 12. The Dark Millenium by A J Merak
• 11.The Conqueror Worms by Brian Keene
• 10. Leap into Darkness by Leo Bretholz & Michael Olesker
• 9. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts
• 8. Whoops! by John Lanchester
• 7. Paris Underground by Etta Shiber
• 6. Floodland by Marcus Sedgwick
• 5. Room by Emma Donoghue
• 4. The Dark Tower, Volume 1: The Gunslinger by Stephen King
• 3. Treblinka: A Survivors Memory by Chil Rajchman
• 2. The Hungry Years by William Leith
• 1. Rage by Stephen King

Post Apocalypse Fiction Freebies

I cashed in the Amazon voucher that I received for doing a Lovefilm free trial and also a thank you voucher for parking privileges that I was given by a friend. Now I've just got to find the time to read them!

The Purple Book Online

I have put the purple book (my list of books read since I was 11) up on goodreads. LINK

It's a good site, a bit like facebook for bookworms. I have found a lot of interesting books from comparing lists.

The Long Walk by Stephen King

"In the near future, where America has become a police state, one hundred boys are selected to enter an annual contest where the winner will be awarded whatever he wants for the rest of his life. The game is simple - maintain a steady walking pace of four miles per hour without stopping. Three warnings, and you're out - permanently."

I think this gets the Purple Book Award 2010 , helped a bit as its fresh in my memory having only just finished it yesterday. Equally good were Down to a Sunless Sea by David Graham, Skeletons by Al Sarrantonio and World War Z by Max Brooks. I'm reading Rage by Stephen King at the moment - another one in his Bachman books omnibus. Still just enough time for it to make it onto 2010's list if I spend the day reading.


Books I've read 2010
57. The Long Walk by Stephen King
56. An Ambush of Shadows by Paul O. Williams
55. The Enemy by Charlie Higson
54. The Pool of Fire by John Christopher
53. The City of Gold and Lead by John Christopher
52. The White Mountains by John Christopher
51. When the Tripods Came by John Christopher
50. Gone South by Robert R. McCammon
49. The Black Horde by Richard Lewis
48. The Lonely Warrior by Jean Offenberg
47. The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier
46. Leaving Tangier by Tahar Ben Jelloun
45. Skeletons by Al Sarrantonio
44. The Hunters by James Salter
43. Wild Jack by John Christopher
42. Things we Didn't see Coming by Steven Amsterdam
41. The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World by Harry Harrison
40. The Blue World by Jack Vance
39. Of Beasts and Beings by Ian Holding
38. Feeding Ground by Sarah Pinborough
37. The Fall of the Shell by Paul O. Williams
36. Gender Genocide by Edmund Cooper
35. The Afterblight Chronicles: Death Got No Mercy by Al Ewing
34. The Afterblight Chronicles: School's Out by Scott Andrews
33. World War Z by Max Brooks
32. Plague Year by Jeff Carlson
31. The Pack by Tom Pow
30. The Scarlet Plague by Jack London
29. The Walking Dead by Craig Roberts & Charles W. Sasser
28. The Grain Kings by Keith Roberts
27. Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth
26. Blue World by Robert R. McCammon
25. The Dome in the Forest by Paul O. Williams
24. The Deluge by Mark Morris
23. What Niall Saw by Brian Cullen
22. Fugue for a Darkening Island by Christopher Priest
21. The Ends of the Circle by Paul O. Williams
20. The Breaking of Northwall by Paul O. Williams
19. Night by Elie Wiesel
18. Camp Concentration by Thomas M. Disch
17. Blakely's Ark by Ian MacMillan
16. Down to a Sunless Sea by David Graham
15. Five Chimneys by Olga Lengyel
14. The Silent Multitude by D G Compton
13. Far North by Marcel Theroux
12. A Secret History of Time to Come by Robie Macauley
11. Choke by Chuck Palahniuk
10. Fire Without Smoke by Florian Mayevski
9. The Blessing Papers by William Barnwell
8. Hater by David Moody
7. The Twelve by Stuart Neville
6. Cross Country by James Patterson
5. Quartered Safe Out Here by George MacDonald Fraser
4. Bar None by Tim Lebbon
3. The Suicide Collectors by David Oppegaard
2. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
1. Breeding Ground by Sarah Pinborough

Post Apocalypse Library

Nearly a whole book case now.

A day's food

Inspired by the tv show "you are what you eat" where they put the persons weekly food intake on a groaning table, I thought I'd put together my food intake for today, ignoring the dozen or so cups of tea/coffee.

The real ales are a leftover from the book I've just finished - Bar None by Tim Lebbon after a plague five survivors are holed up in a mansion with a cellar full of beer. Their small patch of Wales is peaceful while the rest of the surviving population are eating each other. As their supplies dwindle, a passing stranger tells them about Bar None in Cornwall where there's plenty of beer so off they go on a road trip through the nightmarish countryside. The author titled each chapter after a real ale. As I normally stick to lager I thought I'd try a few as I read the book. I might have been converted.

The Road

It's a couple of years since I read the Road and I have been eagerly awaiting the film, which was completed ages ago but has only just reached the screens.

I saw the film last night and it is very good and as bleak as the book.

I am reading The Suicide Collectors by David Oppegard at the moment. For 5 years "The Despair" has been causing people to commit suicide. There are only the last 10% of the population left in the crumbling civilization and they are disappearing fast. The mysterious collectors appear after each suicide to take the dead bodies.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I've dropped a size since my New York shopathon and now fit into 30" waist jeans, so I couldn't resist getting a pair in the sales. My weight has been hovering at just above 13 stone for the last couple of months.

Blind Panic by Graham Masterton

Red indian demon seeks vengeance on modern day America for the genocide of Native Americans. He does this by resurrecting an army of laser eyed coffin babies which materialise all over America, striking people blind. Fortunately, a couple of pesky psychics save the day by the cunning use of seances and mirrors.

I can't wait for the movie!

I have put on a couple of pounds over xmas so will be eating porridge and salad for the next few days.

Books I read 2009

* 43. I Spied a Pale Horse by Mark Timlin
* 42. Blind Panic by Graham Masterton
* 41. The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell
* 40. Duende Meadow by Paul Cook
* 39. Sniper One by Sgt Dan Mills
* 38. One by Conrad Williams
* 37. The Lincoln Hunters by Wilson Tucker
* 36. I am Justice by Paul Kenyon
* 35. The Carhullan Army by Sarah Hall
* 34. Brother Odd by Dean Koontz
* 33. Red Partisan by Nikolai Obryn'ba
* 32. Private 12768 by John Jackson
* 31. Survival World by Frank Belknap Long
* 30. Kronk by Edmund Cooper
* 29. Forever Odd by Dean Koontz
* 28. A Cat Called Adolf by Trude Levi
* 27. Journey Through the Night by Kurt Grubler
* 26. The Gone Away World by Nick Harkaway
* 25. Narrow Escapes by Samuel P. Oliner
* 24. Roman's Journey by Roman Halter
* 23. While Flocks Last by Charlie Elder
* 22. The Lonely Dead by Michael Marshall
* 21. The Straw Men by Michael Marshall
* 20. All fool's Day by Edmund Cooper
* 19. Defiance by Nechama Tec
* 18. Left for Dead in the Outback by Ricky Megee
* 17. Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
* 16. Flood by Stephen Baxter
* 15. Death Cloud by Michael Mannion
* 14. Shallow Graves in Siberia by Michael Krupa
* 13. October Skies by Alex Scarrow
* 12. The Slynx by Tatyana Tolstoya
* 11. Barefoot Soldier by Johnson Beharry
* 10. Last Light by Alex Scarrow
* 9. A Good Day to Die by Simon Kernick
* 8. Brother in the Land by Robert Swindells
* 7. My Idea of Fun by Will Self
* 6. Brennan by Bernard Knight
* 5. Footprints of Thunder by James F. David
* 4. The Gift of Stones by Jim Crace
* 3. Relentless by Simon Kernick
* 2. Spares by Michael Marshall Smith
* 1. Velocity by Dean Koontz

Purple Book Award 2009

13th Weigh in - Day 134 - 13st 10lbs - 87kg

Notwithstanding that I have yet to finish it, with another 350 pages still to read,I can announce that the inaugural winner of the Purple Book Award goes to The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell. It is hands down the best book I have read this year. I bought this and started reading it when the hardback came out in April. I got about half way through its 1,000 pages before I decided to put it to one side as I had a big stack of Library books that I wanted to read. Its the wartime memoirs of the ficitious SS Officer, Maximilian Aue who is currently taking a tour of the death camps researching how to maximise output for the war effort.

I have a couple of other cheery books on the go, a non fiction from the library - White Cargo by Don Jordan and Michael Welsh - "The Forgotten History of Britains white slaves in America" and I Spied a Pale Horse by Mark Timlin yet another novel set in an empty, post pandemic UK. Nice and Christmassy.

Another 3 lbs lost since the last weigh in, not bad at all as I had a night on the town at the weekend. Consuming 6.5 pints of beer which works out at about 1500 extra calories.