Please feel free to request, there are some cracking reads here, most are in good nick, and it helps me decide what to read! Here is my fantastic library -

Updated 15/12

The Take - Martina Cole
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
Hey Nostradamus! Douglas Coupland
Eleanor Rigby - Douglas Coupland
A Song of Stone - Iain Banks
War of the Worlds - HG Wells
Hunger - Knut Hamsun
Who Sleeps With Katz - Todd McEwen

The Yiddish Policeman's Union - Michael Chabon
The Aardvark is ready for War - James Blinn
The Ice Harvest - Scott Phillips
Disco 2000 - Sarah Campion (Ed) (According to Amazon: An anthology of end-of-the-millennium fiction, capturing the atmosphere of the times from millennium madness to apocalypse culture. Writers such as Jeff Noon, Douglas Coupland, Nicholas Blincoe, Kathy Acker and Poppy Z. Brite have contributed exclusive stories.)
The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse - Robert Rankin
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning - Alan Sillitoe
Hallucinating Foucault - Patricia Duncker
The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip - George Saunders
Shifu, You'll Do Anything for a Laugh - Mo Yan
Eeeee Eee Eeee - Tao Lin
The Laws of Invisible Things - Frank Huyler
The Name of the World - Denis Johnson
No Logo - Naomi Klein
Vinegar Soup - Miles Gibson
The Seven Days of Peter Crumb - Jonny Glynn
Dune - Frank Herbert
A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
Mr Mee - Andrew Crumey
Mister Pip - Lloyd Jones
Lost in the Funhouse - John Barth
Fictions - Jorge Luis Borges
The Outgoing Man - Glen Neath (meant to be like Magnus Mills - hmm, we'll see)
Interrogating the Real - Slajov Zizek
Kant and the Platypus - Umberto Eco
Selected Stories - O. Henry
The Magic Toyshop - Angela Carter
Status Anxiety - Alain be Botton
Gates of Eden - Ethan Coen (yes one of the Coen brothers! Should be chin-scratching then) 
Rashomon and Other Stories - Ryunosuke Akutagawa
A Girl in Winter - Philip Larkin
Waiting - Ha Jin
The Shipping News - E. Annie Proulx (reread)
Popular Music - Mikael Niemi
Inside the Whale and Other Essays - George Orwell
The Garden Party - Katherine Mansfield (re-read)
The Master and Margerita - Mikhail Bulgakov
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian - Marina Lewycka
Neuromancer - William Gibson
Pandora's Box - Alice Thompson
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
The Colonel's Daughter and the other stories - Rose Tremain
Any Human Heart - William Boyd
The Bottle Factory Outing - Beryl Bainbridge
When We Were Orphans - Kazuo Ishiguro
Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood 
Ladder of Years - Anne Tyler 
Miss Wyoming - Douglas Coupland
Girlfriend in a Coma - Douglas Coupland
Spin Cycle - Zoe Strachan
The Penultimate Truth - Philip K. ***
Mathematician's Delight - W. W. Sawyer
The L-Shaped Room - Lynne Reid Banks
The Thirteen Problems - Agatha Christie 
The Plague - Albert Camus
Going to Meet the Man - James Baldwin
Time's Arrow - Martin Amis
The Electric Michelangelo - Sarah Hall
Baudolino - Umberto Eco
After You'd Gone - Maggie O'Farrell 
Nuns and Soldiers - Iris Murdoch
In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
Monogamy - Adam Philips
Amsterdam - Ian McEwan
Timesnatch - Robert Swindells
The Men Who Stare at Goats - Jon Ronson (am so going to get round to reading this... any day now...)

Thanks for looking!

Count, I've only read a few of yours, that's some TBR pile! The ones I've read are...

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold (loved this one, great read if sad, very moving)

The Crow Road - Iain Banks (not one of his best I thought but a good read)

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. D.ick (brilliant!)

In Cold Blood - Truman Capote (one of the best true crime novels ever)

The Men Who Stare at Goats - Jon Ronson (there are some very strange people out there)

Snobs - Julian Fellowes (hilarious, loved it!)

 

Hey!

I can't believe you've read Men Who Stare At Goats! I only got it because someone requested a swap and it was on their list... I was just so curious as to what on earth it was about that I had to get it, though I haven't opened it yet...

Glad the Snobs is good, too, as I only got that because it was a book-crossing, not the sort of thing I'd usually pick up but I thought, worth a go...

And looking forward to the Truman Capote... Well, to be honest, looking forward to them all...

I'm glad you like Philip K. D.ick... Was reading about him in Empire the other week, apparently he was incredibly paranoid, thought the FBI were after him... an intriguing guy... any others of his that you'd especially reccommend?

Alice

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold - although I enjoyed this I much preferred Lucky

Tell No One - Harlan Coben - most people find this hard to believe but I dont like his books

The Accidental - Ali Smith - hated this, didnt even finish the first half of it.

After You'd Gone - Maggie O'Farrell - really loved this one

Amsterdam - Ian McEwan - another one I hated - sorry!

Junk - Melvin Burgess - on my TBR

annecater:

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold - although I enjoyed this I much preferred Lucky

Tell No One - Harlan Coben - most people find this hard to believe but I dont like his books

The Accidental - Ali Smith - hated this, didnt even finish the first half of it.

After You'd Gone - Maggie O'Farrell - really loved this one

Amsterdam - Ian McEwan - another one I hated - sorry!

Junk - Melvin Burgess - on my TBR

 

The Maggie O'Farrell seems to be a popular choice, and a lot of people on here seem to have read it, so I'll probably read that soon...

I'm not surprised you hated "Amsterdam" - I got it through a swap with you! I'm undecided about Ian McEwan: I liked Enduring Love but never finished Atonement, so I think he's patchy but I went to Amsterdam earlier this year so that's the real reason I got it...

I read "Junk" a few times when I was a teenager - I absolutely loved it, so I had to get hold of it again. Melvin Burgess is one of the few authors I've known to pull off writing each chapter from a different character's perspective. Not a technique I usually like, but I remember it working really well here... Haven't read it for about six years, though, so I wonder what I'll make of it now... Would love to know what you thought of it too

Why didn't you like the Ali Smith? Have you read any of her short stories?

Alice

count:

annecater:

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold - although I enjoyed this I much preferred Lucky

Tell No One - Harlan Coben - most people find this hard to believe but I dont like his books

The Accidental - Ali Smith - hated this, didnt even finish the first half of it.

After You'd Gone - Maggie O'Farrell - really loved this one

Amsterdam - Ian McEwan - another one I hated - sorry!

Junk - Melvin Burgess - on my TBR

 

The Maggie O'Farrell seems to be a popular choice, and a lot of people on here seem to have read it, so I'll probably read that soon...

I'm not surprised you hated "Amsterdam" - I got it through a swap with you! I'm undecided about Ian McEwan: I liked Enduring Love but never finished Atonement, so I think he's patchy but I went to Amsterdam earlier this year so that's the real reason I got it...

I read "Junk" a few times when I was a teenager - I absolutely loved it, so I had to get hold of it again. Melvin Burgess is one of the few authors I've known to pull off writing each chapter from a different character's perspective. Not a technique I usually like, but I remember it working really well here... Haven't read it for about six years, though, so I wonder what I'll make of it now... Would love to know what you thought of it too

Why didn't you like the Ali Smith? Have you read any of her short stories?

Alice

Alice  - Amsterdam was just so damn boring!  Over rated twaddle I think - but lots of people obviously love it, it did win the Booker!

I'm hoping to get round to reading Junk pretty soon, I also have Sarah's Face by him on TBR

As for The Accidental - I just hated the writing style, in fact I think I've only heard one person on RISI say they enjoyed it.

Anne
 

count:

Tell No One - Harlan Coben (promised to welshgem)  Excellent read

Pattern Recognition - William Gibson  Not read this but did try reading Neuromancer for Reading Group - didn't get on well with it though

The Thirteen Problems - Agatha Christie Queen of Crime!

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. ***  Bladerunner!!!

The Tailor of Panama - John le Carre  Keep meaning to try le Carre but my TBR is so huge.....

Amsterdam - Ian McEwan Hate, hate, hate, hate this author

The Destinies of Darcy Dancer, Gentleman - J. P. Donleavy  Recently read The Ginger Man by him - didn't like it I'm afraid

Snobs - Julian Fellowes 

Not very positive comments I'm afraid - we must have different tastes!

annecater:

Alice  - Amsterdam was just so damn boring!  Over rated twaddle I think - but lots of people obviously love it, it did win the Booker!

I'm hoping to get round to reading Junk pretty soon, I also have Sarah's Face by him on TBR

As for The Accidental - I just hated the writing style, in fact I think I've only heard one person on RISI say they enjoyed it.

Anne
 

I think you must be thinking of me, Anne - I really did love it, particularly the wonderfully inventive style - it's like poetry in places, and far from a boring read!  I can't understand why no one else likes it!! 

As for Ian McEwan, I'd agree he's very mixed. Haven't read Amsterdam yet, but hated Enduring Love.  On the other hand I adored Atonement, and On Chesil Beach. 

Just goes to show we're all different.  I always think it's really funny how we can share tastes on some things (as you and I definitely do, Anne  - I don't care for Harlan Coben either), but are completely at odds on other things.  

pennyt:

annecater:

Alice  - Amsterdam was just so damn boring!  Over rated twaddle I think - but lots of people obviously love it, it did win the Booker!

I'm hoping to get round to reading Junk pretty soon, I also have Sarah's Face by him on TBR

As for The Accidental - I just hated the writing style, in fact I think I've only heard one person on RISI say they enjoyed it.

Anne
 

I think you must be thinking of me, Anne - I really did love it, particularly the wonderfully inventive style - it's like poetry in places, and far from a boring read!  I can't understand why no one else likes it!! 

As for Ian McEwan, I'd agree he's very mixed. Haven't read Amsterdam yet, but hated Enduring Love.  On the other hand I adored Atonement, and On Chesil Beach. 

Just goes to show we're all different.  I always think it's really funny how we can share tastes on some things (as you and I definitely do, Anne  - I don't care for Harlan Coben either), but are completely at odds on other things.  

I'm glad you said that, I don't understand why everyone hates Ali Smith either!

I haven't read any of her novels, but I LOVE the short stories - I' not usually a fan of that genre, but they're so ambiguous and, as you say, like poetry in some places. Have you read any? If not, I recommend The Whole Story and Other Stories...

Alice

windysisters:

count:

Tell No One - Harlan Coben (promised to welshgem)  Excellent read

Pattern Recognition - William Gibson  Not read this but did try reading Neuromancer for Reading Group - didn't get on well with it though

The Thirteen Problems - Agatha Christie Queen of Crime!

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. ***  Bladerunner!!!

The Tailor of Panama - John le Carre  Keep meaning to try le Carre but my TBR is so huge.....

Amsterdam - Ian McEwan Hate, hate, hate, hate this author

The Destinies of Darcy Dancer, Gentleman - J. P. Donleavy  Recently read The Ginger Man by him - didn't like it I'm afraid

Snobs - Julian Fellowes 

Not very positive comments I'm afraid - we must have different tastes!

 

That's ok I won't take it personally!

Why didn't you like the Neuromancer? I haven't read any Gibson before so wonder what he's like...

Alice

 

count:

 

I'm glad you said that, I don't understand why everyone hates Ali Smith either!

I haven't read any of her novels, but I LOVE the short stories - I' not usually a fan of that genre, but they're so ambiguous and, as you say, like poetry in some places. Have you read any? If not, I recommend The Whole Story and Other Stories...

Alice

No, I haven't read any of her short stories but have them on my wishlist!

count:

Tell No One - Harlan Coben (promised to welshgem)
an OK thriller, holiday read

The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy 
one of my favourite books ever

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
lovely, sad, moving and very inventive

The Plague - Albert Camus
an excellent read, French classic I read at school

Intimacy - Jean-Paul Sartre
My Phantom Husband - Marie Darrieussecq
interesting to see you've got French authors on your list, have not read those two though, can't even think what the Sartre title is in French?

Baudolino - Umberto Eco
could not get into this one, actually find his books boring and difficult to read

The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera
another one of my all time favourites, and the film was as good as the book

That's it!

Thanks for looking

Junk - Melvin Burgess Promised to me!

Tell No One - Harlan Coben This one too

Life After God - Douglas Coupland Not got this yet, but love his books. (how did i miss this? hmmm)

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold Not a bad read

The Plague - Albert Camus TBR, Loved the outsider 

The Accidental - Ali Smith This confused me.

Hotel World - Ali Smith Better than above.

Canal Dreams - Iain Banks Have The Wasp Factory on TBR.

In Cold Blood - Truman Capote TBR

Amsterdam - Ian McEwan TBR

 

sarita:

count:

Tell No One - Harlan Coben (promised to welshgem)
an OK thriller, holiday read

The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy 
one of my favourite books ever

The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
lovely, sad, moving and very inventive

The Plague - Albert Camus
an excellent read, French classic I read at school

Intimacy - Jean-Paul Sartre
My Phantom Husband - Marie Darrieussecq
interesting to see you've got French authors on your list, have not read those two though, can't even think what the Sartre title is in French?

Baudolino - Umberto Eco
could not get into this one, actually find his books boring and difficult to read

The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera
another one of my all time favourites, and the film was as good as the book

That's it!

Thanks for looking

Cool, looks like we have similar taste! Am struggling through an Umberto Eco at the moment, Foucault's Pendulum... and I mean struggle...

Have seen the film of Tell No One, though... it's great, I definitely reccommend seeing it if you get the chance. The acting's brilliant...

Camus... glad you recommend the Plague, I just hope it's as good as The Outsider... but hey, what is?!!

Am curious about the Sartre, must admit... Don't hold out much hope though, might be a bit too intelligent for me, I got it on a whim cos I liked the name!

And one of my mates recommends God of Small Things too, so I shall read that soon.

Didn't know that there was a film of Unbearable Lightness... I am surprised it worked well, as it is quite "wordy" if you know what I mean (It's a bit of a reread for me, as I got halfway through it a few years ago but gave up cos I had so much to read for uni... I remember liking it, and am determined to read it again as my uni course has ended so can read whatever I want!!) Do you know who directed it?

Alice

The director was Philip Kaufman, main actor Daniel Day-Lewis, main actress Juliette Binoche, also featured Lena Olin. Movie came out in 1988. Loved it.