#24 Mankind, by Mick Foley (Harper Collins)

You’re way behind schedule on some bizarre book-reading challenge, you’re busy at work, and you’ve just really struggled to complete a collection of short stories, so what does your friend do as you contemplate your next novel? He gives you a 735-page epic. About wrestling.

The foreword to Mankind, by Mick Foley, makes interesting reading. He says you don’t have to be a fan of wrestling, or sports entertainment as he regularly calls it, to enjoy the book, and he’s right. But it certainly helps.

I’m happy to declare at the outset that my knowledge of wrestling encompasses Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks, Stone Cold Austin, The Undertaker, The Rock and little more, all of which came to wider public attention and transcended their sport to some degree. In other words, I’m no aficionado, and Foley’s autobiography, titled Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks, rewards readers with a greater interest in the ‘business’.

For an outsider, it’s more than a little bewildering, with a dizzying number of acronyms representing different wrestling organisations and the wrestlers themselves constantly changing their names and their stories to generate good box office. I’m no heel - or babyface for that matter (I thought I’d throw in a bit of jargon) – but without any prior knowledge of the scene, it’s incredibly hard to keep track of who’s doing what, to whom and why, in and out of the ring.

It’s not without humour – although there are some god-awful jokes, too – or merit, though, particularly when Foley describes the litany of terrible injuries he has suffered, the technical aspect of wrestling and how to land with the greatest effect and least injury, and talks about his unswerving dedication and drive during his years learning the game.

But the length of the book really becomes an issue when, no matter how Foley paints a picture of the brotherhood and respect wrestlers, promoters and bookers have for one another, there are long drawn out recollections of this memorable bout in whenever and that great tag-team encounter wherever.

There are only so many times the hero can become tangled in barbed wire, fall on a thousands pins or have his ear ripped off, after all. And yes, all those are true…

So, rating time:

#24 Mankind, by Mick Foley (Harper Collins) - 5/10

Next up: In the Kitchen, by Monica Ali (Transworld Publishing)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating

#23 The New York Trilogy, by Paul Auster (Faber and Faber Limited)

My intentions were good. I had a busy period at work coming up, and I gave some serious thought as to how I could best continue to read despite spending every waking minute at work.

Short stories were the answer, I thought. What better than to be able to dip in and out of some short stories for the 15 minutes or so spare time I had per day? And who better to read than Paul Auster, the author of two books I’ve already enjoyed this year? And finally, where better to start than his first critically acclaimed work, The New York Trilogy, which was recently republished as part of Faber and Faber’s 80th birthday celebrations.

The idea was good. It all made sense. Unfortunately, I really didn’t enjoy the first of the three novellas, City of Glass. Although just 133 pages long, and full of the questioning of reality and identity that is evident in his other works that I have read, I struggled to get into it and couldn’t manage beyond three pages at a time. Hence the paucity of recent blogs.

All three stories, City of Glass, Ghosts and The Locked Room, are fundamentally detective stories, but are about as far from traditional detective stories as you can get. It’s been described as ‘mysteries about mysteries’, and that’s about as mysterious as you can get.

To illustrate the many confusing layers with which the mind has to cope in this series, City of Glass features two characters called Paul Auster (the author’s name), neither of which is the narrator, while the very first paragraph of Ghosts introduces the reader to confusing characters Blue, White, Black and Brown.

I was pleased I persevered, however, because the final story, The Locked Room, is the best and is really very interesting. It tells the tale of a writer who publishes the work of a childhood friend who has disappeared, and who goes on to take that man’s place in the world, in his family and his life. Given its length - it’s only 114 pages - it has more to say than most novels three or four times its size.

Which leaves me in a quandary regarding my rating. City of Glass would be 3/10, while The Locked Room deserves 9/10, so where does that leave The New York Trilogy as a whole?

So, rating time:

#23 The New York Trilogy, by Paul Auster (Faber and Faber Limited) - 6/10

Next up: Mankind, by Mick Foley (Harper Collins)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating

#22 Fatherland, by Robert Harris (Arrow Books)

Well, I’m back. After the trials and tribulations of life - chiefly work - interrupted this here challenge, it’s finally time to chalk another book off the list, and remove the last ‘Mathematics’ post from the top of my blog, where it has been quietly mocking me for the past month.

“Oh, so you’re not doing that badly, are you?” it chides. “Oh, so you’re only slightly behind schedule? Well, you’re miles behind now!” Yeah, cheers for that…

To Fatherland, my second Robert Harris book for the year and somewhat topical, given a film of the first, Ghost, has just been released in the cinemas.

I had heard many good things about Fatherland, the story of an SS officer conducting an investigation in mid-1960s Berlin, after Germany had won the Second World War. It didn’t ultimately live up to my expectations, but it was still a good read.

Where the novel scores is in its historic setting, interweaving the fictional scenario with real places, real people and real events and creating an entire society which is all too readily, and terribly, believable. I didn’t find the central story gripping enough, however, even though it deals with the issue of arguably the greatest crime of all – ‘the millions of Jews who vanished in the war’ to quote an oft-repeated phrase.

Like most detective novels, there are twists and turns along the way, most of which come as no surprise, and it’s a shame Harris was unable to devise a plot, despite some interesting characters, which is able to live up to the setting and the meticulous research he must have conducted.

So, rating time:

#22 Fatherland, by Robert Harris (Arrow Books) - 7/10

Next up: The New York Trilogy, by Paul Auster (Faber and Faber Limited)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating

The mathematics

We're coming up to the end of March, and I know what that means: a quarter of the year gone and I should have read 25 books. The pressure is on.

The mathematics of this entire enterprise are quite simple. 100 books in one year, or 8.33 books per month, or one book every 3.65 days. Given there are three more days before the end of March, that therefore means I'm unlikely to get one more book under my belt before then.

Four books behind schedule means I will be almost 15 days, or half a month, short of my latest deadline - not that I'm counting, you understand?

So what can be done? Well, I could probably start with reading some more rather than writing blogs such as these. But one thing I've ruled out is reading shorter or less challenging books. After all, completing the challenge was always a personal mission, with no recriminations or punishments in the event of potential failure.

And given my workload, I’m not doing too bad, considering. The key progress assessment will be at the end of July when, after a long summer, I will indeed be in trouble if I am not ahead of or bang on schedule. We shall see.

#21 Hearts and Minds, by Amanda Craig (Little, Brown)

Hearts and Minds is about immigration. Indeed, the intelligent book is such a compelling study into the moral maze that the subject represents that it’s hard to come away with any other first impression.

Where the book scores is in the way it delves into the lives of the immigrants, the indifference, the incompetence and the racism (both casual and deliberate), the oppression (in England and abroad), and the poverty that they have to endure on a daily basis.

Behind a thrilling tale well told is an underlying outrage at how such a way of life has become a way of life. And while the book is full of the complex hypocrisies that affect real people, it doesn’t forget the easy stereotypes that are as much a part of the questions that the issue of immigration poses.

There are two flaws, of which the first is a litany of coincidences which defy belief. I’ve nothing against theories such as the Six Degrees of Separation, where everyone is linked to everyone else via six easy steps, and I don’t mind a bit of dramatic licence, but some of the connections and quirks of fate are just incredible.

A few years ago, there was a spate of films, such as Traffic and Babel, which explored how a series of characters located in different countries across the world were interconnected, and Hearts and Minds takes that a step further in London. Quick spoiler alert, but is it really possible that the murdered au-pair of human rights lawyer Polly has a prostitute sister whose fellow sex slave is saved by a taxi driver who later stops a terrorist from detonating a bomb at a party attended by Polly (who frequently uses said taxi driver) at the place of work of a women who lives above the sex slaves? And that’s only the half of it.

Without giving too much away, the second problem also involves the bomb. Given the country’s increasingly tabloid sensibilities, where politicians are led by public outcry, I really couldn’t envisage anyone, even an illegal immigrant, being deported after they had just saved some of the country’s great and good from death. The media coverage would have been immense, and although there is a believable resolution of sorts, the fact this is glossed over when such a forensic analysis has been applied elsewhere really lets the book down.

Hearts and Minds is a difficult one to score, and in some ways this is where all ratings systems fall down, because it becomes difficult to compare wildly different books. The Friend of the Wench took issue with my last mark of 6/10 for Eclipse, arguing it was too high, and his point has merit when it comes to judging this novel.

The two books – much like how society treats immigrants - occupy different worlds. Hearts and Minds is a massive step up in quality from Eclipse; it tackles a far more complicated subject, is brilliantly researched, and tells a meaningful tale, while after you’ve finished Eclipse, you just turn off and get on with something else. Such as reading Hearts and Minds.

But while Hearts and Minds is a much better novel, it only scores one point more (having had one point deducted for all the all too convenient coincidences).

So, rating time:

#21 Hearts and Minds, by Amanda Craig (Little, Brown) - 7/10

Next up: Fatherland, by Robert Harris (Arrow Books)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating

A novel look

I’ve made a few changes to the blog. I’m actually not too bothered about how it looks, as long as it’s nice and readable, but constantly going back through the postings to update the 1-100 listing was starting to annoy me.

The more observant among readers may therefore notice some new stand-alone pages above this posting and below the blog title and explanation. Give them a go.

It’s nothing too fancy, but I thought if I was adding one new general page, a couple more wouldn’t hurt and might make things a little easier to understand and quicker to access.

Oh, and to the right, there’s now a fancy little slideshow showing the covers of all the books I have read so far. Extra bit of colour and all that.

That’s it.

#20 Eclipse, by Stephanie Meyer (Atom)

If more people read this blog, I might be slightly uneasy about reviewing a novel which seems to have caught the planet’s entire teenage girl population under its spell, much like vampire Edward Cullen and ordinary girl Bella are captivated by each other. Fans of the Twilight books apparently don’t take kindly to criticism of what has become a phenomenon, even if it’s well intentioned…

If you’ve got no idea what I’m talking about, a quick catch-up is called for. Eclipse is the third of the Twilight books (First book Twilight followed by New Moon), and tells the ongoing tale of a High School girl who falls in love with a vampire. Oh, and there’s a pack of werewolves nearby.

Of course, there’s a bit more to it than that, but brevity is the basis of this blog – and I wish the same could be said of Stephanie Meyer.

Let’s be clear. The Wench - whom we established earlier this year was a 34-year-old woman rather than a giggling teenager – loves this nonsense, so I agreed to read the books and watch the films so at least I had some understanding of what she kept going on about.

That said, Twilight the book (and the film, if you must know) was perfectly acceptable fare. New Moon, the book, I liked less, mainly because it was chapter after whining chapter of Bella moaning about her plight and unhappiness. God, did it drag, and that would be my main criticism of the entire series – everything seems to take so long to happen.

However, I can’t deny I was entertained by Eclipse, and things built up nicely to the final battle (I don’t think a spoiler alert is required). And while I could offer many criticisms about the writing – too self-indulgent, a bit basic – at least the author knows her market, it’s reasonably entertaining and I didn’t resent the time spent reading the, count ‘em, 559 pages.

So, rating time:

#20 Eclipse, by Stephanie Meyer (Atom) - 6/10

Next up: Hearts and Minds, by Amanda Craig (Little, Brown)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating

#19 The Shipping News, by Annie Proulx (Fourth Estate)

As the Man Booker Prize-winning Life of Pi episode illustrates, I’m always wary of critically acclaimed books, which means my trepidation, like the country’s current threat levels, was set to ‘severe’ prior to tackling The Shipping News.

It’s there on the cover - winner of The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, The Irish Times International Prize and The National Book Award. It comes highly regarded, to say the least.

I must admit that, like the Newfoundland weather, it took a while for me to warm to the book. Its pared-down prose, with short sentences that sometimes even omit verbs, took some getting used to. Its characters were generally, at first, unlikeable. And the story of a useless man-cum-journalist and his battle to find something of worth in his life was far from engaging.

But I kept turning the pages, I wanted to read more. The reader learns something new, or is given a clue to a secret, every couple of pages and this certainly keeps things interesting, as does the introduction of a completely new set of characters - most of whom are genuinely odd - when Quoyle (the afore-mentioned journalist) gets to Newfoundland. Their life histories are also cleverly drip-fed in stages.

Having started pitying Quoyle, he earns the reader’s respect as well as the respect of others with his successful shipping news column in a local paper and, ultimately, it’s such a heart-warming story that it’s no surprise a film adaptation followed.

So, rating time:

#19 The Shipping News, by Annie Proulx (Fourth Estate) - 7/10

Next up: Eclipse, by Stephanie Meyer (Atom)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating

#18 Blacklands, by Belinda Bauer (Transworld Publishers)

It’s not that I didn’t enjoy Blacklands, it’s that I was slightly frustrated it wasn’t as good as it could, or should, have been.

I’m always a bit in awe of a good idea. While my creative juices flow pretty well, I’ve always struggled to come up with ideas I consider to be worthy of whatever project I’m working on: my strength has always been the execution of a good idea rather than the concept itself. This blog, suggested by someone else, perhaps provides a good example (although you’ll no doubt make up your own minds on that…).

Blacklands has at its – black – heart, a great idea. Not good, great. Having a 12-year-old child write to a serial killer and imprisoned paedophile in a bid to find the grave of his murdered uncle, and then tell the cat-and-mouse story more or less from the child’s perspective, is a terrific idea worthy of a great book. But this isn’t it.

For a start, while some sections are believable, others are extremely far-fetched. While the relationship that starts to blossom between the two correspondents becomes almost touching, the code-breaking in the letters which leads to that point never rings true.

The age, or the intelligence, of the boy is also an issue. To properly engage with the book, you have to completely identiify and sympathise with the boy, and while some elements – such as a desperate desire to please and make things good again – are well done, there is no consistency in his character.

There are some nice touches, such as the boy’s frequent ‘uncles’ who never stay long, and his miserable mildew-influenced school life, which demonstrate by their normality what an abnormal enterprise he has embarked upon. But then there are sections such as the prison’s bizarre and illogical response to the eventual escape which let the book down.

All in all, a pleasant read. But one which promised much more.

So, rating time:

#18 Blacklands, by Belinda Bauer (Transworld Publishers) - 6/10

Next up: The Shipping News, by Annie Proulx (Fourth Estate)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating

#17 Right as Rain, by George Pelecanos (Orion)

Derek Strange is back (as is this blog), but it’s 30-odd years (not about a month) after I first encountered him in Hard Revolution, and now he’s a private investigator rather than a cop (I’m still a journalist, just in case you were wondering).

To the book - which I finished at the start of the month, but have only just got around to writing about. Which isn’t to say I enjoyed it, because I did.

It being my second book by George Pelecanos and all, it was nice to have a continuation of the story and to pick up on Strange’s life, and see him still part of the same Washington surroundings and community, and still battling against the consequences of drugs in scenarios which are never anything other than completely realistic.

In line with the bleak subjects he is writing about, Pelecanos’ style is gritty, and noir-like. Which makes the moments of wit, usually supplied by the street-educated and commitment phobe Strange, plus two half-wit drug dealers in this particular book, a welcome relief.

I couldn’t help thinking Right as Rain was more tightly plotted than Hard Revolution, and I enjoyed the story – of an investigation into a shooting of one (black) police officer by another (white) police officer – more as well. But I couldn’t find it within me to add another point to its rating.

It’s also interesting to note that this book was the first Pelecanos wrote about Strange and his partner Terry Quinn (the cop-killer mentioned earlier), with Strange’s upbringing and past completed in retrospect (in Hard Revolution). I couldn’t tell, and I have to say that I gained plenty of insight into Strange’s attitude and decisions in Right as Rain from reading the books in chronological rather than published order. Which is quite an achievement by the author.

So, rating time:

#17 Right as Rain, by George Pelecanos (Orion) - 8/10

Next up: Blacklands, by Belinda Bauer (Transworld Publishers)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating

The small screen's big impact

Isn’t it strange what you uncover when you try something new? There you are, going about your usual routine, happy and content, and then you take a different path and discover another world you barely knew existed but, given a new light, suddenly becomes interesting.

All right, I’m only talking about reading a few new books, but it’s strange how the mind works.

Readers may have guessed - from my knowledge of the work of Charlie Brooker and Mil Millington, who both first found significant fame in the Guardian – the identity of my newspaper of choice. I particular enjoy the Saturday edition, when I pretty much read the entire issue from cover to cover – apart from the Review section.

Typically, I only glance at the Review section. I like to give it the once over because I’m interested in literature and didn’t want to miss out on anything, but now it’s one of the first supplements I pick up, and although I still might not read it from cover to cover, I certainly pour over it more than before.

All of which is a long-ish introduction to the TV Book Club, which I chanced upon in midweek on More 4 (first shown on Channel 4). Of course, books on television has become fashionable, thanks to Oprah and Richard and Judy’s respective televised clubs either side of the Atlantic, and it’s the mastermind behind the Richard and July version, Amanda Knox, behind this project as well.

As I mentioned regarding World Book Day, anything which tries to encourage reading must be a good thing, although I found the selection of the presenters – comedians Dave Spikey and Jo Brand, actors Laila Rouass and Nathaniel Parker, fashion guru Gok Wan and, in the episode I watched, Richard E Grant – to have been scattergun at best and completely bizarre at worst.

Incidentally, I’m aware that the view above (encourage reading = good) is rather simplistic; that the books which feature on such television shows get propelled to the top of the bestseller lists while others, shorn of the same exposure but perhaps more deserving, founder in their wake potentially to the detriment of the industry as a whole. But that debate’s for another day – perhaps January 1st next year…

Anyway, the series has now been Sky+’d (we’ll wait to see what the Wench makes of that use of the small percentage of memory we have remaining…) and, in topical fashion, the book that was being discussed when I tuned in was the latest from George Pelecanos, The Way Home.

Coincidentally, he’s an author I’d never read before starting this challenge, and I’d actually turned the last page on the second book of his to be included in my 100-book challenge, Right as Rain, just minutes earlier. Isn’t it strange what happens when you embark on a new path?

A birthday surprise

Fate, kismet or destiny. Whatever you believe, it’s all a bit of a coincidence.

It was my birthday on Thursday. I don’t mention this because I’m seeking attention, or presents - although I like presents a lot! – but rather because another major global event was happening the same day which relates to this 100-book challenge.

Yep, it was the 2010 World Book Day, a day of celebrating literature and encouraging children to read more through various initiatives, including the issue of vouchers to schools.

Well, they say ‘World’ Book Day. In fact, March 4th is only World Book Day for the United Kingdom and Ireland, which seems pretty contradictory. The World Book Day website says that in most countries, the celebration takes place in April – so much for a coordinated effort…

Enough about other people, though. It’s my birthday and I’ll read if I want to.

Which means I’m very grateful for two new books I received as presents: Hearts and Minds, by Amanda Craig and Black Lands, by Belinda Bauer. I’ve no doubt they will be featuring on these pages in the near future.

#16 Travels in the Scriptorium, by Paul Auster (Faber and Faber Limited)

Well, this could be the shortest review I write this year, mainly because I wasn't quite sure what to make of Travels in the Scriptorium. I could certainly suggest some theories or put forth some hypotheses – but perhaps not in so few paragraphs.

Let's be clear, I enjoyed it. I liked the confusing nature of the tale of a man who has no identity, few memories and even less idea of what is happening. But, if it's possible, I was even more in the dark.

It's my second Paul Auster book of this challenge, and it's evident how he has earned his existentialist reputation, spinning stories within yarns, and telling tales inside yet more stories, none of which may be true. It's difficult to describe, but it's unique and absorbing writing.

So, rating time:

#16 Travels in the Scriptorium, by Paul Auster (Faber and Faber Limited) - 7/10

Next up: Right as Rain, by George Pelecanos (Orion)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating

#15 Ghost, by Robert Harris (Hutchinson)

You wait ages for one book about a ghostwriter, and then two come along at once...

Of the two - Mil Millington's A Certain Chemistry and Robert Harris' Ghost - it's clear which one was the bigger publishing 'event'. The former is a quietly humorous fictional tale which, without meaning to be unkind, will not have troubled the bestselling list overmuch. The latter was by a writing behemoth, a disillusioned acquaintance of Tony Blair and concerned a British prime minister being tried for war crimes. You can guess which one garnered more column inches in the national newspapers.

Not that there is a great deal between the two in quality, however. Ghost starts in fine fashion, and the first 100 pages or so are really riveting as the ghostwriter is hired for the mysterious project and he meets his subject.

Unfortunately, I didn't like the direction the book took and, without revealing any of the plot twists, I just found the central conspiracy - which is pretty evident halfway through - far from convincing.

At times, you feel Harris is trying too hard to make parallels. A prime minister beholden to American interests? Check. A prime minster whose talents lie in style rather than substance? Check. A prime minister whose wife has the greater intelligence (political or otherwise)? Check. Harris might as well have taken out a full-page advert in Tribune.

It might have been better for the book had he done so, because it feels like Harris is trying so hard to make his points on wider issues that he forgets to concentrate on his primary job; writing something believable.

As things near a climax, everything happens at once and the ghostwriter has a sudden, bizarre, code-cracking revelation that stretches credibility to the limit. And it's that impression that remains after finishing Ghost, rather than the impressive start that made you want to read more.

So, rating time:

#15 Ghost, by Robert Harris (Hutchinson) - 6/10

Next up: Travels in the Scriptorium, by Paul Auster

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating

#14 A Certain Chemistry, by Mil Millington (Hodder and Stoughton)

One of the funniest newspaper columns I've ever read was called Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About, and was written by Mil Millington. It really was very good. I told someone else I was reading a book by Mil Millington, and their response was 'the one who did the column about the Things My Girlriend and I Have Argued About? That was brilliant'.

The pedigree (which prompted a book of the same name) is therefore pretty good, but A Certain Chemistry, while certainly enjoyable, doesn't quite hit the same heights.

The premise is interesting: a (male) ghostwriter starts to work with a famous (female) soap star, falls for her and then has to cope with the fall-out. But there is also some strange occasional narration, from God no less, explaining why relationships begin, blossom and fail is all down to chemistry (hence the title).

There are some very funny lines, mostly when the male and female characters interact with one another, and writing about relationships is clearly Millington's strength. This might even have been enough to sustain a novel, but instead we're also given God's wry omnipresent overview, which I ultimately found a bit tiresome.

Ignoring that small issue, though, there is much to enjoy - even if I found myself wondering how his wife/girlfriend is...

So, rating time:

#14 A Certain Chemistry, by Mil Millington (Hodder and Stoughton) - 7/10

Next up: Ghost, by Robert Harris (Hutchinson)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating

Farewell Dick Francis

I suppose late is better than never, and I’d like to quickly acknowledge the passing of author Dick Francis, who passed away on February 14th, aged 89.

It wasn’t so many days earlier that I completed his latest book, Even Money as part of this here 100 books in a year challenge, and although I wasn’t particularly complimentary towards it, I wouldn’t want that to detract from how much I’ve enjoyed his work over the years.

Reading his obituaries, Francis sold 60 million books worldwide, his novels were published into 20 languages and he won numerous awards, including a Crime Writer's Association lifetime achievement award. Add in his CBE for services to literature in 2000, his former life as a champion jockey and a Second World War pilot, and you can’t really argue with his achievements over his lifetime.

Francis, of course, was the jockey on Devon Loch in the 1956 Grand National when the Queen Mother’s horse suddenly fell near the finish line. But that mysterious incident hardly compares with the riddles his lead characters - always men - have solved in the horse racing world over the years.

Everyone will have their favourites. Mine are probably those featuring one-handed former-jockey-turned-private-investigator Sid Halley (Odd Against and Whip Hand more than Come to Grief, which was written some years later). I also remember enjoying Proof (the wine one), The Edge (the train murder mystery one) and Twice Shy (the computer one, although it seems very out of date now).

Apparently, another novel has been written, again with son Felix, and will be published in the autumn. Unlike other recent offerings, I hope it does him justice.

#13 No Country for Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy (Picador)

Yes, I've seen the film. And regardless of its best picture Oscar in 2007, the book is better.

Cormac McCarthy is regularly described as one of the Great Living American Novelists, and with lots of publicity currently about another of his books which has been made into a film, The Road, I thought it was time to tackle an earlier work, albeit only dating back to 2005.

I wish I hadn’t seen the film - which was certainly a fine piece of work (even though I am no fan of the Coen brothers, who were the directors) - first, though. It was hard to get my recollections of the visual experience out of my head as I read, especially as - from what I remember - the film doesn't really bring much of anything new to the table.

The tale is a good one, charting how a ex-Vietnam vet finds a suitcase full of money at the scene of a drug deal gone wrong, and is then forced to try to evade the efforts of a particularly diligent and memorable hitman keen to recover what he has taken.

As a film, it works as an effective thriller, but despite the presence of a world-weary Tommy Lee Jones in the role of a sheriff investigating events, it wasn't until I read the book that the broader theme, referred to in the title (from a poem by Yeats), properly came across. For while it's a compelling tale, there is a definite and important message about the changing nature of society and consequences of progress.

I must also mention the punctuation. After completing the book, I looked up McCarthy and apparently he's well known for his sparing use of punctuation, and quotation marks in particular. I must admit that this is anathema to me (and this is someone who had read Lynne Truss' Eats, Shoots and Leaves: the Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation), but I was surprised by how quickly I adapted and it was certainly a novel experience. Which neatly sums up the point of this entire enterprise…

So, rating time:

#13 No Country for Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy (Picador) - 7/10

Next up: A Certain Chemistry, by Mil Millington (Hodder and Stoughton)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating

#12 Man in the Dark, by Paul Auster (Faber and Faber Limited)

I’m always keen to receive recommendations, and I must admit I have never heard of Paul Auster until he was mentioned to me as an author I might like. And I did. Very much.

The shortest – and most interesting – book I’ve read so far this year, Man in the Dark is the story of an aging journalist and insomniac who reflects on his life and the lives of his daughter and grand-daughter, all of whom have suffered some tragic loss.

So far, so simple. Yet into this Auster and his journalist introduce a degree of existentialism by, during his frequent sleepless nights, creating a world in which a number of American states have ceded from the US government and are fighting a civil war which can apparently only be ended by an assassination of the person at the root of the entire conflict – himself (in the other world).

The beauty of the book lies in how the two worlds interact and how the journalist analyses his motives and his contradictory actions in light of his life, achievements and family. It’s a tale of America at war with itself - with the war against Iraq never too far away given the impact it’s had on his own kin - and sweeping ideas are investigated and given room to breathe even as the writing remains simple and easy to read.

Less than 200 pages, the most impressive thing about Man in the Dark is its effortless way is making the reader consider such grand themes with such conciseness and without distracting from an absorbing story. I shall be reading more Auster.

So, rating time:

#12 Man in the Dark, by Paul Auster (Faber and Faber Limited) - 8/10

Next up: No Country for Old Men, by Cormac McCarthy (Picador)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating

#11 Hard Revolution, by George Pelecanos (Orion)

If we start with the basic assumption that The Wire is the greatest television show of all time (and as anyone who has ever watched the programme will testify, that’s a statement beyond contradiction), then it’s no surprise that I had to read something by George Pelecanos.

Pelacanos, you see, is one of the writers – and, subsequently, producers - on the afore-mentioned Greatest Show of All Time (™) and given the writing is one of the reasons for The Wire’s exalted status, it doesn’t take Johnny Ball to put two and two together and realise his books might be worth a look-see.

Hard Revolution tells the tale of a rookie black police officer in Washington in the 1960s; how he came to be a policeman, how his job affects his relationships with all those around him and, finally, how he deals with the assassination of Martin Luther King and the subsequent riots that erupt around him.

This being Pelacanos, it’s unsurprising that a number of crimes are being plotted or carried out at once, that a number of characters are morally ambiguous, and that minor decisions by one character tend to have major ramifications for someone else.

It’s a gripping book, first propelling the reader into a culture or era which with they might be unfamiliar, making it comfortable and understandable, and then contriving a series of circumstances that make the book feel as if it is spinning out of control in parallel with events for the lead character as the riots ensue. I enjoyed it very much.

So, rating time:

#11 Hard Revolution, by George Pelecanos (Orion) - 8/10

Next up: Man in the Dark, by Paul Auster (Faber and Faber Limited)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating

#10 Tales of the City, by Armistead Maupin (Corgi Books)

Good, but not great. What? You want more? I promised you pithy, and now you're complaining that a particular review isn't wordy enough? Sheesh.

Righto. I'd been looking forward to reading Tales of the City, by Armistead Maupin - by all accounts a classic generation-defining book which stemmed from weekly fictional articles first serialised in the San Francisco Chronicle. I'm not sure why I haven't picked it up before, but when I started this challenge, it was one of the books I was most looking forward to reading.

Perhaps that was the problem. Perhaps my expectations were too high. Because while there is no question it's an absorbing tale - a thorough examination of a time, a city, a lifestyle and much more - I wasn't as captivated as I thought I would be.

You have to admire the way the characters interlink with one another, and how the story dips in and out of their lives, but the story itself doesn't fascinate. It could be argued that that's the point; that the lives of few people are inherently fascinating, so it's merely echoing real life, but that's getting a bit deep and meaningful for a supposedly short review.

Another problem is that when people praise Tales of the City, one of its most praiseworthy attributes is its topicality, with the weekly nature of the serial allowing Maupin to incorporate and reference current news events. Without immersing myself in 1970s San Francisco (and I've got 100 books to read this year, remember), this is difficult to fully appreciate.

The final point to address is the book's sexuality; characters are, to put in frankly, having it away - every which way - left, right and centre. Thirty years after the book was written, this doesn't seem as shocking as I'm sure it was to many at the time, though, and again the overriding feeling is one of disengagement rather than incredulity or wonderment.

All that said, I enjoyed it, and will be reading more in the series. Given its focus on homosexuality, and that the series is hyped as a chronicle of an age and community that suffered the horrors of Aids, I’m interested to see how it is depicted by Maupin.

So, rating time:

#10 Tales of the City, by Armistead Maupin (Corgi Books) - 7/10

Next up: Hard Revolution, by George Pelecanos (Orion)

Click here for the full list of books so far, and their rating