From yesterday's Times newspaper.

Confusingly, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown was also in their 'worst of the decade' list.

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Books of the decade (The Times, 14/11/09): numbers 41–80 / numbers 81–100

I haven't read any of these, but the ones I want to read are Bad Science, Chronicles and The Curious Incident of the Dog...

Philip Pullman

Austerlitz.

Wot no Pynchon?

Against the Day????

This is just a list of the decade's "great unread" really, isn't it?

Of these, I have read:

Austerlitz
The Road
The God Delusion
The Rest Is Noise
Sir Gawain

All great.

I was quite proud that I had read three of these.

But they are the only 3 I have read out of the whole 100. Apart from Pullman, it was Dan Brown and Harry Potter

:D

The Road.

have read a lot fo them but austerlitz would be my choice (or any other sebald book in any list, head and shoulders over the rest

I'm not that big on novels and i only read (or try and read) one once in a blue moon, but i was surprised how much i enjoyed that great big David Eggars book.
I'll vote for the Curious Incident of the Dog which i thought was terrific in all sorts of ways. In fact i can vouch that it was enjoyed by young teens and old gits.

Not read Austerlitz, but during "the decade" i've reread and enjoyed Rings of Saturn the most.

The God Delusion, my views on religion have softened a bit though.

I've read 9 of these, the only one I didn't like was The Accidental, which started off well then I just lost interest in it.

It's a little embarrassing to say that all I've read from these 40 are Dylan's Chronicles (great read; possibly the best musician's memoir I've read) and The Shite Runner (my wife and her best friend loved it and it sure didn't take too much time to plow through). There are about a have dozen here I have no intention of ever cracking open under any circumstances (Gladwell, Da Vinci, Roth ...)

not a spare word in the Road.

I really like Life of Pi. Read it in almost one sitting.

Deathly Hallows far & away best Potter book.

That dog one is on my shelf, awaiting my enthusiasm.

The Road, I think, the only one I will read again.

Seabiscuit is a great read despite it being about a horse.

This seems to be a list of books that were Big and/or 'Important' - I'm surprised Kavalier & Clay isn't there, or Cloud Atlas. Or maybe Alan Carr's Give Up Smoking book. Anyway, of those I've read:

The Good

Life Of Pi - heart-stoppingly good
The Road
Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius (annoying, yes, but with a couple of unforgettable set-pieces that make me glad to have read it.
Austerlitz
Bad Science
The Curious Dog/Night Incident
Bob Dylan (I guess it was a major event that he published what appeared to be his autobiography - far from conventional, it turned to to say a lot more about him then I thought it would)

The Bad

The Rest Is Noise - very very disappointing and frustrating, but I think it comes down to our tastes for 20th C composers not coinciding.

One of the weakest novels I've ever read.


'Austerlitz' by a country mile. 'The Corrections' offered so much promise and eventually collapses under its own weight.

can't please all of the people all of the time.

You could at least try.

I love you all.

Dan Browns Da Vinci Code was high up in the Best AND Worst categories! :huh:

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins is the only one I've read - I really do read books, really... I do.
However, it transpires that I'm only up to about 1970 and am a few decades behind of whats happening in the W.o.B. (World of Books) -_-

Apparently in this month's Word magazine there is an interview with Ben Goldacre and he comes across as something of a tit. Bad Science is still a great book. I saw him speak in a some tent in the green field at Glastonbury, with bare breasted earth mothers hovering in the back ground. It was probably the highlight of the festival for me.

Margaret Atwood???
A rare case of drivel and Her worst book!

'Reading Lolita i Tehran' - I quite enjoyed reading it. Frightening, though, when she writes about the intrusions into private life.