Siam Scarlett

I can't believe I forgot to mention this last week, but while in Thailand, I had a run-in with one of the list books. It wasn't until we were going through our photos last night that I remembered...

As I've mentioned many times before, I always enjoying perusing a bookshelf. It could be in somebody's home, at a hotel, in a library, or in a bookstore; it doesn't really matter, I just like walking my eyes over the spines of books. I suppose the fun is that you might come across something unique or something you've never heard of, and it just might take your reading in a new direction.

After having spent over five years reading through this list, I'm still little amazed how often I come across these titles. Of course it shouldn't really come as any surprise, after all they are 100 "all-time novels."

Often give us soldiers the lie: but we pay them for

My reading through a list of 100 books has meant that I have had to get my hands on...100 different books. While I understand the appeal of buying books and having them displayed on a bookshelf in one's home, it isn't really for me. Maybe if the books I bought were leather-bound first editions, but I have no desire to line my shelf with a collection of paperbacks, most of which I will never read again.

So, to read through these books I've been making good use of the library. Of the 65 books I've read so far, 60 were from the library. However, the library doesn't have every book on the list. To ensure that I'll never been in a situation where I'm waiting to read the 100th book, I've always kept my eyes open for these missing titles at every used bookstore I visit.

Currently my two most sought titles are Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone, and Loving by Henry Green. There are other titles the library currently doesn't have, but I know this is only because their previous copies were discarded and are being replaced (White Noise).