And in no particular order............ (Top 10 Books)

Member Name: Highwayman

Product:	Top 10 Books
Date:	01/05/02 (64 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Food for the soul

Disadvantages: can someone else carry them.........please??

Reading - it's what I do best. Never not done it. Can I have more than 10 books and pretend its 10??

1) The Pepys Diaries: 9 volumes
Good Old Sammy. One of the most amazing reads Ive ever had. I discovered this only 12 months ago. Yes I knew about them, and I'd even read an abridged version. This is the real thing - the mother lode. The diaries cover 9 years from 1659 to 1667 (in the old speak - thats May 1668 to you and I). Secretary to the Navy, loving husband, terrible gossip, philanderer, and a guy who loved his food. A man who lived through the plague and the Great Fire without feeling sorry for himself. Met the King more than once. Knew Mrs Stewart. Went to Peter Lelys Studio to see portraits being painted. This is a guy who knew where it was at, and was determined not to miss a second of it. His humour, his vanity in his wardrobe and possessions, his honesty in recording his jealousies, insecurities, his sheer capacity for food, made this one of the most amazing documents it's been my privalege to read. The diaries are online at http://www.bibliomania.com/2/1/59/106/

2) The Milligan War Diaries: 5 volumes
Seeing a theme here? Another man who was brutally honest about what was going on around him. He saw the stupidity of what the world was doing, but was helpless to escape it. More humour than you could poke a stick at. Literally had me falling off my chair, these books have more than one milk through the nose moments. One not to be missed by anyone still able to draw breath.

3) The Sherlock Holmes Casebook
Only one volume, but a collection and reprint of all the Strand Magazine originals.
The Man. All his best work. What is there NOT to like about Holmes? Very much a man of his time: polite, clever, realistic, honorable. Cracking good stories, cleverly told. OK - so there are more cliches than a modern author might use, but Conan Doyle was probably inventing them. Still a fave of mine 30
years on.

4) 17 Watts? by Mo Foster
Im a musician by trade, and found this book an absolute gem. The history of British pop and rock, from the mouths of those who were there. Great stories, hilarious anecdotes, and all oh so true, even now. Maybe a little specialist, but anyone who remembers when musicians rather than accountants made music will get this.
What's perfect pitch?? The ability to throw a banjo into a toilet bowl without hitting the sides.

5 )The Moonstone: Wilkie Collins
Possibly the first great British detective novel. An intruiging read, full of period detail which you never knew about. It's long, sometimes laboured, but Rankin and Rebus started here.

6) The Arthurian Trilogy: Mary Stewart
Beautifully written, Grittier than the common romantic viewpoint, this is Britain in crisis, depending on a young man and his guide. Strong re-interpretation of the Arthurian Legend. Maybe a bit of a pot boiler, but we all need to dream...........

7)RAC Road Atlas
Dont you just LOVE maps? All those possibilities, the potential for discovery, the romance of the open road (Avoid the M5). OK - so it may be a little odd, but this is a beauty. A book I'm continually browsing, planning trips that I might never make, visiting in my mind the battlegrounds that made this country what it is. ( Visiting them in your mind is better than in reality, coz they're usually a disappointment).

8) The Sky Kings: Arch Whitehouse
I picked this up at a church fete in 1969, and it was 10 years old even then. A history of the war in the air 1914 to 1918. Scary stuff - tales of true bravery - and that was just taking off in those contraptions. Yes, it's probably a boy book - but I'm a boy.

9)Last Chance to See: Douglas Adams
We're in a mess - but if you HAVE to read about it, it's best done with some humour. The man who wrote Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy goes looki
ng for rare animals. The scariest animals in the book are the humans - even the Komodo dragons fare well. Great humour, not lectury, but a real thought provoker.

10) The next book I read.
Arent public libraries wonderful? All that enjoyment, and someone else pays for it.
Get your ticket now, and cherish it!

Summary: