It being New Year’s Eve, this post feels appropriate for this time of year.
Indeed, another 12 months have passed since I last compiled a list of books read, and I’m very proud to say that I have increased the number of works from last year.
There are, of course, the usual suspects but I have also read some pretty remarkable pieces of writing from a wide variety of topics.
Some people just know how to put thoughts into exquisite words…
What I Have Read
- The House of Silk – Anthony Horowitz
- Moriarty – Anthony Horowitz
- Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower Spy – Garbiella Coleman
- The God Delusion – Richard Dawkins
- The Manly Art of Bartitsu – E.W. Barton-Wright
- The Deduction Guide – Louise Blackwood
- Tricks of the Mind – Derren Brown
- The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection – Arthur Conan Doyle
- The Silmarillion – J.R.R. Tolkien
- Letters From Father Christmas – J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Crime of Miss Oyster Brown and other stories – Peter Lovesey
- A Grief Observed – C.S. Lewis
- The Screwtape Letters – C.S. Lewis
- Anglo-Saxon Poetry (includes Beowulf) – S. A. J. Bradley
- Free Will – Sam Harris
- Mortality – Christopher Hitchens
- The War Poems of Wilfred Owen – edited by John Stallworthy
- The Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Fall of Arthur – J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Lay of Aotrou and Itroun – J.R.R. Tolkien
- The War Poems – Siegfried Sassoon
- The Magic of Reality – Richard Dawkins
- The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún – J.R.R. Tolkien
- A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Stories – Charles Dickens
Beautiful Quote
“I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
Intriguing Quote
“The truth is more magical – in the best and most exciting sense of the word – than any myth or made-up mystery or miracle. Science has its own magic: the magic of reality.”
― Richard Dawkins, The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True
Thought-provoking Quote
“To the dumb question ‘Why me?’ the cosmos barely bothers to return the reply: ‘why not?’”
― Christopher Hitchens, Mortality
Amusing Quote
“It may be that you are not yourself luminous, but that you are a conductor of light. Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection
Funny Quote
“Oh God, make me a normal twentieth-century girl!’ Thanks to our labours, this will mean increasingly, ‘Make me a minx, a moron, and a parasite’.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters & Screwtape Proposes a Toast
Influential Verse
“For by my glee might many men have laughed,
And of my weeping may something have been left,
Which must die now.”
― Wilfred Owen, The War Poems
Now I shall begin a new reading list for 2017, and whilst wishing you all the very best this coming year, do you have any suggestions of books I should read and would love?
Happy New Year folks!
I have my copy of The Hobbit ready for tomorrow since it is always the first book I read each year. I will read The Lord of the Rings later this year for book club as “A Favorite Book You Haven’t Read In A While.” And The Screwtape Letters is my favorite CS Lewis book!! Happy New Years!!!!
Awesome stuff! 😀
Happy New Year!
Hi James – if you want to continue on the CS Lewis track, consider reading “God in the Dock.” I’ve been reading it before bed, and it has been wonderful. It is a seemingly random collection of essays, responses to people commenting on things, lectures, and even a few book introductions, all neatly compiled in one book. A little bit of Lewis wisdom goes a long way.
I’ve got Augustine’s “City of God” on my reading list this year. Judging by how big it is, it may be my entire reading list 😀
And, of course, Beren and Luthien when it comes out.
Thanks Bryan, will certainly look it up! It’s actually an ambition of mine to try and read as much C.S. Lewis as possible 🙂