Considering I didn't work for most of the year this isn't that many books.

Towards the end of time - JOHN UPDiKE

The Idiot -FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY 

Colossus of Maroussi - HENRY MiLLER

Till We Have Faces - C.S.LEWiS

Good omens - TERRY PRATCHETT & NEiL GAiMAN

Invisible man - RALPH ELLiSON

Ariel - SYLViA PLATH

Johnny panic and the bible of dreams - SYLViA PLATH

A girl is a half formed thing - EiMEAR MCBRIDE

Phantom of the opera  - GASTON LEROUX

 

Netochka nezvanova - FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY

Child of god - CORMAC MCCARTHY

The perks of being a wallflower- STEPHEN CHBOSKY

The little Prince - ANTOiNE DE SAiNT-EXUPERY

SilaS marner - GEORGE ELiOT

There is no planet B - MiKE BERNERS-LEE

Tess of the D'urbervilles - THOMAS HARDY

Espedair street - iAiN BANKS

Case histories - KATE ATKiNSON

One good turn - KATE ATKiNSON

 

When will there be good news - KATE ATKiNSON

Started early took my dog  - KATE ATKiNSON

Big sky - KATE ATKiNSON

The doll factory - ELiZABETH MACNEAL

The hard times first 40 years

Private memoirs and confessions of a justified sinner - JAMES HOGG

The favourite game - LEONARD COHEN

Dead souls - NiKOLAi GOGOL

The box I call life - LiLY LU

Bird song - SEBASTiAN FAULKS

 

Skinema - CHRiS NiERATKO

Flannery O'connor complete stories

A special providence - RiCHARD YATES

Alice's adventures in wonderland - LEWiS CAROLL

Through the looking glass -LEWiS CAROLL

Paradoxia -LYDi LUNCH

After the hanging -O.V ViJAYAN

Time travellers wife - AUDREY NiFFENEGGER

The book of revelation- RUPERT THOMSON

survivor  -CHUCK PALAHNiUK

 

Watership down - RiCHARD ADAMS

Sing backwards and weep - MARK LANEGAN

freedom from the known - JiDDU KRiSHNAMURTi

bloody chamber and other stories -ANGELA CARTER

Geek love - KATHERiNE DUNN

We need to talk about Kevin- LiONEL SHRiVER

The wall - JOHN LANCHESTER

The woman in white - WiLKiE COLLiNS

Marabou stork nightmares - iRViNE WELSH

Billy Liar - KEiTH WATERHOUSE

 

Tender is the night - F.SCOTT FiTZGERALD

The shining - STEPHEN KiNG

Cemetery drive - JOE WiLSON (DEATHSEX BLOODBATH)

Cannery row -JOHN STEiNBECK

My name is red -ORHAN PAMUK

Good as gold -JOSEPH HELLER

Mark Lanegan sleevenotes

The woman in black - SUSAN HiLL

Small island - ANDREA LEVY

Killing floor -LEE CHiLD

 

I am the wolf - MARK LANEGAN

Rebecca - DAPHNE DU MAURiER

The centaur - JOHN UPDiKE

Short stories of Dostoevsky

Junk- MELViN BURGESS      

Northern lights - PHiLiP PULLMAN

About a boy - NiCK HORNBY

Confessions of a sociopath - M.E.THOMAS

A theft - SAUL BELLOW

The death of bunny munro - NiCK CAVE

 

Slow man - J.M COATZEE

The color purple - ALiCE WALKER    

Private - JAMES PATTERSON

Oryx and crake - MARGARET ATWOOD

Christmas holiday - W.SOMERSET MAUGHAM

Private London - JAMES PATTERSON

The subtle knife - PHiLiP PULLMAN

Armed to the teeth with lipstick - BLAG DAHLiA    

 

(colour code is, green for books I chose to read and Red for books Gemma chose for me.  

 

          

                    

Why I drove 1725 miles in 41 hours

 So, the world is going through the corona virus epidemic.
Nothing is NORMAL.
I haven't had to work for month's.
I have been saying for a while now (since reading "on the road", I don't like Jack Kerouac but that's a different story) how I want to drive from John O Groats to Land's end in a day.
I always thought the whole trip would require over night stays at each end so I would need to plan it around time off work etc.
But now I don't have work so I decided on Sunday afternoon, that I would get up early Monday morning and DO it Do it without needing to worry how long it took.

I think doing it now during the corona virus had some advantages like the fact the roads are very quiet anyway, and when I got to both John O groats and Lands end there was hardly a soul in sight.
The main disadvantage though is of course nowhere is open, so that made it difficult to buy anything resembling a good meal, and also meant that I would have to sleep in the car if at all.

Sadly the famous SIGN at land's end is privately owned and because of the corona situation it was also CLOSED, and the owner removes the signs so my proof photograph is just me stood next to the pole that the signs should be attached too.

My main concern about doing this during the corona period is that the police could stop me and not be too impressed with this level on unnecessary travel and potentially even give me a fine and send me home. Also its all still very unclear what the rules are about travel between England and Scotland, so I didn't know if police would be waiting on the borders.

So I did the drive in my 2002 Audi A4 3.0 Petrol Quattro sport, the total round trip was 1725 miles and took me 41 hours.
My car definitely needs a service and the MOT expired during the trip, but due to corona virus guidelines it didn't matter.
Starting mileage was 138,589
Mileage at end was  140,314

I had to fill up petrol 6 times.
my car has poor fuel economy and only an average size tank meaning I had to fill up every 300 miles approx.
Total fuel cost came to £280, another advantage to the corona virus situation is that even though most of this was motorway services prices, fuel prices are lower than normal, so the six tanks cost me between £1-£1.20 per litre.
I also had to put about 1.5 litres of oil in over the course of the journey so perhaps I am losing a bit too much oil too. 

Here is the time taken for each segment of the journey

Monday 15th June
4AM-Get in car in Witney and start driving to John O Groats
4PM-Arrive at John O groats
5PM- get back in car and start driving to Land's End.

Tuesday 16th June
3PM- arrive at Land's End.
4PM-start drive back to Oxford
9PM-fill up petrol at Tesco Cowley.

The weather for this whole trip was amazing for the most part, it stayed light till gone 10pm at night and was sunny all day, I had a small bit of rain driving out of Scotland but the real rain started when I got to Exeter, then throughout Cornwall and various parts of the drive home I experienced some of the worst rain I have ever driven in, people were parked on the side of the motorway to avoid driving in it.

TIMES I LEFT THE HOUSE 2019

26/01/2019-world cafe reading- brickwork lizards best bit was the gong player

04/02/2019- union chapel london- the residents pretty and freezing

20/07/2019- forum london- godflesh/neurosis surprisingly good but not as good as anna karenina I was reading at the time (not godflesh) scary beardy men.

11/08/2019- underworld london- dwarves chav man dressed in tattoos and burberry hat didn't dare drink my water

26/10/2019- venue southend- das ghoul/dai x/igam ogam/ t bitch what, I didn't go to this !!!

27/10/2019- wheatsheaf oxford- melt banana/unman/scrap brain more beards and more noise, I know this and I wasn't even there, scrap brain whatever the fuck that is.

07/12/2019- st giles church oxford- brickwork lizards  warmer and prettier than Residents 

#reviews by Gemma this year. 

BOOKWORM 2019

LEAVES OF GRASS -WALT WHiTMAN

BOSUN-NEW JUCHE

A LONG WAY DOWN-NiCK HORNBY

THE VIOLENT BEAR IT AWAY-FLANNERY O'CONNOR

HOUSE OF THE DEAD-FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY

NOTES OF A DIRTY OLD MAN-CHARLES BUKOWSKi

REVOLUTIONARY ROAD-RiCHARD YATES

WEB-JOHN WYNDHAM

WASP FACTORY- iAiN BANKS

HAUNTED -CHUCK PALAHNiUK

MR SAMMLER'S PLANET-SAUL BELLOW

DISGRACE - J.M COATZEE

IN THE HOUSE UPON THE DIRT BETWEEN THE LAKE AND THE WOODS -MATT BELL

THE END OF ALICE-A.M HOMES

OF HUMAN BONDAGE - W.S MAUGHAM

GO ASK ALICE - BEATRiCE SPARKS

SLEEVENOTES-JOE THOMPSON

PINCHER MARTIN- WiLLiAM GOLDiNG

ON THE ROAD -JACK KEROUAC

THE NOSE/THE CARRIAGE - GOGOL

DECLINE AND FALL - EVELYN WAUGH

COSMOLOGICAL EYE - HENRY MiLLER

STRANGERS ON A TRAIN - PATRiCiA HiGHSMiTH

LADY CHATTERLEYS LOVER-D.H LAWRENCE

FOR ESME WITH LOVE AND SQUALOR-J.D SALiNGER 

TIN MAN- SARAH WiNMAN

CROME YELLOW- ALDOUS HUXLEY

GLOW - NED BEAUMAN

PROZAC NATION - ELiZABETH WURTZEL

DANDELION WINE - RAY BRADBURY

BEDROOM SECRETS OF THE MASTERCHEFS-iRViNE WELSH

THE WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT- JOHN STEiNBECK

METAMORPHOSIS AND OTHER STORIES-FRANZ KAFKA

WALKING ON GLASS-iAiN BANKS

THE DIARY OF ADAM AND EVE- MARK TWAiN

VILE BODIES-EVELYN WAUGH

RABBIT RUN- JOHN UPDiKE

FOUNTAINHEAD-AYN RAND

RANT- CHUCK PALAHNiUK

SOMETHING HAPPENED-JOSEPH HELLER

THE HEART OF A DOG-MiKHAiLBULGAKOV

GO SET A WATCHMAN - HARPER LEE

RABBIT REDUX- JOHN UPDiKE

LESS THAN ZERO - BRET EASTON ELLiS

ROBINSON CRUSOE-DANiEL DEFOE

AS I LAY DYING-WiLLiAM FAULKNER

RABBIT IS RICH -JOHN UPDiKE

MARCH OF THE LEMMINGS -STEWART LEE

STEPPENWOLF-HERMANN HESSE

PERFUME-PATRiCK SUSKiND

RABBIT AT REST -JOHN UPDiKE

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE-JUAN PABLO ViLLALOBOS

JAMAICA INN- DAPHNE DU MAURiER

HIGH FIDELITY -NiCK HORNBY

LOST BRITTISH SERIAL KILLER-(BIBLE JOHN) -DAViD WiLSON

MRS DALLOWAY-ViRGiNiA WOOLF

LICKS OF LOVE -JOHN UPDiKE

THE DOG CATCHER- ALEXEi SAYLE

GRAPES OF WRATH -JOHN STEiNBECK

 

The few records I bought this year (2019)

VOID MANES/BLUE WHALE- SPLIT 7" WITH BOOK/WHITE VINYL
BIG BUSINESS-THE BEAST YOU ARE/WHITE VINYL
HEY COLOSSUS-RRR -ORIGINAL PRESS 22/250
HEY COLOSSUS- IN BLACK AND GOLD
HEY COLOSSUS- THE GUILLOTINE
USA/MEXICO- MALAMOROS
GODFLESH- POST SELF
COME- DONT ASK DONT TELL
COMANECHI- YOU OWE ME NOTHING BUT LOVE
TAD-QUICK AND DIRTY/GREEN VINYL
HEPA TITUS- BLUE FAT PUSSY
BREEDERS- MOUNTAIN BATTLES.

I SOLD MORE RECORDS THAN I BOUGHT THIS YEAR.

MY YEAR OF BEiNG A BOOKWORM!

-Brief interviews with hideous men -DAViD FOSTER WALLACE
-Catch 22-JOSEPH HELLER
-Let's go play at the adam's-MENDAL JOHNSON
-The sandman-E.T.A HOFFMANN
-He cuts hog-MOLLY HARVEY
-Secret history of twin peaks -MARK FROST
-Exquisite corpse-POPPY Z BRiTE
-Antic hay -ALDOUS HUXLEY 
-The plague -ALBERT CAMUS 
-Recording unhinged-SYLViA MASSY
-The immoralist -ANDRE GiDE
-The fall- ALBERT CAMUS
-When Kids kill - JONATHON PAUL 
-A sense of freedom - JiMMY BOYLE 
-H -CHRISTiANE F 
-The trial - FRANZ KAFKA 
-Evil harvest - ROD COLViN
-Brave new world -ALDOUS HUXLEY
-Last exit to brooklyn - HUBERT SELBY JR
-Exile and the kingdom - ALBERT CAMUS
-Show of violence - FREDRiC WERTHAM
-Venus in furs - LEOPOLD VON SACHER-MASOCH
-The Double - FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY
-Fear and loathing in las vegas- HUNTER S THOMPSON
-Crazy cock - HENRY MiLLER
-Men into beasts - GEORGE SYLVESTER
-Seize the day - SAUL BELLOW
-Dubliners- JAMES JOYCE
-Fahrenheit 451 -RAY BRADBURY
-Dead babies - MARTiN AMiS
-One day in the life of Ivan denisovich- ALEKSANDR SOLZHENNiTSYN
-Adventures of Tom Sawyer -MARK TWAiN
-Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - MARK TWAiN
-The crying of lot 49- THOMAS PYNCHON
-The diary of a nobody- GEORGE AND WEEDON GROSSMiTH
-Notes from underground- FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY
-Closing time - JOSPEH HELLER
-Dr jekyll and mr hyde/Mark heim/Merry men -ROBERT LOUiS STEVENSON
-Franny and zooey -J.D SALiNGER
-Cock and bull - WiLL SELF
-Mountainhead -NEW JUCHE
-A season in hell - ARTHUR RiMBAUD
-The victim - SAIL BELLOW
-Virgin suicides - JEFFREY EUGENiDES
-Tropic of capricorn -HENRY MiLLER
-Girlvert -ASHLEY BLUE
-Fucking Martin- DALE PECK
-Of mice and men - JOHN STEiNBECK
-Great expectations -CHARLES DiCKENS
-Requiem for a dream- HUBERT SELBY JR
-The collector - JOHN FOWLES
-The girl next door - JACK KETCHUM
-The art of loving - ERiCH FROMM
-The rum diary - HUNTER S THOMPSON
-American psycho - BRET EASTON ELLiS
-To kill a mockingbird - HARPER LEE
-Confessions of a mask - YUKiO MiSHiMA
-Oliver twist -CHARLES DiCKENS
-Down and out in paris and london- GEORGE ORWELL
-Fight club - CHUCK PALAHNiUK
-East of eden- JOHN STEiNBECK

If it wasn't for my wife I would have gone to ZERO gigs this year

5/1/18 -Oxford bully- Brickwork lizards-flights of helios I remember hating this support band, I cant remember why but I'm sure if I saw them again, I would hate them again.

20/4/18-Oxford tap social- brickwork Lizards This year I have seen more bw lizards than the dwarves, this doesn't reflect my taste

27/4/18- Oxford Wheatsheaf- Pink Diamond revue perhaps I was playing in other acts tonight as it seems odd to have only seen one band, but of course I cannot see myself.

24/6/2018- Oxford bully- pieranormal fest-Brickwork lizards-undersmile-von braun-lee riley and macarena- rabbit spazz band. I don't think I was the only one confused trying to figure out when the spazz bands set started, or ended for that matter!!!!

10/7/2018- Camden underworld- Dwarves,hip priests, nick oliveri death electric All support bands have to be worse than the main band, that is why I have seen hip priests multiple times this year alone,I will never watch them headline as I hate them, although it is comedy gold to watch panda boy.

10/9/2018- aylesbury theatre- camel Bands should have a limit for how long they are allowed to perform for, anything over 45 minutes and you deserve to be shot on stage.

11/11/2018- Camden black heart- hewhocannotbenamed - hip priests Hewho is a legend, my favourite bit was finding the bassists signature plectrum on the floor and upon reading his name I threw it back on the floor. 


18/11/2018- Camden black heart- blag dahlia acoustic, nick oliveri acoustic if only blag and hewho were on this stage at the same time instead of a week apart, both of them together must be great, and annoyingly I've yet to see it happen!!!!

and so next year I'm staying in!!!!