The rationale

Books are my only real hobby the only constant source of knowledge and wonder and as a result of a four hour daily commute the books I read are a daily companion through the long train journeys.
History used to be my passion but after recently completing a creative writing course I discovered that if you want to be a good writer - which who knows maybe one day will happen - then you need to read other writers. That means that the last few months have been ones of intense catching up on the fiction front.

The choice of an author is much like a trail of stepping stones. Both with history and fiction the starting point is with one book that maybe will lead to six or seven more. For example you will read about Kennedy that will lead to Vietnam that will lead to the French involvement in the country which will finally lead to the end of the American involvement with Nixon. Maybe in that trail five or six books will be read and at the end it could go off into more Nixon or back into something to do with the French or even communism generally.

In terms of fiction I took my love of Russian history and turned that to reading Dostoevsky and Lermontov etc and then because of a holiday in America started an American fiction phase with Steinbeck, Twain and Capote included.

What I will do with this blog is upload the musings I have already made on the books I have read in the last couple of years and will also be used to share thoughts and views on current reading. Everything I read gets summarised in a little book I call my 'Book of books" and the idea behind this blog is that I share that and as I would add new entries also add them online.

I hope that some of the things I post will interest you and maybe we share the same thoughts and feelings about some of the books.
Simon