Well whaddayaknow! I finally did it. My task to read the Times Top 20 books of the Naughties has been completed. It only bloody took me over a year! Don’t get me wrong I read other books along the way. I’m slow, but I’m not THAT slow. Also, I’ve pretty much had the most eventful year-and-a-bit of my life during it. I got married, moved to a new house, continued to develop my own business, went on two holidays, been to three weddings, my own stag do in Cardiff and shit load of other stag do’s.
The Short and Winding Book
The final book, and therefore the Times’ Number one book of the Naughties, wasn’t a let down. It really is a great book. It’s a hard slog, and almost draining to read. I can’t help but think of the word GRIM. The book is set in the future after the world has experienced some kind of apocalyptic event (we never find out any details) and we are following a father and son as they head south to warmer climate and the promise of something better.
The book’s main subject is centered around the father justifying survival of both himself and his son. Coming to terms with the prospect of ending both his son and his own life. What is there to live for after all? The earth is now a barren, grey, wasteland with no-one except the occisional survivor. There are some disturbing moments in the book. Definitely up there was the moment the dad holds a gun to his son’s head about to pull the trigger completely convinced in his reasoning.
This was a pretty small book. And it had to be. I actually read most of it on a flight to London for my good mate Duncan’s wedding. See pics here.
I do recommend it, but if you can’t stick too much of that kind of tone then give the movie a try.
Rating: 
Here is a list of the books I read as part of my the project. Remember, some of the books were removed from the list as I had already read them; I asked people to recommend books to fill the gap in the comments of this post.
My favourite was Atonement as you can see from the ratings. I have a wee soft spot for Suite Fransaise too. Especially ‘Part 2′ of that book. I highly recommend you check both of them out.
So yeah. It’s been emotional, as a mate in work would say. I have no clue what to blog about now though. haha. I am however, looking forward to reading any book I want. This project has really opened my eyes to books I would never have picked up otherwise. I’ve learned a lot and it has strengthened my love of reading. So, in short, everything that I intended to get out of this hair-brained project.
