Another list, this time novels - I found this one at the WordRidden blog. It’s 1001 books you must read before you die, taken from the book of the same name. The full list is here.
I was slightly disappointed to tick off a mere 21 titles (as listed below), with a further 6 which already appear on my ‘Must Read’ list (this actually exists, I may make it publicly available soon).
I think I’ll sneak a look at this publication next time I’m in a bookshop, and, if it’s informative beyond providing a list, I might purchase a copy, as I would love to expand my reading into different genres. It’s clear from the list below that I have a strong preference for dystopian/sci-fi themes. I don’t think this has anything to do with disliking other types of books, it’s just that there is an existing and ever-growing list of (mostly sci-fi) books that I urgently want to read, and it would be difficult to motivate me to take a break from these and try something completely new.
The books I’ve read:
Dead Air – Iain Banks
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin – Louis de Bernieres
Complicity – Iain Banks
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
2001: A Space Odyssey – Arthur C. Clarke
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick
A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
Catch-22 – Joseph Heller
I, Robot – Isaac Asimov
Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell
Animal Farm – George Orwell
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists – Robert Tressell
The War of the Worlds – H.G. Wells
Dracula – Bram Stoker
The Island of Dr. Moreau – H.G. Wells
The Time Machine – H.G. Wells
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Gulliver’s Travels – Jonathan Swift
The books I plan to read:
Cryptonomicon – Neal Stephenson
Watchmen – Alan Moore & David Gibbons
The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks
Neuromancer – William Gibson
The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson
I came across this fun food meme over at Relly’s blog.
Here’s what you have to do:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.
1. Venison (I’m not 100% sure I haven’t actually tried this, but I can’t recall a specific time when I had it on a plate in front of me)
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare (Desperately want to try this, medium-rare GBK burgers just aren’t cutting it any more)
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush (I’ve regretted putting aubergine in my mouth too many times already, and I’m not willing to believe that a different preparation of it is going to make me like it)
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi (Another one I’m convinced I must have had, but can’t be sure when exactly)
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea (Had this for the very first time only a couple of weeks ago, at a lovely little tea room in the historic town of Warwick)
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail (I’m guessing oxtail soup doesn’t count, as it’s probably not even real oxtail)
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin (I thought I was a ‘try anything once’ sort of person, but I’ve just done a quick search online to see what other people thought of this and opinions seemed to be mostly negative, so I think I’ll give this one a miss)
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (What?? This isn’t even food - it’s chalk!)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini (All my life I’ve actively avoided caviar. But let me have a few glasses of champagne first and I might be willing to try)
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef (Really want to try this)
86. Hare (Can’t recall if I’ve had this. Have eaten rabbit)
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa (I’m pretty sure I’ve only ever had regular harissa)
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake