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These pages are all about the books I've read. In 1985 I started recording and rating the books I read, perhaps to remind myself not to reread some forgettable trash, or perhaps to honour my first '10', The Lord of the Rings.

I've kept it going more or less continually since then, first on paper, then on Access, and now, more usefully, with a MySQL database. No obsessive compulsive comments please. A partial version of the list exists on my Goodreads profile.

You can do all the things the statistician part of me finds exciting - rank books and authors, view average scores for a particular month etc. Use the menu options at the top. I've included a few of the more interesting options below and to the right as a 'front page'. If you don't find them exciting, hit that back button now.

Top authors (at least 2 books)

AvgAuthorNo. Books
9.76J.R.R Tolkien25
9.63Ken Wilber8
9.50John Boyd2
9.00Robert Johnson2
8.86David Zindell7
8.83Philip Jose Farmer6
8.75Stephen Donaldson4
8.50Leonard Q. Ross2
8.50Nicholas Mosley2
8.50Mark Twain2
8.33Jonny Steinberg3
8.25David Eddings20
8.25Kazuo Ishiguro4
8.14Raymond E. Feist7
8.00Hermann Hesse8
8.00"Margaret, Tracy" "Weis, Hickman"6
8.00Tatamkhulu Afrika3
8.00Barry Miles3
8.00Vladimir Nabokov3
8.00Nnedi Okorafor3

Top authors (quantity)

AvgAuthorNo. Books
7.63Ursula K. Le Guin43
5.86 Various35
9.76J.R.R Tolkien25
7.14Frank Herbert22
8.25David Eddings20
7.69Margaret Atwood13
7.08Isaac Asimov12
6.45Tom Sharpe11
6.90Kim Stanley Robinson10
6.89J.M. Coetzee9
6.56Robert Heinlein9
9.63Ken Wilber8
8.00Hermann Hesse8
7.75Isabel Allende8
6.38Mongane Wally Serote8
6.38Iain M. Banks8
6.13Arthur Conan Doyle8
6.00William Shakespeare8
8.86David Zindell7
8.14Raymond E. Feist7

20 most recent books

TitleAuthorScoreDate read
Flowers for AlgernonDaniel Keyes82024-08
The Mosquito CoastPaul Theroux72024-08
DarkdawnJay Kristoff62024-07
GodsgraveJay Kristoff62024-06
Manifesto: A New Vision for South AfricaSongezo Zibi52024-05
Saving South AfricaChris, Sandile Pappas, Mnikathi52024-05
The Prague CemeteryUmberto Eco62024-04
The Other WindUrsula K. Le Guin72024-03
I Know Why the Caged Bird SingsMaya Angelou82024-03
NevernightJay Kristoff62024-02
Grace NotesBernard MacLaverty72024-01
TehanuUrsula K. Le Guin82024-01
FoeJ.M. Coetzee62024-01
The NumberJonny Steinberg92023-12
SummertimeJ.M. Coetzee72023-12
Wish You Were HereJodi Picoult52023-12
The Blue DoorAndre Brink72023-11
Arctic SummerDamon Galgut92023-11
The Real Enid BlytonNadia Cohen72023-11
The Heart Goes LastMargaret Atwood62023-11

20 random books

TitleAuthorScoreDate read
The Infinite PlanIsabel Allende71998-04
A Monk SwimmingMalachy McCourt52012-01
CenturiesA.A. Attanasio62006-03
Retire Young, Retire RichRobert T. Kiyosaki42003-07
LilaRobert M. Pirsig81995-02
The NormalsDavid Gilbert62014-12
The NumberJonny Steinberg92023-12
The Heart Goes LastMargaret Atwood62023-11
Tetrasomy TwoOscar Possiter81992-05
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of AzkabanJ.K. Rowling32002-06
Creativity Osho82008-12
The Stepford WivesIra Levin51998-12
Caste of WizardryDavid Eddings101988-08
Ancestors of AvalonDiana. L. (with Marion Zimmer Bradley) Paxson62005-11
PoemsHermann Hesse72019-03
Northanger AbbeyJane Austen61994-08
The Earth Shall WeepJames Wilson82004-12
The PenetratorsHank Searls61991-02
"SF: The best of the best, part one" Various71991-10
The Hollow HillsMary Stewart82011-05