If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others:
read a lot and write a lot
Stephen King
I always wanted to be a writer and I have always read a lot but, if you don’t want to be a writer, it gives you more time just to read a lot.
If you do want to write, though, there are no other ways than to follow the advice of the current master of popular – and high quality – fiction, Stephen King.
For what it’s worth, I have read, and occasionally re-read, everything King has written, including his masterful advice to would-be writers, On Writing (Hodder, 2000).
Still, though, I feel guilty if I start reading too early in the day.
Sometimes, I don’t start reading until bedtime – and that is disrespectful to the writer of the book you have picked up only to fall asleep with five minutes later.
I now compromise.
At four o’ clock in the afternoon, regardless of the state of play of my work, even if I am mid-sentence, I stop, and pick up the book I am currently reading.
That is the theory.
In practice, if there is a pressing deadline, I carry on with the writing side of the work.
I still don’t quite get it, King’s simple advice, but I’m getting there.
I need to know my work is my writing and my reading.
You will, too, if you want to write.
In this section of my website, you will discover my enthusiasms, my passions, and you will discover the writers I discover and uncover.
Yes, I read the Sunday supplements, and read the latest novels by the latest novelists, but, increasingly, I am turning to writers who have become unfashionable, even forgotten. Like my friend, Eric Brown – whose books you will find reviewed here – I am keen to assist in the resurrection of dead and buried writers, those craftsmen and craftswomen who were once popular but whose works, undeservedly, have disappeared from popular consciousness.
(Eric’s principal passion, by the way, is the works of Rupert Croft-Cooke.)
(My equivalent passion, by the way, is the works of Howard Spring.)
I thought I would open this section of my website by sharing with you a list of my reading since I began keeping a record.
All of them are recommended to some degree.
JULY 2020
Eric Brown. Meridian Days 1992
ST Joshi / editor. American Supernatural Tales 2008
Vikram Seth. A Suitable Boy. 1993
Kate Ellis. The Merchant’s House. 1998
Rex Ambler. What is Experiment with Light? 2014
David Potter. Celtic v Rangers. 2019
Stephen O’Donnell. Tangled up in Blue. 2019
The Journal of George Fox / editor John L Nickalls 1952
Walter Wink. The Powers That Be. 1998
Rex Ambler, editor. Truth of the Heart. 2001
AUGUST 2020
Kate Ellis. Armada Boy. 1999
Stephen King Revival 2014
Fiona Maddocks Hildegard of Bingen. 2001
Esther de Waal A Seven Day Journey with Thomas Merton. 1992
SEPTEMBER 2020
Kate Ellis. An Unhallowed Grave. 1999
Stephen Sullivan. Sean Fallon. 2013
Ian Adams. Cave Refectory Road. 2016
Sir Robert Kelly. Celtic. 1971
Alex Gordon. Billy McNeill. 2018
Valentine Zander. St Seraphim of Sarov. 1975
Lobsang Rampa The Third Eye. 1956
OCTOBER 2020
Hilary Mantel. The Mirror and the Light. 2020
Philip Pullman. La Belle Sauvage 2017
Philip Pullman. The Secret Commonwealth. 2019
Archie Macpherson. Jock Stein. 2004
Robert Bly. The Winged Energy of Delight. 2004
Gerald McNee. The Story of Celtic. 1978
Kevin McCarra. Celtic: A Biography. 2012
NOVEMBER 2020
Thomas Keating. Crisis of Faith. 1970
Cynthia Bourgeault. Eye of the Heart. 2020
Patrick Hart, editor. Thomas Merton, Monk. 1974
Cynthia Bourgeault. The Wisdom Jesus. 2008
DECEMBER 2020
Douglas Stuart. Shuggie Bain. 2020
Piers Paul Read. Knights of the Cross. 1997
Thomas Keating. The Heart of the World. 1981
Ian Ridley. The Breath of Sadness. 2020
Seamus Heaney. Beowulf. 1999
Pennington / Keating. Finding Grace at the Center. 1978
Thomas Merton. New Seeds of Contemplation. 1961
JANUARY 2021
John le Carre. Call for the Dead. 1961
Eric Brown. Murder by the Book. 2013
Eric Brown. Murder at the Chase. 2014
Eric Brown. Murder at the Loch. 2016
Eric Brown. Murder Take Three. 2017
Bonnie B Thurston. The Spiritual Landscape of Mark. 2008
FEBRUARY 2021
Eric Brown. Murder Served Cold. 2018
John le Carre. A Murder of Quality. 1962
Eric Brown. Murder By Numbers. 2020
John le Carre. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. 1963
Chris Beckett. The Turing Test. 2008
Eric Brown. Murder Most Vile / ms version. 2022
Barks & Green The Illuminated Prayer 2000
MARCH 2021
Chris Beckett The Peacock Cloak 2013
Chris Beckett Spring Tide 2017
John le Carre The Looking Glass War 1965
John le Carre A Small Town in Germany. 1968
George Saunders. A Swim in a Pond in the Rain. 2021
Brian Wilson. Celtic: The Official History. 2017
Kaitlin B Curtice. Native. 2020
Tom Licence. Edward the Confessor. 2020
Arthur Osborne. The Teachings of Ramana Maharshi. 1962
Barrett & Harley. Being Interrupted. 2020
Richard Rohr. The Universal Christ. 2019
APRIL 2021
John le Carre. The Naïve and Sentimental Lover. 1971
MAY 2021
John le Carre. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. 1974
Lucy Vine. Bad Choices. 2021
Hugh McGregor Ross. Jesus Untouched by the Church. 1998
Ruth Burrows. Guidelines for Mystical Prayer. 1976
Suzanne Simard Finding the Mother Tree 2021
JUNE 2021
Chris Beckett. Dark Eden. 2012
Eric Brown. On Arcturus VII. 2021
Ellis Peters. The Leper of St Giles. 1981
Claude Houghton A Hair Divides. 1930
John Butler Mystic Burning 2021
Homer The Odyssey
JULY 2021
Chris Beckett. Tomorrow. 2021
Chris Beckett. Mother of Eden. 2015
Chris Beckett Daughter of Eden. 2016
Horst Kruger. Growing up under Hitler. 1966
Beverly Lanzetta. A Feast of Prayers. 2021
Ilia Delio. The Hours of the Universe. 2021
Eknath Easwaran. The End of Sorrow. 1975
AUGUST 2021
Claude Houghton. I Am Jonathan Scrivener. 1930
Ellis Peters. The Sanctuary Sparrow. 1983
Ivor Gurney. Collected Poems. 2004
Charlie Macksey. The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse 2019
Rohr & Martos. The Great Themes of Scripture 1987
Ruth BurrowsThe Essence of Prayer 2006
SEPTEMBER 2021
Michael CrichtonJurassic Park. 1990
Charles Williams Descent into Hell 1949
Maxim Jakubowski / editor / The Return of Sherlock Holmes 2021
Low & Shennan Rebels in Paradise 1994
Thomas Merton. The Sign of Jonas. 1953
Santideva A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life
OCTOBER 2021
Stephen King The Colorado Kid 2005
Stephen King Joyland. 2013
Stephen King Later. 2021
Jonathan Franzen Crossroads. 2021
Stephen King. Elevation. 2018
NOVEMBER 2021
Elly Griffiths The Crossing Places. 2009
Richard Rohr. Job and the Mystery of Suffering. 1996
Alan W Watts. The Way of Zen. 1957
DECEMBER 2021
Eric Brown. Under England unpublished ms
MR James. The Mezzotint. 1904
CG Jung. Memories, Dreams, Reflections. 1963
Russell greaves 100 Things I Love about Cambridge United. 2021
JANUARY 2022
Claude Houghton. Christina 1936
Stephen King. Billy Summers. 2021
Vasily Grossman. Stalingrad. 2019
FEBRUARY 2022
Jordan B Peterson. 12 Rules for Life. 2018
MARCH 2022
Howard Spring My Son, My Son. 1938
Vasily Grossman Life and Fate 1959
Howard Spring Shabby Tiger 1934
Howard Spring. Rachel Rosing. 1935
APRIL 2022
Howard Spring Fame is the Spur 1940
Tarif Khalidi / editor The Muslim Jesus 2001
MAY 2022
John Wainwright Death in a Sleeping City 1965
Howard Spring Hard Facts 1944
Robert B Parker School Days 2005
Howard Spring Dunkerley’s 1946
JUNE 2022
Howard Spring There is no Armour 1948
Robert B Parker Cold Service 2005
Michelle Paver Dark Matter 2010
Michelle Paver Thin Air 2016
Angela Steidele Gentleman Jack 2018
Mary Gordon On Thomas Merton 2018
JULY 2022
Annie Proulx Brokeback Mountain 1997
Eric Brown Bengal Station 2004
Michelle Paver Wakenhyrst 2019
AUGUST 2022
John Cowper Powys wolf Solent 1929