Welcome to my new, literary themed blog page. Whether this will gather dust and cobwebs in the same way as my other - mainly music, movies and TV related -  blog (The Thoughts of Chairman Arthur*) has done over the last two years remains to be seen, but the plan for now is to do a bit of a write up about various books I have read and have been of interest to me.

Just over a year ago (Christmas 2011) I was surprised with a Kindle from Santa (that will be Santa Ana) and the quickest way of getting it filled (affordably) was by loading it up with 'The Classics' - complete works collections of literature now in the public domain which have been put together by an excellent organisation called Delphi classics**, purchased either direct from them or via Amazon. For just a couple of pounds you could get the complete works of Dickens, Austen, Conan Doyle, Twain and many many more, so,  within a few hours of getting the thing out of it's box and fired up, my portable reading device was filled with more literature than I will likely be able to read in the remains of my lifetime, let alone shake a stick at, all for around £25.00. Sorted.

It's all very well having all these great works ready to read on a handy little device, but only if you are going to actually read and enjoy them. Thankfully I do actually really like this stuff, well most of it anyway (I love the Victorian era especially) -  and as I'm in the middle of a slow plod through an English Literature / Language degree with the OU I thought it couldn't do any harm to read through these works; not for study and over analysis, but just for fun. If I am going to end my working life as a hirsute professor with leather patches on the elbows of my tatty sports jacket, discussing 'Bleak House' in front of a roaring study fire***, then I'm going to have to have read these anyway.

So, for the whole of 2012 - and all of 2013 so far, I have read at a terrific pace; mostly the golden oldies, but plenty of other, more recent stuff too, so I thought about doing a bit of a write up about some of the works I have enjoyed the most. This isn't intended to be a study aid, or any kind of informed analysis - I'm happy to pull a book apart for a study assignment, but at the end of the day what I really want is a good, well written story.

Well then, there's the intro, now for some product. I intend to be random in my choices, individual in my approach and irreverent in my treatment, with a tendency to avoid spoilers just in case anyone feels tempted to read or revisit the books that get the Arthur treatment.

As always, any suggestions, recommendations, comments, rotten articles of vegetable matter or guest write ups will be most welcome. Ok then, let's sling this at the wall and see if it wants to stick........

More to follow



Colin (Chairman Arthur)

* Find it here thethoughtsofchairmanarthur.blogspot.com

** Find them here www.delphiclassics.com or go to the Amazon kindle store and search 'Delphi classics'

*** I know, I know - reality check.