Well spreadsheet version 4 has been out nearly a month and downloads are going great. But now, you have the chance to help them go even better and to share in the spreadsheet lurve! I’d like to give you some money… no seriously, I would.
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As promised… in fact, even more than I promised…

Version 4 is packed full of new features and it blows anything released before out of the water. Don’t believe me? Well, see the feature list and if that doesn’t grab you, check out a few screenshots. If you’re still not convinced, there are four screencasts too.

And if you trust me enough to ignore all that, and just want to get your hands on it right now:

Choose your flavour…

oh… yeah, I almost forgot. Check out Arukiyomi’s Affiliate Club to find out how you can get paid for, frankly, doing nothing.

Context: Read this while we went to Derwentwater in the Lake District camping with some good old friends.

REVIEW
Picking up where Regeneration leaves off, Barker’s second book of the Regeneration trilogy was, I thought, in many ways an improvement on the first. The story of shell-shock deepens and while Regeneration showed the response of the medical profession to this condition, Eye tells the story of society’s response, in particular that of the Army itself.

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Context: Read this the lovely warm conservatory overlooking our friends’ garden in Flackwell Heath.

REVIEW
Benedict Allen would, these days, have his own TV series and have put a number of others out of business. While Bear Grylls seems to shun community and forage and fend for himself, Allen’s life work has been to make himself dependent on the communities he visits to survive. I like this idea of travel and that’s why we often hitchhike and couchsurf when we travel. By making yourself vulnerable to the people you travel amongst, he reasons, you remove barriers and allow them to open up to you. It’s a mutual process of self-discovery for both host and guest. It’s a good thing to bear in mind as we prepare to leave the UK for Papua New Guinea on Tuesday.
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Context: Read this while we visited our friends’ lovely house in Newcastle.

REVIEW
I’ve had this on my shelf for a very long time and imminent emigration to Papua New Guinea brought it rapidly to the front of my to be read list as my books headed into storage, to friends or to the guy who buys books off me on Cambridge market. Very glad to finally get into this trilogy which I first saw on the shelf of a friend of mine In Seoul back in 2006… the same friend that inspired me to get back into novels.

This novel focusses not on the First World War battlefields that we’re so often reminded of but on the effects of those battlefields on the minds of their victims. Dr Rivers, the main character of the book, pioneered our understanding of what is now apparently called combat stress reaction but was then known as nothing at all. We more commonly call it shell-shock. The novel is moving, intricate and written with a great deal of insight into the human condition than many I’ve read for a while.
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Context: England were justifiably knocked out of the World Cup while I was finishing this off.

REVIEW
Now this I enjoyed. Here’s a book that is perfect for someone who wants small doses of philosophy and reflection on the human condition embedded in several spoonfulls of sugar. All in all, Tractors makes for a very entertaining read and one which makes you think about the cultures we come from and how they shape our responses to what life deals us. Why it was taken off the 1001 books list earlier this year is something of a mystery to me now.
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Context: While I read this, I was provided with an opportunity to strip the varnish and refinish an oak table in our living room. I thought it looked pretty good.

REVIEW
And so I finish the last book in Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. Strangely, I don’t remember the phrase “his dark materials” appearing once in any book so I’m none the wiser there. Pullman’s a writer with an agenda and, as The Amber Spyglass comes to a close, that agenda comes more and more to the fore. Overall I was disappointed with the series. There’s no doubt he can tell a story but there’s no way he even comes close to the seemingly effortless narration of Tolkein or Lewis, writers he’s often been compared to.
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Context: Took this on an 8 mile walk around Grafham Water in Cambridgeshire when we stopped for a pub lunch.

REVIEW
Everyone’s seen at least one of the Bond films. But how many people do you know who’ve read a Bond novel. Fleming wrote 7 in all and, although I won’t be reading more than this one I don’t think, I always like to see the genesis in a novel of an idea or a character who’s had a great influence culturally. It’s another reason why the 1001 list is worth reading from.
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Context: Finished this in the midst of scanning hundreds of photos wihle whittling stuff down to store for the next period of emigration.

REVIEW
For once, a book by Peter Ackroyd didn’t have me looking to see how many pages I had left to go. This novel isn’t bad, but I can see why it was removed from the 1001 books list. In fact, why on earth was it on there in the first place? Anyway, I liked this one for the way that Ackroyd worked hard to include all sorts of little details about 19th c. London life which made for a very readable account.
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Context: Finished this off as I flew from Cleveland, Ohio to Dallas, Texas for some training for work.

REVIEW
Right from the start, I knew that this was an unusual novel. In terms of both the subject matter and the style of writing, I could tell that Edgeworth had a remarkably unique insight into the world of the Irish in this work.
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Context: Finished this off as we visited some friends in Cleveland, Ohio.

REVIEW
This book spirals downwards in a debilitating circle of debauchery as George Duroy aims to satsify his lust for power and possession. He’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants. It’s basically a manual for how to get ahead in business and politics.
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Context: The blossom was out in force as I worked my way through this one.

REVIEW
I kind of wish I’d take Palaniuk up on his advice in the opening line. This book was a bit of a puzzle to me. I couldn’t really figure out what he was trying to achieve. It was a bit like a piece of modern art that everyone raves about, but secretly, inside, no one thinks is any good. I’ve read enough Easton Ellis not to be too impressed with Palahniuk’s offering here.
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Context: Read this as the sun set over Parker’s Piece in Cambridge as I waited for my wife, sister and her kids to emerge from Parkside swimming pool.

REVIEW
Not since school have I read a work this long in verse form. It takes a bit of getting used to. But Pushkin has used a formula for his stanzas which he rigorously adheres to. Once in your stride, this isn’t so difficult to read. What’s harder is following the storyline as it leans back and forth in this convoluted tale of love unrequited on both sides at different times.
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Context: Finished this off as we were heading back in my sister’s car from another day out over the Easter holidays with her family who came to stay.

REVIEW
I’d heard a lot about this before I picked it up. Many people have asked me over the years whether I’d read it. I should have asked them why they were asking because, having read it, because I think it’s genius can only be appreciated if you have quite a formidable understanding of English romantic literature. I do not. For Julie Burchill from the Sunday Times to say on the back cover that it’s “very probably the funniest book ever written” is sheer hyperbole. Though I may have smiled on occasion, I never laughed out loud.
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Context: Read this as we visited the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. Inside there was a statue commissioned by Hadrian of his lover, Antinous. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t let me take a photo inside.

REVIEW
It took Marguerite Yourcenar decades to write this book… and it only just tips the 230 page mark. Each page though shows the meticulous research and care that she took to construct this exceedingly graphic and captivating memoir.
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Context: Read this while we took in a marvellous cream tea in the most idyllic tea garden in Selworthy, Somerset.

REVIEW
Back in early 1995, I was walking up a path in the Himalayan foothills with an Indian friend. I mentioned that I’d recently read Christopher Hibbert’s fantastic book The Great Mutiny: India 1857 and asked him what his perspective on the Indian Mutiny was. “Oh,” he replied coolly, “You mean the First War of Independence.” I’ve never forgotten that lesson in historical perspective. Farrell gives us another lesson with this remarkable novel.
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Context: Was reading this as we attended a wedding in Somerset. Someone had made a great model of the couple for the cake.

REVIEW
This is a rare book in that inside the front cover, the publisher has included some comments from reviews of the book. What makes them unique as far as I can tell is that this book has negative reviews. There are reviews telling us not to bother reading it, that it’s distasteful and not worth our efforts. I can only think that by mixing these in with those eulogising it, the publisher is attempting some form of reverse pyschology. Anyway, I was halfway through it before I realised, but even by that point, I understood the reason for the mixed reviews.
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Context: Finished off while driving down to Reading to pick up the wife from a friend’s place.

REVIEW
The 1001 Books list has totally changed the way I read novels. It’s given me access to writers that have deeply influenced the way I see the world and has given me memories of characters and storylines that have been incredibly powerful. And then it’s introduced me to Elizabeth Gaskell and the trivial wittering rubbish of Cranford.
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Context: Laboured intensively to produce v4 of the 1001 books spreadsheet while reading this.

REVIEW
I knew nothing about the Biafran conflict in the late 1960s. I know considerably more now. Yellow Sun is an eye-opener. Very movingly written and yet never far away from the resolute humour that characterises many of the novel’s cast.
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NEW:

Version 4 is packed full of new features and it blows anything released before out of the water. Don’t believe me? Well, see the feature list and if that doesn’t grab you, check out a few screenshots. If you’re still not convinced, there are four screencasts too.

How it started…

A nice lady called Erin in Australia tipped me off a while back that a new version of the 1001 Books book (ISBN: 0789320398) was due for release on March 23, 2010. I got confirmation that this was a brand new edition. From the lips (well… fingers) of the editor herself

Our revised edition is slightly more updated than the UK edition published in 2008 by Cassell. It includes books published in 2008 and 2009 and we deleted some titles to make room for the new titles.

For “some” read “11″… yep, 11.