Made to Kill by Adam Christopher

Book 67, Made to Kill, has to be one of the worst books yet on this project.

Supposedly a science fiction book in the style of Asimov/Dick, it's a private detective story set in an alternative history when robots have been a failed experiment and there is just one left who happens to be a private detective.

I cannot express how poor this book is. The science is appalling, this robot seems to come straight out of the 1950s, the plot is beyond awful, some Soviet conspiracy to take over America, and the style of writing is dreadful, I believe this book was followed up by two others to make a trilogy. I cannot even concede of the mind set of anyone who could enjoy any of these books - they can't be human! I read hundreds of science fiction books when I was young but this was poorer than any of them. It scores 1 out of 10, it failed to contain even a good sentence.

Next up I return to Science Fiction, the first named shelf in this section anyway, for a book of short stories, by Robert Aickman, who is supposedly a classic horror writer - albeit one I have never heard of even though he wrote in "my" era of the 1980s.

I briefly wrote a few science fiction short stories when I was 18, none of them were published, but it was the nearest I ever got to being a writer. Let's see if he's any good.

The Anchoress by Robyn Cadwallader

Book 65, The Anchoress, I am afraid falls under the same problems so many historical novels do: lack of plot.

What I usually find happens is the author finds a minor historical figure whose story interests them, does lots of research, and then comes up a book dripping with "facts" but where not much happens. This is one such book. Great idea, great start, interesting opening, and you keep turning the pages, and, just, nothing happens! The end finally comes and you wonder, "was that it?!" So many historical novels suffer this problem, it's actually quite rare to find a good one, so I generally avoid them I have to admit. Overall The Anchoress scores 5 out of 10.

Next up I head to an unnamed bookcase, bookcase 67, which is next to the Science Fiction section and contains a miscellaneous set of books which look like science fiction

I used to read loads of science fiction between the ages of 16 and 22, after which I gradually got bored of it. The cover says Adam Christopher's book is part Asimov, part Dick. I was a big Asimov fan about 16, and a big Dick fan about 20. Let's see if the passage of time has whittled down any interest I have in this book.

If I Fall, I Die by Michael Christie

Book 65, If I Fall, I Die, was a real disappointment. I liked the idea of the book about a mother and her son who never leave the house until one day the son goes outside and gradually makes his way in the world.

As a general rule I look "coming of age" books, but this one was just too strange. It started ok when Will emerges from the house and start to go to school. Gradually I lost track of what the story was about. It goes off into a tangent about his mum's past and how his family were all destined to die young on working on the docks in Toronto. Will, and his native Indian skateboarding mate, follow the same path. I totally lost track of who the characters all were and was just glad when it finished. Overall it gets 2 out of 10, good start, but I lose my way.

Next up I return to Bookcase 65 as I realised If I Fall, I Die was actually from Bookcase 66!

The Anchoress reminds me of a novel I read about the eponymous The Anchoress of Shere, a nearby village where there was an eponymous Anchoress in the middle ages. I really liked that book. Hope I do this one!

Ancient Light by John Banville

Ancient Light is a love story about an affair between a teenage boy and his best friend's mother.

It's written 50 years after the event from the perspective of an old man looking back on his past. The style of the book, as well as elements of the story, very much remind me of The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro , which in turn I thought borrowed on Coming Up For Air by George Orwell. All three are written by oldish men looking back on their past.

Ancient Light flips between the past and the present, when then teenage boy has become an old, failed actor, whose daughter killed herself ten years ago, and is sort of drifting aimlessly towards the end of his career. I found it difficult to maintain an interest in the "present day" part of the story, I must confess. I thought the other two writers I mentioned did that part better. The point and purpose of this part of the narrative rather escaped me I am afraid.

Next up is a book, If I Fall, I Die, which looks rather ambitious and difficult to read, but I will give it a go!

The opening sentence sprung out at me because it does not make sense. I like a challenge so let's see where this takes me!

This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash

My third attempt to read a book from Bookcase 60, This Dark Road to Mercy, proved to be successful.

Mercy is not a conventional crime book. It's a story, written mainly from a child's point of view, about being kidnapped by her estranged father, who is a petty criminal on the run. There are several other perspectives too, a former police officer, trying to find the children and a hired killer trying to find the father. It's a bit of a jumble altogether, and all seems a bit pointless to me. A baseball title clincher is a sort of backset to the story, and all the characters drawl sentences starting with the words "you's all", but other than that everyone speaks normal English. The plot seems a bit vague, and the characters other than the elder child, Easter, and her father, all seem a bit contrived. The book just doesn't seem to go anywhere, I was waiting for the plot to really open up, but it never did. It gets just 4 out of 10.

Next up, I return back to A-Z fiction, to Bookcase 64, to resume my journey with no gaps left behind me. I start with a book by someone called John Banville, who I have not heard of before.

All I know about it is that is a love story about an affair between a teenage boy and his best friend's mother.

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Book 62, Things Fall Apart, is a sad fable of the destruction of native customs in Nigeria by the "white man".

It's told from the point of view of a village elder, who is gradually broken by the onset of Christianity and colonialism. My problem with Things Fall Apart is it only really gets going in the last 50 pages; the author spends the majority of the book setting the scene, and then the ending feels rushed. I award Things Fall Apart 5 out of 10, but the last part is probably a 7/10.

Next up I return to Bookcase 60 for my fourth attempt on it to read a crime book! I think this is the worst failure rate yet.

I have studiosly avoided anything with the work homicide anywhere on the covers, but I've still tossed aside three books after a few pages. This Dark Road to Mercy is an American book, but it's about children who become orphans, not the cliche-ridden forumla fiction which litters the crime shelves, I hope

Three Tales by Gustave Flaubert

Book 62, Three Tales, is three long short stories that are all tales of morality.

They all take on Christian themes or depictions of semi-fabulous figures such as John the Baptist. I am not a practising Christian. I don't mind books like The Alchemist which are about fulfilling your potential. All of these stories were about people realising the error of their ways. Quite frankly I found all the stories quite boring and I got nothing from the book at all. I won't be reading Flaubert again, and award Three Tales 2 out of 10!

Finally I move to the A-Z fiction which is the bedrock of any library. Every bookcase will contain authors I am familiar with but I am not allowed to read those as I have already read material by the same writers. First up is an African novel that caused quite a sensation when it was first published.

Things Fall Apart is published on the Penguin Classics label so I am hoping it's just that.