I'm relieved to note that I've read as many as 13 and a half of the UK's (alleged) favourite 21 books - and to be entirely honest, what I'm most relieved about is that there's only one "half" there. I have a terrible habit of starting books I never finish, and this serves as a good reminder that I must read Catch 22 properly at some point... Another relief is the fact that only one of the seven that I haven't read - that's Birdsong, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Gone with the Wind, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Little Women, Pride and Prejudice, Rebecca, and War and Peace, for the record - is one that I feel that I ought to read at some point (the Tolstoy).

But the really interesting thing is that of the ones I have read, if I had to pick a favourite then His Dark Materials stands out by a mile (even though I'm a bit dubious about the inclusion of trilogies as single works for the purpose of the list). It just really is that bloody good - while I share, to a far lesser extent, a few reservations raised by others about the philosophy being put forward within the books - as a writer Pullman cannot be hyped enough, in my humble opinion.

Of course, this also ties in to my continued disavowal of nostalgia, and of the idea of diminishing returns in culture: that a children's fantasy novel written withing the last decade can leave the canon of 'English Literature' in, well, the dust*... I'll be pleased if Pullman wins overall.

*(Oh come on, somebody had to say it.)