My books are divided into three locations.

On the shelves are the books that I�ve read, and a few that chances are I�m never going to read.

On top of my bedside table are a few reference-y type things that I reference at various times mainly when I�m writing, an Altas, a London A-Z, a few history text books and a few �how to write screenplays� type tomes.

And then there�s the stack behind my clock radio and on the floor next to the bedside table. These are the books that I�m reading, and the new ones that I�m about to read. At any one time I�m likely to be reading several different books, and have many more in the about to read pile. Post-Christmas this second part of the pile as been added to by no less than seven books.

Making room for all of these without the pile falling over has been a challenge, and the pile is now as high as the bedside table itself, not including the half dozen books on top of the table. And going through it has made me realise just how many things I�m part-way through.

After my totally low-brow television list entry, I thought I�d share part-read and about-to-read lists with you to show (or not) that its not all just about television.

Books I�m part-way through and intend to finish

Post Captain by Patrick O�Brian. The book I am actually reading - as in the one that I pick up to read every night. It�s taking me a while, but I am enjoying it, and in the about-to-read pile is HMS Surprise, the next of the Aubrey/Maturin novels (and yes, there are 20 of them, so we�ll see how that goes).

and in no particular order:

The Cold Six Thousand by James Ellroy. I think Ellroy is an arrogant bastard but I quite like his books, but only when I�m in the right mood because they take concentration and in some cases a strong stomach. One part of The Black Dahlia freaked me out so much that I had to put the book down and could only pick it up and finish it a couple of years later when I was no longer living alone.

Empire Falls by Richard Russo.

Tishomingo Blues by Elmore Leonard. The only Leonard book that I haven�t finished in one go, and I�m not sure why. Leonard is a legend and I love pretty much everything he�s ever written.

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. The only Austen I have never read, and I�ve been having trouble finishing it for about two years.

The Bourne Supremecy by Robert Ludlum.

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters.

A Dance to the Music of Time - Spring by Anthony Powell.

Death Before Wicket by Kerry Greenwood.

Feeling Sorry for Celia by Jaclyn Moriarty.

The Forsyte Saga - Volume Two by John Galsworthy.

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger.

Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowen.

Rumours of a Hurricane by Tim Lott.

Barrel Fever by David Sedaris.

Trading Up by Candace Bushnell.

The Year of Living Dangerously by Christopher Koch.

and

Books in the about-to-read pile

The Hours by Michael Cunningham.

The Bourne Ultimatum by Robert Ludlum.

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.

How the Light Gets In by M.J. Hyland.

Single White Email by Jessica Adams.

Livia Jouls and the Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding.

Apricots on the Nile by Collette Rossant.

Rashomon by Ryunosuke Akutagawa.

Hotel Honolulu by Paul Theroux.

Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre.

Brick Lane by Monica Ali.

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.

Stories and Tales by Hans Christian Anderson.

HMS Surprise by Patrick O�Brian.

Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire.

A Simple Habana Melody by Oscar Hijuelos.

And for the above reasons I am not allowed to go into a book shop until the totality of the above list is at least halved.