The Best of 2006

To create a "Best of" list is a well recognised affectation of anyone who is hardcore enough to monitor their reading and viewing habits. I am certainly no different, however it is new to me to able to construct a list so definitively, as I have only in the last year started keeping such rigid records of my consumptions.
The following lists are inspired by a very good film critic friend of mine who can probably be blamed for my eventually deciding that I wanted to keep this diary. His annual "best of" movies are an event anticipated by many, I'm sure, and his 2006 choices can be found here.
And, without any further ado, my own following list are to be qualified as such:
1) I do not read quickly, nor do I watch half as many films as I believe that I should. These are in no way compiled from a comprehensive survey of what the year had to offer.
2) The list is drawn from those movies and books that I personally read - for the first time - during 2006. It is not restricted to 2006 releases only.

My Top Ten first time reads for 2006

1. The Time Travellers Wife - by Audrey Niffenegger

2. The Mary-Sue Extrusion – by Dave Stone

3. The Penguin History of Europe – by J.M.Roberts

4. Doctor Who: Fallen Gods – by Jonathon Blum & Kate Orman

5. The Big Ask – by Shane Maloney

6. Doctor Who: Camera Obscura – by Lloyd Rose

7. Be Cool – by Elmore Leonard

8. Girl With A Pearl Earring – by Tracy Chevalier

9. Pompeii – by Robert Harris

10. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything – by Steve D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner


My Top Ten first time views for 2006

1. Downfall (2005) [DVD]
2. Wolf Creek (2005) [DVD]
3. Sense and Sensibility (1995) [TV]
4. The Devil Wears Prada (2006) [Cinema]
5. School of Rock (2003) [in-flight]
6. Broken Flowers (2005) [Cinema]
7. Jarhead (2005) [Cinema]
8. Hogfather (2006) [TV]
9. Napoleon Dynamite (2004) [TV]
10. The Perfect Parents (2006) [TV]