(no subject)
Did anyone else check out that 50 books LJ community when it was spotlighted a week or so back? The basic idea is to read 50 books in a year and post about your literary adventures - reviews, recommendations etc. When I initially read the premise, I thought "hmm, 50 books in a year? That's not much," and then thought "Wait, do I even read 50 books in a year any more?" I used to be a voracious reader when I was at school, getting through about 2 books a day (long school bus rides) and then as an undergrad I'd still probably average 3-4 a week (thanks good old Rowden White). But these days a combination of lack of time (now that I don't have bus or train journeys) and lack of availability (because I'm an outcast at the local library, too many fines from overdue music, boo! and can't afford to buy all the books I'd like to read) has led to a severe reduction in my leisure reading.
It says something for how little I read nowadays that I was actually able to list just about all the books I read last year. And yes, I made 50 - just!
Here's the list:
1. Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale
2. Louise Bagshawe - Sparkles
3. Lynette Barrett-Lee - Virtual Strangers
4. Emily Bronte - Wuthering Heights
5. Octavia Butler - Wild Seed
6. Mind of My Mind
7. Jacqueline Carey - Kushiel's Dart *
8. Kushiel's Chosen *
9. Kushiel's Avatar *
10. Jenny Colgan - Amanda’s Wedding
11. Philip K Dick - The Man in the High Castle
12. Gordon R Dickson - The Alien Way
13. Lifeboat
14. Umberto Eco - The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana
15. Kate Fox - Watching the English (non-fiction but FUNNY!)
16. Neil Gaiman - American Gods
17. Smoke and Mirrors
18. Tess Gerritsen - Body Double
19. Joanne Harris - Chocolat
20. Harry Harrison - Deathworld I
21. Deathworld II
22. Deathworld III
23. Nick Hornby - High Fidelity
24. About a Boy
25. Lisa Jewell - Ralph’s Party
26. Belinda Jones - Cafe Tropicana
27. Guy Gavriel Kay - The Lions of Al-Rassan *
28. Sailing to Sarantium *
29. Lord of Emperors *
30. Sophie Kinsella - The Undomestic Goddess
31. Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
32. Gabriel Garcia Marquez - 100 Years of Solitude
33. Love in the Time of Cholera
34. Anchee Min - Empress Orchid
35. Anna Maxted - Behaving Like Adults
36. Jill Mansell - Fast Friends
37. Falling For You
38. Kate Moss - Labyrinth
39. Haruki Murakami - Kafka on the Shore
40. Audrey Niffenegger - The Time Traveler's Wife
41. Vladimir Nabokov - Lolita
42. Maggie O'Farrell - My Lover's Lover
43. Tony Parsons - Man and Wife
44. Jodi Picoult - Vanishing Acts
45. Malcolm Rose - Rift
46. Bloodline
47. Tunnel Vision
48. Son of Pete Flude
49. Robyn Sisman - Just Friends
50. Wilbur Smith - River God
51. Zadie Smith - White Teeth
52. Amy Tan - The Bonesetter's Daughter *
* are books I read before and re-read in 2006
I may have overlooked one or two, but in essence that amounts to one a week. And 25% of them are chick-lit! Argh.
It is also notable that almost all of them were read on planes or trains while travelling, or as a means of procrastination from work or essay-writing. I need to make more time to read! Other interesting stats: another good 25% are F&SF, and 7 are re-reads.
Out of the rest (because anything I'd re-read is probably worth the re-read and hence recommendable) my five (because that's how many I have :p) recommendations are:
Lolita, a) because it's a classic, b) for its extremely effective psychological portraiture and c) particularly for its inventive use of language. All the more impressive because it was actually written in English by a non-native English speaker; a few chapters in, I was marvelling at the expertise of (what I thought was) the translator in rendering the linguistic playfulness, but I was even more impressed to read the Afterword and discover that it was Nabokov's first novel-length foray into writing in English himself.
The two Marquez novels - I can't rank them, because I don't know which I liked better, or for what exact reasons. But they were both engrossing, nourishing and satisfying reads. One day I would like to read them in the original, but that will have to wait until I get round to learning Spanish...
The Handmaid's Tale - good in so many ways, from the premise of the novel to the way in which it is executed; thought-provoking and for me, even slightly relevant to work! (reproductive ethics, biological versus social role of women etc).
And I think the best read of last year, which I liked enough to already have re-read it this year, was The Time-Traveler's Wife. Mind-bending, heartbreaking, memorable and very readable.
All of this contemplation about reading brings me to the realisation that there are not only more books currently in existence than I'd ever have time to read in my lifetime, but more books being written than I have time to keep up with reading even if I had already read all the books currently in existence. This in itself is a depressing realisation. I know a lot of books probably aren't very good, but how can I expect to read a reasonable selection of even just the good ones, on one-a-week and a reading diet embarrassingly high in literary junk food?
Therefore in 2007, I would like to:
1) read more books, and
2) read more books that are really worth reading
In the interest of 2), here is a poll!
Poll Book recommendations
If there isn't enough space (I've made the text field 200) you can always add more in the comments...
It says something for how little I read nowadays that I was actually able to list just about all the books I read last year. And yes, I made 50 - just!
Here's the list:
1. Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale
2. Louise Bagshawe - Sparkles
3. Lynette Barrett-Lee - Virtual Strangers
4. Emily Bronte - Wuthering Heights
5. Octavia Butler - Wild Seed
6. Mind of My Mind
7. Jacqueline Carey - Kushiel's Dart *
8. Kushiel's Chosen *
9. Kushiel's Avatar *
10. Jenny Colgan - Amanda’s Wedding
11. Philip K Dick - The Man in the High Castle
12. Gordon R Dickson - The Alien Way
13. Lifeboat
14. Umberto Eco - The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana
15. Kate Fox - Watching the English (non-fiction but FUNNY!)
16. Neil Gaiman - American Gods
17. Smoke and Mirrors
18. Tess Gerritsen - Body Double
19. Joanne Harris - Chocolat
20. Harry Harrison - Deathworld I
21. Deathworld II
22. Deathworld III
23. Nick Hornby - High Fidelity
24. About a Boy
25. Lisa Jewell - Ralph’s Party
26. Belinda Jones - Cafe Tropicana
27. Guy Gavriel Kay - The Lions of Al-Rassan *
28. Sailing to Sarantium *
29. Lord of Emperors *
30. Sophie Kinsella - The Undomestic Goddess
31. Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
32. Gabriel Garcia Marquez - 100 Years of Solitude
33. Love in the Time of Cholera
34. Anchee Min - Empress Orchid
35. Anna Maxted - Behaving Like Adults
36. Jill Mansell - Fast Friends
37. Falling For You
38. Kate Moss - Labyrinth
39. Haruki Murakami - Kafka on the Shore
40. Audrey Niffenegger - The Time Traveler's Wife
41. Vladimir Nabokov - Lolita
42. Maggie O'Farrell - My Lover's Lover
43. Tony Parsons - Man and Wife
44. Jodi Picoult - Vanishing Acts
45. Malcolm Rose - Rift
46. Bloodline
47. Tunnel Vision
48. Son of Pete Flude
49. Robyn Sisman - Just Friends
50. Wilbur Smith - River God
51. Zadie Smith - White Teeth
52. Amy Tan - The Bonesetter's Daughter *
* are books I read before and re-read in 2006
I may have overlooked one or two, but in essence that amounts to one a week. And 25% of them are chick-lit! Argh.
It is also notable that almost all of them were read on planes or trains while travelling, or as a means of procrastination from work or essay-writing. I need to make more time to read! Other interesting stats: another good 25% are F&SF, and 7 are re-reads.
Out of the rest (because anything I'd re-read is probably worth the re-read and hence recommendable) my five (because that's how many I have :p) recommendations are:
Lolita, a) because it's a classic, b) for its extremely effective psychological portraiture and c) particularly for its inventive use of language. All the more impressive because it was actually written in English by a non-native English speaker; a few chapters in, I was marvelling at the expertise of (what I thought was) the translator in rendering the linguistic playfulness, but I was even more impressed to read the Afterword and discover that it was Nabokov's first novel-length foray into writing in English himself.
The two Marquez novels - I can't rank them, because I don't know which I liked better, or for what exact reasons. But they were both engrossing, nourishing and satisfying reads. One day I would like to read them in the original, but that will have to wait until I get round to learning Spanish...
The Handmaid's Tale - good in so many ways, from the premise of the novel to the way in which it is executed; thought-provoking and for me, even slightly relevant to work! (reproductive ethics, biological versus social role of women etc).
And I think the best read of last year, which I liked enough to already have re-read it this year, was The Time-Traveler's Wife. Mind-bending, heartbreaking, memorable and very readable.
All of this contemplation about reading brings me to the realisation that there are not only more books currently in existence than I'd ever have time to read in my lifetime, but more books being written than I have time to keep up with reading even if I had already read all the books currently in existence. This in itself is a depressing realisation. I know a lot of books probably aren't very good, but how can I expect to read a reasonable selection of even just the good ones, on one-a-week and a reading diet embarrassingly high in literary junk food?
Therefore in 2007, I would like to:
1) read more books, and
2) read more books that are really worth reading
In the interest of 2), here is a poll!
Poll Book recommendations
If there isn't enough space (I've made the text field 200) you can always add more in the comments...