Booky-wooks
I've done really well at work this week, and just checked off two giant tasks on my list, so I'm rewarding myself with writing a first draft of my 2011 Reading List. I do love writing lists, and listing books to read makes me irrationally happy.
I realised a while ago - years, really - that I have a very limited knowledge of contemporary writers/writings. So I decided this year that, at the very least, every alternate book I read must have been published after 1990. I'm so woefully behind the times when it comes to contemporary fiction. I've failed so far, given that I've spent the last two months rereading Harry Potter, but once I'm done with Deathly Hallows, I'm starting on Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey because:
(1) What an awesome title
(2) I love Peter Carey
(3) I love magic realism
And now for the proposed list:
Noelle's 2011 Reading List
1. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami (1987)
2. The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas (2008)
3. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger (1951, reread)
4. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (2001)
5. Rabbit, Run by John Updike (1960)
6. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (2000)
7. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs (1959)
8. Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel García Márquez (1994)
9. Emma by Jane Austen (1815)
10. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (2010)
I'm keeping it to 10 books for now. I'm sure this list may end up changing drastically, probably based on whim. I'm sure I'll end up adding to it. But still, it's nice to have a plan. The astute among you may notice that the more contemporary stuff has largely been picked from Man Booker Prize winners. This is how rubbish my knowledge of writers these days is, that I must rely on an arbitrary and frequently disappointing prize. Ah, well.
Still, I think it's a pretty awesome list, which I'm actually really excited about getting into. Though I feel a bit lame being in the middle of a Harry Potter book now.
I realised a while ago - years, really - that I have a very limited knowledge of contemporary writers/writings. So I decided this year that, at the very least, every alternate book I read must have been published after 1990. I'm so woefully behind the times when it comes to contemporary fiction. I've failed so far, given that I've spent the last two months rereading Harry Potter, but once I'm done with Deathly Hallows, I'm starting on Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey because:
(1) What an awesome title
(2) I love Peter Carey
(3) I love magic realism
And now for the proposed list:
Noelle's 2011 Reading List
1. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami (1987)
2. The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas (2008)
3. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger (1951, reread)
4. Life of Pi by Yann Martel (2001)
5. Rabbit, Run by John Updike (1960)
6. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (2000)
7. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs (1959)
8. Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel García Márquez (1994)
9. Emma by Jane Austen (1815)
10. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (2010)
I'm keeping it to 10 books for now. I'm sure this list may end up changing drastically, probably based on whim. I'm sure I'll end up adding to it. But still, it's nice to have a plan. The astute among you may notice that the more contemporary stuff has largely been picked from Man Booker Prize winners. This is how rubbish my knowledge of writers these days is, that I must rely on an arbitrary and frequently disappointing prize. Ah, well.
Still, I think it's a pretty awesome list, which I'm actually really excited about getting into. Though I feel a bit lame being in the middle of a Harry Potter book now.