52 Books
Thursday January 4, 2007 in books |
During her book-reading heyday, my late aunt claimed to read three novels a week. Apparently my grandfather did the same. “He was another great reader”, my aunt would say. After my aunt died I found a photograph of her sitting by the fireplace and reading. She had pinned another, much older, photograph to it of my grandfather. He was also sitting beside a fireplace and reading. Sadly, I have only managed to match this level of dedication to books in periods of unemployment or whenever I find myself on lazy holidays.
In the first half of 2006 my reading reached an all time low of about a novel a month. This I put down to starting a new job and not finding the time (and other excuses), but things picked up to about a book a week in the last half of the year and I am going to attempt to keep up this pace during 2007.
It would be madness to list 52 books that I am planning to read this year, but I have some idea where I’ll be starting.
Book #1
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. This is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time, perhaps since my last period of unemployment or lazy holiday. So much so that my next post is going to be all about it.
They Won’t Go Away
Books left over from reading challenges:
- A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens
- Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
- What Maisie Knew Henry James
- At the Mountains of Madness H.P. Lovecraft
- The Woman in White Wilkie Collins
Sales and Secondhand
I restrained myself in the January sales and only bought two hardbacks. Black Swan Down by David Mitchell and Winterwood by Patrick McCabe. I found Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas both enjoyable and infuriating in equal measures. McCabe I am new to. Best recent finds in charity shops are Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce and Goldfinger by Ian Fleming.
Christmas Present
Human Traces by Sebastian Faulks, a welcome gift from my family.
Looking Forward To…
New novels are on their way in 2007 from Ian McEwan and Gerard Woodward. On Chesil Beach is McEwan’s latest which I will read as a matter of course, although what I’m really looking forward to is Woodward’s A Curious Earth.
So try to picture me throughout 2007, at least once or twice a week sitting beside my fireplace and reading.