By which I mean, naturally, I'm halfway there. Or indeed just over, but as I kicked off for the second half, as I reached the plateau and began the descent, as I crossed the threshold from June into July, I had read exactly 50 books. And with another couple of reviews to write (probably later), I'm still on task. To stick with the football analogy, it started well as I raced into an early lead, slowly got pegged back, fell behind and have slowly clawed my way back into and now sit level pegging at the halfway stage. Or, to put it another way, some months I've read more than others.
So what have I learnt? Firstly, that it has been a challenge. In between a having a day job and a life (the latter is more debatable), finding time to read that much is not always easy. But it's rarely time that I regret spending and at least having something to work towards keeps me focused and on track. Plus it's nice to have something to aim for.
Secondly, that it's been easy to find things I want to read for each category. Even if I haven't always wholly enjoyed them in the end, it's not been a problem finding things. And that's not really any different to normal, as you never know what it's going to be like until you've read it. (And the stating the bleeding obvious award goes to...)
Thirdly, it has certainly helped me to branch out and read some things I probably wouldn't have done otherwise. Which can be no bad thing. Especially as that's definitely something I wanted out of it. It's always good to try new things and sometimes that means stepping out of your comfort zone. I've been pleasantly surprised many times and discovered some new things I may not have done otherwise.
Finally, although it has sometimes required a lot of effort and motivation to write this blog, it's been worthwhile. Sometimes the reviews have been easy to write, sometimes they've been hard, but in doing so it has helped me to work out what I liked about books, what I didn't, and most of all helped me to remember more about the books I've read. I'm pretty awful (possibly an understatement) at remembering books I've read, even those read a mere couple of weeks ago. This could be due to reading so much or so quickly, but much the same as with everything I've read at book club over the last couple of years, being able to focus some thoughts on a book and to record them has made them easier to recall, which can be no bad thing. And it's nice to write as well, to keep my hand in the game, so to speak.
What have I liked then? Over the last couple of years I've been reading more non-fiction and it has opened up a whole new world of possibilities. I've really enjoyed that as a category and have read more there than anything else so far. Crime has also been opened up as a new category for me and I've read a lot of things I liked and can certainly see the attraction of the genre. Maybe it's just that I've stuck to classic titles, but that's a pretty good place to start and like all things, there's good and there's bad and the good will out. I'm hit and miss with the pre-20th century literature still, but I'll keep at it.; the Pulitzer winners have generally been very good; and I've not made nearly a big enough dent in the books that have been sat on my shelf for too long! I have, however, been a lot better at borrowing from the library (hurrah for libraries and public services!) and not buying so many (boo to the cost of living!), this weekend excepted.
And it wouldn't be right to do this kind of thing without some kind of High Fidelityesque top 5/10/best of/most of list-type thing, because that's how it works and that's probably what you want to know. Anyway, in no particular order (you can't get everything, at least not without pressing me a lot harder on the matter), the best five books I have read so far this year, or at least those that have stuck with me the most are:
The Great Gatsby
The Big Over Easy
The Easter Parade
The Virgin Suicides
Fup
Or at least that's what I'm going with today; tomorrow might be a different matter. Oh, and Jilted Generation still makes me angry six months on. Roll on the next six months...
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