Let’s talk books for a minute.
My reading goal at the beginning of 2011 was to read 25 new books, which is roughly a book every two weeks. This gave me room for a reread or two but would encourage me to read books I haven’t read before as an attempt to clear my bookshelf and make a future move easier. (This is working, by the way; I’ve cut my bookshelf almost as far as it’ll go. Most of those books can be replaced if I get a hankering.) It also gives me breathing room during October and November when my reading time will be almost zero unless I read during a hypothetical commute. That’s what NaNo season does to me.
Today’s 10 April, and I’ve read sixteen books in 2011. Seventeen, actually, since I read Through the Looking Glass on 30 March and forgot to mark it since the copy I have has that in the same book as Alice in Wonderland, and I already read the latter. Let’s stick to sixteen since that’s the Goodreads count. Many of these books are short, but I took my sweet time reading some of them. See the Narnia series as an example. I spent two months reading the whole series. Then there were a lot of days where I didn’t read anything at all. So when did all these books get read?
Five of them came from the last week and a half. It started when I read Macbeth in one day. Then I finished the last three chapters of the linguistics textbook that I had been reading since the new year. Then I read Hamlet in two days, followed by A Brief History of Time, followed by Othello–basically, a bunch of things I should have read by now but haven’t for some reason. Right now I’m reading I, Robot to keep with that trend.
Instead of writing a full post review of each book I haven’t reviewed yet, I’m going to stick to six words for each novel. Well, except for the linguistics book. Yes, there are spoilers, and one of them is seven words long for reasons you’ll see. Be warned.
Prince Caspian (C.S. Lewis): Lucy’s young, but she knows things.
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (C.S. Lewis): Snooty schoolboy learns the hard way.
The Horse and His Boy (C.S. Lewis): Greener pastures are ahead for Shasta.
The Silver Chair (C.S. Lewis): “Old friend” really does mean old.
The Magician’s Nephew (C.S. Lewis): So that’s where everything came from.
The Last Battle (C.S. Lewis): Still not sure about the ending.
Knight Errant (K.D. Sarge): Strong characters, but the prose dragged.
Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison): This is how plots should unfold.
The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom): Mediocre prose, but I still cried.
Macbeth (William Shakespeare): Don’t trust Lady Macbeth with anything.
Hamlet (William Shakespeare): (Okay, this is the seven-word one.) You killed my father. Prepare to die.
A Brief History of Time (Stephen Hawking): The universe is really freaking complicated.
Othello (William Shakespare): What not to do in relationships.
2 replies on “The 2011 Book Goal: Progress Report”
Love the Hamlet review.
I also keep track of the books I’ve read during a year, trying to aim for about fifty. I sometimes debate with myself about listing books that are short, such as children’s books or graphic novels, which can be completed in an hour or so. I do notice that the more I am enjoying a book, the faster I’ll finish it, whereas a book that seems to drag or has boring parts can take much longer to finish, if I manage to finish it at all!
@athenainwonderland See why the Hamlet review had to be seven words? 😉
I’m also debating about the short books. The Narnia books could be considered children’s books, yet they took me the longest to finish! I’m definitely counting them as more than one book just because the whole series is so long. And I’m the same way about a book. The books that drag are the worst, but somehow I make myself finish them. Well, except for Wuthering Heights. I started that book in 2004 and still haven’t finished it yet.