My Year in Books: 2009

And so here is my final tally! In 2009, I actually read fifty-THREE books! I feel quite accomplished, and it certainly was an arduous undertaking. I answered some specifics regarding books and how I read and what I choose to read in this post, but here I'll list all the books and my star ratings! The ones in bold have become a part of my all-time favourite books list. Leave a comment if you have any more questions or inquiries regarding the project or if you too love a book I loved or are even doing your own reading of fifty two books for 2010! I think we all know I love to talk about books!

01 A Clash of Kings, George R.R. Martin (01.05.09) ****
02 World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, Max Brooks (01.18.09) ****
03 Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer (01.20.09) *
04 The Road, Cormac McCarthy (01.22.09) *****
05 Y: The Last Man, Brian K. Vaughn (01.27.09) ***
06 Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyers (01.31.09) **
07 Infinity Blues, Ryan Adams (02.12.09) ****
08 The Best American Magazine Writing 2008 (02.28.09) ****
09 First Love, Ivan S. Turgenev (03.08.09) ****
10 Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (03.15.09) *****
11 Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy (03.16.09) *****
12 The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera (03.24.09) *****
13 Never Let Me Go, Ishiguro Kazuo (03.29.09) *****
14 The Last Vampire, Christopher Pike (04.05.09) *****
15 Whisper of Death, Christopher Pike (04.13.09) *****
16 Monster, Christopher Pike (04.21.09) ****
17 A Storm of Swords, George R.R. Martin (04.30.09) *****
18 Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Seth Grahame-Smith (05.15.09) ****
19 Crimson, Brian Augustyn (06.15.09) **
20 2666, Roberto Bolaño (06.07.09) *****
21 The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson (06.17.09) ****
22 The Uncommon Reader, Alan Bennett (06.19.09) ****
23 The Lover, Marguerite Duras (06.22.09) *****
24 The Sound of My Voice, Ron Butlin (06.25.09) *****
25 Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy (07.07.09) ***
26 L.A. Confidential (Film Criticism), Manohla Dargis (07.10.09) ****
27 Are You There Vodka? It's Me Chelsea, Chelsea Handler (07.12.09) *****
28 Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card (07.18.09) *****
29 The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (07.26.09) ****
30 Nine Stories, J.D. Salinger (08.05.09) ****
31 Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion (08.09.09) *****
32 Seven (Film Criticism), Richard Dyer (08.15.09) ****
33 Delta of Venus, Anais Nin (08.17.09) *****
34 The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende (08.23.09) *****
35 The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters (09.05.09) ****
36 To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf (09.10.09) **
37 White Teeth, Zadie Smith (09.27.09) *****
38 Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote (09.29.09) *****
39 Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Márquez (10.02.09) *****
40 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson (10.08.10) ****
41 Jesus' Son, Denis Johnson (10.12.09) ****
42 Perfect Fifths, Megan McCafferty (10.13.09) ****
43 The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (10.19.09) *****
44 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson (10.27.09) ***
45 Bad Behavior, Mary Gaitskill (11.03.09) *****
46 Come Together, Fall Apart, Cristina Henriquez (11.09.09) *****
47 Daughters of the North, Sarah Hall (11.15.09) ***
48 Night, Elie Wiesel (11.16.09) *****
49 I, Lucifer, Glen Duncan (11.22.09) *
50 Delirium, Laura Restrepo (11.30.09) ****
51 1984, George Orwell (12.09.09) *****
52 Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert (12.20.09) *****
53 The World in Half, Cristina Henriquez (12.29.09) *****

So what's next, then? What do I have planned for 2010? Well, as of January 1st, I began reading Tolstoy's behemoth War & Peace. I'm reading it with my fellow book club (FSJBCB) member, Sean, who you may remember read Tolstoy's Anna Karenina with me last year. Others have expressed their interest in our lofty goal and decided to join us, as well.

In related news: I've decided not to spend this year working towards reading another fifty-two books. Instead, I plan to read the gargantuan novels that reside on my shelves - the novels I was hesitant to pick up last year because they would take far too much time to read, really grasp, and enjoy. In 2010, I'm reading the big ones! I'm starting off with War & Peace, and will continue on through the year reading other novels like Bolano's The Savage Detectives, Steinbeck's East of Eden, and Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov - among other works. I'll continue to update my Goodreads page with my progress! I plan on keeping the same pace as I did last year in terms of how much reading, but my list will likely be much shorter because of the heavy tomes I've decided to take on.

Jesse really helped determine my goal this year - for Christmas, he got me a Kindle. He almost didn't get me one because I had railed against them in the past. I truly do love carrying a book, flipping it's pages, and sometimes studying it's cover. There's a tangibility there I cherish, and it's not available with e-books. However, I realized that with novels like War & Peace, it would be much harder to carry the 1800+ page book on the subway every day without feeling completely weighed down and burdened. Enter the lovely, beautiful, sleek and lightweight Kindle. I'll continue to buy actual books, but there are many reasons owning a Kindle is beneficial to my reading habits and future-library-planning. Besides having a much lighter version of a heavy book, there are some books I'd be interested in reading but not in owning (like certain best-sellers everyone is talking about), and the Kindle is absolutely perfect for travel. I don't have to lug a few books for a long trip like I did for the honeymoon (seriously, I brought like ten books, and books weigh so much!).

To everyone that is reading fifty-two books this year: GOOD LUCK! I'd love to hear about your own experiences doing so! Most are already my Goodreads friends, but if you're not, add me! I love hearing about what others are reading, and if you happen to be blogging about it - the better. Leave me a link!

Question 30-32 (Back to the Books Edition)

And I'm back! I'll try to post all the fun stuff from this past Chicago weekend tonight (plus maybe some video from the holiday party?? Some video from the shows??) and answer some more questions.

In other bloggin' news, expect my year-end faves lists next week! I've been cultivating them for weeks now...and luckily, my friend Rick started recommending me music and sending me albums after my post about not having time to listen to music this year - so I definitely have ten top albums...not just three and one that doesn't really exist yet. And with films, I thought this was a decent year of them and I still have three or four I need to see before really making my list (Avatar, Sherlock Holmes, Nine, Invictus, Up in the Air).

So here are some questions regarding BOOKS again! I got some more after I last posted about the topic, and...drum roll...I FINISHED MY 52ND BOOK OF THE YEAR!!! Madame Bovary c'est termine!

And I loved it. Flaubert's novel has definitely entered into my realm of favourite books of all time. I'll have a huge 52 Book Recap next week, too. (Along with what I'm going to attempt in 2010...) Can you believe 2009 is about to END?

Onto the questions...

Do you keep all of the books you've read, or only some of them? I personally can't bear to part with books I've read, as I feel that they have become a small part of me in a way. That and I like to display them!

I tend to keep the books, because, yes, like you, I can't let go of something that really got to me. And I love displaying my books - in the future, I want to dedicate one room of our (not yet existent) house as a private little library or study with books lining the entire room. This may have been one of the first things I told Jesse in terms of how I see our future, ha.

Also, I love to display my books because it's my favourite part of going to someone else's place for he first time. I love reading what's on their shelves. And while I don't base my entire opinion of the person on their books, I do love a good book-bond - "Oh, you read this? It's the BEST, let's get some coffee and talk about it for hours!" (Or, in the case of Zan and Anna Karenina, let's get some martinis...)

It's not like I ever walked out of a date's place because all he had was Catcher in the Rye on his shelf... actually, that book was definitely a dealbreaker in my dating days if it was the ONLY book you owned and you were a dude over the age of 16.

This will be difficult to articulate--but what sort of theme do you look for when you pick up a book? Do you prefer classics (looks like it! :D), or do you like to try something that looks interesting and just read it?

I don't actually look for a theme! I do kind of have a need to read books I've heard of over and over again in reference, like classics, so I gravitate to those, though I really despise some classics like Nathaniel Hawthorne (so boring). I tend to read things people/lists recommend to me and avoid things I probably wouldn't like - male coming-of-age tripe, something too chick-lit'y (I gave up on the genre when I read The Devil Wears Prada on vacation in college and it was seriously some of the worst writing, ever. Movie was SO much better.), and things that are too hyped (I think this is the reason I really can't get into Klosterman, I end up disappointed). Otherwise, I'm pretty open-minded about genres.

What does draw me in? A great first line. I don't judge books by their cover, I judge them by their first lines.

Did you buy or borrow most of your books for the book challenge?

I actually own most of the books I read this year, mainly because I have some great girlfriends who gave me books as part of my literature-themed bridal shower in June! I owned several books in the beginning of the year already (last Christmas I got a slew, and there are many books that have been sitting on my shelves for years unread). I only borrowed a few reads this year from friends who highly recommended a few reads (great ones, for sure - my friends know me well). If I didn't have all these books on my shelves, I would definitely be making use of the library. I get stuck in book stores wanting too many books and I just can't do it budget-wise! Though if I love a book, I will buy it - and my favourite places are used book stores.

That's what I've got! Any more questions? (Seriously all the other questions I have yet to answer are set up in posts, I just have to get around to typing out the answers and posting them! Gracias for your patience.)

Question 11-14 (Books Edition)

To celebrate the fact that I finished my 51st book of the year last night, George Orwell's 1984, and also because I started reading my 52nd book in my FIFTY TWO BOOKS challenge - Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary - I'm going to address some of the book questions I've gotten!

(Sidenote: yes, I'm did a happy dance last night in my living room by myself.)

If you could only read 5 books for the rest of your life, what would they be and why? Are they the same books that you'd recommend someone rush out and buy right now?

These questions where I only get to pick five are really hard! The good thing about books is that I love re-reading.

01 Jane Austen, Pride & Prejudice

Though Austen wrote the book a couple hundred years ago, her themes are still relevant, she's funny, and she wrote the first fictional man I ever fell in love with. I've read this book several times, and will read it several times more in my lifetime.

02 Gabriel Garcia Marquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude

This was the first book I read by Garcia Marquez, and my first foray into magical realism. It's also the ultimate example of that type of writing, and I could read this book forever because of all the ways it makes me smile in its characters and narrative. I also would love to someday attempt to read it in Spanish.

03 Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina

I love, love, love this book! I didn't know I was going to love it so much when I picked up the damn heavy thing, but the story, the characters, and the impressive translation (most recent, award-winning) kept me turning the pages in a fever to reach the end. And I already knew the end because it is so prevalant and cited in culture, but that didn't make me enjoy this any less.

04 Joan Didion, Slouching Towards Bethlehem

Umph, to write like Joan Didion. This book of essays from her earlier days as a journalist was so eye-opening, I couldn't believe I hadn't read her yet. Her prose is impeccable and I've read about people carrying around copies of "On Keeping a Notebook" or "Goodbye to All That" in their back pockets to read whenever they'd like. I may very well turn into one of those people.

05 Roberto Bolano, 2666

This book is massive. When I finished the novel, I felt almost out of breath and I wanted to start it all over again. There are many intricacies in the novel only realized in retrospect; I already can't wait to re-read it to connect them all.I do think all these books are worth reading, though some are quite hefty endeavors (that went into my reasoning for some of these books - there's enough pages to be discovering even more about the story...). I wouldn't rush out to get 2666 unless you are totally commited to it; the book takes a lot of willpower, ha.

Jessica, I decided I'm going to try doing the 52 books in a year. Any tips? Suggestions? Amazing books you read?

Awesome - glad you're trying it out!

Tips: set aside some time every day to read. I did this pretty well except for the weekends sometimes. The great thing about using the subway for me is that every day I have about 30-45 minutes to read back and forth from work. I actually began noticing how many pages I could get done in a day, and it usually was around 50 pages just from my commute. Also, this is not a challenge to get lazy with - it really does require a lot of effort; a lot more than I had anticipated. That's not to say that it wasn't enjoyable. I tackled some books I've always wanted to read and most of these novels are incredibly inspiring to a writer-type like myself.

Suggestions: read simultaneously. I found when I was reading a super-long book (Anna Karenina, 2666, etc.) I would read a short book or comic book when I needed a breather for a reading session. Also, there are some great short books out there (Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Sound of my Voice) that are just as fulfilling as the long ones. It's all about balance. The challenge, of course, is about reading one book per week - but some books take three days to read, and others take three months. I tried setting a goal for when I would finish a book; I think most books are around 300 pages, so I designated those books for one-week of reading time. Shorter books got less time, longer books got more. And I always kept track of my reading - Goodreads.com is really great for that and I love looking back at my list of books I read this year! (Be my friend!)

Amazing books: well, I plan to do a whole year-end recap with various estimations of my fifty books later on, but for now I can tell you the best books I read this year:

The Road, Cormac McCarthy
Fun Home, Alison Bechdel
Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro
2666, Roberto Bolano
The Sound of My Voice, Ron Butlin
Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion
The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende
White Teeth, Zadie Smith
Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote
Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Come Together, Fall Apart, Cristina Henriquez

It was my first time reading most of these authors, and I can't wait to find more of their works because these books were so great.

Your book challenge has inspired me to take on the same feat!! (Just wanted to share that with you) My question: If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, which would you choose.

Wow, I'm so flattered I've inspired a few to read more often and try the 52 book challenge! Yay!

And now I have to narrow my list down?! Hahaha, MAN! Okay, I would choose One Hundred Years of Solitude. I am completely in love with the writing...I could study a sentence of it every day...or, something.

You've totally inspired me to start reading more. How do you make your book selections (when PeeWee isn't there to help)? Do you arrange your bookshelf in any special way (I recently started sorting mine by the color of the binding)?

I make my book selections a number of ways - I read The Time Traveler's Wife because I read over someone's shoulder on the subway. I read the first sentence and had to read it - and now I love that book. I peruse in the bookstore. Any books that I've heard of before in terms of classics always catch my eye (I hate Nathaniel Hawthorne with a passion, though).

This year, for the most part I've used lists! There are tons of lists on the internet that I found useful for material - I'm making my way through Jezebel's 75 Books Every Woman Should Read and the Guardian has a list of 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read, split my genre. All these year-end lists help, as well, because when I see a description of a book that sounds interesting I just pop over to Goodreads and add it as a "to-read" so I can just bring up the list on my iPhone the next time I'm perusing in a bookstore.

I used to arrange my books alphabetically, by author's last name. Since I have so many more books now, and a giant bookshelf as our bed's headboard, I made the asthetically-pleasing decision to also arrange the books by the color of their binding! I posted this pic a couple months ago -

Good luck to everyone with the book challenge! Friend me on Goodreads; it's another way I find new books as I see people update on what they're reading!

More answers to come - you can keep asking, too!

If this is chemical.

And so, it is the 46th week of 2009, and guess what? I'm on book 49 of 52! BOOM! I last updated this list back in September, and I never know what's going to be picked next or what I'm in the mood to read, so it turned out a bit differently than expected these last few books -

01 A Clash of Kings, George R.R. Martin (01.05.09)
02 World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, Max Brooks (01.18.09)
03 Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer (01.20.09)
04 The Road, Cormac McCarthy (01.22.09)
05 Y: The Last Man, Brian K. Vaughn (01.27.09)
06 Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyers (01.31.09)
07 Infinity Blues, Ryan Adams (02.12.09)
08 The Best American Magazine Writing 2008 (02.28.09)
09 First Love, Ivan S. Turgenev (03.08.09)
10 Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (03.15.09)
11 Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy (03.16.09)
12 The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera (03.24.09)
13 Never Let Me Go, Ishiguro Kazuo (03.29.09)
14 The Last Vampire, Christopher Pike (04.05.09)
15 Whisper of Death, Christopher Pike (04.13.09)
16 Monster, Christopher Pike (04.21.09)
17 A Storm of Swords, George R.R. Martin (04.30.09)
18 Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Seth Grahame-Smith (05.15.09)
19 Crimson, Brian Augustyn (06.15.09)
20 2666, Roberto Bolaño (06.07.09)
21 The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson (06.17.09)
22 The Uncommon Reader, Alan Bennett (06.19.09)
23 The Lover, Marguerite Duras (06.22.09)
24 The Sound of My Voice, Ron Butlin (06.25.09)
25 Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy (07.07.09)
26 L.A. Confidential (Film Criticism), Manohla Dargis (07.10.09)
27 Are You There Vodka? It's Me Chelsea, Chelsea Handler (07.12.09)
28 Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card (07.18.09)
29 The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (07.26.09)
30 Nine Stories, J.D. Salinger (08.05.09)
31 Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion (08.09.09)
32 Seven (Film Criticism), Richard Dyer (08.15.09)
33 Delta of Venus, Anais Nin (08.17.09)
34 The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende (08.23.09)
35 The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters (09.05.09)
36 To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf (09.10.09)
37 White Teeth, Zadie Smith (09.27.09)
38 Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote (09.29.09)
39 Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Márquez (10.02.09)
40 Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. Thompson (10.08.10)
41 Jesus' Son, Denis Johnson (10.12.09)
42 Perfect Fifths, Megan McCafferty (10.13.09)
43 The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (10.19.09)
44 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson (10.27.09)
45 Bad Behavior, Mary Gaitskill (11.03.09)
46 Come Together, Fall Apart, Cristina Henriquez (11.09.09)
47 Daughters of the North, Sarah Hall (11.15.09)
48 Night, Elie Wiesel (11.16.09)
49 I, Lucifer, Glen Duncan (CURRENTLY READING)

Possibly next:

50 Delirium, Laura Restrepo
51 Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert
52 1984, George Orwell

Also, I know I had the Sherlock Holmes books in there before, but do you know how hard it is to relax comfortably and read with an 800+ page, mini-font size, hardcover anthology?! For me, it's next to impossible. I'm seriously considering buying the books individually. Or perhaps I will attempt it again! I feel like I need to be sitting in a library with a big wooden table and a reading light to get through something in that format. No? Am I being weird? I tell you what - that book sits on my bedside table mocking me every time I go to bed. Sometimes I pick it up and then grunt at its weight. The cats have watched me struggle to "curl up in bed" with it. It has sharp corners and resting it on my stomach literally (HA) causes enough pressure to induce an ache.

Last night I finished the harrowing memoir Night, by Elie Wiesel - it recounts his time in concentration camps during WWII and though it's only about 120 pages long, it's incredibly heavy. Afterwards, I needed to pick my next book so I lay a few unread titles on my bed and then Pee Wee jumped up and lay in my lap, apparently wanting to help with my decision.

Here is Pee Wee pondering over the titles and book covers with me.

After reading the back cover, he pushes away Bukowski.

He decides Glen Duncan's I, Lucifer should be my next read, over Laure Restrepo's Delirium.

He hopes that I am pleased with his decision, as he certainly is satisfied with his literary prowess.

Cherished dreams forever asleep.

We're about to enter into the last quarter of the year! Starting in October, there will only be thirteen weeks left in 2009, thus, only thirteen weeks for me to reach 52. So where should I be right now? With fifteen weeks left in the year currently, I should have completed 37 books. As you can see, I've only read 36 -

01 A Clash of Kings, George R.R. Martin (01.05.09)
02 World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, Max Brooks (01.18.09)
03 Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer (01.20.09)
04 The Road, Cormac McCarthy (01.22.09)
05 Y: The Last Man, Brian K. Vaughn (01.27.09)
06 Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyers (01.31.09)
07 Infinity Blues, Ryan Adams (02.12.09)
08 The Best American Magazine Writing 2008 (02.28.09)
09 First Love, Ivan S. Turgenev (03.08.09)
10 Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (03.15.09)
11 Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy (03.16.09)
12 The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera (03.24.09)
13 Never Let Me Go, Ishiguro Kazuo (03.29.09)
14 The Last Vampire, Christopher Pike (04.05.09)
15 Whisper of Death, Christopher Pike (04.13.09)
16 Monster, Christopher Pike (04.21.09)
17 A Storm of Swords, George R.R. Martin (04.30.09)
18 Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Seth Grahame-Smith (05.15.09)
19 Crimson, Brian Augustyn (06.15.09)
20 2666, Roberto Bolaño (06.07.09)
21 The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson (06.17.09)
22 The Uncommon Reader, Alan Bennett (06.19.09)
23 The Lover, Marguerite Duras (06.22.09)
24 The Sound of My Voice, Ron Butlin (06.25.09)
25 Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy (07.07.09)
26 L.A. Confidential (Film Criticism), Manohla Dargis (07.10.09)
27 Are You There Vodka? It's Me Chelsea, Chelsea Handler (07.12.09)
28 Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card (07.18.09)
29 The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (07.26.09)
30 Nine Stories, J.D. Salinger (08.05.09)
31 Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion (08.09.09)
32 Seven (Film Criticism), Richard Dyer (08.15.09)
33 Delta of Venus, Anais Nin (08.17.09)
34 The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende (08.23.09)
35 The Little Stranger, Sarah Waters (09.05.09)
36 To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf (09.10.09)

So I'm going to try a bit harder, fantasy football and Netflix be damned. Here's what the rest of my year looks like! (Hopefully!) -

37 A Study in Scarlet, Arthur Conan Doyle (Holmes Novel)* (CURRENTLY READING)
38 White Teeth, Zadie Smith (CURRENTLY READING)
39 The Sign of Four, Arthur Conan Doyle (Holmes Novel)
40 The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion
41 Breakfast at Tiffany's, Truman Capote
42 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stiegg Larsson
43 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle (Holmes Short Story Compilation)
44 Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert
45 Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
46 The Memoirs, Arthur Conan Doyle (Holmes Short Story Compilation)
47 Jesus' Son, Denis Johnson
48 I, Lucifer, Glen Duncan
49 Perfect Fifths, Megan McCafferty
50 Night, Elie Wiesel
51 Travels, Michael Crichton
52 1984, George Orwell

Yes, this list is subject to infinite change. However, I'm hoping that the change reveals I've read more than 52 books! Perhaps? Maybe? Can I do it?

In related news, at the end of the year I'll also put together a recap of those books I enjoyed and whole-heartedly recommend, to those I enjoyed and maybe not everyone else would like, and to those novels which were slightly tortuous to finish. Not every classic is a favourite of mine...

My friend Sean - you may remember him as the one and only distinguished member of the only book club I've ever known when we read Anna Karenina together earlier this year - now wants us to read War and Peace, another SLIGHTLY THICK Tolstoy tome. Sean, I say let us start that challenge on the first day of 2010? How does that sound?

I'm not sure if you can tell by reading this, but I really am enjoying this challenge. I've read so many incredible books because I was motivated, but I'm increasingly disappointed in the fact that I can't read every single one! I have so many books on my to-read shelves that I'm desperate for a year-long sabbatical if only to read a book a day and fulfill my curiousity about all the books that line the shelves in my imagination.


*I have the complete Holmes works in a huge First Volume, so I'm splitting the novels and short story anthologies! I must prepare myself for RDJ's depiction in December!

Well you don't mind me being headstrong.

It's July 15th, meaning it's nearly exactly half-way through the year. And there are 52 weeks in a year, and I'm reading 52 books this year, which means I should have read by this point, 26 books. Let's see -

Fifty-Two Books in 2009

01 A Clash of Kings, George R.R. Martin (01.05.09)
02 World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, Max Brooks (01.18.09)
03 Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer (01.20.09)
04 The Road, Cormac McCarthy (01.22.09)
05 Y: The Last Man, Brian K. Vaughn (01.27.09)
06 Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyers (01.31.09)
07 Infinity Blues, Ryan Adams (02.12.09)
08 The Best American Magazine Writing 2008 (02.28.09)
09 First Love, Ivan S. Turgenev (03.08.09)
10 Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (03.15.09)
11 Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy (03.16.09)
12 The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera (03.24.09)
13 Never Let Me Go, Ishiguro Kazuo (03.29.09)
14 The Last Vampire, Christopher Pike* (04.05.09)
15 Whisper of Death, Christopher Pike (04.13.09)
16 Monster, Christopher Pike (04.21.09)
17 A Storm of Swords, George R.R. Martin (04.30.09)
18 Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Seth Grahame-Smith (05.15.09)
19 Crimson, Brian Augustyn (06.15.09)
20 2666, Roberto Bolaño (06.07.09)
21 The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson (06.17.09)
22 The Uncommon Reader, Alan Bennett (06.19.09)
23 The Lover, Marguerite Duras (06.22.09)
24 The Sound of My Voice, Ron Butlin (06.25.09)
25 Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy (07.07.09)
26 L.A. Confidential (Film Criticism), Manohla Dargis (07.10.09)
27 Are You There Vodka? It's Me Chelsea, Chelsea Handler (07.12.09)
28 Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card (CURRENTLY READING)

I'm ahead! I'm ahead!! YES!

You are the anchor that holds me.

"Reading is pleasure and happiness to be alive or sadness to be alive and above all it's knowledge and questions." - Roberto Bolaño, 2666.

I finished this novel last night, and immediately re-read the last three pages again, as if in a trance, as if unable to let go of something I'd spent a lot of time with over the last three weeks, as if I couldn't stand for the story to be over. It's hard to compare this book to much else I've read, though I've added it to my favourite books, just as I did The Road earlier this year. I think the last time a book made me stop and re-read a sentence or whole passages so many times was probably Gabriel Garcia Marquez' One Hundred Years of Solitude. I'd recommend 2666 to everybody who loves a great sentence, can deal with tangents, and will invest time into this 900-page novel in five parts.

So how am I doing with my fifty-two books for 2009? Well, the last time I updated about it here was back in February, though I update my Goodreads status nearly daily with my reading. I'm still completely open to suggestions - the last time I did it, I added your suggestions to my "to-read" list, currently at 206 books! So, I might not get to it right away, but...it'll be there. Perhaps just tell me about a book that really moved you, something that might be akin to how relevatory I found 2666. Even if I've already read it or whatever - I love hearing about books other people treasure and why. My own favourites can be found here.

Fifty-Two Books in 2009

01 A Clash of Kings, George R.R. Martin (01.05.09)
02 World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, Max Brooks (01.18.09)
03 Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer (01.20.09)
04 The Road, Cormac McCarthy (01.22.09)
05 Y: The Last Man, Brian K. Vaughn (01.27.09)
06 Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyers (01.31.09)
07 Infinity Blues, Ryan Adams (02.12.09)
08 The Best American Magazine Writing 2008 (02.28.09)
09 First Love, Ivan S. Turgenev (03.08.09)
10 Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (03.15.09)
11 Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy (03.16.09)
12 The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera (03.24.09)
13 Never Let Me Go, Ishiguro Kazuo (03.29.09)
14 The Last Vampire, Christopher Pike* (04.05.09)
15 Whisper of Death, Christopher Pike (04.13.09)
16 Monster, Christopher Pike (04.21.09)
17 A Storm of Swords, George R.R. Martin (04.30.09)
18 Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Seth Grahame-Smith (05.15.09)
19 Crimson, Brian Augustyn (CURRENTLY READING)**
20 2666, Roberto Bolaño (06.07.09)
21 The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson (CURRENTLY READING)

Hopefully I'll reach the halfway point of 26 books in July! After I finish Jam's suggestion of The Devil in the White City (which is a quite good non-fiction read so far!), I have a few shorter books lined up to take a little breather from those novels which add pounds to my commute! They include, The Sound of My Voice by Ron Butlin (128 pages), Daughters of the North by Sarah Hall (240 pages), and The Lover by Marguerite Duras (128 pages).

So, again, let me know what your favourite book ever is and explain why you love it and how it moved you! I'm excited to read about them!



*Did you know that Christopher Pike chose his pen name from the Star Trek character? Still. Relevant.
**This graphic series isn't really doing it for me, I may put it down after finishing the second volume.

You come in, I can read you.

How's my 52 Books in 2009 going? Well, February was a little slow, given that I've been reading Anna Karenina (which is amazing; I'm roughly 200 pages away from finishing it!). But I'd like to bring your attention to another book I read in February -

Every year I read a book called The Best American Magazine Writing. It's a selection of the previous years winning magazine pieces. I don't read every magazine out there - but usually this book gives me a great compilation of things I may or may not have missed. The great thing about magazine articles these days, is that you can usually find them online. In fact, I tend to look up many of my favourite articles from the book, since it doesn't come with pictures. In some profiles, like the one below about a girl named Cynthia who ends up in Atlanta - I just want to see the face of this extraordinary person. And, I can easily share with anyone who might be interested in these stories, as well. So below I've picked out just a handful of the articles from the book, and if you ever feel bored or in the need for a look at good writing (if so, why are you here?? - ha), I hope you look into some of these.

"The Black Sites," Jane Meyer for The New Yorker

"Specialist Town Takes His Case to Washington," Joshua Kors for The Nation -

All of the soldiers interviewed passed the rigorous health screening given recruits before being accepted into the Army. All were deemed physically and psychologically fit in a second screening as well, before being deployed to Iraq, and served honorably there in combat. None of the soldiers interviewed during this eleven-month investigation had a documented history of psychological problems.

Yet after they returned from Iraq wounded and sought treatment, each was diagnosed with a pre-existing personality disorder, then denied benefits. As in Town's case, Army doctors determined that the soldiers' ailments were pre-existing without interviewing friends, family or fellow soldiers who knew them before they were wounded in combat.

"You Have Thousands of Angels Around You," Paige Williams for Atlanta Magazine - Probably my favourite in the book; I got quite emotional reading it -

"Out in the Cold," Mike Kessler for 5280 Magazine -



"I Am Joe's Prostate," Thomas E. Kennedy for Newsletters [PDF, 4 Pages] - hilarious essay in second person, unfortunately only part of the article is available here.

"Casualties of War," Steve Oney for Los Angeles Magazine

Anyway, hope you enjoy these. And if you do, you should check out past issues. My favourite piece I've ever read has stuck with me over the years, and I can't find it online. It's from the 2003 anthology, and called "Lucky Jim." It's about a marathon runner who survives two near-death accidents, both which leave his body with permanent damages. I re-read it every year. It's also by Elizabeth Gilbert, yes - that Elizabeth Gilbert who wrote Eat, Pray, Love, which I picked up but was unable to continue. I didn't care for it. I'm getting carried away here!

My 52 Books continues, and I'll probably be reading shorter books after Anna as a "break," and then get into the other thicker contenders like 2666 and A Storm of Swords. I haven't decided exactly, but I have 22 unread books on my shelves - probably The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Never Let Me Go. I'm also always open to suggestions, even though I already have 192 books on my "to-read" list and continue to add every day!

52 Books in 2009 Update: January.

It's the first day of February, and so I must count up my reading for January. I ended up reading six books (though 10 volumes of Y: The Last Man I count as one book). I FINALLY FINISHED THAT DAMN TWILIGHT SERIES!! I finished Breaking Dawn last night, and I can't tell you how happy I was to be done. Especially with this book with all it's I'm-carrying-a-demon-baby-that-breaks-my-bones nonsense. Hurrah! If you couldn't tell, I really don't like them. They're quite horrible, but I had to read them to be able to say that - wouldn't want to be unfair!

Let's tabulate:
01 A Clash of Kings, George R.R. Martin (01.05.09)
02 World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, Max Brooks (01.18.09)
03 Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer (01.20.09)
04 The Road, Cormac McCarthy (01.22.09)
05 Y: The Last Man, Brian K. Vaughn (01.27.09)
06 Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyers (01.31.09)
07 Infinity Blues, Ryan Adams (CURRENTLY READING)
08 The Best American Magazine Writing 2008 (CURRENTLY READING)
09 Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy (Future Sean/Jessica Book Club Book - FSJBCB - started TODAY!)

Sean also just came over for the superbowl and we are coincidentally both on same page of Anna on it's first day: 14! What? It's a long book, but it's only the first day! Of these books, I strongly recommend The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It's entered the realm of my favourite books, ever. For thoughts on the other books, they're all reviewed and up on my Goodreads page! Has anybody read these books? I'm still taking recommendations, too.

Literate and stylish.

I know I've been sporadic as of late. It's been a tough week to get back in the groove of work after a couple of pretty sweet two-day workweeks.

I've seen a lot of people deciding to read 52 books this year as a promise to themselves in 2009. I think I'd like to try that goal and read more, if possible. That'll be pretty tough with the whole "getting married" hoopla and whatnot, but I think I can do it. I commute everyday via subway (prime reading time!) and I do a lot of travelling otherwise - to go home, to visit Jesse.

Though Jesse's been home for quite a while and methinks he'll be here for some time, too.

I've already finished one book, the second book in George R.R. Martin's epic fantasy series, A Clash of Kings, which Sean got me into. I started it in 2008, but I'm counting it because it's 1001 pages long. SERIOUSLY.

With the help of Goodreads.com* to keep me organizied and vigilant in my quest, I'm starting the countdown with all the books I got for Christmas, plus a book Sean and I have promised to "Book Club" together.

Also, I'm counting Eclipse of the Twilight series, as I'm only 200 pages in and I started reading it in or around the beginning of December. These books are hard to get through, HOLY CRAP. Jesse can attest to me picking up the book on the bedside table, groaning, and going, "Okay, okay, okay, I can get through this," and then he just laughs at me and goes, "Why???" But I shall conquer this, because I know not even horrible writing and nonsensical plots will defeat me! Okay, I'm getting melodramatic.

I present, my burgeoning list:

01 A Clash of Kings, George R.R. Martin (DONE 01.05.09)
02 Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer (CURRENTLY READING)
03 Infinity Blues, Ryan Adams (CURRENTLY READING)
04 Y: The Last Man, Brian K. Vaughn (CURRENTLY READING)**
05 World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, Max Brooks (CURRENTLY READING)
06 Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy (Future Sean/Jessica Book Club Book - FSJBCB)
07 The Road, Cormac McCarthy
08 A Storm of Swords, George R.R. Martin
09 Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
10 The Heretic's Daughter, Kathleen Kent
11 Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro
12 Daughters of the North, Sarah Hall
13 2666, Robert Bolano
14 The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
15 The Red Tent, Anita Diamant
16 Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer (UGH LAST ONE FINALLY)
17 Crimson, Brian Augustyn (graphic novel series)
18 A Feast for Crows, George R.R. Martin
19 Best American Magazine Writing 2008, ASME

So. That's where I'll start. What are you reading? Anything I should be reading? Leave any suggestions in the comments to check out and possibly add to my "to-read" list! And add me on Goodreads if you have an account!


*To my Shelfari lovers - I simply couldn't; I had already invested myself in Goodreads and Shelfari wasn't as detail-oriented about the books as GR is. I like being able to update my book-reading status with page number and notes(couldn't figure it out on Shelfari) and it was easier on GR to browse and find interesting books. I deleted my Shelfari account.
**Y: The Last Man note: it's a series of graphic novels, 10 volumes at about 120 pages each - I'll count them all together as one book.