I love a challenge – particularly a self-imposed challenge. For example, this summer I challenged my family to take 50 picnics before the end of the year. This was, of course, an absurd challenge and would have required two picnics a week from June through December or somewhere between three and four a week if we were to limit ourselves to the time of year when picnics are the least bit enjoyable. I think we did about ten…. but I appreciate the memory of each of them. And if we hadn’t been talking about taking 50 picnics, would there even have been ten? Sometimes it is not about meeting the goal but the process of trying to meet the goal.
This is all a very long-winded explanation for the 50 Book Challenge I set for myself this year. Aside from letting yourself off-the-hook for not meeting the goal, the other nice thing about self-imposed challenges is that you can cheat and no one really cares. So, I started my reading spree in December and gave myself 13 months to complete a one-year reading challenge! I don’t know if I will really end up reading 50 books this year, but so far I’m enjoying everything I’ve read and this is just the little extra motivation I need to turn off the TV and spend some time doing something that is so much more fulfilling.
Our town is fortunate to have a wonderful library which is where I get most of my books. This arrangement works well with my natural tendency toward frugality and my dislike for accumulating “stuff”. I do feel a little guilty that by not buying the books I’m not properly supporting the authors for their work. Not sure how to get around that. I purchase books to read when traveling and then pass them along to others who might like them or donate to a used book sale (oops… again discounting the compensation to authors).
Sometimes it can be hard to find new and very popular books at the library. My workaround is to search lists of the best books from 2 or 3 years ago and focus my borrowing on those lower-demand items. When I find an author I like I might go back and read more of her (or his) work. Again, a somewhat long-winded way to explain why you’re unlikely to find any current best sellers on my list.
Here’s what I’ve read so far:
The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver
I cried so much while I was reading this book it was embarrassing. This is a story about grief and the desire to escape reality told through a pretty accessible love story format. Even though you could see where the plot was headed from pretty early on, the characters’ grief was so raw and real that it affected me.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Bleak, poetic, depressing. This is a quick read about living in unlivable conditions that stuck with me. My high-school junior read this in English class… very cool to have something to discuss with her.
The Wildlands by Abby Geni
My notes after reading this were “perfectly fine.” It is essentially a family drama (about a family with the worst luck in the world) with some intrigue and ecoterrorism thrown in.
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
I liked this a lot. The main character’s life starts over every time she dies – we get to see many different fates for her and how the consequences of certain events ripple across her lives. There’s a tiny, delicious little twist at the end. Very well written and engaging.
Severance by Ling Ma
This was a good and easy read. Another “young people surviving at the end of the world” book. It wasn’t really trying to be Station 11 (Emily St. John Mandel) but comes up short in comparison. I get that this is intended to be a satire of consumption and materialism in addition to a story about fungus-induced zombies. Still, if you’re going to read one book during a global pandemic about a pathogen wiping out life as we know it, I’m not sure I’d chose this one. However, the inclusion of the “before” and “early days” of the fictional catastrophe made for interesting comparisons with real world experiences.
The Organ Thieves by Chip Jones
This is the only non-fiction on my list so far. This book reaches deep and wide to tell the story of the first heart transplant in the segregated south. It was interesting to me, in large part due to my interest in the history of cardiac surgery. Your mileage may vary.
Heather, the Totality by Matthew Weiner
This was another short book that made for an engaging evening’s entertainment. Perfectly fine.
Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson
I sought this out after reading Life After Life and was not disappointed but maybe not quite as moved. The nonlinear storytelling and large number of characters in this highly engaging multi-generation family saga was just the right amount of challenging.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple
I liked this a lot. It was a super fun and funny story that veered slightly into farce. Those cliched phrases like ‘madcap romp’ and ‘utterly delightful’ that you see pulled from reviews and plastered on movie posters really fit here. Sadly, a plot hole at the end just kind of got under my skin and I’m having a hard time letting it go. I watched the move too, which I cannot recommend – your time would be much better spent reading the book.
Highly Important Nonsense 