Now that we’re in the second half of 2024 I’m relieved that I never got around to setting any reading goals for the year. Because if I had, then this post would be all about how I failed to meet each and every one of them. The same can be said of my long term reading projects like the Classics Club (I’ve managed only one so far) and the Reading African Literature project (only two countries “visited” to date. Sigh).
Yep, it’s been that kind of a year so far.
I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a time when I have read so few books. I put this down to a few factors.
1: I don’t have time to read during the day but by the time I get to bed, I’m so tired I can’t get through more than 20 pages before the eyes go on strike.
2: The cataract picked up by my optician last year is worsening. I’m going to have to get a stronger bedside light.
3: I’ve given up on many novels because they were tedious or badly written. Tender is the Night by F Scott Fitzgerald; Murder in the Mill by E. C. R Lorac; Black Parade by Jack Jones, Mythos by Stephen Fry and The Man Who Knew Too Much by G K Chesterton were among the dozen or so books I’ve failed to finish.
The DNF trend looks like it’s going to continue into the second half of the year because I’ve just abandoned Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Gamus. Having been hugely entertained by her at an author event last year, I was looking forward to this book. But it’s awful. The tone is either sickeningly jovial or serious in a very “this is important” kind of way. How did this book win so many awards????
On the plus side …
I’m continuing to nibble away at the size of my TBR. It’s now down to 261 versus 283 at the start of the year. I’ve made a conscious effort to read more of the books I already own — so far more than half the books I’ve read have been from my shelves. i also made a conscious effort not to add a load of new books to the shelves. If I see a bargain in a charity shop I’ll get it if it’s one of the books on my classics club list or would fit my Reading African Literature project. But any new issues I’ll get from the library — with the increasing price even of paperbacks, I’m hesitant about buying any book that’s had a lot of hype, Too often (Lessons in Chemistry being a prime example) contemporary books haven’t lived up to the hype.
Looking Ahead
Given my track record so far this year there is little point in formulating any grand plans. They’d probably end up thrown in the rubbish bin. Instead I’m setting my sights low. I’m going to count the second half of the year a roaring success if:
- I manage to read six books from my 20BooksofSummer list AND write the reviews!
- I read two more books from my Classics Club list
- I sample the literature from three more African nations
And I don’t manage to hit those numbers but I enjoy more of what I do read, I promise not to fall into the Slough of Despond.
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