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2013... a year in reading so far

7/11/2013

5 Comments

 
At the start of this year, inspired by the fact that I'd recently signed up to Goodreads, I thought it would be interesting to start recording the books I read, something I've never done before. Although we're only 5/6 of the way through the year, I've just had a look at the list, which reminded me of the experience of discovering so many great books. I know a lot of keen readers keep a record of the books they read, and I'm always fascinated to see what other readers' lists look like. So I thought for this week's blog it might be interesting to post my own reading list for the year so far.

I wasn't aiming to read a particular number of books (I've never been good at any sort of reading challenge, preferring to read quite idiosyncratically, sometimes focussing on one book for a whole month, or reading the same book four times within a year!). So the numbers are just to show the rough chronological order, and plenty of books make more than one appearance. Here's my year in reading so far:

1. Atomised / Michel Houllebecq
2. Oxygen / Andrew Miller
3. Family Money / Nina Bawden
4. In Pale Battalions / Robert Goddard
5. Favole al Telefono / Gianni Rodari
6. Romeo and Juliet / William Shakespeare (reread)
7. The Master and Margarita / Mikhail Bulgakov
8. Doctor Zhivago / Boris Pasternak
9. The Vivisector / Patrick White
10. Anna Karenina / Leo Tolstoy (reread)
11. Skellig / David Almond
12. Once / Morris Gleitzman
13. Private Peaceful / Michael Morpurgo (reread)
14. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde / Robert Louis Stevenson
15. The Shadow of the Wind / Carlos Ruiz Zafon (reread)
16. Of Mice and Men / John Steinbeck (reread)
17. Tomorrow / Graham Swift
18. Random Acts of Heroic Love / Danny Scheinmann
19. The Painter of Battles / Arturo Perez-Reverte
20. The Arrival / Shaun Tan (reread)
21. Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? / Jeanette Winterson
22. Various Pets Alive and Dead / Marina Lewycka
23. The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared / Jonas Jonasson
24. The House of the Spirits / Isabel Allende
25. The Inheritance of Loss / Kiran Desai
26. Midnight's Children / Salman Rushdie
27. Old School / Tobias Wolff (reread)
28. Digging to America / Anne Tyler (reread)
29. Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? / Jeanette Winterson (reread)
30. Report from Palermo (Poverty in Sicily) / Danilo Dolci
31. Words are Stones: Impressions of Sicily / Carlo Levi
32. Mattanza: Love and Death in the Sea of Sicily / Theresa Maggio
33. Monkeys with Typewriters / Scarlett Thomas
34. The Inheritance of Loss / Kiran Desai (reread)
35. The Art of the Novel / Milan Kundera
36. The New Yorker: Short Stories / Alice Munro
37. What the Twilight Says / Derek Walcott (reread)
38. Collected Poems / Derek Walcott (reread)
39. Omeros / Derek Walcott (reread)
40. Cathedral / Raymond Carver (reread)
41. The Leopard / Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
42. Il Gattopardo / Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa
43. The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy 1943-1944 / Rick Atkinson
44. 1Q84 Books 1 & 2 / Haruki Murakami
45. 1Q84 Book 3 / Haruki Murakami
46. Solar / Ian McEwan

There are a few things missing from this list. For instance, I didn't write down all the books that I read (or reread) only small parts of, maybe to look at a particular technique or refer to a fact. I also haven't recorded any of the shorter non-fiction: articles, interviews with other writers, investigative pieces of writing. Or any of the films - which is a shame because like many writers I love watching films and find it a massive source of inspiration, so I feel like on this list I'm failing to credit half the people whose work has been important to me. In that spirit, I would like to give Beasts of the Southern Wild, the adaptation of Cloud Atlas and Warrior honourable mention for influencing my thinking nearly as much as anything I read this year!

It's intriguing to have a record of (almost) a year's reading. And rereading - clearly, I return to some of the same books over and over again. Stuart Kelly has an interesting essay on rereading here; I would agree with his idea that books are all the more impressive if they are worth rereading. In fact, I would have reread even more this year if I hadn't resisted lots of my favourite 19th-century novels in favour of longer new books. It's a shame to see that I read no new poetry at all, and hardly any new short stories, even though my three favourite writers are probably Raymond Carver, Derek Walcott and Anne Tyler - a short story writer (mainly), a poet (mainly) and a novelist. So I'll try and be more adventurous with poetry and short stories in 2014...

The longest books? 1Q84, The Vivisector and Anna Karenina were all pretty long (though this is just in terms of page count: The Vivisector took over a month to read, 1Q84 raced by in a few evenings). Shortest? The graphic novel The Arrival weighs in at 0 words (although it still takes a few hours to read properly). Best book? This is difficult. Of all the books I read for the first time this year, The Inheritance of Loss, Midnight's Children and Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal? left the strongest impressions. And most of the books I reread were ones I returned to because they were particularly important to me. But there are other very good books on the list that wouldn't fall into either of those categories. In fact, I've been lucky - most of the books I read this year were ones that, on looking back, I was glad to have invested the time in.

What about you? What have you enjoyed reading in 2013? Do you keep a record of the books you read? Let me know in the comments if you have a chance!
5 Comments
Somborta Mondal link
8/1/2014 03:39:26 am

Catherine first of all happy new year . Also wishing your upcoming book's success .


I should admit that looking at yout booklist i'm jealous . There are some common like Rushdie , Kiran Desai , Tolstoy . Master and Margarite -'ve heard about it so many times . It's in my wishlist this year .
Like you I've also this habit to read same book if i like it.... also I have a habit to smell pages of a new book . Have u this habit ?

So catherine sharing my book list of 2013.....

1.OPEN by Andre Agassi
2.No Limits by Michael Phelphs
3.A shot at history by Abhinav Bindra
4.Steve Jobs by Walter Issacton
5.To kill a mocking bird
6.White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
7.Kane and Abel by Jeffry Archer
8. The Hungry Tides by Amitava Ghosh
9.Surely You are Joking Mr. Feynman
10.The man who knew Infinity
11.It's not about the bike , my journey back to the life
12.SENSE OF AN ENDING by Julian Barnes
13.I too had a lovestory by Ravinder Singh
14.Immortals of Meluha
15.Da Vinci Code
16.Brother's Karamozov
17.The Taj Conspiracy
18.Endgame by Frank Buddy
19.The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossaini
20.El Diego
21.David Livingstone Seagull
22.Maharani by Ruskin Bond
23.The English Teacher by RK Narayanan
24.Room on the roof by Ruskin Bond
25.You can win
26.The monk who sold his ferrari
27. Life is what you make it by Preeti Shenoy

etc....

Mainly these books i hv read....If u share ur wishlist of 2014 that'll be great .

Donno about your choice of selecting books...but recommending two author for u

1.Julian Barnes (I think , u've read him)
2.Ruskin Bond
3.The song offerings by Rabindranath Tagore

I'm a lazy person so it's an excuse i read books , not a good reader i'm . But hv an aim to read more bookd in 2014 including your book.
Finally good luck Catherine ....Enjoy this winter

Reply
Catherine Banner link
8/1/2014 06:15:21 am

Happy New Year! Thank you so much for sharing your 2013 reading. It's always really interesting to hear about what others are reading - particularly as I see in your list lots of non-fiction, something I've resolved to read more of in 2014!

Julian Barnes and Rabindranath Tagore I have read, but a long time ago, so it's nice to be reminded of them (both writers I like very much). The Sense of an Ending is on my to-read list in fact, so I'm glad to hear positive things about it. Ruskin Bond is completely new to me though, and from a quick search he looks like a very interesting author. Another one to add to the ever-growing list for 2014!

And yes - that new book smell is great. Although I also like the smell of musty old books, which is maybe a bit stranger!

Reply
somborta
15/1/2014 12:57:12 pm

Old is gold !! :) . Generally In library books I find that . Ruskin Bond is excellent . Sometimes he jokingly says " I'm real bond" . Julian Barnes is one of my favs ... Irony is I gifted "Sense of an Ending" to my first love somedays before our ending . Apart from this he is very much personal for me ... Reading his books give me personal feelings ..... The way he has travelled Europe that's excellent . Brother's Karamozov is also famous . So read as much as u can in 2014. Hope I'll read as many as I can . Btw U can add Jim Corbett also within your list . Another one (It's within my list of 2014) if u are Holmes Lover , maybe u can read this

Holmes Sutras by J Gangopadhyay .

It's published in UK . Bt not available in India . So can read that (donno how that is , read some reviews only) . Gd luck

Reply
Catherine Banner link
17/1/2014 02:39:17 am

I'll definitely read as much as I can in 2014 :) There's never enough time to read all the books on my list, though... Your story about The Sense of an Ending is a sad one; I agree with what you say - favourite books can become so personal and associated with particular memories. Hope you have a good start to 2014, in your reading too!

Reply
Karla G link
22/5/2022 05:38:19 pm

Great reaading your post

Reply



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