WoolGathering: December 2017

Sunday, 31 December 2017

BookEnds

BookEnds

Here it is, New Year's Eve, 2017. I’m not celebrating, not making resolutions. I am committed to publishing this blog before midnight in compliance with my self-imposed deadline. My non-resolution for the last few years has been to read a book a week, thus 52 books a year. Well, I made it. Just. If I have counted correctly.

Calendar, 2017

I was keeping up to one book a week until about mid-November. In fact, there was a point in July that I might have been ahead of schedule. I felt quite smug about that, to be honest.

July. On Schedule.

But in November, I started to lag. So, as in other years, I was searching the house and the library for skinny books in late December. Sort of cheating, you might say. However, I did manage to hit 52 without sneaking in the occasional picture book.

A Skinny Book

Early in 2017, a friend forwarded me this checklist which challenges you to read one book every two weeks. Although I attempted to tick off every box on the list, I did not quite do it. For example, I did not read a book I had read in school, nor did I read one by someone who is not a writer. (Is that even possible?) You might want to try this!

I cannot settle on The Best Book I Read in 2017, but I’ll tell you my top 5 favourites, in no particular order:

There are some books on my list that were not good. For some inexplicable reason, I feel obligated to finish every book I start, so I push myself through to the bitter end. I probably should get over that.

The Bitter End

I am most proud of having read Middlemarch by George Eliot…one of those classics you are supposed to read. 736 pages long. Actually, I listened to that book, in solitude. I love listening and I love solitude!

Classic

I was most disturbed by The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King, a book all Canadians should read. Be prepared to feel uncomfortable.

Recommended

Speaking of disturbing, We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver is an excellent book. The writing is wonderful, the story is alarming. Proof that books don't have to be happy to be good.