I’ve read twelve books from my Unread Library since starting the project in July 2010. I can’t decide if I’ve done well or am in need of improvement, though I’m leaning towards “pick up the pace, woman.” Six of the books were from Charlaine Harris’s Sookie series, the same that inspired the TV show True Blood. They are fast, easy, and don’t require braincells, which makes them perfect summer reads. They account for 50% of my progress and (hello!) I read all six during the final dog days of August. Yeah, I need to pick up the pace. Here’s what I have read so far.
- The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski was the first book I finished. The Barnes and Noble near me had assigned it to their book club members and I bought it hoping to be a part of the group, which was foolhardy. The group did not accept new members. I tried reading it on my own, and got about a third of the way in when I let it go. A year later, Oprah put it on her Book Club list. I should have known. Oprah and I are on divergent paths when it comes to reading. I am rarely in love with her picks, and this book was no exception. I wanted to love it, but I think this book, which parallels the plot lines in Hamlet almost exactly, requires a working knowledge of the tragedy to better appreciate the story. I’m not well versed in Shakespeare and avoid tragedies as a general rule so, for me, this is a book I should have read in a book club or with friends who could explain to me the nuances and key points.
- Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. Don’t ask me why I didn’t fall head over heels for this book. Part of my problem, I think, is that I read too fast to properly enjoy the story. I didn’t dislike this book. On the contrary, I read it in four days. You don’t do that with books you can’t stand. Still, there was something that has kept it from my reread pile. The most concrete thing I can pinpoint in my dissatisfaction is that the love I had for the narrator as an old man weakened when the story recounted the past. Old Jacob jumped off the page for me, while young Jacob didn’t seem as full of life. I am eager to see the movie, though!
- All Together Dead, Dead and Gone, Dead in the Family, Definitely Dead, From Dead to Worse, by Charlaine Harris. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the word dead has to be in every title in Harris’s catalog. You heard it here first. And that pretty much sums up what I have to say about the series. It’s fun, campy, and the kind of thing you read on the beach. I bought the series a few years back and read the first three quickly. I tried to read the next three but couldn’t. I tend to read in spurts and stops, alternating between fluff and stuff, and I was done with fluff after the first three. This summer, everything that annoyed me about this series the previous year went poof! and suddenly I was up late reading about vampire drama. The latest in the series comes out in May. You got to hand it to Harris; she’s prolific.
- After a three month break, where I re-read books I own or found ways to justify reading books from the library, I got back into the swing of things. We went to Lake Tahoe for Thanksgiving, which is always good for reading. On that trip, I brought (and read) Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer. True story: when I opened Everything is Illuminated out popped an airline ticket stub (remember those?) from ten years prior. The destination was Lake Tahoe. I was destined to read that book in Lake Tahoe, just a decade later than I anticipated.
- The second book I brought with me to Lake Tahoe was To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, a book I have started and stopped for, again, ten years. It was an amazing book, the kind that makes you examine your own writing and realize that you don’t amount to a hill of beans. I have so many notes and have so thoroughly underlined that book that I could probably devote several months to it in my Compositions series. I haven’t, mainly because I don’t want to bore you or seem like an angst ridden high school senior, which is when most people read Viriginia Woolf. What can I say? I never claimed to be well read.
- Next, I read Bloodroot by Amy Greene. The Mister bought me this book when it first came out. It’s set in the Smoky Mountains of eastern Tennessee and the author, from what I heard, does a superb job of recreating the people and the setting of the part of our country. I’ve never been, nor have I met someone from the Smoky Mountains, so I’m taking this to be true. The beginning started off strong, and I thought the book would be American magical realism, but that seemed to taper off as we moved forwarded and settled into southern tragedy. I would have preferred the former over the latter.
- The Help, by Kathryn Stockett was not on my list of books. It was a birthday gift, and I’m tossing it in here to justify why I’m so far behind on my other reading. The book was an enjoyable read, and I’m excited to see the movie. I didn’t love it, and if you haven’t already figured it out, I rarely love books. I read too many to love every book I come across, no matter how deserving the praise. That almost jaded attitude when it comes to books is truly the saddest part about reading as much as I do. For me to say I loved a book, I have to dread seeing it come to an end. When it does end, I read parts of it over and over for weeks to come to get it out of my system. I love that feeling.
- Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I read this quickly once I got into it. Funny thing about Garcia-Marquez. One Hundred Years of Solitude, which I read in high school, was my favorite book hands down until I read Love in the Time of Cholera. I should have made commission on that book for all the times I recommended it. Decades later I tried to read it again and I could not get into it!
- Most recently, I read The Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coelho. This book is much like Coelho’s other books in that it centers around a character or characters in the process of discovery or spiritual quest. And, like most Coelho novels, I was at turns enthralled and annoyed. Parts of it inspired a composition, but other parts had me rolling my eyes. Coelho can get new-agey, and that’s where he loses me.
And that’s it. Twelve books, six months. Not bad, not great if I want to start reading contemporary literature again. There are so many books coming out that I want to read, and so many authors you have introduced to me, like Jeanette Winterson that leave me desperate trying to come up with excuses to run out and buy her entire bibliography. Does the Easter bunny leaves presents for adults? If so, I know exactly what I want to see in my basket.
Yeah, I rarely love a book as well … and yet, I’m always surprised when I don’t. :)
Isn’t that so disappointing? My mom says I read compulsively, and if I just slowed down and enhoyed what I was reading instead of staying up all hours, I would be doing myself a favor. Sometimes I think she’s right.
I am not even close to able to speak intelligently about Virginia Woolf, but famed British editor Diana Athill wrote that publishers and editors form a sort of literary caste, whose opinions of what is “good” and “bad” might only be relevant within their caste.
She wrote, “Two quintessentially ‘caste’ writers…were Angela Thirkill and Virginia Woolf. … Woolf, who I revered in my youth, now seems almost…embarrassing because the claims made for her were so high. Not only did she belong to the caste, but she was unable to see beyond its boundaries� and that self-consciously ‘beautiful’ writing, all those adjectives � oh dear! Caste standards, it ought not to need saying, have no right to be considered sacrosanct.”
I guess I share this so 1) You don’t beat yourself up for not being all about Woolf before, 2) You don’t devalue your own writing by comparison. Regardless of one’s opinion of Woolf, I found Athill’s take to be fascinating, and liberating. It’s okay to call bullshit, but it’s also okay to like something because you like it, regardless of what the “caste” says.
I had to google Angela Thirkill. I won’t ever regret choosing the majors I did in college or going to law school, but I wish I was more knowledgeable when it comes to literature. I pretty much know Latin American literature, and that’s it. Huh. Speaking of which, I forgot to include Chronicle of a Death Foretold in my list. I read that one, too.
Sometimes I refuse to read someone just because of the hype, only to read them years later. That was the way of it with Virginia Woolf, and that’s how it is now with David Foster Wallace, who taught at the Claremont Colleges (my alma mater). He was everyone’s darling, and it only got worse after his unfortunate death. There was no way I was going to read Infinite Jest on the heels of his suicide. Still, I am curious to read what the ‘caste’ found so amazing.
Ha! I had the DFW disenchantment as well, just because I had to listen to so many people gush about him on campus. But I need to get over it, because he is supposed to be legitimately excellent. I will, someday.
He came to Pomona after my time at the CC, but you would still hear about him, of course. Then, there were the You Tube videos. I’m going to hell for speaking ill of the dead, but his talks on the campus grounds surrounded by adoring females used to get to me. That, and his bandannas. Honestly, it wasn’t so much DFW who bugged me (maybe just a little). His fans…my God his fans. They killed me. They were like 13 year olds at a Justin Bieber concert.
He also reminded me of one of my old professors (also followed by a pack of drooling females) who used to hold class outdoors–because the classroom “stifled conversation”–and party with the students.
All that aside, I think I have to read Infinite Jest this spring.
Its always amazing to me how the same book can appeal to you or repel you depending on the season of your life. I know its not “cool” in either the literary or the mundane world to love Dickens, but I do. Sometimes I can only love the IDEA of Dickens. Other times, I can read A Tale of Two Cities in an afternoon.
Really? Dickens is out? Bah, humbug! I never thought I’d see the day when the classics fall in and out of favor like bell bottoms.
It was just the other day when I was informed that Dickens was (and I quote) “a hack.” But I will never, ever forget the first time I truly understood the beautiful tragic heroism of Sydney Carton. I was maybe 12 or 13 at the time, but for that brief moment, I think I knew what it felt like to be an adult.
So I was a little peeved.
I admire people who are entertained by deep literature. I try to love it, I do. Don’t get me wrong there are a few pieces I’ve truly enjoyed but for the most part I’m in it for the fun. I deal with enough drama in my life, I don’t need to read about it too LOL.
That being said I am always up for good book recommendations. Just don’t be suprised if I don’t run out and get Shakespeare… I’m too busy re-reading Twilight for the 27th time ;)
The Easter bunny totally leaves presents for adults!
I have the same problem with reading. I power through books as quickly as possible. Sometimes I get so impatient I read the ends and then get bored with them because I already know the end. Right now I’m reading Atlas Shrugged and I’m taking my time with this one.
I’ve added some of the books from this post to my reading list. This is a problem because I’ve started my own unread library project. Thank you for the inspiration.
Atlas Shurgged was a great book. By the way, I’ve been meaning to tell you that I love your profile pic. :)
Thank you :)
Have you read Hunger Games? When you mention obsessive reading I have to confess that I did nothing but read that book yesterday. Not my usual cup of tea but an author friend and my well-read thirteen year old had highly recommended it. So good…
I haven’t, but I’ve heard great things about it. It’s on my list.
See!
Do you mean s�, like yes!, or am I really looking for something? I’m not being a jerk–I really want to make sure.
I think I might be jealous of your life.. you’re so content. Not many people can boast about this…
I’ve been wanting to read the ‘Sookie Stackhouse’ series…but honestly, I’m broke. Seriously broke. So, if you’re gonna drop them off at a Goodwill here on the East Coast, let me know..HA!
I’m the same way when I start reading, which is very dangerous. I also become compulsive and cannot stop, and then when I stop, I can only think about finishing. I really love history, historical fiction and memoirs. I recently read a book called “My Lobotomy”. Sad and wonderful, all at the same time… you should read it. I think I might pick up a few of yours at my local library soon since you seem to give them great reviews.
I’ll be doing this because….. I am going to defend my dissertation *hopefully* in a few weeks. I am soooo looking forward to leisure reading, finding a new color for my new place, putting up a better closet (I only have one) AND no more school!!!
Please, send the book suggestions my way!! I’m ready to be a volunteer nerd again… :)
Brandi