It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it. ~Oscar Wilde
As the end of the year draws closer, I feel an anxiety growing as I rush to finish what I have started. It has nothing to do with shopping or decorating, cooking or social engagements. This rushing is all due to the challenge I gave myself on January 1st, 2010. The challenge to read 50 books in a year.
The challenge has been an interesting experience for me; one that fed on my love of reading and desire for new stories that take me away from the everyday or show me a new path of discovery that was once unknown. But to put a number on this hobby, this passion for books, was a new spin. Why 50? Why not 100 or 25? I knew I could do 25 with no problem, but 100 was definitely not something I could do, what with working full time and being slightly addicted to the internet. So I thought 50 sounded like a reasonable number to go with. Challenging but not impossible. After all, I wanted this to be fun. It was supposed to rekindle my excitement in opening a new cover 4 or 5 times a month, help me rediscover what it is about reading that I love so much, and even get me away from the lure and electric glow of the computer and TV for a bit. If I had made the number too high, then it would feel like homework, and I wouldn’t enjoy it as much. And so the race was on.
January started out bright. I had just signed up on www.paperbackswap.com, a website where you can swap books with thousands of other people and save quite a lot of money on books and audio books. To date I have mailed out 94 books (all you pay for are the shipping costs) and have plenty of credits. So getting the books was no longer a problem. In fact that site’s forum is where I got the idea. In January I read six books. It would have been great if I could have kept that number up, but January was also the month that I was just starting 2 different massage therapy jobs. I was “the new guy” and therefore had fewer appointments than everyone else, so I had plenty of time to read. Eventually the number of books per month went down, then back up, etc. Summer brought the excitement of impending vacation and schedule changes, and to be honest I stopped caring about the numbers and didn’t feel like reading much. After my vacation in September, I made a tentative tally and realized that if I wanted to make it to the end; I’d better get my motivation up and get cracking. So I did.
Here are the final numbers:
January 6
February 5
March 4
April 5
May 4
June 2
July 3
August 3
September 2
October 3
November 5
December Just started
So in case you were counting, that’s 42. I won’t make it to 50. But I came pretty darn close. I’m not upset about it. I did what I set out to do. I read some wonderful books, found a new favorite author or two, and remembered why I love reading so much. It’s not for any of the cliche reasons people give for reading, like feeling smarter or keeping up on vocabulary or grammar. For me it’s about being transported to another place for a little while. Opening up my horizons and finding new avenues to stretch my imagination. Uncramping my brain from its comfortable little box and see what’s out there. Someday I may choose to make the step and become a professional writer, and every book I read gives me something to lean on and a point to start from.
This challenge also made me realize something about the way that children are being “taught” to love to read by reading the classics. These kids have absolutely no connection to most of these books. They see reading as homework, an assignment that their parents dare to enforce on them (or not) during their cherished summer vacations. I know; I was there. But I read the books, unlike a lot of kids. I didn’t enjoy the vast majority of them, but I read them. I’ll chock that up to being “the smart kid” whose fear of reprimand was greater than the fear of losing a day of summer. (Which was mostly spent sitting around day camp bored anyway) But regardless, I do think those books ingrained in me that underlying understanding and love of literature that helps so many people enjoy reading. Because after the summer was over and those boring books were read, I read books that I liked to read. I remember being swept away to faraway lands. In between the TV shows and cartoons that took up a pretty big chunk of my time, a memorable book or two would sneak through the cracks and seat itself in my long term memory. So do I think they should still assign books to kids? Of course, but maybe they should try to throw in books that the kids will actually enjoy reading from time to time. Because as much as most kids will hate to admit it, there will usually be one or two books in that endless required list that they won’t want to put down. Pay attention to what the kids are saying, they will tell you what reaches them.
So will I do another challenge next year? I don’t know yet. I have big plans for the upcoming year, and throwing in another deadline for myself might be more stressful than fun. To be honest, now that I know I won’t make it to 50 my drive to read for the time being has pretty much disappeared. But hey, I’ve been on a mission for a year. I deserve a break. But I will definitely continue to read. A new stack of books (again, courtesy of www.paperbackswap.com ) is on its way for me to read in the New Year, and I can’t wait to get started.
Why should I keep all the good stuff to myself? Here’s the best of this year’s book journey.
January
I read 6 books in January, all pretty good, so it’s hard to pick my favorite. Making History by Stephen Fry was definitely original and well written, as well as having that wry wit that Fry is famous for on the screen. Life of Pi by Yann Martel was uplifting and inspiring, as well as being wonderfully entertaining. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton became the first book that I prefer the movie version of over the book, although I did enjoy the book immensely. American on Purpose by Craig Ferguson was a wonderful memoir, documenting his battle with alcoholism and eventual rise to fame. The other two books I read in January, Mind Over Matters by Michael J Nelson of MST3K fame (a collection of funny essays) and The Second City Unscripted by Mike Thomas, featuring interview segments and memories from the cast of the famous Improv comedy venue, were runners up.
February
Five books in February, not all worthy of mention. I read the classic Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie. I had seen many different interpretations and spinoffs of the story, but I had never read it for myself, and I was not disappointed. Probably the quickest read of the year, it transported me to another world and made me miss that singular feeling of being a child. It also made me want to meet the author, since he seemed to have such a vivid memory of what it was to once be young. Just read it, please! Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen was a light but enjoyable story about women finding their confidence and place in the world, with a little bit of magic thrown in. The honorable mention for the month is A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, the author’s account of his journey on the Appalachian Trail.
March
March was a month of finishing off the first pile of books for the year while I waited for the next, so I wasn’t too blown away by anything this month. Improvisation for the Spirit by Katie Goodman was the best of the bunch. It’s a self help book using all of the rules and guidelines of Improv acting and comedy to help you live a better life.
April
Hands down my favorite from April was Kingdom Keepers 3: Disney in Shadow by Ridley Pearson. I had been anticipating the book for quite a while and I wasn’t disappointed. Definitely written for young adults, but it’s good for kids of all ages, especially Disney fans. The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova was kind of disappointing. I LOVED her first book, The Historian, so I was really looking forward to this one. It ended up being very slow and a mystery with an unsatisfying ending.
May
Ah, May, an interesting month for reading. Here is where I discovered a new favorite author in Cornelia Funke with Inkheart. Another book for young adults, it had everything I look for in a good story: adventure, heart, a little (ok a lot) of fantasy, humor, and did I mention a good story? I had decided that in this yearlong challenge I would read at least one Romance novel, and that book just happened to be The Care and Feeding of Pirates by Jennifer Ashley. It was as pointless and ridiculous as I thought it would be, but that didn’t make it any less fun. Oh and just so you know, pirates apparently get really horny. A LOT. Runner up this month was Under the Black Flag by David Cordingly, a non-fiction book telling the real story behind the real pirates in history. (Gotta love the stories of those famous female pirates, Anne Bonny and Mary Read!)
June
This was a pitiful month for the numbers, and the only thing to report was that Inkspell, the sequel to Inkheart, was just as good as the first.
July
Another slow month. Inkdeath, the final book in the Inkheart series, was wonderful, as I expected. The Sugar Queen, the next book by Sarah Addison Allen, was just as whimsical and enjoyable as her first, Garden Spells.
August
After finishing the Inkheart series, I wanted to read more Cornelia Funke, so next on the list is The Thief Lord. It’s a young adult book, but like her other works, deals with deep issues and doesn’t shy away from difficult life situations.
September
September was vacation month, so my mind wasn’t really on reading. Dragon’s Milk by Susan Fletcher was the only book really worth mentioning. An older children’s book that was a fairly easy read but pleasant and enjoyable just the same.
October
The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs was a very interesting read that got me thinking about religion and how it affects peoples’ lives. It was funny and poignant at the same time.
November
This one I have to mention just for the ridiculousness of it. The Fine Art of Flirting by Joyce Jillson is a book from the 80’s and I swapped it on a whim (What the hell, it couldn’t hurt, right?) Except it DID hurt! Some of the stuff in the book was so out there that I think it would end up doing more harm than good for anybody, then or now. It was shallow and cocky and annoying. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins is the third book in the Hunger Games series. I had been anticipating it and it turned out to be the darkest and most depressing of the series. That being said, I think the author took the story to its logical conclusion and I found myself not wanting to put it down. I just don’t usually enjoy reading about massacres and mental breakdowns and wars. Don’t ask me why it is, then, that I enjoyed the first two. I just did, very much.
December
I’m honestly not doing a lot of reading this month. I had a few false starts, thinking I would get some quick numbers by reading some shorter classics books from my parents’ bookshelf. I kept falling asleep. So I put them down. If there’s one thing I learned from this year, it’s not to read a book for leisure unless you’re enjoying it. (Unless of course, you’re putting yourself through a silly challenge to read 50 books. Then you may have to suffer a bit). Honestly, knowing that I wouldn’t make it to 50 anyway really made me realize that I didn’t HAVE to read a book just because it’s there. There are enough genres and authors to go around so that everybody can find books that they will enjoy. I challenge those of you who don’t enjoy reading (or don’t THINK that you do) to try again. Pick up a book, even if you’re judging it by the cover, and try reading again. It may not be for you, and that’s fine. But maybe, just maybe you’ll realize that not every book is Moby Dick or Tom Sawyer (two books I just can’t get into personally) and that you really can enjoy a book once in a while. Turn off the TV, stop texting, and make all that background noise go away. Grab a book, find a cozy spot, and go have an adventure.
