Last year I set myself the fairly meaty task of reading 40 new books in twelve months. The books ranged from the so-amazing-I'd-rather-read-than-sleep variety (e.g. 'Prep' by Curtis Sittenfeld and Colm Toibin's 'Brooklyn') to utterly terrible ('Dreams from the Endz' by Fazia Guene). Somehow I succeeded on my mission... but only by the skin of my teeth. So this year I've decided to up the ante with a target of 50.
I'll mostly be reading books that loosely fit into the cateogory of contemporary fiction (In order to counterbalance Nic's venture through the classics). Although I'm sure my reading path will meander around enough to include the odd golden oldie and the occassional piece of particularly intriguing non-fiction. Aside from this fairly broad framework I haven't set any rules on exactly which books I will or won't read, so suggestions are always welcome. My only aim is to discover lots of fantastic new books, and to do so within the time limit I've set.
It's February and I'm already lagging a little behind...wish me luck!
5 comments:
Good luck! Does your list include any Scandinavian literature? If so, I'd love to recommended brand new, barely ink-dry titles.
I tend to try and read 52 books a year, to average one a week. Didn't manage it last year (new baby!), but am on my sixth so far in 2010.
Thanks Helena, I'd love to try some fab new Scandinavian literature, recommendations please!!!
Rhian - 52 books a year - that is ambitious. How far did you get. It looks like you're off to a flying start this year.
I read 34 books by mid October 2008 (week 44), but then had a baby and that scuppered it all a bit! Hopefully do better this year.
here are two recently trasnlated worksĂ–
Monika Fagerholm's American Girl is a story of a girl growing up in the outskirts of Helsinki. Published in 2004 it has recently been translated into English.
Jarkko Sipilä Helsinki homicide : Against the Wall. Modern Finnish crime thriller.
Bitter Bitch by Maria Sveland is a look at how one Swedish woman sees equality between the sexes.
I've reviewed the last two on my 'other blog'.
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