As I’ve got older, I’ve found I want for less and less – except when it comes to books. So, each year, for Christmas, I’ll ask for a sizeable load of books to read, often with a bit of a theme, although I do try to cover all my different interests! One year many of the books were dystopian novels, and last year I asked for numerous books on mathematics! This year I asked for what I feel is a nice spread of different genres – some non fiction (mainly history and science related) and some fiction (going with a gothic theme, with a few dystopian as I also love those!). Fittingly, I have just about managed to cover all the books from the previous Christmas (I had been saving some for towards the end of the year because they looked so good) and have also, for the first time ever, achieved my New Years Resolution of reading 52 books! It was a fun challenge, and I would say it’s doable if you do enjoy reading – I have been quite stressed recently due to rushing to read to make sure I did get to 52, but that’s only because, due to my ill health, I’ve had many months of being unable to properly concentrate, and so my reading has not been consistent.
I thought it’d be nice to share the 52 books I read this year:
1 – 10: The 10 Equations That Rule the World by David Sumpter, Earthshot by Butfield and Hughes, The Math Book by Clifford Pickover, 50 Visions of Mathematics, The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, Living Planet by David Attenborough, The Art of Statistics by David Spiegelhatter, The Quantum Self by Danah Zohar, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka.
11 – 20: The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, A Slice of Britain by Caroline Taggart, The Circle by Dave Eggers, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexsandr Solzhentsyn, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence by Robert Pirsig, Nemesis by Agatha Christie, Odd Girl Out by Laura James, The Other Twin by Lucy Hay, Kiss Kiss Short Stories by Roald Dahl, Losing Earth by Nathaniel Rich.
21 – 30: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte, The Blow (script), Highwire (script), Artificial Silk Girl by Irmgard Keun, The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, The History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell, Dragged Up Dirty (script), Eva (script), Utopia by Thomas More, The Collector by John Fowles.
31 – 40: Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder, Think by Simon Blackburn, Eastern Philosophy: The Basics by Victoria Harrison, The Box Man by Kobo Abe, The Invisible Man by HG Wells, The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed, The Foundling by Charlotte Bronte, A Woman In Your Own Right by Anne Dickson, Femlandia by Christine Dalcher, Consent by Annabel Lyon.
41 – 50: The Storm by Amanda Jennings, The Favourite Sister by Jessica Knoll, SCOFF by Pen Vogler, Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman, The Establishment by Owen Jones, Some Other Stupid Fruit Poetry Chapbook by Margaraet Bashaar, Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Bronte, The Great Famine by Yang Jisheng, The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald, The Happy Prince and Other Tales by Oscar Wilde.
51-52: Why You Should Be A Trade Unionist by Len McCluskey, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
Top Non Fiction: The 10 Equations That Rule the World by David Sumpter, The History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell, The Establishment by Owen Jones, The Great Famine by Yang Jisheng.
Honourable Mentions: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenence by Robert Pirsig, Why You Should Be A Trade Unionist by Len McCluskey.
Top Fiction: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte, The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman, The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald.
Honourable Mentions: The Circle by Dave Eggers, Kiss Kiss Short Stories by Roald Dahl.
Let me know if any of these books interest you! And I wonder – do you set reading goals? Some say it can take the enjoyment out of reading, and that you might deliberately pick easy books to get to the number, but I like to think I’m able to be quite strict with myself and only read books I want to read, no matter how long or dense!
Another thing I feel quite passionate about when it comes to reading – buying secondhand! If a book has been out for more than a year, chances are you can get it cheaper on Ebay or WorldOfBooks or Amazon Marketplace, and I’d rather that because it obviously saves money, and is much better for the environment (I also use my library A LOT, for getting physical copies without spending anything).
Do you buy your books new, old, or do you prefer digital?
Hope you’re all having a good festive period (whether you celebrate or not),
Saff xxxx