Saturday 18 January 2014

A Year In Books

One of  my (very few) New Year resolutions was to read more books in 2014.
I used to read all the time. 
Almost every spare moment was spent with my head in a book. 
As an only child of book-loving parents, it was natural, in those pre-internet, pre-social media days, that I would find entertainment and adventures  within the pages of a book.
I graduated from Enid Blyton to children's classics, from popular fiction to pretty much anything I could get my hands on. As I read the odd racy bestseller, a friend's conservative mother would say, 'she's reading what?' 
That continued through my student  years and my 'twenties. Even when parenthood came along,  I'd still manage to find find time to read books by favourite authors. Instead of reading a book a week, I managed a book a month.
Then, along came the internet into our home and an endless supply of material to distract me from the finely crafted printed word.
Reading became something I only did if I was sick or on holidays, and once I got an iPad, even that couldn't be guaranteed.
So one of my resolutions for 2014 is to get back to reading. Not ebooks but real books. 
Books that I can pop in my  handbag to read over coffee without worrying about spilling said coffee over an expensive electronic device.
Thanks to Karen at A Quiet Corner , I found out about the year long reading challenge being hosted by Laura from Circle of Pine Trees,  and I decided to join.



I've already read my first book of the year, 'Gone Girl' by Gillian Flynn.
I'd read a review of it  on a blog last weekend and thought it sounded interesting, even though thrillers aren't normally my cup of tea.
So when I saw a copy of it while leaving a bag of clothes into a local charity shop, I bought it.
So for the last three days, I couldn't put it down as I want to find out what exactly happened to Amy who has disappeared on her fifth wedding anniversary.
Was it the husband (it's always the husband)  or someone or something else?
Without giving anything away, I'll say I really enjoyed around two thirds of the book. There were lots of surprises and twists, and the writing swept me along. But then, to me anyway, the plot began to get silly and I didn't like the ending. Interestingly, I've since read that Flynn is changing the ending for the film script. 
Now, I feel I want to get back to reading some literary fiction and 'Eleven Kinds of Loneliness' by Richard Yates is the next book I intend reading.

14 comments:

  1. I hate that when a book fizzles out halfway through. I just finished a good one which I'll soon do a little review on. Reading is magic...go anywhere, in any time period in your armchair!

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    1. Yes, I'm determined to spend less time sitting in front of a computer and more curled up with a book. Looking forward to hearing about your good read.

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  2. Hi Mairead - just about to join this too. I read 'Gone Girl' too and loved it, though I agzree the ending was disappointing.

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  3. Hi Doris - that's good. Looking forward to a peek at your bookshelf! I did enjoy most of 'Gone Girl' too, but thought it all got a bit silly at the end. But it was just the sort of page turner to remind me what fun reading is.

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  4. Hi Mairead. I have never finished Gone Girl, I rarely give up on a book but this one I just couldn't continue. I think if I had the print book (I have it on audio), I would probably cheat because really, I DO want to know if it was the husband! Thanks for visiting my own space. I loved John Cheever but enjoyed Too Much Happiness less. Cx

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    1. Hi Christina, as I said, I enjoyed most of it, just not the ending and how it was done.

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  5. Oh well, another one for the "best avoided" list. I've found that I'm reading more since buying a Kindle; though I love real books I hate getting rid of them and the bookshelves are very full already. Enjoy the rest of your book year.

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    1. Yes, I sort of regretted reading it. It was a bit like junk food - enjoyable at first but ultimately disappointing!

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  6. It's interesting how many ladies who have joined the Year in Books have said that they used to be real bookworms as children, always with their nose in a book, and how as they got older, other 'stuff' got in the way, studies, career, children and so on. And then came electronic devices and real books were hardly ever read. Maybe it's selfish of me, but I always found time for me, to read, no matter what. Even if it was waiting for something to cook, or bread to prove, or the children to get out of school. I actually enjoyed Gone Girl, though can't remember the ending clearly now as it's a while since it was read. I can't have been that enamoured of it though since I didn't keep it!
    Enjoy your year...

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    1. Thanks for popping by Edwina. As I said, it wasn't motherhood which stopped me reading but the temptations via the internet. Hopefully this year I will get back to it as it gave me so much pleasure.

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  7. Thanks so much for joining me! I'm impressed that you have finished your first book already. Laura :)

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    1. Thanks for the great idea. I'm looking forward to a year full of books.

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  8. Hi there, for thanks for your comments over on my blog. I'm loving all this discussion about reading flying round blogland at the moment, aren't you. I'm ploughing through The Goldfinch at the moment, but beginning to lose interest if I'm honest. Gone Girl is the first book I need to read for the new Book Club I've just joined. It's interesting to see your thoughts because my daughter said pretty much the same thing about it. I'm off to look at some of your lovely photographs of Ireland now xxx

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  9. Everyone in blogland seems to be reading The Goldfinch. I'll wait for a few reviews before getting it - I don't like to commit to 800 or so pages unless I think I'm going to enjoy it.

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