As I said in a previous post review of 2013 that right after Strom Sandy I did not read anything for three months. What got me back into reading was a romance book for a genre workshop through work. To me that goes to show reading anything is better than reading nothing. Soon I got my reading life back together and read over 30 books in 2013.
There are a few standouts I should mention. I’m glad I read Animal Farm, and I’m not really sure why I never read it before. The ending gives me a new appreciation for the Who’s lyrics, ‘meet the new boss, same as the old boss…don’t get fooled again!’ I read three books by Louis Rodriguez, and recommend his 2 gang memoirs, Always Running and It Calls You Back.
For our work book club over summer we tried Shakespeare. This is my first time reading Shakespeare outside of a classroom, and I’ll take on a few more each year. On a sad note for classics, I did not enjoy my second reading of Jude the Obscure as much as I did my first reading over a decade ago. Perhaps I’ve read more, or have changed as a person. Instead of feeling overwhelmed emotionally by Thomas Hardy I thought it more melodramatic than necessary. However on my fourth reading I enjoyed Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night, so it remains one of my top favorites.
Through a work local author expo at my library I read books by two self-published authors Richard Livsey and Tejas Desai. To my surprise I liked both of their books a lot. As a reader now I might try to read more emerging authors, instead of always going for the classics or well known acclaimed novels.
Over fall I really enjoyed Winds of War by Herman Wouk. I liked learning about World War II and the characters are brought to life from their stark circumstances. Currently I’m one third of the way through the sequel War and Remembrance. I may not finish War and Remembrance by the time the ball drops on Tuesday night. Since this book is over a 1000 pages, it will be counted as my last book read of 2013 and my first book read in 2014. Call me a cheater if you want.
Enough words, here is my 2013 reading log!!!!
- My Foolish Heart by Susan May Warren. February
- Animal Farm by George Orwell. February
- Main Street by Sinclair Lewis. February
- Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. February/March
- Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. March (4th time reading)
- Ghana Must Go by Taiya Selasi. March/April
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. April
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. April
- Z, the novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Ann Fowler. April/May
- Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. May
- Always Running by Louis Rodriguez. May
- On Writing Well by Anne Dilliard. May
- Richard III by Shakespeare. June
- Othello by Shakespeare. July
- It Calls You Back by Louis Rodriguez. July
- Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver. July
- Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh. July
- Hamlet by Shakespeare. August
- The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer. August
- 1776 by David McCoullagh. August/September
- Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. September
- Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. October
- Waiting for the Bomb by Richard Livsey. October
- The Winds of War by Herman Wouk. September/October
- A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway. October/November
- The Summer Before the Dark by Doris Lessing. November
- The Brotherhood by Tejas Desai. November
- In the Garden of Beasts by Erick Larson. November/December
- On Beauty by Zadie Smith. December
- Good Americans by Tejas Desai. December
- The Republic of East L.A. by Louis Rodriguez. December
- War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk. (one third of the way done as of December 29th)
Lastly on facebook my friend Vijay Ramanathan made a 2014 reading goal for himself. And that is to read 50 books. I’m stealing his goal for 2014 as well. Read 50 books in 2014! If we read every night this goal will be in the bank easily!
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