Friday, November 07, 2014

My Reading List

Just kind of sitting around looking at nothing in particular as I was updating the old blog here. I looked over at the book list through this week. So far this year I am at 56 books, a little more than in the past, perhaps even in record territory. I am sure that part of that is because of my semi-retirement, a full month away in Alabama, and just generally working on the books. It is amazing how many excellent books are published each year.

One thing that struck me, though, was the split in the year between fiction and non-fiction. I have generally read more non-fiction than fiction over the years. There is so much of so great an interest in the world that I can hardly keep up. (Understatement!) But I also love fiction, the top-notch books that expand one's world through the imagination and writing of excellent writers. I also enjoy a good mystery, crime procedural and science fiction. If they are just plain entertainment- that's okay, although there is often a great deal of insight into the human condition in any good novel.

In any case I noticed that this year has an overwhelming difference between the two halves of the year so far. From January through June I read 12 novels of the 33 books read.

Since July 1, though, there are only 4 of the 23 that are novels- and I read those in the past month or six weeks. One thing I did notice overall is that I have been trying to pick up on some older and even classic novels like the Sound and the Fury, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hitchhiker's Guide, and Chronicle of a Death Foretold. I had promised myself that I would try to get to read some of these that I never read before. I have found that an excellent idea.

The list does not include any of the books I have been mining for the series on my Dad's time in World War II. I am not reading those cover-to-cover, but as I said, mining them for information. Some of them are truly deep mines!

I guess, then, that at least one of my goals for my move into retirement is working- I am reading more than ever. And there are so many more out there to go. It is a wondrous, never-ending stream of excitement, insight, life, and challenge!

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