Wednesday, January 14, 2009

2008 Wrap-Up

Sigh. I just re-read my post from last year where I vow to make more interesting reading choices. Oh well. It didn’t happen. I think I was just as bored this year, or even more so. The only bright spot was my renewed interest in mysteries, especially the Northern European ones (set in Iceland, Sweden, the Shetlands, Ireland). The Eurocrime site has been a gift. I have three more of these in my queue right now.

And must I address this book-a-week issue or can I just ignore it? I guess I can’t ignore it. I came in at 48 books in 2008, a whole month shy of one book per week. I know I wasted two weeks trying to read that Edgar Sawtelle book, but I can’t think of why else I read so few. I do have one idea, but it’s kind of embarrassing: recently I find that reading in the afternoon makes me sleepy. Instead of an hour of reading, I end up with 15 minutes of reading and 45 minutes of sleeping. I wake up groggy and irritable and it doesn't seem worth it.

In the next few days I'll post my links to all the books I read in 2008.

3 comments:

Maxine Clarke said...

I find that I doze off if I read a book in the afternoon (eg a weekend), too. Whereas in the morning, I don't - but then I always seem to have domestic jobs to do then.
Glad you are enjoying the Euro Crime site, I've also discovered so many good reads there - and as you know I now review for it too. I have found writing reviews a really good exercise and discipline.
In the UK, the "Richard and Judy" picks always go straight to the top of the bestseller lists, and they are often not titles one would think of as "commercial". Maybe that is a place to look? They are usually bundled together on Amazon (UK site). Quite often the selections are not newly published, so a good chance the titles would be available in the US.

I've also found that the Times (London) has a good book club - again they feature old titles as well as new ones - I've quite often read a book via that source. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

I think 48 books in a year is pretty good. I'm not a fast reader and that's about my average too. In fact I find it stressful to have piles of tbr books I prefer to just have one on the go and one waiting. I often like a 'power nap' in the afternoon, too!

Becky Holmes said...

A power nap is good if you mean to take one. It's those times when I fall asleep when I wasn't planning to that I don't like. Yes, Maxine, mornings are better reading times, but in addition to domestic jobs there's also that pesky paid job that I have to go to as well.

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