Well, I’m glad you asked.
As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts, this year I’m trying to knock over some of my to-read pile by not buying or borrowing any more books until I’ve read 20 books I already own. I’ve failed: Harry Saddler was kind enough to send me a copy of his novel Small Moments, now sadly out of print. I justified reading it immediately even though it’s not on my list because it’s about the Canberra bushfires and I’m writing a book about living through and recovering from natural disasters. (He also sent me his non-fiction Not Birdwatching which I am dying to read, but am holding off.) I also snuck in a quick read of Jenny Valentish’s Cherry Bomb before giving it to a friend for Christmas.
Of the books I’m supposed to be reading, I’ve now finished six:
- Cold Light by Frank Moorhouse, which I blogged about already
- Suddenly a knock on the door by Etgar Keret
- Slow water by Annamarie Jagose
- A mercy by Toni Morrison
- Falling by Elizabeth Jane Howard
- Demons by Wayne Macauley
I started Ablutions by Patrick de Witt but I wasn’t feeling robust enough to deal with its very dark (and funny) story of a bartender and his clients destroying their lives. And I’m now reading Lost and Found by Brooke Davis and The weight of a human heart by Ryan O’Neill, which I am rationing out to myself in teaspoons.
Part of the reason I wanted to do this exercise was the hope that I would just stumble across great books largely accidentally. Lately so much of my reading has been driven by things I must read, either for research or because everyone else is talking about them and I think they’re somehow going to change my life. I wanted to discover an unheralded joy. Etgar Keret (widely heralded, but not in earshot of me) has been just such a discovery. What funny, bleak, real, surreal short stories this bloke writes. I don’t even know where I got this book from or how long it’s been sitting on my bookshelf. So thanks, #TBR20, for making me finally get around to reading it. (A mercy was pretty damn great too.)
elimy293
January 13, 2015 at 5:14 pmWhat a great idea! I’m a bookseller so my TBR is wildly out of hand. I’ve had to limit myself to four new books a month (bought) but I just can’t see it sticking around. Good luck with your challenge!
Jane Bryony Rawson
January 13, 2015 at 5:18 pmThanks!
Alyson
January 13, 2015 at 6:11 pmI understand that desire to find an unheralded joy in a surprise read…and I’ve already fallen off my Australian Writers only dammit… But forgive and forget and back on the wagon I say. I’ve no doubt we’ll have both discovered at least one by the end of the year.
Jane Bryony Rawson
January 13, 2015 at 6:39 pmAustralian writers only leaves plenty of scope, certainly. Maybe I can quietly herald – have a look at ‘Letters to the End of Love’ by Yvette Walker.
annabelsmith
February 12, 2015 at 2:28 pmIt’s funny, isn’t it, how your reading habits are controlled by factors other than what calls out to you right then. I have lots if unread books on my shelves, many from the wishlist I compiled for my 40th birthday, including Philip K Dick’s The Man in the High Castle, Paddy O’Reilly’s The Wonders & John Williams’ Stoner. But I’ve been buried under a mound of reading for the Perth Writers festival so they’ll have to wait a while longer. And some of the books I’ve read for the festival have been wonderful, and ones I might not otherwise have picked up. I’ve specially loved Peter Walker’s Some Here Among Us.
Jane Bryony Rawson
February 12, 2015 at 3:30 pmTwo years ago I often ran out of books to read. I’d have to rush to the library before it closed or quickly buy something on my Kindle so I wouldn’t be left bookless on the morning commute. And now I have 40 unread books. I guess it’s because of all the book-promoting people I now follow on twitter, all the authors I like to chat with, all the time I spend reading reviews on WordPress… I do miss the old days a bit.