2022 Reading Challenge

I like to read longer books once in a while that take up a lot of time, so I don't normally set a real goal of number of books per year. I have a "read 20 pages" task in my habit tracker app that I've used for the last two years which helps keep me motivated. I passed 10,000 pages for the first time in 2020, and came up just shy last year, so I think that will be my goal again. That, and clearing a bunch of books out of my to-read list that have been there for ages, including:
  • One Hundred Years of Solitude
  • Greenwood
  • The Master and Margarita
  • Pachinko
  • In Cold Blood
  • Station Eleven
  • The Luminaries
  • A Little Life
  • Herzog
 
I tell myself every year I'm not going to pressure myself to meet a numerical goal reading-wise. That said, between pandemic and wfh last year, I was able to reach 41 books. I finished 42 on Jan 1st, but I'm just calling it book 1 of 2022.

I'd like to try and do more rereads this year (maybe revisit 2666 a decade later), as well as a couple longer reads (Ducks, Newburyport, you and I will dance one day). I'd also like to pour myself into a series, but I'm not sure which; I tried Wheel of Time and The Expanse's first books, and found both really generic.
 
BjorgenFjorgen said:
I like to read longer books once in a while that take up a lot of time, so I don't normally set a real goal of number of books per year. I have a "read 20 pages" task in my habit tracker app that I've used for the last two years which helps keep me motivated. I passed 10,000 pages for the first time in 2020, and came up just shy last year, so I think that will be my goal again. That, and clearing a bunch of books out of my to-read list that have been there for ages, including:
  • One Hundred Years of Solitude
  • Greenwood
  • The Master and Margarita
  • Pachinko
  • In Cold Blood
  • Station Eleven
  • The Luminaries
  • A Little Life
  • Herzog
Click to expand...
One Hundred... Is my favorite book of all time. Your wording is a bit weird. Are you saying these are your to read list, or you've read them? If it's the former, I hope you enjoy One Hundred.
 
BjorgenFjorgen said:
I read Love in the Time of Cholera last year and really loved it, so I'm quite looking forward to it. Am a big fan of a few Rushdie novels, as well, and dig being in the world of magical realist novels.

And then this video prompted me to push it up the list:

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Whoops, thought the post @Thackeraye was
quoting was about Marquez, but misremembered. Kinda relevant anyway, I suppose.
 
I'm also going to join this thread. I've read lots of literature each year in my 20s and early 30s (I actually have studied German Literature), but it has become less the last ten years, usually only 10 to 15 novels a year.
I set a goal to read at least 2 fictional books a month, so that would be 24. If I can get done more, even better. It'll also depend on the length of books.

This is a great thread and I'm looking forward to your recommendations and presentations of the books you've read. 🙂
 
Book 1:

The Godfather by Mario Puzo

I started this on the 28th so I suppose it was a bit of 2021 and 2022. I'm surprised I have never read it before now as I'm a big fan of the films. I really enjoyed this book as there was enough additional material when compared to the films that it never became boring or unsurprising. In fact, there is plenty of emphasis and whole chapters focusing on characters who were actually minor side-characters in the films (Johnny Fontane, Nino Valenti, Al Neri, etc). It's interesting to read the backstories of the characters which isn't highlighted in the films, it makes their actions all the more believable and important. I will likely read The Sicilian at some point but for now, I have moved on to The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami.

IMG_2798.JPG
 
I'm not much for resolutions, but last year I set out to read 18 books, and I actually did 21. This year I'm going for two per month (that works out to 24).

Yesterday I finished Our Country Friends by Gary Shteyngart, and really enjoyed it. I started it in 2020, but I'm going to cheat and count it for this year! Before that I (unintentionally) read two post-apocalyptic books (Station Eleven and The Dog Stars), so I need a real change of pace.

Next up is Dave Grohl's memoir, The Storyteller.
 
Yesterday I finished a book called Followers by Megan Angelo. It was a dystopian novel about internet/influencer culture and also about mass surveillance... it was okay but definitely not my favorite, I'd probably rate it a 2.5/5.

Now I am reading Know My Name by Chanel Miller and... Ooof. It's really well written but I can't take more than a chapter at a time.
 
ranbalam said:
Book 1

Somehow, I’ve never read this. So here we go….

View attachment 124022
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I've been selling of a lot of my books (a couple hundred). Mainly cause I've collected then over time and now they're just ornamental shelf space. I figure if I ever want to reread any of them again, I've got the library and don't mind off-loading some dead weight. Sometimes just keeping a bunch of books I've read already seems like some sub-conscious intellectual flex. Sort of like having a bunch of records I hardly get time to listen to (ouch...self burn...enough introspection).

Any way Zen and the Art... is one of the books I just sold in a bunch to a guy off CL. Funny enough, he picked the books up on a BMW motorcycle so it was fitting. I read that book in high school and bought my first motorcycle at 17 (I'm in my late thirties now). I remember Pirsig talking about the constant consciousness and awareness of experiencing the road on a motorcycle. How at any given moment the rider could touch their foot to road passing underneath at speed and remind themselves of that connection. It's actually a habit I've taken with me all through my years of riding - especially on long road trips. When I was about 23/24 I spent 3-4 months living off my bike and went from CT, out west and back, before putting my bike in storage and hitching around Mexico. I remember riding through places like the Tetons, Yellowstone, or over the Continental Divide and being immersed in the natural beauty. Accompanying that was my man-made contraption and its constant engine hum filling the air. I'd variably put my foot down and let it scrape the road and therein lies one of those nearly ineffable experiences - to connect but also understand the sheer fragility of your position in that instance. Sure, I had a level of control with my positioning of the bike, the speed I chose, and the decisions I made; but also there was/is a level of necessary surrender because my control was tenuous. I wasn't the dominant force in that relationship - I've rag-dolled myself off a bike and that's a sobering awakening.

I eventually studied philosophy as my undergraduate major. I consider some stuff in that book to be a good intro (there is Phaedrus, after all); albeit not the most profound, it has its merits. I mean, at least it doesn't trade in the heavy New Age pseudo-philosophy bullshit you got with stuff like Celestine Prophecy, Teachings of Don Juan, Conversations with God, etc.

Anywho, that's my tangent.

Speaking of One Hundred Years of Solitude....fuck yea. I've reread that book a couple time. Fantastic book and opened the door to magical realism for me. I don't know if I would've read things like Borges, Pedro Paramo, etc if it wasn't for Marquez.
 
BabiesAreWorthlessDiapers said:
I remember Pirsig talking about the constant consciousness and awareness of experiencing the road on a motorcycle. How at any given moment the rider could touch their foot to road passing underneath at speed and remind themselves of that connection.
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Yeah, I'm only 50 pages in and that is partly what he has been talking about; that connection vs being in a car or bus. I know I'm late on this book as I'm in my 50s. But life lately has me wanting to explore more of this type of reading...I'd like to understand myself and others more instead of merely being upset about the current human condition. Since you studied philosophy, I'd love to hear some of your favorite books on the subject.

I'm impressed but also puzzled by people that can re-read a book. I mean, I can re-watch a movie or TV series, but I feel like there are so many books out there, and so little time, that I don't want to re-read anything before I am out of stuff I have yet to read, which will be never.
If I was going to re-read something, it would probably be East of Eden.

100 Years of Solitude is on my short list, based on people in this thread's reaction to it.
 
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