I loved spending Christmas at my sister's, but boy am I loving this long stretch of Twixtmas nothingness even more.
It's great. I was born for this.
I even finished a book today! My ambition for 2020 was to read 100 books, and I'd reached no.50 - Midnight All Day by Hanif Kureishi - halfway through May. Then the Dominic Cummings weekend landed and we all know what happened after that.
I only managed 24 more books in the remainder of 2020; and only 26 in total during 2021.
Here's 2021's list of things I read willingly (i.e. not including the tons of academic stuff for uni):
1. The Rhine by Ben Coates
2. The Most Dangerous Animal Of All by Gary L. Stewart & Susan Mustafa
3. Humans and Other Animals by Samantha Hurn
4. Who Killed John Lennon? by Lesley-Ann Jones
5. Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
6. Sylvia Plath by Susan Bassnett
7. The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna
8. Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson
9. The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz by Denis Avey
10. The Heart of the World by Alan Ereira
11. Unexplained Laughter by Alice Thomas Ellis (reread)
12. The Descent of Man by Grayson Perry
13. I Will Never See The World Again by Ahmet Altan
14. The Way The World Works by Nicholson Baker
15. Stranger Than We Can Imagine by John Higgs
16. Girl A by Abigail Dean (devoured this in one sitting)
17. The Woman Who Cracked The Anxiety Code by Judith Hoare
18. Reading The Oxford English Dictionary by Ammon Shea
19. Stiff by Mary Roach
20. Walking The Woods And The Water by Nick Hunt
21. A Life Discarded by Alexander Masters (reread)
22. The Life Project by Helen Pearson
23. Homesick For Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh
24. Sum: 40 Tales From The Afterlives by David Eagleman
25. The Swallowed Man by Edward Carey
26. After The Wall by Jana Hensel
My annual lists serve a dual purpose: they're a good way to avoid accidental duplication, and they're a nice way of charting the year - I can look back at the lists and know exactly where I read any given title.
In 2021 of course almost all were tackled at home. My only exotic memories are of shivering outside a Cathays cafe in thin winter sunshine reading The Rhine while drinking my first latte of the year; I Will Never See The World Again reminds me of crossing the Taff to see Billy the Seal then stopping for a quick read in Thompsons Park on the way home; and Walking The Woods And The Water came on holiday with me to Scotland so when I think of it I also think of Kelpies.
There are around 400 books currently in my tsundoku pile, of which around seven are partially started, and I got six more books as birthday/Christmas gifts from excellent people:
1. The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
2. Hungry by Grace Dent
3. Lean Fall Stand by Jon McGregor
4. Pocket Atlas of Remote Islands: Fifty Islands I Have Not Visited And Never Will by Judith Schalansky
5. Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell
6. Piranesi by Susanna Clark
My dearest wish for 2022 is to WILLINGLY READ 100 BOOKS. But also LISTEN TO MUSIC. TAKE PHOTOS. DO ART. BE OUTSIDE IN PLEASANT PLACES A LOT. And reconnect with the human race, Covid permitting. I want to stop being so much in my head; I want to move my body, get my hands dirty, engage, contribute, enjoy life again.
I already dragged my box of singles out from under my bed ready for tomorrow's (solo) New Year's Eve party. There will be dancing.
Today's Photo: 45s
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