I need to step on the reading gas if I'm going to make my 2023 reading goals. I've read 12 books towards my 35 book goal. Goodreads says I'm 4 books behind. Sheesh. That's a big number. I'm really at a loss for how I used to read 40 or 50 books a year. I'm not sure what extra time I had back then that I don't have now. Maybe I just wasn't falling asleep at 9:30 every night.
The past is the past. Where am I right now? I succeeded in my self-imposed challenge to read a book while half my family was out of town. I read Platform. The challenge wasn't much of a challenge. It's not a particularly long book, but it's also a very smooth read. If all my books were like that, I wouldn't be facing a 172 book long reading list. I wasn't sure what to read after finishing Platform (which was my 12th book of the year). I had read the first essay in a collection of essays on Thomas Jefferson (I bought it at Monticello) before I read Platform. That didn't feel like the right choice so I grabbed A Bend in the RIver from my shelf. That feels like a maybe. I started it once before but quickly abandoned the effort. I read. few pages today, but I also read the second essay in the Jefferson book. We'll see what happens in this space over the next few days.
I was talking about long books with my daughter and she asked me what book is the longest I have read. Goodreads has a handy feature where you can sort books by page numbers so I was able to quickly determine that it was one of the Malazon books. I speculated that it might be one of those when she asked me. I also guessed that it might be It of The Stand (both in my top 5 along with two other Malazan books). I took a quick look at the longest books that I have on my to read list. Le MIs was the longest, but there were lots of history books and more serious novels. Looking at that list kind of makes me want to read one of those, but I'm not sure I'm ready to commit to a really huge book. I read Platform in 5 days, but that was only about 250 pages. I plan on reading all these ong books eventually, why not pick one up now? Just for the record, I think I would go with The Count of Monte Cristo (5trh longest pending read) or Don Quixote (12th longest) if I do decide to take on a really thick book.
