8 down, 172 to go.
I'm locked in this challenging cycle of picking books that read very quickly followed by books that just drag and drag. I raced through Freedom and struggled through Jonathan Strange & Dr. Norrell. The Handmaid's Tale was a very zippy book, but it took me a while to get going with A Time of Gifts. Sapiens was quick. The Mysterious Benedict Society #2 (a book I borrowed from my 11 year old) took me a little while to finish. About a Boy was a very quick read. (I've read my Nick Hornby book, I'm not too upset that I can't pick up another one anytime soon, although his books look like they're good for a quick read, that could come in handy from time to time.)
So I'm in the slog phase of my reading cycle. I started reading Crime and Punishment again. It felt like the right book to read. I was wrong. I was making absolutely no progress. So I set it aside and started reading A Confederacy of Dunces. This is one of those books that I've heard so many people talk about but have never really felt the desire to read myself. I used to work with a guy who raved about it, and he wasn't really much of a regular reader. The guy who checked me out when I bought it sometime in 2015 mentioned how much he loved the book. It's oh so funny. I haven't laughed once, but I do find myself going back to the book pretty willingly. It moves surprisingly fast. I don't feel like I've spent much time reading it but I'm almost a third of the way through it. I'm not sure if I agree with all the praise, but at least it's a fun, easy read.
Assuming I finish Toole's book by the end of the month, I'll be right on pace for 30 books this year. I'll need to read at least 31 to end the year below 150 books on my to be read list, but I should be able to manage that...as long as I don't end up bogged down in this quick/slow cycle for too long.
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