Welcome to another Year of Books. This will be a brief blog post because I didn’t read a lot of books, but I did read quite a few, and I revisited them multiple times. It feels like the year subconsciously became dedicated to poetry because I covered a good amount of works by different writers/poets, but my exploration wasn’t limited to their works alone. Poetry seemed to be the main focus of this year, even though it wasn’t planned that way.
Poetry
- Leonard Cohen Poems Everyman’s Library Poets - Leonard Cohen
I must have read it over ten times, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop. Once in a while, I just open the book, read a few pages, and put it back on my table. It’s a beautiful book, and I adore it, so I carry it everywhere I go.
- Greatest Works of Edgar Allan Poe - Edgar Allan Poe
- 100 Selected Poems - Emily Dickinson
- 100 Selected Poems - W.B Yeats
I ended up reading Poe, Emily Dickinson and W.B Yeats because I bought those books for my girlfriend, so before giving it to her, I said why not go through it. I don’t buy hardcovers for myself.
Letters
I didn’t read these books from cover to cover. I’d read a couple of letters from one book, then switch to the other and forget about it. Then, someday, out of nowhere, I’d pick one up again and do the same. Over time, I ended up reading a good chunk of both books, but that’s just it. I didn’t try to read them like a novel or anything.
- Letters to Milena - Franz Kafka
- Letters to Felice - Franz Kafka
Life
The following were one-time reads. I just wanted to check the content, and it was good, I’d say. Nothing special that I remember, but they weren’t boring. Sometimes you read and end up learning new words. I might have learned a few new words, but I don’t remember.
- Art Matters - Neil Gailman
- The Creative Act : A Way of Being - Rick Rubin
Essays/Articles
I also covered a few essays and articles by George Orwell, and at this point, I think I’ve read a good portion of his work. I firmly believe 1984 and Animal Farm have overshadowed his other writings.
I read Such, Such Were the Joys because I remember seeing it mentioned somewhere in Christopher Hitchens’s Hitch-22. It was an accidental find.
and
I didn’t create a list of books at the beginning of the year. I wasn’t sure what I was going to read, and it didn’t matter to me anyway. I was like, let’s see what comes along the way, so I’m not disappointed. As I’m growing up (and probably getting wiser, as I believe), I’ve given up on the idea of reading a huge number of books per year. I don’t wish to do it anymore. I’ll read what interests me and avoid reading just for the sake of it, because that turns reading into a chore. When it becomes a responsibility, it kills the interest. So now, I just read what I enjoy.
Anyway, I gotta go.
See you next year!