In 2012, I only read 64 books. For most people, that probably seems a lot! An average of more than 1 book a week. However, it’s actually quite a low number for me and is a contrast to my reading of 20 years ago. I can attribute this to being busy with work, academic research, commuting and other boring adult things, plus I tackled some long books such as a biography of Queen Victoria, a Dickens, a Tolstoy, a Thomas Hardy and an Arnold Bennett.
Coincidentally or not, several books I read in 2012 I have re-read for a second time this year, including Before I Go to Sleep, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, I’ll Never Be Young Again, and Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. There were also some that I have re-read in recent years since starting this blog, including Magic Fire, The Starlight Crystal, The Speed of the Dark, The Great Gatsby, Pride and Prejudice, Chasing the Sun, The Last of the Sky Pirates and Solaris. More proof, if any were needed, that my reading tends to be in 5, 10, 15 or 20 year cycles.
Some of the other books I read in 2012: Picnic at Hanging Rock, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, The Remains of the Day, Brideshead Revisited, Making Money by Terry Pratchett, Ann Veronica by H G Wells, Love in a Cold Climate, Nightingale Wood by Stella Gibbons and The Stepford Wives. As you can see, the majority of my reading that year was classics and YA comfort reads.
What were you reading a decade ago? Was it any different to the kind of books you read now?
I read much more poetry and memoir than I did 10 years ago–that’s a big difference. Same kind of novels–literary, historical–but I recently threw a mystery into the mix. Good to expand our reading. I like to think it expands the mind. I know it helps my writing, anyway.
That’s interesting! I think it’s great to add new kinds of read. I read a lot more non fiction now than I used to.
How interesting that your reading is in cycles!
I don’t recall what I was reading a decade ago but know that I return to childhood favourites and classics periodically. I’ve never noticed if there is an actual length of time when this happens.
I think the reading in cycles thing started as a coincidence but now when I think about re-reading something I look at my records to see when I last read it… if it was more than 5 years ago then I decide it’s definitely time to re-read!