months ago i came across this blog where this woman is shooting to read 50 books throughout 2006. it's an interesting theory, and i thought maybe i could also read 50 books, but by the time i had discovered the blog, 2006 was already 3/4 of the way finished, and i didn't think i had the time to catch up and reach the final goal.

i actually just started reading books a few years ago. before then, i could never really get into the whole "reading" thing - maybe i would read a book or two every year. it was kind of like running. (oh, those runners!) i'm not exactly sure what got me started into reading more, but now that i take the metro to and from work every day, i seem to be enjoying it a lot more, and it helps me pass the time on my (short) commute.

recently i've re-discovered margaret atwood. i was first introduced to her in my freshman honors english class at psu. i'm pretty sure i didn't get much out of surfacing that first time around, because i barely remembered what the book was about. last year i picked up the blind assassin at the bookstore because i saw that it won some award and i heard it was good, and i recognized the author's name, but i never was able to get that far into the book. so it was shelved until earlier this year.

when i finally picked it up again, i fell in love with her descriptive and thoughtful writing. she knows just what to write to get the exact feeling across that she intends to, and is very creative about it as well. anyways, i'm not really a word person (i'm trying, though!), but i can really get into her characters. they make perfect sense to me.

so after reading the blind assassin and surfacing (once, many many years ago), i decided i would try to read all of m.atwood's books, in no particular order.

i haven't come close yet to reading all her (fictional) work (she also writes children's books poetry and nonfiction), but here's what i've accomplished thus far:

1. the blind assassin
2. the handmaid's tale
3. the edible woman
4. cat's eye
5. the robber bride
6. oryx and crake
7. surfacing

besides reading m.atwood's books, early in 2006 i devoured philip pullman's his dark materials trilogy:

8. the golden compass
9. the subtle knife
10. the amber spyglass

oh. and i just remembered others that i read in 2006:

11. the da vinci code
12. the kite runner

i bought michael pollan's the omnivore's dilemma but i haven't yet gotten all the way through. instead, i started on one of his shorter and earlier books, the botany of desire, which i borrowed from cavin's pop. hopefully i can finish before the end of 2006 so i can add one more book to the list.

i'm a slow reader, so even if i had kept my current reading pace i don't think i could have read 50 books in a year. maybe one of my goals (everyone should have goals, no matter how large or how small!) should be to read more books than i had the previous year. i think i can do it.

if you know of any books that i should read, please suggest some. of the books that i've read in the 2006, i suggest the blind assassin, the handmaid's tale, oryx and crake, and all of the p.pullman's his dark materials trilogy books.

Labels: books