January Reads

One of the resolutions I've made for myself for 2009 (and for life, really) is to read more books. Particularly, a book a week. Of course, this is easier said than done, especially when my typical week day (i.e. work, long commute home, gym, dinner, shower, nightly chat with T, and getting to bed at a decent hour so I can do it all again the next day--living the American dream, I am.) leaves very little time for reading. The fact that I've grown rather addicted to blogs in recent months certainly doesn't help in my quest to read more literature. Since graduating from UCLA with a reading-intensive English degree, I've been a sporadic reader at best. It's when I recently calculated that reading a book a week over the next fifty years would mean only reading 2,600 books that I started panicking. Doesn't this seem like a shockingly low number (or am I coming off as a major book dork here? Don't answer that!)? With my list of must-reads ever expanding and the time in which to read them slowly shrinking, it's quite possible that I'll never get through all the books I want to read in my life. And what's worse, I've already failed at my resolution, having only finished three books in the month of January. Still, I'm trying to focus on the bright side; I'm spending more time reading, which is always a good thing. And there's always February. So, a quick breakdown of my January reads:

Mrs. Woolf and the Servants by Allison Light. The always wonderful Mary Laure introduced me to this book, which I've also mentioned twice before. I've only dipped my toe into the captivating world of Virginia Woolf, so I'm looking forward to reading more of her biographies, novels, journals (which I own and should really crack open again), etc. If anyone has any recommendations, I'd love to hear them!

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. I'll go ahead and say it: I preferred the film to the book. I know, I know, this almost NEVER happens, but what can I say? The Coen Brothers had me on the edge of my seat when I saw it in the theater last year. Literally. Plus, Javier Bardem chilled me to the bone. I couldn't help but picture him in that god-awful haircut while reading the book. The book itself is positively heart-thumping and still worth a read. No Country for Old Men is my first western, and I have a feeling it won't be my last.

The Amnesiac by Sam Taylor. I randomly came across this book in a bookstore. I was totally struck by the cool graphic cover, as well as the synopsis on the back. It had me at "remnants of nineteenth-century manuscript of a murder mystery" and "part detective story, part haunting gothic tale." Done and done. Turns out that it was a pretty entertaining read and the writing was very solid.

I plan on finishing the two books I'm juggling by the end of this week. There, I've said it. Nothing like a declaration in print to make you stick to your word!