Target: 100+
Running total: (fiction: , non-fiction: )
Several years ago I decided that I would do my utmost to read a book a week, because I felt like I was getting out of the habit of reading new things and I thought that having a goal to aim for would help. The effort paid off, and it's something I've kept up (off and on) ever since -- it encourages me to read more widely, and it helps me to justify to myself the vast quantities of books that I buy.
2010 wasn't a great year for reading, mostly because of morning sickness and tiredness... and this year I get to find out how many books I can read while looking after a tiny baby (due in April). Got off to a slow start as well because I started two huge books just before New Year...
A note on dates: I only add a book when I've actually finished it; if it looks like I've read an implausible number of books in a week, it's probably just that I've had several books on the go at once and finished them all in the same week. e.g. I started Moby Dick just before New Year, but only finally finished it (reading in fits and starts) at the beginning of March.
| Week | Book(s) read |
|---|---|
| Jan 1 - Jan 7 | |
| Jan 8 - Jan 14 | |
| Jan 15 - Jan 21 | Lise Eliot, Pink Brain Blue Brain: how small differences grow into troublesome gaps — and what we can do about it |
| Jan 22 - Jan 28 | |
| Jan 29 - Feb 4 | Tanya Huff, Blood Trail |
| Jaron Lanier, You Are Not A Gadget: a manifesto | |
| Tanya Huff, Blood Lines | |
| Feb 5 - Feb 11 | Tanya Huff, Blood Pact |
| Tanya Huff, Blood Debt | |
| Feb 12 - Feb 18 | Stephenie Meyer, Breaking Dawn |
| Lucy Atkins, First-Time Parent | |
| Feb 19 - Feb 25 | Jon Agar, Constant Touch: a global history of the mobile phone |
| Feb 26 - Mar 4 | Katharine Whitehorn, How to Survive Children |
| Herman Melville, Moby Dick | |
| Mar 5 - Mar 11 | |
| Mar 12 - Mar 18 | Kate Evans, The Food of Love: your formula for successful breastfeeding |
| Naomi Stadlen, What Mothers Do: especially when it looks like nothing | |
| Mar 19 - Mar 25 | Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall |
| Northrop Frye, The Educated Imagination | |
| Mar 26 - Apr 1 | Janie Hampton, How the Girl Guides Won the War |
| Janet Balaskas, New Active Birth: A concise guide to natural childbirth | |
| Alison Gopnik et al, The Scientist in the Crib: minds, brains, and how children learn | |
| Apr 2 - Apr 8 | |
| Apr 9 - Apr 15 | Tamora Pierce, Melting Stones |
| Apr 16 - Apr 22 | Christopher Brookmyre, Pandaemonium |
| Diana Wynne Jones, The Magicians of Caprona | |
| Apr 23 - Apr 29 | |
| Apr 30 - May 6 | |
| May 7 - May 13 | Marina Lewycka, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian: a novel |
| May 14 - May 20 | |
| May 21 - May 27 | |
| May 28 - Jun 3 | |
| Jun 4 - Jun 10 | |
| Jun 11 - Jun 17 | Tanith Carey, Where has my little girl gone? How to protect your daughter from growing up too soon |
| Jun 18 - Jun 24 | Tanya Huff, Smoke and Shadows |
| Tanya Huff, Smoke and Mirrors | |
| Tanya Huff, Smoke and Ashes | |
| Jun 25 - Jul 1 | Lenore Skenazy, Free-Range Kids: Giving our children the freedom we had without going nuts with worry |
| Jul 2 - Jul 8 | Benjamin Daniels, Confessions of a GP |
| Jul 9 - Jul 15 | |
| Jul 16 - Jul 22 | Linda Acredolo & Susan Goodwyn, Baby Signs: how to talk with your baby before your baby can talk |
| Jul 23 - Jul 29 | Gill Rapley & Tracey Murkett, Baby-Led Weaning: helping your baby to love good food |
| Jul 30 - Aug 5 | |
| Aug 6 - Aug 12 | |
| Aug 13 - Aug 19 | Gisela Preuschoff, Raising Girls: Why girls are different - and how to help them grow up happy and confident |
| Colin Dexter, The Way Through the Woods | |
| Aug 20 - Aug 26 | Colin Dexter, The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn |
| Colin Dexter, The Daughters of Cain | |
| Aug 27 - Sep 2 | Hilary Mantel, Beyond Black |
| Sep 3 - Sep 9 | Agatha Christie, Murder in the Mews and other stories |
| Sep 10 - Sep 16 | Jane Robinson, Bluestockings: the remarkable story of the first women to fight for an education |
| Sep 17 - Sep 23 | Jed Rubenfeld, The Interpretation of Murder |
| Anne Fine, Bill's New Frock | |
| Stephen King, Dreamcatcher | |
| Agatha Christie, The Hound of Death and other stories | |
| Sep 24 - Sep 30 | Agatha Christie, Destination Unknown |
| Oct 1 - Oct 7 | Jo Nesbø, The Leopard |
| Oct 8 - Oct 14 | Jo Nesbø, The Snowman |
| Agatha Christie, At Bertram's Hotel | |
| Oct 15 - Oct 21 | John Buchan, John Macnab |
| Oct 22 - Oct 28 | Agatha Christie, They Came To Baghdad |
| Hilary Mantel, An Experiment In Love | |
| Jo Nesbø, The Devil's Star | |
| Oct 29 - Nov 4 | Sarah Waters, The Little Stranger |
| Nov 5 - Nov 11 | |
| Nov 12 - Nov 18 | Charlie Brooker, Dawn of the Dumb |
| Chögyam Trungpa, Cutting through spiritual materialism | |
| Nov 19 - Nov 25 | Jo Nesbø, The Redeemer |
| Jo Nesbø, The Redbreast | |
| Nov 26 - Dec 2 | M. G. Durham, The Lolita Effect: Why the Media Sexualize Young Girls and What You Can Do About It |
| Dec 3 - Dec 9 | Joan Aiken, Arabel's Raven |
| Alexei Sayle, Barcelona Plates | |
| Damon Runyon, Guys and Dolls and other stories | |
| Dec 10 - Dec 16 | Marshall McLuhan/Quentin Fiore, The Medium is the Massage |
| Various authors, Just When Stories | |
| Dec 17 - Dec 23 | Miss Read, Christmas at Thrush Green |
| Dec 24 - Dec 31 | Jennifer Lawler, Dojo Wisdom for Mothers |