Reading recap for first half of 2011

[vivdunstan]

I've been keeping track of my reading in Goodreads, and recently read my 50th book of 2011. I'd set myself the challenge of reading 50 books this year, which is a huge achievement given how much I struggle to read now, and even stopped reading altogether a few years ago. But now, largely thanks to my Kindle getting me reading again, I have to increase the challenge. I've tentatively gone for 75 books, which I think I will easily reach.

Meanwhile here are the books I read in the first half of 2011:

Miss Wildthyme and Friends Investigate (Iris Wildthyme, #3) - (ed) Stuart Douglas
Iris: Abroad (Iris Wildthyme, #4) - (ed) Paul Magrs
Greenwitch (The Dark Is Rising, #3) - Susan Cooper
Looking at Pictures: An Introduction to Art for Young People Through the Collection of the National Gallery - Joy Richardson
It's a Don's Life - Mary Beard
The Grey King (The Dark Is Rising, #4) - Susan Cooper
Computer Lib/Dream Machines (Tempus) - Theodor H. Nelson
Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution - 25th Anniversary Edition - Steven Levy
The Geek Atlas: 128 Places Where Science and Technology Come Alive - John Graham-Cumming
Is There a Book in You? - Alison Baverstock
Mom's Cancer - Brian Fies
Unseen Academicals (Discworld, #37) - Terry Pratchett
Silver on the Tree (The Dark is Rising, #5) - Susan Cooper
Shadows Over Baker Street - (ed) Michael Reaves
Fingersmith - Sarah Waters
Small Gods (Discworld, #13) - Terry Pratchett
Never the Bride (Brenda and Effie Mystery #1) - Paul Magrs
Doctor Who: The Eyeless (Doctor Who) - Lance Parkin
At the Mountains of Madness: A Graphic Novel - H.P. Lovecraft, adapted by Ian Culbard
The Wombles - Elisabeth Beresford
The Necropolis Railway (Jim Stringer, #1) - Andrew Martin
The Library at Night - Alberto Manguel
Ultimate Regeneration: The Incredible Resurrection of Doctor Who - Christian Cawley
Enter Wildthyme - Paul Magrs
Outwitting History: The Amazing Adventures of a Man Who Rescued a Million Yiddish Books - Aaron Lansky
IF Theory Reader - (ed) Kevin Jackson-Mead
Dork Decade (Dork Tower, Vol. 9) - John Kovalic
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot
Black Wings: New Tales of Lovecraftian Horror - (ed) S.T. Joshi
Doctor Who: Dead of Winter - James Goss
The Evolution of Fantasy Role-Playing Games - Michael J. Tresca
Roman and Native in the Central Scottish Borders (British Archaeological Reports British Series) - Allan Wilson
Doctor Who: The Way Through the Woods - Una McCormack
The Case for Books = Robert Darnton
Something Borrowed (Brenda & Effie Mystery #2) - Paul Magrs
Grandville Mon Amour (Grandville #2) - Bryan Talbot
The Castle of Crossed Destinies - Italo Calvino
Voices from the Past - an anthology - (ed) Alastair Reynolds
Understanding Gamers (Dork Tower, Vol. 5) - John Kovalic
Locating Renaissance Art (Renaissance Art Reconsidered Open University) - (ed) Carol M. Richardson
If it had happened otherwise - John Collings Squire
The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien
Vertigo (BFI Film Classics) - Charles Barr
Invisible Cities - Italo Calvino
The Birds (BFI Film Classics) - Camille Paglia
Enchanted Glass - Diana Wynne Jones
Livin' La Vida Dorka (Dork Tower, Vol. 4) - John Kovalic
Kind Hearts and Coronets (BFI Film Classics) - Michael Newton
Faction Paradox: A Romance in Twelve Parts (Obverse Faction Paradox, #1) - (ed) Stuart Douglas
The Art of How to Train Your Dragon - Tracey Miller-Zarneke
Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (Cambridge Film Handbooks) - John Belton

Most of the books were read on my Kindle, which has revolutionised my reading, largely overcoming physical and cognitive disability problems from the neurological disease. But I've managed some print books as well, such as the various Hitchcock film analysis guides (BFI Film Classics, and Cambridge Film Handbooks), and a number of Dork Tower comic strip collections.

Much of my reading is light fantasy, often children's books, such as the Susan Cooper "Dark is Rising" series which I reread, thanks to a Kindle release of the 5 books. A particular highlight was reading Diana Wynne Jones's "Enchanted Glass", her last published book before she died. I wish I'd read her books before. I will hunt out more of them.

Doctor Who and related books feature prominently in my reading. For example the many Iris Wildthyme books deal with a spin-off character from the 1990s/2000s BBC novels before the series returned to TV. Iris Wildthyme was created by writer Paul Magrs, and I've also been enjoying starting to read his Brenda and Effie series of gothic comic novels set in Whitby, on the Yorkshire coast of England.

Book history reading is also highly visible. For example I was entranced by Aaron Lansky's "Outwitting History", a tale of young students setting out, almost accidentally, to rescue Yiddish literature, first in North America, and then throughout the world. Alberto Manguel's "The Library at Night" was another highlight, often quite digressionary, but always erudite, and informative.

And my OU study is also present in the list, not least in the "Looking at Pictures" book for children which I read to try to develop my visual analysis skills, albeit with mixed success. And then there are the various course books, such as "Locating Renaissance Art". Though I'm still finishing off the first one, "Making Renaissance Art", and now in the middle of the third one, "Viewing Renaissance Art". But they will be added to the read list in due course.

If I was to recommend just a couple of books out of the 50, it's hard to choose, but I think they'd be the following.

Firstly I would recommend Mary Beard's "It's a Don's Life". This is a book of an online blog. Mary Beard is a Cambridge don, a Professor of Classics. My OU degree was a mix of history and classical studies, and I still have interests in that area. Her book is an entertaining insight into life in a traditional British university, and numerous reflections on classics and other related topics.

Secondly Terry Pratchett's "Small Gods" is always worth a read or a reread. I first read it during a university course in the early 1990s, which was very tedious, but relieved thanks to this book. I'm an agnostic, and this book has a lot of funny things to say about organised religion. But I don't think it would offend more religious types, and is one of Terry's more philosophical books.

As I mentioned before "Enchanted Glass" by Diana Wynne Jones impressed me greatly. The lightness of touch of her story-telling was palpable, but effortless, and made the book a joy to read. I desperately want to read more of her stuff, and am eyeing her Kindle availability constantly.

And my final recommendation, of course a classic, would be JRR Tolkien's "The Fellowship of the Ring". This is the first part of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, and my favourite part. I have read it so many times. I never grow tired of it. And now I've reread it on my Kindle.

At the moment I am reading, and hugely enjoying "Our Mutual Friend". I first read it a decade and more ago. I have also seen the BBC 1990s TV version. It is a book that you can lose yourself in. And I'm also reading Oliver Sacks' "The Mind's Eye", which is a fascinating mix of neurological stories, including many that I can relate to directly. And I'm scaring myself every night with "The Obverse Book of Ghosts", although that might not be my best idea ever ...