While Mr. Zuckerberg is aiming for 26 books before the end of the year, I am not setting myself a target - my book consumption dropped from about three a month to just over one a month on average after having a baby! And while he will read to learn about "different cultures, beliefs, histories and technologies", I will read to have fun and relax (but a big cheer for Mark Zuckerberg for summing up one of the most important things reading can do for you!). If you are on Facebook, you can join in with his reading challenge here.
The first book Mark Zuckerberg has announced he's reading has already sold out. If he's reading this (and why wouldn't he be?) I'd like to humbly suggest my own novel, The Art of Letting Go for his next read!
But what about me? On top of a wonderful collection of books I received as Christmas presents I had a couple of years' worth of book vouchers from birthdays and Christmas to spend. I haven't spent them all, but my husband and I did go on a spree a week or so ago. The result of this shopping trip, plus Christmas, looks something like this*:
Have you read any of these? Any gems in there? What I love about this pile is the mix: light fiction, more literary fiction, non-fiction, authors I love, authors I don't know, authors I've always meant to read, books I've wanted for ages, books I've never heard of, books I've come across through reading reviews or the results of major competitions, and of course, a little bit of cosy crime at the top there (reading cosy crime is my delicious guilty pleasure!)
Missing from this photograph are the books we're currently reading - Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz for Paul, and The Cornish Coast Murder by John Bude for me (more cosy crime!) I hope to get through most of the fiction in this pile this year, as well as browsing the non-fiction. I still have a to-be-read pile from last year to dip in and out of as well, plus I intend to read a couple more from the list of books you've been suggesting for me. What will you be reading in 2015?
For those who are interested, the youngest member of our household got plenty of books for Christmas too. This Little Monkey, Slinky Malinky, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Perky the Pukeko and the complete Beatrix Potter boxset to name but a few.
I'll leave you with a quotation from Mark Zuckerberg himself: "I've found reading books very intellectually fulfilling. Books allow you to fully explore a topic and immerse yourself in a deeper way than most media today."
*Something Borrowed, Someone Dead by MC Beaton / Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell / Perfect by Rachel Joyce / To Rise Again at a Decent Hour by Joshua Ferris / Rabbit Back Literature Society by Pasi Ilmari Jaaskelainen / 1411 QI Facts to Knock You Sideways from the television programme / Where Was Rebecca Shot (Puzzles in Literature) by John Sutherland / The Broken by Tamar Cohen / Wonderbook (The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction) by Jeff Vandermeer / Knowledge is Beautiful from the organisation Information is Beautiful.
In 2014 for the first time I kept a list of all the books I read. I always knew I liked to re-read things but was surprised by how few new books there were on there (not helped by three months travelling with an ereader loaded up with all my favourites!). I don't know what I will read in 2015 but my aim is to read at least 1 new book for every book I've read before.
ReplyDeleteI never re-read as I'm afraid of missing out on all the new books I want to read! But some famous author said you should always alternate new with old and I am getting a few books I do want to revisit now.
DeleteI've just ordered the John Bude book. I love cosy mysteries! That's a great stack of books you have there.
ReplyDeleteSomeone recommended it to me and I'm loving it - like Agatha Christie but the writing is better!
DeleteCloud Atlas! One of my favourites! There is a character in it called Tim - look out for him. At one point he says "The fluffy bunny of incredulity zoomed around the bend so fast that it left the greyhound of language agog in the starting block". I laughed so hard I cried and had to put the book down because I was on a plane! I promptly left the book on the plane and had to re-buy it in the landing airport book shop!
ReplyDeleteSo many people have recommended it I promised myself I would definitely read it in 2015!
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