In my previous post, I set myself a challenge to read a whole lot of books. On reflection, I've decided I did not put enough effort into finding a good list. The list I originally chose was selected by the British public in 2003. It is therefore heavily influenced by what was popular at the time. Lord of the Rings being number 1 proves my point, as although they are terrific books, I doubt they would have been number 1 if the films hadn't have come out around that time.
I'll continue with my current list for now, but it will probably change soon. If anyone finds a good list of 100 books to read, let me know!
In other news I have a night job at Asda now.
Whoop.
It pays well though, so sacrifices must be made.
I'm beginning to miss the university life at the moment. The weather is terrible and I don't really have a lot to do right now. What with no car, half my friends being away and the rest living too far to walk to, I've been rather reclusive recently.
I want to make the most of this summer; I want to catch up with people I haven't spoken to properly since college as well as all the usual crowd. Yet ironically, the thing I'm currently most looking forward to is the arrival of uni friends in two weeks time.
About Me
- Andrew Geach
- I'm a student at Aberystwyth University approaching the end of his 3rd year with no clue what to do next.
Friday, 22 June 2012
Sunday, 17 June 2012
A personal Challenge.
I bought a Kindle at the beginning of this year; not out of any real need, in fact I had only even read a couple of books in a little over a year since starting university! However, I talked myself into getting one as I often do with many things I don't really need.
6 months on and I've tried to expand my reading beyond my usual genres. I read the widely acclaimed Hunger Games trilogy (an excellent read in my opinion), I recently finished the original Bourne trilogy by Robert Ludlum and I even read a bit of Oscar Wilde to try and culture myself a little.
I still don't feel like I've fully utilised my Kindle though. That's why I'm going to set myself a sort of Challenge.
Having stumbled upon a BBC article from 2003 concerning the nation's favourite books (found here) I immediately decided to read them all.
30 seconds later having read through the list partway I decided that to read all of them was a stupid idea. I mean, really, Tracy Beaker? No.
Instead I will try my best to read all the books that do not seem too childish or are primarily aimed at those suited for bearing children. Having said that, I shan't (initially at least) shirk away from all the novels that seem a tad girly. I'm more than willing to give Pride and Prejudice at least a try. It is a classic after all.
As a child I read a great deal. The only issue was that they were generally the same books. I never liked to buy new books I knew nothing about so I stuck with what I knew. I can honestly say I know for certain that I have read the first 3 Harry Potter books a minimum of 30 times each. The later 4 around 15 times a piece. That may seem ridiculous, but it wasn't even confined to Harry Potter. The edges of the early Artemis Fowl books are severely worn by multiple readings. Even when I started to read more adult books, such as David Gemmell's works, I re read again and again.
I recently began a list of all the books I've ever read. To date (having just finished The Bourne Ultimatum 3 hours ago) I have read exactly 50 books. These books being ones I classify as proper novels and of which I can remember the story well (The Very Hungry Caterpillar for example, does not make the cut). Yet if instead of re reading the same books I had read something new, I think I could easily be in the 3 or 4 hundreds.
On reflection, my habit of re reading books was a terrible waste of my time. Time that could have been spent exploring something new.
My challenge does not have a specific end date, but I don't want it to be something that I forget about or don't commit to either. I want to feel like I'm making progress through the list. I'm going to stick strictly to the list, only breakig the order of it as a result of reading the next book in a series or trilogy.
So to begin, The Lord Of The Rings. I've owned this book for almost exactly 11 years now (basically I bought it when the films came out like everyone else) and never got around to reading it. Which is terrible really considering I've probably read through the 7 different Harry Potter books a collective 100 times or more.
Here's an interesting fact, The Lord Of The Rings is often mistaken for a trilogy. It is in fact a single novel consisting of 6 books.
Time to begin the longest novel I've ever read then.
6 months on and I've tried to expand my reading beyond my usual genres. I read the widely acclaimed Hunger Games trilogy (an excellent read in my opinion), I recently finished the original Bourne trilogy by Robert Ludlum and I even read a bit of Oscar Wilde to try and culture myself a little.
I still don't feel like I've fully utilised my Kindle though. That's why I'm going to set myself a sort of Challenge.
Having stumbled upon a BBC article from 2003 concerning the nation's favourite books (found here) I immediately decided to read them all.
30 seconds later having read through the list partway I decided that to read all of them was a stupid idea. I mean, really, Tracy Beaker? No.
Instead I will try my best to read all the books that do not seem too childish or are primarily aimed at those suited for bearing children. Having said that, I shan't (initially at least) shirk away from all the novels that seem a tad girly. I'm more than willing to give Pride and Prejudice at least a try. It is a classic after all.
As a child I read a great deal. The only issue was that they were generally the same books. I never liked to buy new books I knew nothing about so I stuck with what I knew. I can honestly say I know for certain that I have read the first 3 Harry Potter books a minimum of 30 times each. The later 4 around 15 times a piece. That may seem ridiculous, but it wasn't even confined to Harry Potter. The edges of the early Artemis Fowl books are severely worn by multiple readings. Even when I started to read more adult books, such as David Gemmell's works, I re read again and again.
I recently began a list of all the books I've ever read. To date (having just finished The Bourne Ultimatum 3 hours ago) I have read exactly 50 books. These books being ones I classify as proper novels and of which I can remember the story well (The Very Hungry Caterpillar for example, does not make the cut). Yet if instead of re reading the same books I had read something new, I think I could easily be in the 3 or 4 hundreds.
On reflection, my habit of re reading books was a terrible waste of my time. Time that could have been spent exploring something new.
My challenge does not have a specific end date, but I don't want it to be something that I forget about or don't commit to either. I want to feel like I'm making progress through the list. I'm going to stick strictly to the list, only breakig the order of it as a result of reading the next book in a series or trilogy.
So to begin, The Lord Of The Rings. I've owned this book for almost exactly 11 years now (basically I bought it when the films came out like everyone else) and never got around to reading it. Which is terrible really considering I've probably read through the 7 different Harry Potter books a collective 100 times or more.
Here's an interesting fact, The Lord Of The Rings is often mistaken for a trilogy. It is in fact a single novel consisting of 6 books.
Time to begin the longest novel I've ever read then.
1 Concerning Hobbits
This book is largely concerned with Hobbits...
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