Michael Chabon did it. He did it in 2000, at Christmas and during the week after. He did it with his fantastic novel, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. I was never the same afterwards.
I've always been a reader and from a very early age. I devoured books. I reread favorites like The Hobbit; in fact, I read an illustrated version of that novel so much in elementary school that my copy fell apart. I read series; at one point, I had read all 60 or so Hardy Boys books that had been published by 1980 or 1981. I was a library volunteer in middle school and checked out as many books as I could. When I was in college in the early 90s, I would take a weekend to plow through a book, ignoring my homework. By the time the late 90s rolled around, I wasn't reading as much as I had. I was spending much of my free reading time devouring comics, another lifelong passion. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay changed all that.
I don't remember when I first heard about Chabon's novel but I'm sure it was somewhere around its September publication date and most likely in Entertainment Weekly. The synopsis sounded right up my alley - a story set in the early days of comics that featured the fictional creators of The Escapist. I ordered it for my Christmas gift from my wife and then had to wait a few weeks for Christmas too arrive so I could start reading it. I loved it, loved every minute of it. When I finished, I realized I needed to make sure I put more books back in my reading diet and set a goal for reading 36 books in 2001.
I didn't make that goal but I did read 30 books in 2001. In fact, I didn't reach that goal total until 2005, when I read 38 books. What was important, though, was that I was reading more books and keeping track of what I read. I kept improving every year from 2001 to 2005 and then plateaued in 2006 with another 38. The next year I read 44 and followed that with 48 in 2008, which is still my largest number to date. I fell off in 2009, reading 40, and then again in 2010, where I fell back down to 30 once more. The further I got into my college career this time around, the less time I had to read for pleasure. That's okay.
I would often read multiple books from the same author. In 2008, I read all 10 books that made up Kage Baker's Company series. The year before, I reread all 6 of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels in anticipation of the 7th and final novel in the series. I even read 5 Terry Pratchett Discworld novels in two separate years - 2003 and 2005 (I also read his novel with Neil Gaiman, Good Omens, that year).
In all, I read 370 books during that 10 year period, an average of 37 a year. Not bad at all. At this point, I try reading as much as I can and my habit of keeping track of what I'm reading is one I'll have for the rest of my life. It was a rewarding 10 years and I expect the next 10 will be the same.
* Yes, I realize this post is a year late but I punted on my usual year-end posts last year, so I thought I'd throw this up as a precursor. More soon!
I've always been a reader and from a very early age. I devoured books. I reread favorites like The Hobbit; in fact, I read an illustrated version of that novel so much in elementary school that my copy fell apart. I read series; at one point, I had read all 60 or so Hardy Boys books that had been published by 1980 or 1981. I was a library volunteer in middle school and checked out as many books as I could. When I was in college in the early 90s, I would take a weekend to plow through a book, ignoring my homework. By the time the late 90s rolled around, I wasn't reading as much as I had. I was spending much of my free reading time devouring comics, another lifelong passion. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay changed all that.
I don't remember when I first heard about Chabon's novel but I'm sure it was somewhere around its September publication date and most likely in Entertainment Weekly. The synopsis sounded right up my alley - a story set in the early days of comics that featured the fictional creators of The Escapist. I ordered it for my Christmas gift from my wife and then had to wait a few weeks for Christmas too arrive so I could start reading it. I loved it, loved every minute of it. When I finished, I realized I needed to make sure I put more books back in my reading diet and set a goal for reading 36 books in 2001.
I didn't make that goal but I did read 30 books in 2001. In fact, I didn't reach that goal total until 2005, when I read 38 books. What was important, though, was that I was reading more books and keeping track of what I read. I kept improving every year from 2001 to 2005 and then plateaued in 2006 with another 38. The next year I read 44 and followed that with 48 in 2008, which is still my largest number to date. I fell off in 2009, reading 40, and then again in 2010, where I fell back down to 30 once more. The further I got into my college career this time around, the less time I had to read for pleasure. That's okay.
I would often read multiple books from the same author. In 2008, I read all 10 books that made up Kage Baker's Company series. The year before, I reread all 6 of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels in anticipation of the 7th and final novel in the series. I even read 5 Terry Pratchett Discworld novels in two separate years - 2003 and 2005 (I also read his novel with Neil Gaiman, Good Omens, that year).
In all, I read 370 books during that 10 year period, an average of 37 a year. Not bad at all. At this point, I try reading as much as I can and my habit of keeping track of what I'm reading is one I'll have for the rest of my life. It was a rewarding 10 years and I expect the next 10 will be the same.
* Yes, I realize this post is a year late but I punted on my usual year-end posts last year, so I thought I'd throw this up as a precursor. More soon!
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