One of the many things the pandemic dislocated is the start and the end of the year. What even were January and February 2020? A forgotten prelude, unconnected to the real 2020, which began when we went home from the office in March. When the shops and the schools closed shortly after. When the sunContinue reading “A Year in Books, 2020”
Category Archives: Books and reading
A Year in Books, 2019
A New Decade / The Radio Plays the Sounds we Made I read more books than usual this year, the average quality level was higher and there are two or three that I would press in to your hand right now. It was altogether, the most enjoyable year in reading for a while. What IContinue reading “A Year in Books, 2019”
A Year in Books, 2018
I used to look for patterns in the books I read, as though each book was itself a chapter in another book, one that would tell the story of the year. But honestly, who would make up the story of last year? Not the news, but my own story, where I had my second sonContinue reading “A Year in Books, 2018”
A Year in Books, 2017
I’ve had trouble sorting out what I read last year. The books themselves aren’t sorted. We moved in November – so they’re still all piled up in the corners of the house, like snowdrifts. Paperbacks I’ve not seen for a decade or more are sitting right at eye level, while my copy of one ofContinue reading “A Year in Books, 2017”
A Year in Books, 2016
Early in the summer last year, we went on holiday to the south of France. The lanes around the house smelled of lavender and olives. We ate outside on the veranda, looking out over wooded hills, the day’s dry heat like smoke in the air. There was a swimming pool, a neat Topaz jewel, theContinue reading “A Year in Books, 2016”
A year in books, 2015
I always seem to read the same number of books a year. A lot of things change, but not this. I’ve been recording it for ten years or so, and it’s always 24 or 25. It’s not one every two weeks; I cram at Christmas and in the summer. Maybe now my body just knowsContinue reading “A year in books, 2015”
A year in books, 2014
2014 was a year of commitment. I married, and had a child. I began a new job in earnest. And it made no difference, in one way, to the reading – I got through 25 books or so, mostly on the train in the morning, a few over the summer on holiday, a few inContinue reading “A year in books, 2014”
Year in reading, 2013
There was no pace to this year’s reading; usually I’m consistent, taking a couple of weeks for each book, working my way through them slowly on a commute that hasn’t changed much in six years. This year some of the books dragged, others I dispatched in a day or two, reflecting the fact my timeContinue reading “Year in reading, 2013”
The best books I read in 2012
A walk, a train ride and another walk; the office to home, the home to the office. It’s a thin but strong thread, past hotels and theatres, schools and council houses. This evening, past a Japanese couple, silk and suit, flowing seamlessly from a Mercedes to the Opera House, and a bundle of sleeping bagsContinue reading “The best books I read in 2012”
Year in Reading, 2012 (second half)
Thanks to work, I spent the second half of the year with even more and ever better reading devices than ever before – iPhone 5, retina iPad, Kindles of many stripe – but the list of books read is as slender as it’s been since I started tracking it. While I’ve been really enjoying savingContinue reading “Year in Reading, 2012 (second half)”
The Wired Jester 