A Year in Review

How does one go about reflecting on an entire year of reading? I can barely remember what I was thinking about yesterday, let alone how I felt about a book that I read at the beginning of the school year. However, something about the books I read this year really stuck in my mind. All of them were interesting to me, and even my least favorites (like Independent People - sorry Dad!) had their moments. I think I can safely say that I took something from each of them, be it a valuable observation on how the simplest interlude can effect your perception of the overall story or a silly one on how boring it is to read about a guy who lives in the mountains with some sheep.

Going off of that, I think that I learned something about myself with each new book. From Independent People, I learned that I'm not necessarily a mature enough reader to be interested in such a contemplative book. Actually, I found that with many of the books I wasn't always mature enough to grasp the concepts entirely. While I could read them and enjoy them, it always felt like there was something that I wasn't quite getting. Maybe I don't have all the experiences necessary to understand the deeper meaning within the text. Take The Plague, for instance. It was an excellent book, probably my favorite all year, but for much of the time I felt like there was something missing - some key experience or knowledge that would help me unlock an entirely new level of understanding.

This is especially true with The Third Policeman, which I'm not quite done with yet. I've been told repeatedly that it's fantastic, and that if I don't understand it that's okay because it'll all make sense soon. But I can't help but wonder if there's something I've missed, some inside joke that would make the book a million times better if I could only understand it. As of right now, it's an interesting book to read but I don't get it at all. Each new section of reading only makes me more confused, and I don't think that's what should be happening. Isn't the story supposed to make more sense as you read further? This is not the case with The Third Policeman, and I'm not sure if that's by design or not.

One book that I did think I understood was Les Miserables, but I'm pretty sure something was up with that one too. Everyone I've talked to about it has complained about reading "the brick" at some point, but when I was reading it didn't seem like a brick at all. That's not a comment on my reading abilities - my copy (which I've now lost, so I can't check for sure) claimed to be the complete and unabridged version, but I think it was lying. Either that or it was a terrible translation; I'm not sure which. Regardless, I felt like I understood the characters and was able to read deeper into the text, something that I tend to struggle with. Reading a book that I understood after so many that I struggled with was reassuring.

Another thing I struggled with this year, aside from the books themselves, was time management (something that is true in nearly all aspects of my life, not just my reading). I found that when I got busy, which I so often was, reading was no longer a priority. Despite the fact that it is something I enjoy and something that I should have been doing for a grade, I went for days at a time without picking up a book, only to race through one in a weekend. Even after reading a book, I often neglected to write about it, which meant that my blog here just barely kept going, with huge gaps between posts and then several at once. Basically, because of my personal failures I didn't accomplish everything that I should have. My reading list remains unfinished, and there aren't nearly as many posts on this blog as I would have liked.

However, that doesn't mean that I've given up! I found that I really enjoyed blogging about what I was reading. The discussions it prompted were often ones that helped me look at the books in a different way, and I think that's very valuable. I really enjoyed having the input from my friends and family, and I think that helped me a lot. As a result, I've decided that I'm going to keep this blog going! As I mentioned earlier, I didn't finish my reading list, so there's plenty to talk about. The posts probably will be even less frequent, but I think that's okay. I really enjoyed running this show this semester, so it makes sense to continue.

So here's basically what happened this year: I read some books. Some I loved, some I wasn't sure about, and some I thought were an absolute bore, but I learned something from each of them. I learned that I'm not as mature of a reader as I thought I was, which is (in my opinion) a pretty valuable lesson. I also learned that I don't necessarily understand everything I read, but that's okay. You can still enjoy a book even if you don't pick up on all of the subtleties in it.  I really struggled with managing my time this year, and in the end I couldn't quite beat it, which meant I didn't do everything I should have. Despite these struggles, though, I enjoyed the time I spent blogging, so I'm going to continue doing so over the summer! I learned a lot this year, and all of that learning was valuable. Thanks for joining me for the ride! I'll see you cool cats later.