It is the end of the year, and statistically GR says,
I have completed 143 books against a target of 125.
Page count - 33748 (with 4 books missing the related data)
Average rating - 3.8
Several 5 stars this year, so naturally it was a great year for me.
Started with FD's Idiot, and ended with M.R. James's creepy cutesy horror story, (well the kind of horror actually suited for kids like me) a fabulous year, particularly the period ending August. The last four months brought me several things to focus, or reasons to quote for not focusing on reading.
Some best reading experiences this year -
* Dostoevsky, falling in love with his rants, admiring his women, taking emotional rides with his narration. My last FD for the year was a gentle creature, which I picked just like that to pass a brief period of feeling low for no reason I wanted to break down and so I chose a FD. And one of the best pieces ever read. It is this kind of love that touches my heart, which is also why every other popular love story doesn't go well with me.
* Brothers Karamazov - Immediate thought - was this good or was Idiot better. Well Idiot was my first FD, and I love it more. BK is a masterpiece, FD's perfection.
* Short Reads - One of the best things that happened to me. Several novellas, anthologies and short stories. I have always loved these over long books, reason these need enormous talent to keep the reader hooked. It was one of the reasons for the magic number of 143.
* Failed Experiments - Popular reads that totally failed, the genres I never ventured into safely, tried experimenting and failed miserably, one and two stars. But that was good too, I tried and only then failed. :-)
* Randomly my best reads out of the 5 starred ones other than FD,
Ghostwritten
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage
* Books that surprised me,
Train to Pakistan
The Library of Unrequited Love
Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character
* Made me Ecstatic, ultimate reading experiences
A Room of One's Own
Chess Story
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
Like Water for Chocolate
* Reco-es that were lovely and totally stumped me,
Breathing Lessons
A Clockwork Orange
Dandelion Wine
* Books that sounded better due to lovely discussions,
When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife
Miss Laila, Armed and Dangerous
A House to Let
* Books that I read with friends, successfully completed and loved,
The Woman in White
Norwegian Wood
The Count of Monte Cristo
Farewell My Friend
* Books that I wish I unread,
Paper Towns
The Handmaid's Tale
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