I would like to read 100 books a year. Why? Because reading is what I love to do most. I love it so much that I even studied Literary Studies, but I find that my reading time these days is spent on TikTok, Instagram and mindlessly re-watching Modern Family. Every year I raise the bar a little higher, from 50 books per year (2022), to 60 books per year (2023) and this year I want to read 80 books. Every month I will tell you here how things are going and which books I have read. Today: part 2.
A small disclaimer, because I want to emphasize that I don’t think it’s about the number, the number of books you read per year. I set this personal goal because I think I could easily read 100 books a year, but now I spend my time on unnecessary other things. So I do those things less and read instead. I don’t force myself and I don’t just read very short books so that I can achieve my reading goal. The real goal is to give my love for reading space again. Final note: reading doesn’t have to be expensive with a library subscription.
The rest of the day – Kazuo Ishiguro (NL)
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, about a supposedly idyllic boarding school that turns out not to be so idyllic, is one of the few books that actually made me cry. No, not just shedding a tear – real unashamed crying. It has been a while since I read this book, but Kazuo Ishiguro’s books have been on my ‘to-read list’ for a while now. Including The rest of the day, that I work with The guest by Emma Cline borrowed from the library.
The English butler Mr. Stevens is exceptionally good at his job and now, in his old age, he takes a trip and meets all kinds of people who remind him of his time as Lord Darlington’s butler. As a reader you soon realize that the situations described by Mr. Stevens could have been handled very differently and that he interpreted certain things very differently than they were actually intended. The writing style of the book slowly takes you back to the 1930s and 1940s in Great Britain. The language used in the dialogues also takes you completely to another era. I can’t say the story made me as emotional as it did Never Let Me Go, but it really is a beautiful book that you should take some time to read. It also makes you think: what choices in my life could I have made differently and where might I have been now? But also: what are the priorities in my life and do I actually want that?
The guest – Emma Cline (NL)
A book that I raced through in an afternoon: The guest by Emma Cline. Alex is in a relationship with the older and wealthy Simon and knows exactly what to do to keep him happy and happy all the time. That’s important, because without him she is literally homeless. When she makes a mistake after a long evening of fun at a party, she is unceremoniously dropped off at the station the next morning. She has nowhere to go and her past is catching up with her. Desperate, she decides to stay close to Simon. After all, his birthday is at the end of the week and he will probably want her back when she suddenly shows up at his party in a beautiful dress. However?
Alex sleeps on beaches, talks himself into parties and does anything to get through the days. With all its consequences. You might compare reading this book to a car flying through a fence, plummeting into a ravine and then hurtling further and further down. It gets worse and worse and you actually don’t dare to look anymore. The result, of course, is that you can’t stop watching. I recommend this book to everyone and I hope people take it seriously because I really want to talk to someone about the ending
-
