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 3. Get ready for a few disappointments.
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 Magic Book – Alice Hoffman (NL)
Let’s get off to a bad start. Do I remember this book well? No. Why? Because I really put a lot of effort into getting through this. The magic book is the second part in the Practical Magic series and I can still remember the first part well. I read that with great pleasure and interest and that is why I was curious about the next part. I should have stopped.
The Owens family has been under a love curse for three hundred years. As soon as the family members get a love partner, he or she dies almost immediately. Kylie decides that enough is enough and decides to discover the truth behind the curse and reverse the curse. Sounds exciting enough – it doesn’t.
The book is remarkably little about Kylie. Instead, we follow family members who try to stop her (no idea why) and we mainly read a lot of unnecessary information about the characters (who we already know), about incantations, potions and their ingredients (really endless lists) and basically about everything .
For example, character Gillian takes almost 20 pages to knock on a door. The person behind it is described in detail. Every aspect of his life and body: even a list of all his tattoos is included. And that’s basically the whole book. And oh, yes, then we still have Kylie. Which we see little of and therefore feel little about.
I was so happy to have finished the book. And yes, I kept reading because I wanted to know how it would end. Anyway, it turned out that you don’t have to do it for the end. Surprise!
Giovanni’s Room – James Baldwin (ENG)
The book I picked up next was Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. This was the book that the main characters were in Swimming in the dark secretly read and that made me curious. The theme of the book partly corresponds to that of Swimming in the dark.
This book tells the story of David and Giovanni in Paris. They begin a passionate relationship, but when David’s girlfriend returns to Paris, David pretends his relationship with Giovanni never existed. It’s the beginning of the end for Giovanni, while David must deal with the consequences of his choices.
Passionate love, unrequited love, suffocating love, forbidden love. This book is actually about love and for that reason I think everyone will recognize themselves somewhere in this book. It makes us do crazy things, makes us face difficult choices and often has a permanent impact on our lives. Love is not always happily ever after. James Baldwin describes this very beautifully Giovanni’s Room and I can highly recommend this book. I don’t want to give too much away, but have tissues ready.
The Girls – Emma Cline (ENG)
In my previous part you could already read that I was very charmed by Emma Cline’s The guest. The Girls I have after reading The guest therefore reserve directly at the library. It’s 1960 and we follow teenager Evie Boyd. Her parents are divorced and at home her mother mainly focuses on herself and her own rediscovery after the divorce. This means that Evie can quietly go about her business and is largely invisible, except when her mother brings home a new boyfriend, but that is often short-lived.
It isn’t long before Evie comes into contact with a group of girls outside who take her to an old farm and introduce her to a charismatic man, who turns out to be the leader of the group of people on the plot of land. Evie is immediately impressed by the way they live, the freedom, sexual tension and overall security. Evie is desperate for a family and acceptance and will go far to find it. And it goes far.
The book is loosely based on the Manson family, the cult of Charles Manson. It’s not a perfect book or a literary tour de force, but it keeps your attention. The writing style is similar to that of The guest and Emma Cline captures the young woman’s struggles, feelings and vulnerabilities shockingly well. I find it refreshing to read. For the writing style alone, I actually think you should have read a book by Emma Cline at least once.
Nothing is true – Lisa Jewell (NL)
Do you want a book that you can read in one sitting? Then is Nothing is true a good candidate. Alix Summers and Josie Fair were both born on the same day and they find out when they sit in the same restaurant on their birthday. They start talking in the toilet and a few days later they bump into each other again. Alix is a podcast maker and Josie admits to listening to all the episodes after their meeting. She asks if she can tell her own story in a podcast with Alix. Alix is interested and suggests doing a test episode. And that is the beginning of all misery. Because who is Josie anyway?
I easily reveal too much with a book like this, so I won’t say much more, but I can at least say that it goes in all directions. For that reason I just couldn’t put this book down. It took me half a night. You quickly guess what happened, but that doesn’t make the outcome any less shocking. So, read!
Fifty Fifty – Steve Cavanagh (NL)
I read this book for my book club. It was a huge disappointment and I was relieved to find out that the entire book club shared this feeling. In short, two sisters are suspected of murdering their father and they both say the other sister did it. Lawyer Eddie defends one sister, lawyer Kate the other. Which sister did it? It sounds simple enough, but the book touches on so many themes, storylines and characters that it is sometimes difficult to determine who and what the book is actually mainly about.
We kept lists of evidence that could apply to one of the two sisters, but we soon discovered that every suspicious thing was then mentioned to the other sister as well. Example: the perpetrator’s perspectives have their own chapters and they always describe him as someone in black running clothes. Soon we see one sister in those running clothes, but a chapter later the other sister too. It felt as if the author did not know which sister it was going to be while writing and therefore allowed all evidence to apply to both sisters.
Nothing is more frustrating than reading a thriller that you can’t think about for yourself. Half of the book also takes place in the courtroom and is anything but fascinating. Add to that an unsatisfactory ending and the disappointment is complete. It’s a ‘no’ from us.
The position now stands at 17 books. Let us know in the comments what you think of reading goals and which books you would like to recommend!
