2020 AND THE EVER EXPANDING 'TO READ' PILE (PART 1)

2019 wasn't my most successful year for making an impact on my To Read Pile. Let's face it, I got lazy. I fell out of the habit. I'm not saying that I didn't read, because I did, I just didn't read as much as I usually do.

I'm a voracious reader, have been ever since I was a wee ankle-snapper. On some of my best days I read A LOT. One weekend, several years ago, I read 3 books over a weekend (started the first book on Friday night, finished the third book by the Sunday night). That wasn't meant as a brag, just as an indication of how much I usually love to read.

But sometimes you get a bit distracted, you get a bit lazy, you let other things creep in and take over.

Well, in 2020 I'm intending on making time again. Not least because my To Read Pile is starting to really stack up and in danger of toppling over like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. But with a pile so big and so varied, where do I start. Well, I'm starting off 2020 with these...

H.P. LOVECRAFT – THE COMPLETE FICTION

It's been a while since I read any of Lovecraft's short stories and novels. I used to own the three paperback omnibus collections released by Harper Collins in the 1990s (their individual titles were Omnibus 1: At the Mountains of Madness, Omnibus 2: Dagon and Other Stories and Omnibus 3: The Haunter of the Dark), but somewhere during the last couple of decades they've become lost – or I lent them out and never got them back. Originally I was only going to get the Complete Cthulhu Mythos Barnes & Noble hardback as I've been meaning to re-visit the complete stories for ages now, but I discovered that the H&B hardback of his complete fiction was exactly the same price, so...no brainer!

WATERSHIP DOWN - RICHARD ADAMS

I have been meaning to read this novel for years now. I even have a copy of the adult paperback version somewhere, but I got bought this beautiful hardback copy for Christmas, which is a perfect kick-up-the-bum I need to get my finger out and finally read the damn book!

THE SCARLET GOSPELS - CLIVE BARKER

Another book I've been meaning to get my hands on since it's publication in 2015. I've heard mixed reviews about it (and I notice that it's quite low on a lot of people's Best Of Barker lists), but I'm still looking forward to it. I might even give The Hellbound Heart a re-read beforehand.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS - J.R.R. TOLKIEN

I'm not the biggest fan of High-Fantasy. I've made many attempts over the years with Raymond E. Feist, David Eddings, Stephen R. Donaldson and Robert Jordan, but they all came to naught. Like many people, I've read The Hobbit (several times, actually) which I love, and Terry Pratchett's Discworld books (well, I got up to The Fifth Elephant and sort of drifted away from the series after that) and enjoyed them too, but not really “got” the genre other than that. I attempted to read The Lord of the Rings this year, but got distracted by other pursuits after only 100 pages. But what I read I really did enjoy, so this year I'm going to start again and get it read.

ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST   -   KEN KESEY

Another one I've been meaning to re-read (there's a few on my To Read Pile that are re-reads of classic fiction. I haven't read this book since my college days back in the early 1990s. Unlike with A Clockwork Orange (which I also read around the same time), I didn't buy a copy of this book, but borrowed it from the college library. Dunno why, I usually like to own copies of the books I read, but didn't with this one. 

But we've not even scratched the surface yet of my increasingly unwieldy To Read Pile - there's so much more waiting for me to read. Join me on tomorrow's blog post  for the next titles...

To Be Continued.