When I read, I often find myself caught up in the story in my head, applying the books reality to my reality, which leads to some pretty surreal interior experiences.
For example, I just finished my very first book of 2021--The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware. The protagonist in The Turn of the Key* hears mysterious footsteps above her room in the book. For the last couple nights, I've gone to bed assuming I'd hear something overhead and when I do--even when it is just the regular moans and groans of a house heard only in the quiet, dark hours of the night--I feel like I've been given a bonus gift. (I.e. free reality experience with purchase!).
I am often distracted, in case you haven't noticed. But, I am also flexible--it is a rare occasion that I resist change (and when I do I am not very pleasant). Anyway, back to the reason I am logging my books. . .
I discovered the Goodreads Challenge in 2019--and I made it to 49/50 books (spending Christmas-New Years power reading through almost enough books to make to 50). In 2020, I set my goal for 50 books again, vowing to not repeat that power week ever again. (It was stressful and like the time I ran a half-marathon.) I kept my vow, but did not meet my goal. I ended on 40 books. This year, I kept the goal at 50. Someday, I'll reach it.
I took a quick look through my Goodreads 2020 list--it is filled with variety. I tend to gorge myself on one genre or author in a quick burst. The list is filled with loads of beach reads--Mary Kay Andrews (I am a super fan), Elin Hilderbrand (love her) and others; a very robust dose of psychological thrillers ( I cut my early novel reading teeth on the G rated Nancy Drew and later, the only slightly more racy Mary Higgins Clark). There were a few other stand-outs: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (loved this one!) and the non-fiction compilation of columns Diagnosis (which I enjoyed reading in-between gorging on whatever I was crushing on at the moment).
This year, I have a few books on my list. I know I'd like to find a few more medical memoirs. And of course, I am going to gorge on all the Southern romantic comedy writers I can find. For now, in keeping with a Ruth Ware frame of mind, I am sticking to psychological thrillers. I just turned the first page on Invisible Girl by Lisa Jewell.
I'll let you know if I experience any moments of invisibility.
What's on your reading list for 2021?
*The Turn of Key has notes of early Mary Higgins Clark (touches of Where are the Children, perhaps?) and kept me engaged throughout. Just when I was tired of all the fictional modesty, did tantalizing bits of the story would be revealed. I was left satisfied, but also wanting to know more about what happened to the living characters.)
Writer's Note: This blog is unedited, unproofed and depending on the day, unfiltered. Grammar police--you can get your fix elsewhere. I am just practicing my craft and crafts are always messy.
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