keep a reading journal/checklist

I sometimes get phases when I dither with books, not sure what to read, and generally flitting from one to another until I can settle on one.

I recently started Quicksilver, but this one’s going to take me a little while as it’s nearly a thousand pages. I’ve decided I’m going to read all of the Baroque trilogy (Quicksilver, The Confusion, System of the World), Cryptonomicon and Anathem in that order.

I may very well insert the odd shorter book or a non-fiction book to break it up a bit, because all five of these books are doorstoppers.

I’ve read 3 books in the last few days, so I’m making good progress on this. I counted up the number of books I have (182) and I’ve read 58, so I’ve read less than a third of all of my books :(

I enjoyed my last 3 reads, and am hoping to be on a good run now :)

The Joy of Living – a Buddhist book that I bought at Rokpa in Dundee; a very good read and suited to Western readers, rather than being too heavy on dogma. I liked the references to modern science as well.

The Reader – a short read, but poignant, and raises some interesting questions. I definitely want to watch the film now.

Siddartha – this was a very thought-provoking book as well, and it left me feeling similar to after I’d read The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, only perhaps more positive. The other title is somewhat more neurotic in nature, but I feel some similarities in the development of the main character towards some kind of breakthrough.

I have just completed this book after having seen the film last week for the first time. I thought that the film stayed reasonably faithful to the book. (Considering how different they are as media, I am fairly flexible with films based on books.) I really enjoyed both and I couldn’t say which I preferred as they have a lot going for each.

It reminded me of Lord of the Flies to some extent, which was also a good book.