Well, my third attempt at A Century of Books was my second success! In 2014 it rather petered out, but in 2012 and 2018 I managed to read a full century of books, finishing in the final days of December. The full list is here, and it’s probably too similar to my overall reading stats to warrant a whole new set of stats, but here are some reflections. At the bottom of the post are my plans for 2019…
It made me read some books I wouldn’t otherwise have read
And that’s been good and bad. There are some excellent books from my shelves that I wouldn’t have read unless I were doing the challenge – notably Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver – and some rather uninspiring ones that I probably wouldn’t have finished if I didn’t have a year to tick off (e.g. Harold Ross’s letters).
It was surprisingly easy this time
Reading 153 books this year meant that I didn’t struggle too much to fill my century. Last time I successfully completed ACOB, I read 136 books – also rather above my usual average. So maybe ACOB encourages me to read more? (The time I failed, I read 98…)
Audiobooks are your friend
And specifically Librivox – quite a few of my earlier titles were unabridged audiobooks from the free audio site Librivox. Though that did clutter up the beginning of the century, because they had to be out of copyright.
The 1920s went quickly
Because of course they did They also included reading some books I’ve been meaning to get to for many, many years – like David Lindsay’s Sphinx and Edith Olivier’s As Far as Jane’s Grandmother’s.
Shifting the century helped
Last time, I read 1900-99. This time I read 1919-2018, and that really made the process much easier – partly because I found the pre-WW1 years quite hard last time, and partly because I missed the post-1999 years. Doing the previous 100 years is definitely how I’d do it again another time. (Though I’d be sad once I’m chipping into my beloved 1920s!)
Buddies helped
Quite a few people were doing ACOB this time – either in one year or spread over several. I don’t think I quite matched up with the buddy system Claire at the Captive Reader and I had back in 2012, but it was good to know that others were doing it alongside.
Reading the zeitgeist was quite rewarding
Last time, I sort of cheated a bit by reading lots of 1980s and 1990s books that were about earlier periods – author biographies, etc. This time I still did that a little, but I almost entirely read books that reflected the 80s and 90s. I think ACOB counts either way, for sure, but there was a nice feeling of authenticity to it this time.
Iris Murdoch didn’t come along to scupper my plans!
Last time, The Sea, The Sea almost proved my undoing – being enormously long and completely baffling. This time around, I don’t remember any particular blockers. One of the longest books I read, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, was pacey enough that it didn’t hold me back.
So, yes, I’ll probably pick it up again in 2020. Watch this space!
As for 2019…
Coming off the back of ACOB, I do feel rather unstructured at the moment. The two books I’m reading right now are for podcast and book group, so I’ve yet to feel wholly unleashed on the infinitude of literature – but I do wonder if I should put in some parameters.
And yet, except for the club years that Karen and I run – 1965 Club coming up in April! – I haven’t made any reading commitments. The nearest I’ve got to it is a determined effort to read more from shelves, which I say every year – but this year I’m backing that up with a vague resolution about… not buying books? I guess? (Exceptions for going on special bookshop trips – e.g. I am going to Hay-on-Wye in a few weeks’ time.)
I’ve done Project 24 a couple of times and it’s been hard but good – but also means being on constant look out for which books might make the grade. If I do a more blanket ban, then I’ll stay out of temptation’s way. Riiiiight?
And if anybody knows of any reading projects like ACOB or like club years – i.e. some structure but a huge amount of choice therein, and able to be completed with books I already own – then let me know!
Congrats on a successful ACOB! I don’t know if you’re into Goodreads groups, but you may want to check out Reading with Style. They have quarterly challenges and the tasks actually have some oomph to them – instead of “read a book with a red cover” there are tasks like “read a work that involves a grand adventure” and “read a nonfiction work written by a novelist.” There’s a sub-challenge as well, and for winter it’s to read ten books from ten different European countries. I don’t think I’ve ever finished all the tasks in a single quarter but I always end up reading something I wouldn’t have tried otherwise. And if you have a competitive streak there are points, with bonuses for long books, older books, and so on. If you’re interested have a look thisaway: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/19610334-task-overview
Thanks Kazen! I don’t really use Goodreads but I do have an account, and that sounds like SUCH a useful place to explore – thanks!
I am so glad that I did ACOB. I too read a lot of books that I had owned for ages. Oddly I found the 90s my hardest decade, typically the 30s 40s and 50s were the easiest, I had lots to choose from and they are my favourite decades of writing. I read 119 books throughout the year, so it was much tighter for me. I am sure I will do it again.
Yay, well done you – I’ll see if I can tempt you in a couple of years :)
Ha – I am just about to allow myself a 1980s Iris Murdoch or I’ll never get my ACOB done (spread over several years indeed!). I might do 1880-1979 next time as I really don’t like the 80s and 90s! Well done, though.
Definitely fine to treat yourself to get through the tricky years :D
Congratulations on finishing your ACOB! I’m not quite brave enough to tackle that yet. A challenge I like is Karen’s Back to the Classics 2019. We read and review 1 book in each of 12 categories. Lots of choice with a bit of structure. Join us! https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogspot.com/2018/12/back-to-classics-2019_9.html
I was thinking to suggest the back to the classics challenge, too! So far I only log my reading on instagram, so will be more of an unofficial participant in the challenge. I’m at <50 books a year, so the more moderate sized challenges are right for me. I'm also thinking of the TBR challenge that Karen does every year, but since I'm guessing most of my classics will be pulled from my own shelves, that pretty much covers it.
Oo thanks – clearly a popular choice! I’m intrigued as to how we decide what counts as a classic?
Well done! I would like to second and third Jennifer and Christina above and suggest you try the 2019 Back to the Classics Challenge. It is only twelve books in loose categories but I think you could easily fill them with books from your shelves.
Thanks Ruthiella! I am now definitely considering the challenge…
Ha! I had to laugh when I read your comments on Iris Murdoch. One of my best friends is a massive fan and is constantly revisiting her work. (She’s just finished re-reading six of them to select her favourite as a book club choice.) In spite of my friend’s rampant enthusiasm for Murdoch, I’ve always had a mental block about the prospect of reading her, probably as a result of mixed reports about The Sea, The Sea!
Anyway, great work on the ACOB – you can be justifiably proud of your achievements there!
I have kept a few on my shelves, and I don’t know why as I have no inclination to read her ever again…
And thanks!
I’ve loved following your ACOB journey, I’m so glad you stuck with it and very glad for you that you ticked it all off. Well done! I’ve seen a few book blogger folks doing A-Z challenges, and I’ve been toying with that idea – either by book title, or by book author, one for every letter – but it wouldn’t take up even a quarter of your reading year at your current pace. Or there was the challenge that Ann Morgan did her TED talk about, where she read a book from every country in the world in a year (https://ayearofreadingtheworld.com/) – that would certainly be a challenge, it sounds amazing! Looking forward to seeing what you come up with :)
Thank you, Sheree! I do like the idea of an alphabetical challenge – it would be nice to have one that doesn’t dominate the whole year, and can be read from my shelves. Reading the world would be too difficult to do from my shelves, I think.
Good for you for finishing ACOB — I’ve started tracking my books by year but I failed miserably last year. I’m desperately trying to read books off my own shelves and there are certain decades with way too many books for the same year, so it will probably never happen.
And I am racking my brains to find a book for 1965. The 60s and 70s are tough decades for me.
Although I came up a few short. I totally enjoyed it this time around. The century shift definitely helped.
Funny thing, Iris Murdoch (big ones) filled in two of my years this time around.