My readings for 2017

My readings for 2017
(maybe this can give some ideas to you)


Goodreads is a practical tool to support our reading habit. One of the many features it has is to group your books in logical bookshelves so you can arrange what is read, what you are currently reading and the books you have the intention to read. Besides, you may define any custom shelves you may need to organize your reading, even those books you still don't own!


This eases handling the nightmare of amateur and more serious readers: cope with the ever growing to-read lists.


Another feature, or rather, service, of Goodreads is the reading challenge, where every year the readers set a goal of books to read and challenge themselves to complete those readings.

My personal use of the challenge is not that of fast reading or of reading more books or more pages than the previous year or than someone else. 
Rather, I use it to record the books I want to read, which are many, and also those that I have already read. I use to write reviews of some of them. Why do I read the books I read? What books do I like? Among the reasons I have for reading are the following.

I enjoy reading and used to read a lot as a kid and as a youngster but later, study, work and family life made me reduce the time for reading, so a couple of years ago I decided to catch up with the habit and with the pending books.
I concentrate in catching up with classics, fiction, and some others genres I like. I am not talking or recording here technical or professional readings for work.

I am a lifelong fan of The Beatles and this is a subject I have been concentrating on reading about. Likewise, after learning French for study reasons and a stay in France (a long time ago too), I have not abandoned reading in French and now I am looking mostly at classics, not forgetting the genres I like. Same as with English, I prefer reading the French literature in French, not forgetting classics and popular books in my native Spanish.
One of the guides I follow in catching up with literature is looking at winners of famous literary prizes: Nobel, Cervantes, Alfaguara, Pulitzer, etc.
More subjects in which I want either to catch up or to read more are (world) wars, King Arthur-like novels, and myths, space, sci-fi, holocaust. As you can see, books from here and there. Many of them I already own, both in paper and ebooks for Kindle.

Based on my reading pace and on the fact that I read for fun and relax and not to get stressed to meet some demanding goal, I already set my 2017 Reading Challenge just to list what I have chosen to read. This is my list for 2017
maybe this can give some ideas to you:





1 Shivering Inside Jude Southerland Kessler.
The second book in a series on John Lennon's life. I had the first one since 2012 and only read it this year. Physical book.

2 Manon Lescaut Abbé Prévost
This book seems to be well known (if not a classic, I am not sure) in French literature and is mentioned both in La Dame aux Camélias (Dumas) and in Le Rouge et le Noir (Stendhal) so I became curious and will read it. Kindle.

3 Lady Chatterley's Lover: By D. H. Lawrence - Illustrated D.H. Lawrence
A classic that I have not read before. Kindle

4 Narraciones Extraordinarias Edgar Allan Poe
Again, a classic I am in debt to. Physical book

5 La mansión de Araucaíma Álvaro Mutis
From the Latin American boom. Physical book

6 Yseult: A Tale of Love in the Age of King Arthur Ruth Nestvold
Seemed interesting to me the point of view of the women in King Arthur's myths. The first in a trilogy. Kindle.

7 El túnel Ernesto Sabato
Latin American classic, one that I should have read since school. Physical book.

8 La Colmena Camilo José Cela
A "don't miss" in Spanish literature. Physical book.

9 Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
Should have read it long ago. Kindle.

10 El mundo de afuera (Premio Alfaguara de Novela 2014) Jorge Franco
Catching up with Colombian novelists, to read this one I am warming up by re-reading his "Melodrama". ebook.

11 The Charterhouse of Parma Stendhal
Another French classic. I just read Le Rouge et le Noir from him. Kindle.

12 De Profundis Oscar Wilde
Classic. Catchingup after reading Dorian Gray. Kindle.

13 The Waves Virginia Woolf
I am ashamed to say that I have not read Woolf yet. I'll fix that. Kindle.

14 La Bella Otero Carmen Posadas
A cousin of mine? Who knows. Physical book.

15 Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë
Already read Emily, I'll take a look on Charlotte. Kindle.

16 Le Père Goriot Honoré de Balzac
French classic. Kindle.

17 Take Me with You Catherine Ryan Hyde
After reading critic's review. Kindle.

18 Persiles y Sigismunda (Spanish Edition) Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Cervantes is much more than El Quijote. This is his last book, which he couldn't see published. Kindle.

19 El nombre de la rosa Umberto Eco
One of those that you see the film first (many years ago) and say I have to read that one. Physical book.

20 Catherine De Medici Honoré de Balzac
Here goes again Balzac. Kindle.

21 Selected Short Stories (Modern Library) William Faulkner
I read this book this year and it was my first Faulkner. He was one of the main influencers of García Márquez and I have to read it again to better feel his literary style. In fact, I will read some guides to reading Faulkner first. Kindle.

22 The Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank
How come I have not read this before? All my three children have! Physical book.

23 The Good Lawyer Thomas Benigno
Again after reading critic's review. Two Benignos in 2017. Kindle.

24 Amadís de Gaula; Libro Primero (Spanish Edition) Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo
I read this one when I was a young teenager. This is one of the books that made Don Quijote crazy. A superb work of Spanish literature that I have to read again. Kindle.

25 The Criminal Lawyer Thomas Benigno
Again after reading critic's review. Two Benignos in 2017. Kindle.

26 A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories Lucia Berlin
After reading critic's review and recommendations. Kindle. The only book for 2017 that I don't own yet.

27 The Good Girl Mary Kubica
After reading critic's review. Kindle.



MJOD, Bogotá - October, 2016

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