#52Books - The End

Welp, I've done it. Despite having effectively given up any hope of completing it 6 months ago, yesterday I finished the #52Books challenge.

My first legit review: Eureka by Peter FitzSimons

Very shortly after I wrote my last post (the Casual Vacancy review) Bookworld ran a little competition - they invited anyone who had finished The Casual Vacancy to put up a review, and the best would get a free book.

The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling

It’s pretty much impossible for me to not compare The Casual Vacancy to Harry Potter. When you love a series as much as I loved Harry Potter, there is a lot riding on the author’s first outing after it’s done (KA Applegate, author of the YA series Animorphs, didn’t fare so well with Remnants). And you have to institute quite a severe media blackout, too, because the rest of the world is just itching to jump on it - either to lavish undeserved, loyal praise, or to gleefully behead the Tall Poppy.

#52Books - The Halfway Point

Okay, so last Sunday marked the end of the 26th week of the year, and therefore the halfway point of the 52 Books challenge. And as of that date, I had completed 24 books, was about halfway through the 25th, and about a third of the way through two more. And that’s about where I’m gonna leave it.

On Subcultures

Last weekend I went out to Clunes for Booktown. For those of you who haven’t heard of it, Booktown is an annual event held in Clunes where booksellers gather for special sales, and where authors, publishers and other bookish folk give talks. It’s a great little day out, if you’re nearby, so be sure to check it out.

Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson

I got home from work late one night recently, and turned on the TV for a bit to wind down before bed. For some reason there was something actually interesting on at 2am - Fry’s Planet Word, wherein he discusses language in all its glory.

I have always been interested in language, grammar, etymology and so on, and I read a lot about it while at Uni (mostly in, or inspired by, Editing classes) but I’ve really been neglecting it since I finished my course. I did, however, get Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson for Christmas or a birthday not too long ago, and watching Planet Word enticed me to take it off the TBR pile. So, when it became apparent I wasn’t going to finish Heuristics and Biases anywhere near on time, I decided to give it a read.

Noam Chomsky’s How The World Works

Last night I finished off Noam Chomsky’s omnibus How The World Works, which is made up of four of his earlier books - What Uncle Sam Really Wants; The Prosperous Few and the Restless Many; Secrets, Lies and Democracy; and The Common Good. These four are made up of edited transcripts of radio interviews Chomsky did through the 80s and 90s, and the format works quite well - the questions are useful starting points, and Chomsky mostly just uses them as a springboard from which to make points, so they tend not to intrude too much.

52 Books in 52 Weeks

Buying books would be a good thing if one could also buy the time to read them - Schopenhauer

It’s been a long time between posts, so before I get into the main bit, a small update: Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card is officially a frontrunner for my favourite novel of all time; my combined present-haul from my December birthday and Christmas consisted mostly of books, so the TBR pile is taller than ever; and I’m moving to Melbourne and looking for a job, ideally in a bookshop. Since looking for a job in a bookshop involves visiting a lot of bookshops, the TBR pile has suffered even more; but if anyone who reads this has a lead on such a job, let me know!