Reading for Me

Last weekend, I began reading Lola Jaye’s The Attic Child. The novel was one of my September selections from The Book of the Month Club and I was very intrigued by the premise of the novel. Throughout the week, I’ve found myself struggling to sit down with the book and actually dive in. I’ve been shocked that I’m not pulled into the story.

What’s the problem? I’m not entirely sure. Jaye’s writing is beautiful and the story is compelling. I found the opening scenes with Dikembe in Congo riveting and wanted to know more. I cried with the young boy as he boarded an ocean freighter to begin a “short visit” to England. I want to know what happens to this child who is now on display for all to watch in the mysterious house at 109 Ranklin Road.

Then there are the chapters focused on Lowra….and I find myself confused. Who is this young woman and why has she inherited the mysterious house? The only items that she seems to care about in the home are a few items hidden beneath the floorboards of the attic that were clearly left behind by Dikembe. Was he the attic child or was Lowra a victim of abuse and locked there against her will? This is where Jaye’s book is frustrating me. I don’t necessarily want all the answers immediately, but I do want some sense that I know something about what is unfolding on the pages. In my opinion, Lowra’s chapters are getting in the way of a wonderfully wrought story about Dikembe. When I get to Lowra’s story, I am suddenly struggling to press on because I’m not invested in her story.

I’ve been tempted to skip the chapters titled Lowra, but I want to trust that the author is eventually going to reveal an important fact that links the two stories into this single novel. Now that I’m over 100 pages in, I’m losing patience though. My Story Graph account tells me that I’m only 23% into the book at this point, so I’m willing to give Jaye a little more latitude, but I don’t know how much longer I’m willing to wait for the payoff. My reading time is valuable. However, I don’t have enough of it to waste if an author is not going to hold up their end of the bargain and provide a fulfilling experience.

For now, I’m going to continue making my way through The Attic Child. Visit me again at the end of the week to see if things have improved in this reading experience.

The second week of the year did not bring the finish that I had hoped to be able to report. The week was incredibly busy with the start of classes and lots of physical demands. Somehow, I managed to stay on track with reading at least one page of text for pleasure each day. (There were a couple of days where it almost didn’t happen, but having a goal and habit tracker definitely helped.)

Part of the problem this week was that I was also attempting to return to graduate work with a course on Shakespeare. While I enjoyed the topic and re-exploring the plays, it quickly became evident that the demands of the class and my personal teaching load were not going to be a healthy mix for my life. As I am writing this afternoon, I still feel very groggy after a hard 13-hour sleep last night and find myself anxious to crawl back in bed again in a few hours for more rest. Last week almost did me in!

The other issue that I am facing is the book I’m reading. I am working my way through Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid, but the plot hasn’t grabbed hold of my heart yet. I’m only about 130 pages into the novel, so I’m hoping things improve as I move closer to the mid-point of the book. I’m too far into the read to desert it now if I want to stay on course with the goal of reading 40 books this year. I had hoped that I would make more progress today so I could potentially have a finish on Monday. Right now, I’m not incredibly hopeful for that.

Since there was limited reading happening here, I didn’t make any significant progress on The Pillars of the Earth or Going There. I think that I am going to use Pillars as my January book with a twist — because there have been a few — and hope to get back on track with the audio book as well. Both of those books are within the realm of having fairly quick finishes, so I don’t think I will be too far off the monthly goal if I can just manage to get my tail back in gear! Thankfully, tomorrow is the beginning of another week and a chance to make some improvements in my own reading life.

Happy New Year! I hope each of you have a healthy and prosperous 2022 filled with love, laughter, and good reading! Even though today is a holiday, I thought a brief update on this week’s reading progress was appropriate on this Saturday afternoon.

Unfortunately, I have felt under the weather much of the week and reading goals took a backseat. (Congestion, cough, headache, fatigue, and muscle aches finally sent me to the doctor on Thursday. Although the rapid test came back negative for COVID-19, the doctor was not satisfied since the results did not match the symptoms. I anticipate getting the results from the lab test on Monday morning. The steroids prescribed at least having me feeling a little more like a human at the moment.)

I continued making my way through The Pillars of the Earth and have managed to get just over half of the novel read. I ended last night’s reading with the death of Tom Builder during the murderous attack on Kingsbridge by William and his men. I’m intrigued to return to the novel this evening to see the implications that this will have on the cathedral’s process as well as the lives of Alfred, Jack, and Phillip. Needless to say, I think Ken Follett is a master storyteller.

For the past several years, I have intentionally started reading a new book on January 1 of each year. In 2022, I am opting to participate in the reading challenge from Booklistqueen.com. I’ve never had great success with reading challenges, but this one looks like a lot of fun and I enjoy the way that she has broken down the list into monthly goals. The first goal for the month of January is to read a book by an author you love. So….that lead me to start Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult. I’ve read about 50 pages of the novel so far and find it fascinating. Set in the early days of the COVID pandemic, the novel features on a young woman who goes on vacation in the Galápagos Islands while her boyfriend stays behind in NYC on the front lines of the pandemic in March 2020. It’s a fascinating look back at how all of the mess that we continue to live through all began in our nation. I’ll keep you posted on how the novel continues to hold up through the rest of the week.

Lastly, I set my reading goals for 2022 over on StoryGraph. I decided to repeat the same goal that I pushed for (and failed to meet) in 2021 of reading 40 books. I thought it would also be interesting to set a page number goal…….it seems realistic that I can read 10,000 pages in 2022. Here we go!

Merry Christmas! I hope that those of you who celebrate the season have had a wonderful day and enjoyed time with family and loved ones. As I sat on the couch in my childhood home on this Saturday evening — finally getting to do a little reading — I realized that it was time to update you all on my progress this week and my reading experience.

All week, I have been working my way through Ken Follett’s massive The Pillars of the Earth. I’ve made my way to page 420 of the book and will pick up reading there tomorrow morning. Normally, that kind of progress would result in another completed read added to my yearly goal. At an expansive 973 pages in total, I definitely have my work cut out for me if I hope to finish reading The Pillars of the Earth in 2021. (For those of you who are nerds like me, that goal would require me to average around 92 pages per day over the next 6 days. It’s not an unheard of amount of reading, but I’ve been struggling to get through 50 pages of Follett’s prose in a single day. I’m not ready to throw in the towel quite yet though.)

I’ve found myself really enthralled with the story thus far. Thankfully, the plot is not dominated totally by the construction of the Kingsbridge Cathedral. Rather, the story centers on the people whose lives intersect with the construction project. It really is a fascinating cast of characters that you quickly grow to love or hate. Then there are those moments where Follett drops a few masterfully constructed sentences that simply demand you pause and consider the implications. For example, while reading tonight I came across this passage.

Having faith in God did not mean sitting back and doing nothing. It meant believing that you would find success if you did your best honestly and energetically.

The Pillars of the Earth, 417

As I read those words, I had to stop and relish the truth contained in them. The juxtaposition of faith and works has been a source of discussion for great thinkers since the earliest days of the Christian faith. While I do not assume that The Pillars of the Earth means to enter the realm of theological conversation – Follett actually takes a hard look at the Church as an establishment throughout the book and the observations are not terribly flattering – I do think that great writing addresses issues that have troubled society for a very long time. It’s small asides like the one above that is making this novel such a joy to read! I’m looking forward to seeing what the coming week holds in store as I continue this reading adventure.

Much of the week is a blur. I don’t have much recollection about what I actually read this week…..or necessarily why I took so much time away from my reading.

The week began fairly normally. I was in a decent stride and continuing to make my way through both Over the Edge and Disraeli. Then the midweek hump hit and I never fully recovered. The middle of the week was filled with upcoming performances and other responsibilities that demanded my attention. By the time I got home each evening, reading was the last thing on my mind. I just wanted to crawl in bed — and that’s exactly what I did.

So, there are no exciting finishes to tell about this week. There is a glimmer of hope on the horizon. My schedule should be much less intense on Monday and Tuesday, so I’m hoping to get caught up a bit on work and reading. On Tuesday evening, I’m flying home for the holiday and looking forward to spending time with family and experiencing some refreshing and rejuvenation. Hopefully, I’ll make some serious progress on Disraeli while I’m in Arkansas, but I’m not making any promises! The end of a very long term is in sight and I’m just taking it one step at a time to make it to the finish line.

After finishing my ebook romance earlier this week that I just couldn’t put down, I decided the rest of the week would be devoted to reading the two larger works that are giving me more fits right now. Currently, StoryGraph indicates that I have read 26% of The Moonstone and 18% of The Great Pianists. Now I have to figure out why I’m making such slow progress through both of these books.

The progress I am making through the book about pianists and their techniques makes sense to me. I’m only reading this book in my office between other tasks and intentionally working my way through the material slowly so I can make notes and try to retain as much of the material as I can. I don’t get to pick up this text daily; when I do, I might read a chapter….or just a portion of a chapter. I think I want to try to schedule some reading time in the coming week to see if I can make a little more headway on this project. Even though it is “Reading for Me,” it also qualifies as research.

The Moonstone baffles me a little more. I feel as though I am reading the novel regularly, but it moves so slowly! I read for 30 minutes and I’ve only managed to plow through 6 pages or so. I really don’t get it! The text is not that hard. I’m not completely bored with the story. I just haven’t hit my stride. I was really hoping to finish this book in the next week, but I really don’t see that happening. The fact that I don’t understand the slow progress is becoming a source of frustration for me as well.

So what’s the plan for the upcoming week? I’m continuing to read both books. But I had also planned to introduce a digital book into the mix just so I had all book formats in the rotation at the same time. It seems that the convenience of reading digitally is keeping me in the process of reading at the moment. It’s definitely something worth considering and exploring further.

The week is coming to an end and I’m actually feeling good about the reading progress I have made this week. I’ve had my nose glued to the pages of James Patterson’s 21st Birthday and I find myself looking forward to getting a chance to read each day.

The plot of the novel centers around the deaths of a young mother and her one-year-old daughter. It seems that there is a serial killer on the loose, the only question is whether it is the husband or the father-in-law. Both men point the finger at the other one and it is left to our team of women to figure out who is telling the truth. Currently, I’m just a little over halfway through this page turner.

I decided to enjoy a slower read this week. I’m just grabbing moments to read where I can. I read a couple of chapters during my lunch break while sitting in my car next to a city park. (It was too hot to venture to a shady bench!) I enjoyed a gourmet pizza for dinner while paging through the story in Lubbock. While waiting for students to arrive for a morning class, I got in a couple of chapters of reading. Saturday is going to be an extremely busy day, so I’m anticipating that I’ll only read a few pages at the end of the day to keep my current reading streak alive.

Is that the only thing I’ve been reading this week? Of course not! I have taken a break from The Goblet of Fire though. I have a feeling I may have to start that audio book over again in a few weeks. I’ve been doing a lot of reading in preparation for my pedagogy class. Today, I began reading The Great Pianists by Harold Schonberg. That will definitely be a long term project, but one that is worthy of my attention.