So February has been a frustrating month. It seems I just couldn’t find time to read all that much. I have been working a lot all month and have just been too tired. In January, I read whenever I could find time and read through 6 books and lots of pages. This month I have unfortunately prioritized watching sucky tv more. I think it is sometimes easier to just vegetate in front of the tv when you are overworked and stressed out instead of picking up a book even though you know that in the end, you will enjoy the book more.
But still, I did read 5 books this month and I have still read some amazing good books this month. The first one was Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus which I had postponed reading but absolutely loved when I finally got around to it. The setting in this book was breathtaking and so lovely and I was just blown away by it. An entire black and white circus suddenly appearing out of nowhere and just spellbinding it’s audience. I also really liked the story in this book and the characters and I am really looking forward to Erin Morgenstern’s next novel.
![possession-by-a-s-byatt[1]](https://christinarosendahl.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/possession-by-a-s-byatt1.jpg)
My other favorite novel this month was A.S. Byatt’s Possession. I watched her give a lecture back in 2005 and I was so impressed by her. So impressed that I actually got scared. She is just so clever and knowledgable and I have been really scared that I wasn’t able to get her books. But then I read her The Children’s Book a while ago and really liked it and I watched the movie version of Possession and decided to put the book on my list of reading goals for this year. And then I actually read it. And loved it. It’s a wonderful intelligent book and a beautiful love story. I was so engrossed by the romance of Christabel LaMotte and Randolph Ash. Talk about star-crossed lovers! Add to this that it is a literary mystery with beautiful writing. This is going to be one of my favorite novels of the year – and I can’t wait to reread it. I think it will be one of my favorite novels of all time. It is so intelligent that it can stand to be reread over and over.
It seems that I should learn from this experience not to postpone novels that I really want to read because I’m scared of not being able to get them or scared they are not able to live up to my expectations. I should just read whatever I want when I want it. I might have to work a bit on this before I accomplish doing so!
I also began the MaddAddam trilogy by Margaret Atwood. I will not say too much about this novel or this series here before I’ve read the entire trilogy but I will say that Oryx & Crake is quite an accomplishment and the more I think about it, the more impressed I am. I am reading the second part of this trilogy right now, The Year of the Flood, and I’m just getting more and more impressed. This is clever writing!
My complete list of novels read in February look like this:
- Erin Morgenstern: The Night Circus
- Joyce Carol Oates: Carthage
- Susan Hill: Howard’s End is on the Landing
- A.S. Byatt: Possession
- Margaret Atwood. Oryx & Crake
Last year I read about 50 pages a day. This year, I wanted to do better. My goal was 100 pages a day. Sadly, February has been the month where it dropped. Not only below 100 but actually below 90 (although I ended the month just above 90 pages a day). I know it’s silly getting caught up in numbers and that the important thing is the reading experience. I know I should care more about reading amazing books and taking the time to really enjoy them than care about the amount of books I read. Still, I can’t help it. I want to read many books and therefore I want to read a lot of pages each day. And I just haven’t read all that many pages in February and it depresses me like hell, especially since I could have read so much more if I had just kept on prioritizing reading above other relaxing pastimes.
I’m actually a bit amused that I feel this way because five books in a month is excellent given my current schedule. I think I will have to think quite a bit about whether this focusing on pages a day is actually benefitting me or rather stressing me out. Five books is good – especially since these weren’t short books and they were really good books.
Related post:
The Literary Bunny 
I know what you mean about succumbing to the lure of trash TV when too tired after work but I’m glad you were able to squeeze In The Night Circus. Let’s hope the second novel will be out soon.
I am so happy to have finished The Night Circus too. It was a wonderful imaginative novel. As far as I’ve gathered, she’s still writing her second novel so I’m afraid it will be a while before it will be out unfortunately.
100 pages a day is quite a hard target. I almost do that, but I don’t have a job. It depends on the type of book, but things like Byatt’s Possession would be very hard to manage that much. Try not to think about the figures and just enjoy what you’re reading. Quality, not quantity 🙂 Have a fantastic March!
It is a hard target. I’m not sure I can do it either – I just want to try to read more this year! And you’re right. 100 pages of Byatt a day is not possible but then 100 pages of Atwood are and so I’m hoping it will even out. I will try to not let the numbers get to me and follow your advice and focus on quality. Have a great March yourself!