A book a week.

A book a week. As a typical English student, I stopped reading after finishing my degree. What a moron.

Although there was no conscious effort to do so, I found myself in a bit of a rut. ‘But I read every day’, I would tell myself, and it was true. It is true. However, there’s a difference between reading articles, (or what the twenty-first century is passing off as articles), and sitting down and focussing on a novel.

So, I’ve set myself the task of reading at least one book a week from now on. So far, I’m hoping that I’ll remain on track as long as I avoid any monsters at the beginning of my challenge.

Although a book a week probably seems more pitiful to the avid readers out there, it’s a big deal for me as so much of my time is dedicated to other more instant forms of entertainment and escapism. For instance, sitting down and playing guitar are always a great way for me to pass time, write, and become frustrated at how inconsistent I am with that as well.

The wonders of being silly with hobbies.

But back to books.

I just finished The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. It was what inspired me to start reading more regularly again, that and E. But don’t get too excited, the book wasn’t the most mind-blowing experience of my literary life. It was a great read for some reasons and harrowing for many, but a little stale in places and a little offensive. When I say offensive I don’t mean the content, I mean the epilogue. It’s cleverly done, it’s almost pleasant to see what the writer can say about their own work, but I feel it’s the reason many colleges and sixth forms use it as a book of study. That, and the feminism simply drips off of the pages.

But, as of Sunday night I started reading Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. Although I’d always prefer to read the book before the film, I saw the film many years ago unaware that it was a book, so this gives it strange dimension, the awareness that I have of the plot allows me to read it with a different skew, which is surprisingly pleasant as it’s one of those book that you could finish and immediately pick up and start again purely because of the fantastic and famous plot twist.

So, the above is my plan. A book a week from now on. Let’s begin…