Back on Track!

So yesterday, after what seemed like weeks and weeks, I finished the first of the fiction books in my list of 100, "Amateur Barbarians." I hated it. It was one of those books that doesn't go anywhere, the book jacket and the little excerpt from the New York Times both lied to me. I was expecting a seriously funny, witty, or sarcastic book like the back of the book promised me, or at least one that was serious about its subject matter. As I told you, I had a hard time relating to the main characters and I felt even less connected to them when they had their "big epiphanies" or whatever they had. These two middle-aged men, who's lives were terrible and just got more so. There were no answers and as far I as could tell, they had try to make changes and ended up going to exactly where they were before they started their journeys. I didn't see them as "barbarians." The one man went to Africa to save his pregnant daughter and ended up staying, going on a pilgrimage of sorts, and then going back to his hum-drum suburban life to his kids who didn't respect or need him, and his wife who had a very unsuccessful affair with the other sad sack man in the story. The story jumped around and jumped around badly. Plus, the big things in this book, the trip to Africa and the affair happened basically 50 pages from the end of the book. There was a lot of masturbating which seemed unnecessary to me, and a lot of feeling sorry for yourself. We all have pity parties from time to time, but these men lived them constantly. Yuck.

So, now, basically I only have 1 day of leeway left for the rest of the 98 books I have to read by the end of the year. I got the next two books today. "American Rust" by Philipp Meyer is the work of fiction. I'm already concerned because they say he writes like Hemingway and Cormac McCarthy, two very "male" authors. I don't like Hemingway. If this is another "man" read, I'm going to struggle to get through it. I hope not. But I'll let you know. I'm going to take on the fiction book first this time.

My non-fiction choice is "The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science." This is another long book, but I believe will hold my interest more than the quantum physics book did. I will also let you know on this one.

So, no more procrastinating, no more delays. 2 books a week, 50 weeks left in the year. I will do this. I will not end up like the pathetic characters in "Amateur Barbarians." I do not want to go on this journey and not get anything out of it.

10 Days In and There May be Others

Ok, so I am 10 days into my 100 books in a year, I should, mathematically, and in order to realistically finish, be on my third book right now, or maybe finishing my third book but I am not. I am still working on "Amateur Barbarians" book number two but the first fiction book on my list. It's a good book, I'm reading through it at a good pace, but have not finished it yet, due to not feeling so hot and one of my original passions--football. I will probably finish the book today and that is fine because I do not yet have the next two books on my list. The first one "The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science" is not available at any library, local or within short driving distance, and "American Rust" is not published in paperback yet, which seems to be the only way I can order it on Amazon. It will be released on Tuesday, which gives me plenty of time.

When I discovered that the non-fiction book was not available in any library, it made me wonder if I am not the only person in the Chicagoland area with this idea. Maybe others are planning on reading all 100 books as well, and if they are...then I am behind, for last Sunday was only the 3rd. Could it be that they read a book a day? Could it be that they cheated and started reading the day the list came out which was back in mid-December, one-week earlier online than in print? I'm not sure, or maybe I'm just paranoid but I am also not panicking. I am as determined to complete this goal as much as I was to finishing the first book I read or reading the 7th Harry Potter book in one sitting, or determining not to like the "Bridges of Madison County" and being pissed that I got sucked into it and cried. No matter if I am alone or in a group in my endeavor, I will succeed!

Now, back to "Amateur Barbarians". This book is a "guy" book. It's about two middle-aged men unhappy with their suburban, boring lives and trying to find some way to fulfill what is missing or to evoke some sense of excitement that seems to be lacking. These men's lives will intertwine, yet there has only been a hinting of it in the first 100 pages. This book has some incredible lines that make me stop and say "Wow. That was a good line" My favorite so far being "He tried to collect a coherent impression of himself from the shards of reflection he glimpsed in other people's sunglasses." But in between the good lines, it is a story that I really can't relate to. I'm not a guy. I can't relate to hoping someone notices my erection at a party, or going into the bathroom to masturbate at same party because the cat bit you and no one is sympathetic to your invisible fang puncture wounds. It's interesting and maybe that's what middle-aged men do. In my younger days, I know that my boyfriend at that current time (who was not Eric) would go into the bathroom with his friends to smoke weed or snort coke, pretending they were clever in hiding it. But men are not like women, they don't usually need to go to the bathroom in groups. I'll be interested in seeing how this turns out. I can't say I dislike this more than Hemmingway because so far, the testosterone seems to be lacking but it is, again, a "guy" book.

As I've said before, this is a good goal for me. Teaching me new things, opening my eyes to new experiences, new authors and books I probably wouldn't normally read. I feel this after only reading two books. Just imagine how I'll feel in six months!