Reading List 2011, Part 1

Have you realized that it's July already? Well, just from looking out of the window, you might think it's October already, and we completely skipped summer. But actually, it's July 3rd, which means we are done with the first half of the year. Time sure passes fast, huh? It also means that I am half way through my 50 Book Challenge (or 52, I am not very constant on the number). Since I haven't written about my readings since I don't know when, I guess it's time I started catching up, and, as a first step, list the books I have read during the first six months of 2011.

So here it goes: 

1. Kit szerettem? Mit szerettem? by Polcz Alaine
2. Hazaviszlek, jó? by Tóth Krisztina
3. Leányregény by Polcz Alaine
4. Utas és Holdvilág by Szerb Antal
5. Vonalkód by Tóth Krisztina
6. A test angyala by Parti-Nagy Lajos
7. Esti Kornél by Kosztolányi Dezső
8. Párizs fű alatt by Lángh Júlia
9. Egy budai úrilány by Lángh Júlia
10. Kis kiruccanás by Anna Gavalda
11. Szeretném, ha valahol valaki várna rám by Anna Gavalda
12. Túl a Maszat-hegyen by Varró Dániel
13. Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert
14. Reflection on the Bell Jar by Pat McPherson
15. Bitter Fame by Anne Stevenson
16. The Death and Life of Sylvia Plath by Ronald Hayman
17. The Cambridge Introduction to Sylvia Plath by Jo Gill
18. The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan (well, half of it. should finish it during summer.)
19. The Silent Woman by Janet Malcolm
20. One Day by David Nicholls
21. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
22. The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
23. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
24. Daisy Miller by Henry James
25. Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
26. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (audio book)
27. Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
28. The Carrie Diaries by Candance Bushnell
29. Szajna-parti kaland by Vaszary János

Currently reading:

• As Always, Julia: Letters of Julia Child and Avis DeVoto (still reading, it's my let-me-read-a-few-pages-until-I-fall-asleep book)
• Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
• This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen 

(Yep, I still like reading multiple books at a time.)

So, as you can see from the list above, I am doing quite well with the challange regarding the number of books. However, I am so so behind with reflecting on them... I have only written about the first four... then days got hectic, and I never had the time to do so. I wish I could promise that I will definitely catch up with the reviews too during summer, but  honestly, I highly doubt I will. If I am in the mood, I might write about a few, the ones that I really loved and really left an imprint in me. I might write a couple of lines about a few of them, or maybe about most of them. The thing is though, that I read the first twelve books four or five months ago, and I may remember the main plot, whether I liked or not, whether it's worth reading or not, but I fail to remember the details, the really important bits, the feelings it awoke in me, the reasons why I loved or did not really like a certain book. In order to give a half decent review I should reread them... some of them I might do in a year or two, but not right now, not just for the sake of a review. So, the point is that I might write about some of them, might not. We will see. I might surprize myself. Or not. Who knows?

Anyway, I am glad I will have quite a lot of free time in the next couple of months, and I can finally start going through and indulge myself in that enormous stack of books I piled up in the previous months. Here is a sample of  what I am planning to read, just to give you a bit of an idea:

• Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares
• Starter for Ten by David Nicholls
• The Long Way Around by Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman
• The Long Way Down By Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman
• My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares
• Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
• A Heartbreaking Work of a Staggering Genius by David Eggers
• Gilmore Girls Companion by A.S. Berman
• Blueeyed Boy by Joanne Harris
• The Shipping News by Annie Proulx
• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
• Coco Chanel by Axel Madsen
• A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I will probably take over either Szabó Ervin or the library in Miskolc in a couple of weeks, rip them off with a dozen volumes, then end up reading totally different books. Can hardly wait!