The Year in Reading 2009

They year finally came to a close last Friday and with it came to a close Bibliophilia 2009. What that is basically, is a list of works I read or re-read during the course of the year from January 1st 2009 until December 31st 2009. The list does not include magazines or journal articles as there are just too many things for me to keep track of as it is.

Six days into the new year I think is a great time to reflect over my year in reading, see what has been learned and what I can apply to this new year for Bibliophilia 2010.

In total 42 books were read or re-read this year, of those 30 were new reads. At times the reading was painfully slow and can be attributed to thick, sometimes onerous and dense material. Most of that material however was concentrated in the form of philosophy and theory work such as work by John Locke (in anticipation of Lost) and Carl Jung. At the risk of seeming like a snob, I would say those works were difficult as they were far more "scholarly" than other things I read in the year, far more reliant on theory rather than story. I am still woefully out of practice in scholarly reading so it was good to read those works and sharpen the dull edges of my mind. I find also that after reading heavy, dense works, I am far better at reading novels/stories and am able to pick up on ideas an symbols far better than I was previously able to.

Looking over the list, the dominant theme over the year seems to be one of transformation and change. Works ran in many directions around this theme from Athletic, scientific and straight stories. So much of what I read this year from fiction to non-fiction was very much about self-discovery, growing up and transformation. Secondary themes in many fo the works were ones of the individual's relationship with nature and their fellow man, which I suppose goes hand in hand with stories of change and discovery. At the beginning of the year, personally I felt I needed to change, my life was something that needed personal overhaul. It find it interesting that I was drawn to books about change, even books that had been recommended and I had either little or no idea about the contents of the books. Some were obvious with what I was going to find, while others were pleasant surprises. Others still were books on my penultimate list to read and found their way into my hands this year, and being a sort of fatalist, seemed destined for me to read at this particular time in my life. As the new year has begun, I am eager to see where my literary journey will take me this year and how my reading choices will be affected by my constantly changing self. With that I'll leave you with a few wrap it up thoughts from the my year in reading.

• I found myself finally confirming to myself that Mordecai Richler is my favourite Canadian author.

• Re-reading the Sandman series and especially finishing the last two before the new year was a treat as it always is. The more I read the series, the more I discover and I am still amazed at the finely woven tapestry of stories about stories. Neil Gaiman started with a base idea of combining various mythologies and in the end created his own sets my myths and characters that stand out on their own.

• Top 5 new reads of the year are (in order):

1. The Unbearable Lightness of Being
2. St. Urbain's Horseman
3. Of Human Bondage
4. Proust was a Neuroscientist
5. Two Treasties on Government

Honourable mentions go to The Fountainhead (would have made the top 5, but Ayn Rand is not a good writer but her ideas are insanely poignant and affecting - and I'm not even a capitalist!), Memnoch the Devil (for Anne Rice's creation story alone), White Noise (for its meditations on the increasing disconnectedness of human beings especially those close to them), The Killing Joke (for re-defining the Joker character and the life altering moment with Barbara Gordon becoming part of the Dark Knight canon) and Neuromancer (for being so far ahead of its time, it was scary to read it at points).

Lastly, the best piece of advice or wisdom I extracted from the year in reading is from the character of Philip Carey from W. Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage. It is his personal philosophy, the way he ethically chooses to live his life and one that I believe we either all currently follow or perhaps should make note of It is as follows: Follow your inclinations with due regard to the policeman around the corner."

Happy Reading!

-s