Most years, I try to do a little check-in partway through every year to see how my reading is going. As I’ve done in years past, I’m taking a look around the halfway point (ish) in the year at the books I’ve read so far, with links where they exist to books that I’ve reviewed or at least jotted a brief note or impression on Goodreads. As I’ve always pointed out, it’s a competition with no one but myself, but it is always useful and interesting to stop and reflect a bit where one is at with one’s reading, both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Here’s the quantitative part: Of the 38 books I’ve read so far this year, 6 were non-fiction, 14 were poetry and the balance of 18 were fiction (novels and short story collections). One book was a reread. Two books were works in translation. Twenty-one of the books were by Canadian writers. Three books were read aloud in their entirety (over a period of time, not in one sitting), which is a wonderful way to share the experience with another reader/listener.

I continue to keep track of my reading in my handwritten, 36-year-old, recently beautifully rejuvenated book of books. I’ll include some pictures of my 2019 pages in this blog post.

Qualitatively, it’s definitely another good year. There are some selections on this year inspired by book club recommendations, particularly from our much beloved local silent book club here in east end Toronto, which you know I go on and on about. I’ve been privileged to read some more books in advance of their release and hope to share some enthusiastic reviews of them in the late summer / early fall.

I always have multiple books on the go, with me wherever I go, and I am one happy reader so far in 2019. Hope you are too!

1. Milkman
   Anna Burns
   2018

2. Years, Months, and Days
   Amanda Jernigan
   2018

3. Voodoo Hypothesis
   Canisia Lubrin
   2017

4. Machine Without Horses
   Helen Humphreys
   2018

5. OBITS.
   tess liem
   2018

6. The Emissary
   Yoko Tawada, translated by Margaret Mitsutani
   2018

7. The Long Take
   Robin Robertson
   2018



8. City Poems
   Joe Fiorito
   2018

9. Reproduction
   Ian Williams
   2019

10. Wuthering Heights
    Emily Bronte
    1847
    (read aloud)

11. Indecency
    Justin Phillip Reed
    2018

12. Can You Ever Forgive Me? Memoirs of a Literary Forger
    Lee Israel
    2008

13. Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk
    Kathleen Rooney
    2017

14. Nirliit
    Juliana Leveille-Trudel, translated by Anita Anand
    2018

15. Human Hours
    Catherine Barnett
    2018

16. Living Up To a Legend
    Diana Bishop
    2017
    (read aloud)

17. The Quaker
    Liam McIlvanney
    2018

18. The Organist – Fugues, Fatherhood and a Fragile Mind
    Mark Abley
    2019



19. Wonderland
    Matthew Dickman
    2018

20. Gingerbread
    Helen Oyeyemi
    2019

21. These are not the potatoes of my youth
    Matthew Walsh
    2019

22. Quarrels
    Eve Joseph
    2018

23. Belonging – A German Reckons with History and Home
    Nora Krug
    2018

24. No Bones
    Anna Burns
    2001

25. The Perseverance
    Raymond Antrobus
    2018

26. Women Talking
    Miriam Toews
    2018

27. Girl of the Southern Sea
    Michelle Kadarusman
    2019

28. Watching You Without Me
    Lynn Coady
    2019

29. Normal People
    Sally Rooney
    2018

30. The Art of Dying
    Sarah Tolmie
    2018



31. There Are Not Enough Sad Songs
    Marita Dachsel
    2019

32. Most of What Follows is True
    Michael Crummey
    2019

33. On Looking – Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes
    Alexandra Horowitz
    2013
    (read aloud)

34. Heave
    Christy Ann Conlin
    2002

35. Into That Fire
    MJ Cates
    2019

36. The Teardown
    by David Homel
    2019

37. Watermark
    Christy Ann Conlin
    2019

38. Casting Deep Shade
    C.D. Wright
    2019

Currently in progress:

• The Flamethrowers
  Rachel Kushner
  2013

• The Caiplie Caves
  Karen Solie
  2019

• Broke City
  Wendy McGrath
  2019

• Say Nothing
  Patrick Radden Keefe
  2019
  (read aloud)

How is your reading going so far in 2019?