Annual OCD Book Exercise

I was always a bit slapdash about the books I read, but on leaving university and reverting to reading for pleasure (!) I started to make a note of what I had read and how long it took me. Over the years, this has helped when I couldn't remember if I'd read a particular book by a certain author, and gave me a rough idea how fast I was reading. By and large, when I start a book, I persevere with it (dishonourable exception: Bonfire of the Vanities, which I started to read on the plane back from the States in 1990, and never bothered picking up again once I was on terra firma).


This year marks the 20th anniversary of this endeavour, so I thought I'd review how it's going. It looks like this:





Oddly, the highest number of books read was in '93, despite (or because of?) the trauma of moving house. The lowest were during the years when the girls were born, and where much of my time was taken up with small children, hospital visits and full-time work. 


Of course, none of this is very scientific, as I don't record the number of pages for each book (that would be real mania and I leave that to my other half, who has been doing so since the 1980s!)


As I go into my declining years, it will be good to remember what I have read, if only because my little list tells me I have! 


And yes, I have read Nick Hornby.