It occurs to me that one of the phrases I use most often on these pages is "I've never read ...".
Book X, author Y, genre Z, it's ironic that since starting this blog I've read more than ever before and yet I'm acutely aware of what I've missed (thus far), and those gaps are inevitably huge and sometimes - to me, at least - quite shaming. The more I talk about books here with readers who so generously share their tastes and recommendations and with fellow bloggers who are a source of so much of interest, the longer the wish list grows and the greater that category of the untried, the undiscovered, becomes.
To address this I thought I might just adopt the gentle technique which is proving effective with 'cookbook of the week' on the other site - simply making a point of filling one of those gaps I mentioned. I wouldn't call this a reading challenge or a resolution as such, nor would I bind it up with 'rules'; I read plenty to deadlines already, and whether I'm going for breadth or depth I want this to be a pleasure, not an imposition, but I am - as I say - going to make a point of listing some authors and books I've never read, choosing one to start with and getting on with it at whatever pace it dictates and my other reading commitments allow.
Is anyone game to join in with this? No pressure, no dates, no 'musts' or 'shoulds', no progress (or lack of it) to report unless you want to, just fill in the blank in the following sentence:
"I've never read ...., though I've always meant/would really like to try it/him/her",
and then see what happens!
Well, last year I finally got around to reading WG Sebald and greatly enjoyed it - so this time I'll give Ian McEwan a try.
Posted by: Mr Cornflower | 15 February 2012 at 10:52 PM
I''m sure you'll love Ian McEwan. And can I join in after having read my first Penelope Fitzgerald? I hadn't read her before...she's very good!
Posted by: adele geras | 15 February 2012 at 11:04 PM
I'm doing something similar on an "unofficial scale" (as you said, too many rules get in the way). I have several authors I've been itching to try already sitting on my TBR shelves, so I've been trying this year to sort of "float those to the top." Laurie King is one the I'm looking forward to trying. I believe it was King Solomon who said, "of the making of books, there is no end.." It took the book blogging world to open my eyes to the magnitude of that statement! :)
Posted by: Susan in TX | 15 February 2012 at 11:08 PM
I can't even begin to fill in the blanks of the books and authors I'd like to read. What I am going to do this year is to try to join in the Cornflower Book Group every now and then - but only starting next month. (As you can see, I spend a good part of my time drafting caveats and qualifications...)
Posted by: Jade | 16 February 2012 at 11:35 AM
Oh I need to join this so badly as the clock is running slowly out on me--I'm in my 70s. My next one up is "Barlasch of the Guard". It may be awful but it was a great favorite of my first mother-in-law's and I've felt a twinge of guilt every time I notice her copy on my shelves.
Posted by: Erika | 16 February 2012 at 01:11 PM
"I've never read Elizabeth Bowen and Ivy Compton-Burnett" and I have copies of their works on my shelves - so now there is NO excuse.
Posted by: Renata | 16 February 2012 at 05:08 PM
Renata: these were my mother's two favorite, written in English, authors. I tried both in my 20s and maybe I should try again. By the way my sister's most beautiful doll was named Renata!
Posted by: Erika | 16 February 2012 at 07:26 PM
I'm overwhelmed by the number of authors that keep being added to my 'must try' list.However ,I have made a good start this year and aim to read at least 12 'new' authors by December.Peter May is an excellent author and I am so glad to have at last read something by him-'The Lewis Man 'is next.
Posted by: margaret46 | 17 February 2012 at 01:36 PM
I am going to go away and think about this and then yes I shall join in. I may even pop a mention of this idea on Savidge Reads if thats not plagerism?
Posted by: Simon (Savidge Reads) | 17 February 2012 at 03:50 PM
Glad you liked Peter May, Margaret!
Posted by: Cornflower | 17 February 2012 at 05:26 PM
Please do, Simon, and so sorry not to have seen you yesterday - I was looking forward to it!
Posted by: Cornflower | 17 February 2012 at 05:35 PM
Great, Jade! You'll be very welcome.
Posted by: Cornflower | 17 February 2012 at 07:28 PM
I've never read. . . Bleak House, though I love Dickens and now have two different editions in my possession. Onwards!
Posted by: Rebecca | 17 February 2012 at 09:30 PM
Yes, onwards!
Posted by: Cornflower | 18 February 2012 at 02:56 PM
I've never read Virginia Woolf's nonfiction but I'm convinced it would be more successful with me than her fiction and I have A Room of One's Own on my shelf at home just waiting to be read.
Next time I'm home, I'll have to remember to bring it back with me!
Posted by: Mona | 22 February 2012 at 03:21 AM