I set myself a number of reading goals at the beginning of this year, and I thought it would be interesting to see how I am doing as we reach the halfway point of the year. I tend not to write too many posts about blogging because it can all become a bit introspective, but a couple per year isn’t too bad!

First goal was to read another Austen – complete. Mansfield Park was marred by its flawed ending, but it had some great moments. My 2021 Dickens was Bleak House. At almost 1000 pages it was surprisingly straightforward despite its reputation for complexity.

I completed my Pratchett/Discworld reread with Raising Steam, Snuff, and I Shall Wear Midnight. I have run out of superlatives for Pratchett but just in case you haven’t read him before, please do.

I have far exceeded my modest plan to read at least two Booker prize-winning novels, with the current count being 18. Of these Douglas Stuart’s Shuggie Bain was probably the stand out novel. Some of the 1970’s winners have been disappointing to say the least, but I am approaching the end of this challenge and aim to finish it by the end of this year all things being equal. I think the unexpected continuation of lockdown may have been a factor in my making so much more progress with the list than originally intended. This has also incidentally helped me read more ‘new to me’ authors this year, meeting my target of being a more diverse reader.

40 novels and short stories reviewed thus far this year is pretty good progress. I have no idea whether my WordPress stats are representative of that level of posting – 24k views from 19k visitors thus far, compared to 29k/23k last year in total. I suspect not many bloggers apart from a lucky few can say they are entirely happy with the level of engagement, but the comments I do receive are always very welcome – thank you.