Having a record of 10 books a year, a very unsatisfying record, made too long ago. By too long ago I mean in 2013 :( Since then, I've been convinced I should read at least one book per month, which mean 12 a year. Let's see what happened in 2018.

A Late But Super Fast Start:

I started reading finishing books in July. If you think it wasn't a promising start at all, well, then, think again! Because the first book I finished was called "A Game Of Thrones". Yup, the first book of the series called "A Song Of Ice And Fire" by George R. R. Martin. Do you know what that means? It means I won't stop reading until I finish the whole series. It was the most addictive thing I ever read! And, somehow, I managed to read the fifth book on September 14 and I'm still waiting for the sixth to come out in 2019! Some of these had more than 600 pages one of them had more than 800, no wonder I wasn't posting so often back when I started reading, and when I posted I posted about the books directly or indirectly. Honestly, whether you watched the TV show or not, you have to read the books! And I won't say more about them.

And The Madness Never Stopped

After reading thousands of pages in such a short time, there was no slowing down. I was looking for any title and any suggestion of a good book. I read "Letters To Milena" By Franz Kafka, because they talked about it in a Turkish TV show (called erkenci Kus), and of course I don't regret it.

It is a blow because it will take time and I need all the time I have and a thousand times more than all the time I have and most of all I'd like to have all the time there is just for you, for thinking about you, for breathing in you.

How would I regret reading something like this? Ok, the book wasn't all enjoyable, but it was something special, something I think everyone should see by himself, to like parts of it and hate other parts by himself.

Then I read "Hamlet" directly after "Letters To Milena" because Franz Kafka wrote about it. Well, Hamlet has always been something I wanted to read but never made up my mind to actually start reading it. But, referring to it in another book that I found very interesting helped a lot. Again, I didn't regret reading it!

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would these fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.

---

Exchange forgiveness with me, noble Hamlet:
Mine and my father's death come not upon thee,
Nor thine on me.
Dies
Hamlet
Heaven make thee free of it! I follow thee.

---

Give me that man
That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him
In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart,
As I do thee.--

All those are samples of the beauty of Shakespear's labor. Man, he makes you want to write a sonnet! I should definitely read more of his books. Maybe Macbeth should be next.

And that was how September ended.

The first book I finished in October was "37.2° Le Matin" by Philippe Dijan. I've been reading this book for too long, I remember I was reading it along with the first part of "A Song Of Ice And Fire"! But since the latter was on PDF while "37.2° Le Matin" was a hard copy, and because I have much more time for PDF reading than for real books, it took me months to read this one. The funny thing about this book, other than the fact that I only read it because I found it in a store that sells very cheap books, was that it felt like a real story at first in which the writer tells us his at-first-boring-boring life story then slowly it starts being interesting until I ceased to believe it's a real story. I don't think a criminal would write a book about his real-life crimes, right?

Then comes "Sense And Sensibility". I first heard of this book from @littlescribe in her weekly show and because she said it was somehow similar to "Pride And Prejudice", I had to note it down and then download it and keep it ready because I knew one day I'd ask myself "What should I read now?" Thank you @littlescribe for the amazing suggestion ;)

Two Months Left!

In November I finished "Twilight", the first part of "The Twilight Saga" by Stephenie Meyer and here's how that happened:
Once upon a weekend, I was going to a camp. On my way, I realized that I forgot to bring a book. I was reading "Milk And Honey" back then by the way (we'll get to it later). So I went to a store that sells second hand, cheap books, and I got lucky. I found the second part of "The Twilight Saga". Since I watched the movies, I didn't mind starting the second part of the books, until I go home and download the first one. It wasn't a bad plan at all.

About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was part of him — and I didn't know how potent that part might be — that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

The cabbie's question punctured my fantasy, letting all the colors run out of my lovely delusions. Fear, bleak and hard, was waiting to fill the empty space they left behind

I loved how it was all about Bella in the book, and nothing is revealed until she knows about it and "tells us about it". Plus, unlike in the movies, we get to know exactly what she's thinking and feeling.

Then I finished "Albertine Disparue" by Marcel Proust. This one, too, was mentioned in a Turkish TV show (called Kiralik Ask) but that was years ago. I've been keeping this one in a file of potential reads. It had its own beauty, and to be honest I needed some french in my life as a reader, otherwise French would cease to be my second language!

Tik Tok

So far, I mentioned 11, if my count is right. And we're already in November, so I had to read at least one more. I was still reading "Milk And Honey" from the hard copy and I finished my last good pdf, so I went back to that "Potential Reads" file and found "Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man" by Steve Harvey. Sorry Steve, but I regret reading your book. It was suggested to me by my fiancée, back when I had a fiancée. Maybe I would have had a very different opinion if I read it right then when relationships and communication with the opposite sex and stuff like that was a relevant subject to read about to me. Or maybe not! because honestly, this book felt like a personal opinion of someone who lives in a specific time in a specific place, it doesn't really represent Men in general, I know it doesn't represent me!

After this one, I read yet another disappointing book by Paolo Coelho called "Adultère". Frankly, I expected a lot better than that from a writer whose name was all over the internet. I really wish my first Paolo Coelho book have been a better one, I'm sure he has better books. Otherwise, he wouldn't be that famous and recognized. Anyway, the book wasn' bad at all, if only I didn't have too high expectations. The story is interesting, the characters are very real, maybe not easily relatable for me, but they can be easily met in real life. Plus, there's a very charming passage about Autumn, leaves, and trees in the book that I found very inspiring and I might write a story or something about that image. So I definitely don't regret reading "Adultère", especially that I read it in french :D, I just wish I read something else from Paolo Coelho before I read it.

En cours

I am now reading "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley, the famous book that I should have read long ago. It was referred to in "Adultère" (one more point for "Adultère") so I decided to read it right away and I'm glad I did so. I almost finished this one. Maybe I would've finished it if I wasn't writing this post lol, that how close I am to finishing it. Maybe I'll write something about it then. One thing I should mention here is that, when I started reading it, I had this theory that I got mistakenly from Polo Coelho (well I'm not 100% sure it's a mistake) that Victor Frankenstein is the monster he created himself, as in he has a double personality. But, so far, the events are proving this theory wrong! (one less point for "Adultère")

As I mentioned, I am also reading "Milk And Honey" (now my progress is about 60%). I think I should finish it in PDF once I finish Frankenstein. That would be much faster, and maybe that way I'd finish it in 2019. Because, I only read hard copies when I'm on the road to or from work lately, and since winter is here, what once was called morning, is now dark and cold and uncomfortable for reading, so are evenings.

And let's not forget the second part of "Twilight" that I stopped reading after that camp but I should finish right after "Milk And Honey" which probably means in 2019.

Wrap Up

I never thought this post would be this long when I first started writing, so let's wrap it up here with one last title that I'm really excited about: I downloaded "Fire And Blood" by George R. R. Martin. In this book, he tells us what happened before "A Song Of Ice And Fire" and I can"t wait to read it. But I figured: if George R. R. Martin is what it takes to make me start reading my first book of the year, maybe I should use him to make myself start reading in January :D

All the photos in this post are books covers, from Amazon.