Losing Ground

In the past when the Times came out with its list of 100 notable books of the year, I would go down the list and check how many I had read.  The number was usually between 10 and 20.  This year I was down to two books, both fiction and both good.  They were Colored Television by Danzy Senna and The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich.

In the past I also took some pride in averaging more than one book a week.  This year I’m lucky if I hit 40.  I’m thinking for the last two weeks of the year I’ll do nothing but sit at my desk and read.  It’s a personal thing.