A Reader for One Year

Well thank the sweet lord in heaven.

I did it.

I did something I never thought I could do. Seriously. This is a huge deal and I just want to let everyone know that if there’s something you think you can’t do, you can do it. Just look at me. I did it. So can you.

What did I do?

I finally finished Widow for One Year by John Irving.

Crimeny. I started it because I had no new books around at the moment and I picked this up at the old folks home going to visit mom. I didn’t realize what a hellhole I had gotten myself into. I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy the book. In fact, I had made a decision long ago based on nothing that I didn’t enjoy John Irving. This despite the fact that I read both World According to Garp and A Prayer for Owen Meany and absolutely loved Owen Meany with a passion. That books creeps into my mind every so often when someone types in all caps. That will be Owen Meany for the rest of my life, my god I can still hear the voice I imagined him to have.

But for some reason, I battled this book and battled it hard. I think partly because it was one of those “spans of a whole life” book. You know? You start out with a girl when she’s four and follow her until she’s 50 years old. You get involved and instead of reading a book in a week, you feel like you’ve been reading it forever because it’s this characters ENTIRE LIFETIME.

Plus, there was one really strange and bizarre plot line that I just couldn’t get into.

But overall I enjoyed it, and what I enjoy even more is putting it down for good. I’m still waiting for a few books from Amazon, but I’m thinking my next book might just be Cat in the Hat.