I am one of these people who always means to read but hardly ever does. I keep buying books that seem interesting and then they end up sat on a shelf or somewhere on the floor, gathering dust. I want to stop doing this, so I have set myself a challenge to read through 12 of the books, that I have accumulated over the years, over the next 12 months. I have never been the quickest of readers, but we’ll see what we can do. There are no stakes, just personal pride.
My challenge starts today – 14/11/2024.
The books:
These are the books that I have picked out and the order that I intend to read them in (starting in the top left and ending in the bottom right).
- The Darkness Manifesto by Johan Eklof
A book on light pollution and how it affects life on Earth.
– This one was an impulse buy from a year or two ago when I was out with my dad. - A Botanical daughter by Noah Medlock
Gregor acquires a strange and intelligent fungus that flourishes on the recently deceased. He decides to experiment with it.
– A very recent impulse buy when I was out with some friends (who read a lot more books than I do). - The Elements of Murder: A History of Poison by John Emsley
A book about poison and true crime.
– Got this one while I was at uni. I can’t remember whether I got it in my second or third year, but I’m pretty sure that I bought this to read along with my toxicology module in third year…but, evidently, I never did. - Call of the Jersey Devil by Aurelio Voltaire
5 mall rats and a goth singer discover that the Jersey devil is real and that New Jersey is a portal to hell. With the help of a witch, they fight to survive and get to Hot Topic in one piece.
– I bought this one back when I was in high school. I was, and continue to be, a big Voltaire fan. So, naturally, I bought one of his books. - The Epigentics Revolution by Nessa Carey
A book that goes through the first 20 years of the study of epigenetics.
– Another book that I bought back in high school. I got this one when I was getting more interested in genetics, to the point where I wanted to start reading around the subject (even though we were actively discouraged from doing so in high school). I started it but I don’t remember getting very far. - Written in Bone: Hidden Stories in What We Leave Behind by Sue Black
Sue black, a forensic anthropologist, discusses what can be deduced about people from their bones alone.
– This one’s another one of the impulse buys that I got when with my dad. - Ghosts of East Anglia by H. Mills West
A collection of ghost stories and hauntings from East Anglia.
– Found this one when looking around a local bookshop. It seemed interesting and I thought I could use it for inspiration when in a writing rut. - The Universe Next Door: A Journey Through 55 Parallel Worlds and Possible Futures by New Scientist
A journey through alternate realities and forbidden experiments.
– Another impulse buy when with my dad. Genuinely forgot that I had this one. - When I Am Playing With My Cat, How Do I Know She Is Not Playing With Me?: Montaigne and Being in Touch With Life by Saul Frampton
A book celebrating the Renaissance writer Montaigne.
– Yet another impulse buy when out with my dad. He doesn’t even read that much…yet we always end up in the local Waterstones somehow when he visits. - In the Blink of an Eye edited by K. Patrick Glover
A horror anthology based around the character of The Blink Man from the independent film Butterfly Kisses.
– I actually helped to fund the creation of this one…aka I backed it on Kickstarter. I have a signed copy and everything. It is a genuine shame that I haven’t read this one in it’s entirety. - The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins
A book that discusses why evolution and natural selection are the reasons that we exist, as we are, today.
– The last book on this list that I acquired on impulse when with my dad. I have been meaning to read some Richard Dawkins for a while though…it’s like a biologist’s right of passage. - Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
A cosy story that introduces coffee to a fantasy world.
– Another impulse buy when out with my friends who read actual books. Thought I could end the challenge with something fluffy (after all of science and horror).
The bonus books:
I think that I have a good chance of completing this challenge, so I have picked out 3 bonus books that I can also read if I do manage to get through the first 12.
- Classic Horror Stories edited by David Stuart Davies
An anthology of classic horror stories.
– This was found in a different local bookshop. I thought that it might be a good travel book because it is quite small in size. Also, I haven’t read all that many classics. - Jam by Yahtzee Crowshaw
An apocalypse…but there’s jam in it.
– I read a decent chunk of this back in high school and I remember it being really funny. In fact, I distinctly remember a bit where someone throws a statue of the virgin Mary at someone. This one is a little bit tattered as it spent months rolling around in a school bag. - How the Brain Lost its Mind: Sex, Hysteria, and the Riddle of Mental Illness by Allan Ropper and B. D. Burrell
A book that looks into the link between mental illness and disease, using neurosyphilis as the main case study.
– This one is the very last book on the list as I have actually read about two thirds of this one. I remember really enjoying but I just never finished it for some reason. I want to start from the beginning and (maybe) get through the whole thing this time.
So, here is the final order of things – all labelled and official. And, don’t worry, these post-it notes will not go to waste as I will use them as bookmarks when I am reading. Wish me luck getting through book number 1 – The Darkness Manifesto!
Another post down! This was not the post that I had intended to get out next…but oh well. There’s still time to get October’s post out by the end of November…maybe.
Anyway, music time! Since we’ve mentioned a few horror books today, it only makes sense to recommend a more creepy kind of album – The Old Gods of New Berlin – Johnny Hollow
Natalie's notebook 