Happy weekend, WriteByNighters!
One of my January traditions is to identify my favorite reading experience from the previous year.
I keep a list of books read, but rather than include plot details, instead I write about where I read the book and what was going on in my life.
It's something of a mnemonic device. If I can remember where I was and who I was when I read a book, I have a better chance of remembering the book itself.
My favorite reading experience doesn't often coincide with the best book I read. In 2021 I read some wonderful novels, including Jane Eyre, 1984, and The Remains of the Day. None of these were my best reading experience.
That honor goes to Elif Batuman's novel The Idiot.
The timing and environment of my reading of that book -- who I was and where I was -- will probably stay with me forever.
