Finding time to read

I read a lot.  I read a broadsheet newspaper every day, I read online, I read for professional development, I read letters and blogs and food labels and tweets and I love to read magazines.  But when it comes to reading novels for pleasure, it takes me a long time to get through a book.  Unless I’m on holidays, I read fiction only at night in bed.  I’m usually so tired by the time my head hits the pillow that I average just one page per night.  At that rate, it takes me  a long time to get through a good book.  I just finished Gone With the Wind.  I really enjoyed reading this book for the second time (the first at the age of 16), but it took me 7 months.  And within an hour of finishing it, I had passed it on to someone else to enjoy.

It struck me, though, that I have a limited number of novels left in me.  At my current rate, I’ll only read about 200 more novels in my life.  What a depressing thought!  But it’s galvanising as well.  I realise my reading time is precious and I better choose my fiction reading wisely.  In the past if I didn’t enjoy a book, I would still continue reading, from a sense of loyalty.  No more.

True to form I have a list of books I want to read, but I’m open to further suggestions.  Which books are worth my time?