Mine’s The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath. Thick books never stopped me from reading nonstop before, but there are entries in the book that just has me stopping and taking time to mull things over.
Also, sharing this excerpt: “Not to be sentimental, as I sound, but why the hell are we conditioned into the smooth strawberry-and-cream Mother-Goose-world, Alice-in-Wonderland fable, only to be broken on the wheel as we grow older and become aware of ourselves as individuals with a dull responsibility in life?”
At the start of the year, it was Ulysses and Infinite Jest for me. Now I have actually finally finished Ulysses, but I’m still only half way through Infinite Jest. I don’t think I’ll finish it this year. I’m planning on making it my “have to finish” for next year. I know I will feel such a sense of accomplishment once it’s over, but man, it’s a very complex story… The last time I picked it up I realised it was making me feel depressed. And this was during Covid times. I didn’t need anything else to depress me, the world was bad enough! I’ll try again next year.