READING PROJECT UPDATE: HOLMES, HAMMETT, HIGHSMITH

I’ve been puttering along through the Reading Project. The Sherlock Holmes and Dashiell Hammett’s Continental Op novels have been great fun to read, but with just 10 of 28 books finished and the year midway through, I’m feeling a little discouraged. Now I’ve run aground on Patricia Highsmith: I own a volume containing the first three Ripley books, two of which I’ve read, so only the third is on the list. Trouble is, I don’t really remember the first two, so I’ve decided to reread them first, which is fun but not especially efficient. I know reading isn’t just about checking books off of lists, but I also haven’t been terribly absorbed by anything I’ve read lately either. Grr.