I didn't make it to 200 books this last year as was my goal. It was a tough year full of changes so I can't say that I feel too bad about it. I did manage to break a hundred, or I will by January 1st anyway. I can't say if this is really a record as I know I used to read voraciously.
In any case, I've been trying to figure out what my reading challenge for 2006 should be. There are some big changes ahead of me and want to start working on my writing again. I've found, a little to my surprise, that my muse is directly tied to how much I read. Many things suggested themselves but what I've settled on is...lists. I've begun a growing obsession with book lists: recommended reading lists, books for class lists, awards book lists. Books about books fascinate me. Recently, I bought myself an early Christmas present called Book Lust by Nancy Pearl.
So my goal for the new year is twofold.
1. To read more books than last year with an overall goal of 200 (why not, it's as good a number as any)
2. To pursue books on the thematic lists in Book Lust.
Rules:
1. Only books read between January 1, 2006 and December 31 count towards the books for 2006.
2. Any book read in the last year can count towards an individual list, however, as long as it was reviewed in the last year.
3. I can only reread books that I've read in the last year if they appear on lists and have them count towards the overall number goal.
4. Every book read gets a review/blurb
5. I must announce each list when I start on it and the source, when I finish the list I review it and make any comments I might have on it.
6. 80% of all books I read must appear on the lists I choose.
New Rating System:
To make life easier for me I've also devised a new rating system. Every book gets a rating of 1-5 and here's what it means.
5 - I loved it, I'm going to own it, I'm in fact going to buy multiple copies and promote this book by handing them out for free and church socials and company picnics.
4 - I liked it. I definitely want to have a copy in my library and recommend it to everyone.
3 - I liked it well enough, if I see a cheap used copy of it I'll snag it for my collection. I would recommend this book to some people or for specific reasons.
2 - I didn't hate, didn't like it either. I wouldn't generally recommend it to most people.
1 - I hated it or severely disliked it. There has to be a serious problem with the writing or the subject matter for a book to get this rating. In the last 2 years I've only run across 2 or 3 of these.
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3 comments:
At the risk of sounding like a Hornby booster, I'll recommend The Polysyllabic Spree. I know I've now recommended all of his books to you, but this one seems to fit in with your theme, and you could probably read it in a little over an hour.
lol, I don't read quite that quickly. ;)
Seriously though - I read it in about 3 or 4, and I'm a VERY slow reader. It is a collection of newspaper columns he wrote for The Believer.
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