I know what your thinking? Could he write a third post in a row about books/reading?!
Of course, I can... I know what my public... wants! demands! (a skip-able entry that returns 3-5 minutes of their life back).
But anyhooo.... no, I am not boring you with the details of some detailed financial statement...
It's the much anticipated announcement of my 2007 personal reading goal...
Read 10,000 pages!
While that may sound like a lot (and it is!), I think it strikes just the right balance between "challenging" and "achievable"... two important qualities for anything one is trying to accomplish. Last year, I read approximately 8,200 pages ... which included taking most of February "off" (blame the Torino Winter Olympics)... and a couple of weeks this fall. So, if I avoid any significant time off, I think I will blow away 10k bar... still it would be pretty silly to think that there will not be some breaks... just have to keep it to a minimum.
A shout-out to 50 Books for inspiring me to blog more about my reading experiences, providing some of the impetus for setting up this 2007 goal (though having to create a spreadsheet, just feeds another of my addictions for "lists" and "stats")... and also for some fine book suggestions (I haven't run into a bad one yet). I really don't know how "Doppelganger" reads 50 books a year.... and it's not like she's counting Green Eggs and Ham! I was pretty darn proud to get to half that number of books in 2006. But I knew a book quota wouldn't work for me... I would be too tempted not to read a book over 300 pages?!?!
That's how I came up with the "pages" idea. Now, I know this is not full-proof either. Todd and I will often just pick up each other's books to see how "big" the words are... we're talking font size, not SAT level vocabulary! But I figure, over the course of a year of reading, it'll even out. Though Todd was none too pleased that the book I was reading last night had 15 words over 2 pages! Ha! Hey, that's the author's decision not mine!
To track my progress, you will be seeing this thermometer with each book read. Thanks to this website where you can create your own customizable thermometer... how cool is that?!
In my last post, I mentioned that I was going to a book signing. So as not to have yet another book related entry, I will tell you about it when I finish the book. It's next up on my reading list... starting today! Yes, I already finished my first book of the year (so you'll get a "review" of that soon). You can see what book I am talking about by looking at the top of the sidebar (if you are reading this after early January 2007... this is the book). The tease I will leave you with... the author was not the person signing the book!
Hmmm I may have to invest in this one myself. Although my pile of new but yet unread books is growing rapidly, while I still labour on the Anne Rice one. Very strange, usually I can get through these really fast. This one is just not as compelling a read.
Posted by: Craig | Tuesday, March 13, 2007 at 08:42 PM