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| Determination to Increase Literary Motivation!
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Not more than a week ago my sister and I were out and about, heading home from the bookstore when I vocalized that it would be interesting to attempt, some day, to read fifty-two books in a year. A book a week is no small feat, to be sure, since we both have full time jobs and personal lives of our own. Despite all of this, she agreed it was a great idea and, after some futher discussion we decided to not even bother waiting until the beginning of a new year to get underway with this. We are both starting up a blog in order to track pages read on a daily basis, as well as review each book as it reaches completion in order to hopefully spread the word to others about that book. If even one person is encouraged to read a book because of our efforts, this will have been a success in my eyes.
I could not imagine life without being able to read. In a society dominated by the cinematic media, there are many people out there who would rather succumb to torture than to reading a book. I do not claim to understand why some have no desire to read books; I have always greatly enjoyed the act of reading. And what better way to create excitement than to hold some sort of challenge.
There will be no prize, except the thrill of the journey toward the destination; the potential friendships and communications that could arise from our efforts. There are no real rules, nor even a set requirement. Want to join in, but don't think that 52 books is realistic for you? No problem, set your own goal and track your progress as you try to achieve that goal! Help spread the word and let us branch this out into something more than just two simple Iowans with a crazy idea and a passion for the written word! Link to our pages and we shall certainly do the same for you.
In the interest of setting some sort of defined idea of just what qualifies toward the count, since there are obviously books of very varying lengths, the two of us have deemed a "book" to be anything over 250 pages. And as to not discourage us from reading any books such as War and Peace, we've also agreed that longer books may count as multiple books toward our goal. Set your own bounds any way you like, we are not here to say that our way is right and your way is wrong. Again I shall emphasize that the most important points of this are the enjoyment of the journey toward our desired goals, and the hope to encourage other people of all ages to join in with our challenge. We suspect we are not alone in thinking this is an exciting idea.
We have agreed to begin officially on August 2nd, which falls on a Saturday; therefore each new week will begin on a Saturday in order to accurately measure weekly how we are coming along. How many people can we bring along for the ride by then? Only time will tell over the next 10 days if it will be two or if it will be a dozen, or possibly more. As soon as my sister gets her blog up and going, I will add a link to hers on my page. Get in touch with me if you are interested in participating and I will do the same for you. Let's read together the last 21 weeks of the year!
Now, along with reviewing each book at the end of it we also agreed that when choosing a book, we would try to explain why we have chosen to read that book. And so, ten days in advance, I will now reveal the book I shall personally read beginning August 2nd, and why I have chosen this book:
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I have this book on my bookshelf in a series of four volumes printed back at least before 1937 (The exact date of these volumes is not listed within the book, but a previous owner wrote "March, 1937" on the inside corner of the cover of the first book). These four books, along with six others by Hugo, were brought into my possession during Christmas thanks to my awesome sister, who knew I would greatly enjoy having these. I also believe that no book should ever be read in its abridged version, thus a few years ago I passed the opportunity to read my sister's copy. I've always wanted to read this literary classic in its entirety, and what a better time or reason to do so then to help motivate others to read through this undertaking? Over the course of the 1378 pages within these four volumes, I hope to avoid the disappointment that only a few books have brought about.
Over the next ten days I will try to give you some insight on my reading habits and history, and try to narrow down a Top Ten list of books that I've read over my lifetime so far (and, of course, why I place them on that list.) Feel free to check back again, and I encourage anyone that has an interest to join us! Until tomorrow, I shall bid you all adieu!
~ Magus Reddicus
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Posted by magusreddicus on 2008-07-22 20:48:58 | Rating: | Views: 88
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Good idea.
Some mailing list of a book community in my country also started it some time ago.
I'm member of the mailing list, but I set a duration of my own; which is, one book a month. Some month I managed to read two, some month I don't finish a single book (but still reading).
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Posted by Gnothe_Seauton
on 2008-07-23 05:28:57
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Hello, oh brother of mine. I doubt that my intro will be near so grand, but I shall, indeed, try. And now the rest of you lucky viewers know my profile name as well. If I don't have an entry up yet, check back soon - it's on my to-do list. I completely and totally concur with everything that was set out above. Now let's quit talkin' and get to readin'!
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Posted by poisonoak
on 2008-07-23 11:20:18
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I love that...
Honestly I am just 17 years of age...
ever since I really love books...
I am proud to say that I am a BOOKWORM...
I can't really understand other teens
the thought about not wanting books specially the classic...
certainly I am proud to say that in my high school life I really dedicate mostly of it in the library..
haha..that was hanging place then..
well I just wanted to say goodluck and I want To join in..
it is really a nice idea....
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Posted by sunsetmeetsunrise
on 2008-07-29 04:56:15
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I hope your able to do it. My friend and I had a deal years ago that we would buy a book out of each section of a book store and give it to the other friend who would not know what it was untill that day. They had to read it no matter what. It was pretty fun. Good luck.
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Posted by theotherjim
on 2008-08-06 13:19:00
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