About four nights ago, I was watching Julie & Julia on HBO for the nth time and it struck me that I need to take up a project like Julie did. (Just in case you don't know, the movie was based on the true story of Julie, a food blogger, and her "The Julie & Julia Project" blog.) In the movie, Julie confessed to being one of those people who start projects but don't finish them. She might as well have been talking about me.
So here I am. I'm going to start a year-long, doable project that I must finish up to the end. But what should it be? I can't take on a cooking project like Julie did since I'm more into eating than cooking (as evidenced by waistline). It should be something I'm passionate about and not disrupt my work schedule too much.
Then yesterday, I ran across a column in a local weekly which mentioned the BBC's Big Read, a list of 100 best-loved novels that were nominated by people. (The ranking was based on votes). A light bulb went on in my head. Of course, books. One of my greatest fears is that my mind will become a wasteland of nonsense from playing Feeding Frenzy too much so a book-based project makes sense.
Thus, my Book Project was born.
My plan is to read all books in a span of one year, from June 2011 to June 2012. That makes 100 books in 365 days. If I'm to break it down evenly, that's 3 and 1/2 days for each book (I'm pathetic in Math so someone please correct me if that's wrong).
Three days for one book? *cringe* Although I once finished an 800-page book in 2 days. Oh well, we'll see. This should be interesting.
The whole list (and project explanation) is here. I made a separate page so I can easily tick off the books I'm done reading as I go along. I won't be reading them in the same order as BBC's, since most of those books are not available in bookstores here and I'll have to find a way to either order them online or borrow from someone who owns them. About 3 of the 100 books listed I already own. But the rest might not be easily accessible to me. And of course, it will also depend on the availability of my (meager) funds. :-)
If you'd like to keep tabs with my progress in the following months, you can click on the yellow starburst badge on this blog's sidebar. It's linked to the project page.
Of course, I always visit the bookstore on Saturdays, and today being a Saturday, I already bought two books in that list- Fyodor Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment" (#60) and Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (#11).
The ones I'm dreading are actually the trilogies (Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter series). Those are darn expensive! I might have to skip lunch (and dinner) for the entire year.
So here I am. I'm going to start a year-long, doable project that I must finish up to the end. But what should it be? I can't take on a cooking project like Julie did since I'm more into eating than cooking (as evidenced by waistline). It should be something I'm passionate about and not disrupt my work schedule too much.
Then yesterday, I ran across a column in a local weekly which mentioned the BBC's Big Read, a list of 100 best-loved novels that were nominated by people. (The ranking was based on votes). A light bulb went on in my head. Of course, books. One of my greatest fears is that my mind will become a wasteland of nonsense from playing Feeding Frenzy too much so a book-based project makes sense.Thus, my Book Project was born.
My plan is to read all books in a span of one year, from June 2011 to June 2012. That makes 100 books in 365 days. If I'm to break it down evenly, that's 3 and 1/2 days for each book (I'm pathetic in Math so someone please correct me if that's wrong).
Three days for one book? *cringe* Although I once finished an 800-page book in 2 days. Oh well, we'll see. This should be interesting.
The whole list (and project explanation) is here. I made a separate page so I can easily tick off the books I'm done reading as I go along. I won't be reading them in the same order as BBC's, since most of those books are not available in bookstores here and I'll have to find a way to either order them online or borrow from someone who owns them. About 3 of the 100 books listed I already own. But the rest might not be easily accessible to me. And of course, it will also depend on the availability of my (meager) funds. :-)
If you'd like to keep tabs with my progress in the following months, you can click on the yellow starburst badge on this blog's sidebar. It's linked to the project page.
Of course, I always visit the bookstore on Saturdays, and today being a Saturday, I already bought two books in that list- Fyodor Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment" (#60) and Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (#11).
The ones I'm dreading are actually the trilogies (Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter series). Those are darn expensive! I might have to skip lunch (and dinner) for the entire year.
I can't believe I've read 48 out of that 100! (Not within one year span, though. :D And, no, all the movie adaptations I'd seen don't count! LOL) Now I wonder how many men I have scared away over the years. Oh well, a worthy man shouldn't be intimidated by Austen, Dahl and Dostoyevsky anyway, right? ;)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, best of luck with your project, Rach! If you happen to visit Thailand during the year, you're welcome to come borrow my books anytime. I've got dozens from the list waiting for you here. ;)
ReplyDelete48 out of 100? Ok I officially hate you now Pom! (hehe) I only read like 3 in that list. Sigh. I do wish that we lived nearer to each other so I can raid your bookshelves. It would surely speed things up for my book project =) I have actually been thinking of visiting Thailand with a friend, but no final plans yet. That would surely be awesome if it happened!
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