This really all started late last May (2011), I have always liked to think of myself as a "big reader" and I was laying around my house being lazy and realized that I had not read, start to finish, a book since February which included plane trips to Austin, TX and Boston, MA, that's a lot of hours to finish a not so long book intended for a 9th grade reading audience. That experience led me to buying a few books on Amazon.com and then a few more and before I knew it I had a sort of collection going. I don't want that last sentence to be read as I just decided to start collecting books because that was not the case, I started reading again and furiously, I guess I felt like I needed to make up for lost time, so before I knew it I was about 16 books deep in 6 months and I felt good about calling myself a "big reader" again and also realized how much I missed reading books. There were some bumps along the way where books I thought I'd love didn't do much for me and took me twice as long to read as they should have but I also read a lot of great books and that brings us to now.
I decided that I would like to do a few things, 1. keep track of the books I've read through out the year, this will keep me reading (and not watching trashy TV). 2. allow me to keep track of my thoughts once I finish a book, because I really do like the "reflection period" when you first finish a book and you think about what struck you and what perhaps did not. And 3. Pass on book recommendations of the ones I have loved and think everyone should also read.
In this process I have come up with a few "game rules" that I promise you now I will abide by for the whole year, they are as follows:
1. I will document every book I read during 2012.
2. I do not have a set book list or agenda, I have a massive slew of books that I will pick from as I feel like for the next book.
3. I will provide comment on said book, this will possibly include why I picked it, how long it took me, certain portions I especially loved/quotes, random dumb commentary you could care less about etc.
4. I will NOT provide negative commentary, I will gush about a book if I loved it, if I did not I will provide only the book information. **this is very important, I do not really expect anyone to read this blog aside from friends, but if you stumble upon it and like it, then awesome, if not then no worries. If anything, I want this to encourage you to read and I would never want to discourage someone from a book, especially one that may be their new favorite, just based on my dumb opinion. So, what I'm saying here, is that my opinion does not count and I am not, nor do I want to be a book critic.
I thinks that's about all the rules I have for myself, so if you did stumble here (and decided to keep reading, hi and thanks!). if you have comments of any sort, especially if you have recommendations PLEASE feel free to send them my way, Amazon and I are very close friends (they really like that I give them money and I like that they give me books in return) and I just might pick up the book you wanted me to read.
Alright, I feel I have all the details out, right before I officially start my 2012 list, I am going to post a break down of the books I have read since that pivotal moment in May but not with a lot of detail, just to give you an idea of what is to come.
Happy reading,
The Reader
