Book challenge 2011-12

I’ve been looking at my reading habits lately. Last year, I kept minute track of every book I read, and I read a lot (that’s what happens when you’re partially unemployed – broke with lots of free time equals lots of reading). This year, while I’ve been trying to keep it up, I haven’t been as insistent about keeping it up.

Also, in the past, I’ve kept up a pretty robust list of holds at the public library (30 was not uncommon, though thankfully they never all showed up at the same time). But that is also winding down – I’ve only got 2 left. And this isn’t to say that I won’t read more like these as well 🙂

So, my new book challenge is to start in on the list of “good”* books that have been recommended to me over the years. I have a list in my head, and it roughly parallels most “Best Books” lists, and the high school curriculum (I took Business English over Literature, and haven’t read many of the books that most students read in high school – silly me!).

However, as I am not going to start this until I’ve finished the books that I currently have out from the library (some newer books, and some vacation guides), I’d like to get your input: what books do you think I should read?

I’m going to take the time over the next few days to actually compile that list, and then it will get posted here. Once it’s posted, I’m giving myself a year to read as many of them as I can, and write reviews to share here. And, I challenge anyone who is interested to join me in this endeavor. Create your own list, or work off the effort I’ve put into mine and use it. Let me know in the comments if you’re trying to keep up, and I’ll make sure to let you all know where I’m heading next, so you’re not surprised.

*”Good” being in quotation marks as it is a terribly subjective term, and can denote anything from “This was so good I couldn’t put it down, even though the editing is questionable and the writing is lackluster at best” to “This is a piece of quality literature that all people should be required to read”