The Roth Project, redefined?
So status update on The Roth Project, also known as my "Read 100 Books in 2011" Project.
I am well on track...ahead, in fact...of my 100 books goal. I've read 35 books so far this year, which according to GoodReads' reading-goal widget, puts me two books ahead of schedule (plus I have one more that I could finish tonight if I decided to).
The problem is in the Roth aspect of this. My project is to read every book Philip Roth ever wrote, in the order in which they were written. He has written 29 books. Many of them quite short, but still. Twenty-nine. It was originally intended to be part of the 100 Books in 2011 project. I am currently on my eighth book. I'm behind. His books CAN be fast reads but most aren't.
I'm thinking of divorcing those two aspects of the project. I will still read 100 books in 2011. I will still read every book Roth ever wrote. But I am considering not mandating that these things be done simultaneously in the same time period. So I could keep reading Roth books into 2012 when I've restarted a new 100 books. Honestly, if I don't do that? I'm going to have to have months where I read a LOT of Roth books and there are just so many other books I want to read. I'm not sure I can tolerate that high a Roth-to-not-Roth ratio in my book reading schedule.
It would sure stretch out the utility of the title of my Roth Project blog.
It's not like separating those two would diminish either achievement. Reading 100 books in a year is still a pretty mean feat, even if 29 of them aren't Roth books, and reading Roth's entire literary output is still an accomplishment, even if it takes me longer than a year to do it.
Okay, I think I've made that decision. The Roth Project is now an open-ended one. I will read all 29 novels (perhaps more, if he puts out a new one before I'm done!) but I'll be done when I'm done. And those 100 books in 2011 can be written by whoever I want.
Whew. I feel so free.
I am well on track...ahead, in fact...of my 100 books goal. I've read 35 books so far this year, which according to GoodReads' reading-goal widget, puts me two books ahead of schedule (plus I have one more that I could finish tonight if I decided to).
The problem is in the Roth aspect of this. My project is to read every book Philip Roth ever wrote, in the order in which they were written. He has written 29 books. Many of them quite short, but still. Twenty-nine. It was originally intended to be part of the 100 Books in 2011 project. I am currently on my eighth book. I'm behind. His books CAN be fast reads but most aren't.
I'm thinking of divorcing those two aspects of the project. I will still read 100 books in 2011. I will still read every book Roth ever wrote. But I am considering not mandating that these things be done simultaneously in the same time period. So I could keep reading Roth books into 2012 when I've restarted a new 100 books. Honestly, if I don't do that? I'm going to have to have months where I read a LOT of Roth books and there are just so many other books I want to read. I'm not sure I can tolerate that high a Roth-to-not-Roth ratio in my book reading schedule.
It would sure stretch out the utility of the title of my Roth Project blog.
It's not like separating those two would diminish either achievement. Reading 100 books in a year is still a pretty mean feat, even if 29 of them aren't Roth books, and reading Roth's entire literary output is still an accomplishment, even if it takes me longer than a year to do it.
Okay, I think I've made that decision. The Roth Project is now an open-ended one. I will read all 29 novels (perhaps more, if he puts out a new one before I'm done!) but I'll be done when I'm done. And those 100 books in 2011 can be written by whoever I want.
Whew. I feel so free.