run and hide, there's a nerd on the loose
So, about a month ago, I read Nick Hornby's "The Polysyllabic Spree". The book is a collection of essays he wrote, monthly, for the Believer and acted as a list/review of all the books he had read for that month.
I was intrigued.
I read...way too much to be considered a normal, socially-acceptable human being. So I figured I would put this power to some use (whether it's a good use remains to be seen) and create a similar list every month, for as long as I remember to and feel the need to put the effort into. I'm not going to review everything but if you want me to tell you how something was, obviously, I will.
I made up rules and such for this (::rolls eyes:: I am SO lame) - nothing counts as being read unless I read the entire book, within the month. This means anything I use for research or as reading for class won't count, unless the entire volume gets read. The list includes the books I purchase, books I got from the library, from others and what got completed and what either got abandoned completely or aborted mid-read. For extra kicks, I kept track of what order I read things in, but I figure that's getting really tedious, so it's not included here.
So...here's February:
Books Purchased: 0
Library Books: 12
Emerson:
-Soren Kierkegaard: Stages on Life’s Way
-Abbie Hoffman: Steal This Book
-Sara Mills: Michel Foucault
-Charles Bukowski: Hot Water Music
-Nadia Tazi (ED): Keywords: Truth (essays on the meaning of truth in different cultures)
-Rainer Maria Rilke: Selected Poems
BPL:
-Nick Hornby: The Polysyllabic Spree
-Kim France: Lucky Shopping Guide
-Curtis Sittenfeld: Prep
-Julie Orringer: How to Breathe Underwater
-Paula Fox: Desperate Characters
-Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
Books Borrowed: 0
Books Completed: 7
France, Hornby, Bukowski, Orringer, Haddon, Fox, Sittenfeld
Books Abandoned: 2
Mills, Tazi
Books Aborted: 3
Hoffman, Kierkegaard, Rilke
And, just because I really liked it, I've got to mention a short story by John Updike called "My Father's Tears", from last week's New Yorker. Really good.
If you're still my friend after that explosion of nerd, I have incredible respect for you.
I was intrigued.
I read...way too much to be considered a normal, socially-acceptable human being. So I figured I would put this power to some use (whether it's a good use remains to be seen) and create a similar list every month, for as long as I remember to and feel the need to put the effort into. I'm not going to review everything but if you want me to tell you how something was, obviously, I will.
I made up rules and such for this (::rolls eyes:: I am SO lame) - nothing counts as being read unless I read the entire book, within the month. This means anything I use for research or as reading for class won't count, unless the entire volume gets read. The list includes the books I purchase, books I got from the library, from others and what got completed and what either got abandoned completely or aborted mid-read. For extra kicks, I kept track of what order I read things in, but I figure that's getting really tedious, so it's not included here.
So...here's February:
Books Purchased: 0
Library Books: 12
Emerson:
-Soren Kierkegaard: Stages on Life’s Way
-Abbie Hoffman: Steal This Book
-Sara Mills: Michel Foucault
-Charles Bukowski: Hot Water Music
-Nadia Tazi (ED): Keywords: Truth (essays on the meaning of truth in different cultures)
-Rainer Maria Rilke: Selected Poems
BPL:
-Nick Hornby: The Polysyllabic Spree
-Kim France: Lucky Shopping Guide
-Curtis Sittenfeld: Prep
-Julie Orringer: How to Breathe Underwater
-Paula Fox: Desperate Characters
-Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
Books Borrowed: 0
Books Completed: 7
France, Hornby, Bukowski, Orringer, Haddon, Fox, Sittenfeld
Books Abandoned: 2
Mills, Tazi
Books Aborted: 3
Hoffman, Kierkegaard, Rilke
And, just because I really liked it, I've got to mention a short story by John Updike called "My Father's Tears", from last week's New Yorker. Really good.
If you're still my friend after that explosion of nerd, I have incredible respect for you.