Trying to hang in there

I'm not falling behind after all! I'm just no longer ahead. Fortunately, I read 12 books in January when I only needed to read eight. Whew! Still in the game. Why oh why do I make myself read such difficult books, though? At the moment I'm 40 pages into Black Sun by Julia Kristeva. Pretty far from a light read, but every word is so satiating to me, I just can't stop reading. What can I say? She's my guilty pleasure. Reading Kristeva seems appropriate tonight since I talked to a grad school friend for an hour and a half this afternoon. Kristeva was the bane of our existence the first semester of our grad program, but I secretly loved reading her Strangers to Ourselves. I may have even written a thesis on her works if I I hadn't worried about potential "adult bullying" at the hands of my classmates. Who knew reading about depression could make a person so sublimely happy? Also of note, I've loved revisiting the Emily of New Moon series. It's fun to read them now and gauge how much I've changed and grown since first reading them in third grade. When I first read them I assumed that, like Emily, I was destined to be a writer. Now I'm not so sure, and it's kind of disappointing to read these childhood favorites at 27 and see how little I've accomplished. Also--it's jarring to see how much my reaction to her decision about moving to New York has changed. When I first read the books, I'd never moved in my life and I was so glad Em chose to stay put on P.E. Island instead of move to NYC to work at a magazine (as a 17-year-old, no less). Now, 10 years Emily's senior, I find myself longing to (and seriously planning to) move to NYC, and I'd give anything to work at a magazine. At least I'm not too set in my ways . . .

Falling behind

Changed my goal. Joined Twitter. Fell a week behind. Forgot how to write.

(400 characters only)

What's a book?

Still going strong . . . but introducing a new goal!

I've been thinking about the feasibility of finishing this project in 2012. While on the one hand I've had no trouble keeping up so far (I'm ahead by two books at this point), on the other hand, some major changes are on the horizon for me. I'm moving out of my apartment at the end of April, spending two weeks in May out of the country, and spending the summer at an intensive language learning program. Then in August or September, I'm moving to a new city. Whew!

As much as I want to complete my 104-book goal, this just doesn't seem like the year. For seven weeks this summer, I won't be allowed to speak, read or write in English--not that I'll have to time to read two books during that time, anyway. And when I've just moved to this (big, stressful, intimidating, exciting, distracting) new city, I won't want to waste my time reading. I'll have more important ways to spend my time, such as, umm, looking for a job and finding and apartment and tutoring to pay the bills and, you know, exploring my new city. I'll probably regret it some day if I spend my first few months in this city tucked away by myself reading novels.

So. I give you: le nouveau reading challenge. Still most definitely a challenge; just a bit less challenging.

~ Through the end of June, I will continue to read two books a week, resulting in a total of 52 books completed by June 30.

~ For the seven weeks I'm immersed in a foreign language, I will read no books in English or French, meaning my literary ambitions will be limited to about a first grade reading level in Spanish. Bueno. Not planning to finish any books during this time.

~ For the remainder of the year, I will read one book per week, resulting in an additional 19 books.

The grand total for 2012: 71 books

Compared to last year's goal of 48 books, 71 is still an impressive amount. Plus, I'm still going to prove to myself that I can read two books a week for a significant amount of time, and I will reap the benefits thereof. Sadly, this just isn't the year for 12 months of such intense reading. Six months will have to do.

In which I explain the last post

So, I've obviously been slacking in a major way with this blog. Today I realized it had been nearly a month since I'd last posted and resolved to post again before midnight. Just before the clock struck, I managed to type a couple of words. I guess that's one resolution I've kept this year!

In other news, I've managed to keep up with my reading goals pretty well so far. My life has been kind of tragic lately (slight exaggeration), and for a couple of weeks blogging wasn't at the top of my to do list. Fortunately, I did keep up with reading--until this past week, when I discovered the joys of watching television. I don't have cable in my house, but these days I guess that can't stop you from watching plenty of TV. My new fave? Dance Moms. On my laptop. At 2 a.m.

Anyway, despite my blogging slacker-ness, I've kept up OK with my reading. Tonight I plan to finish yet another book, The Hours.

More to come--my book calls.

It hasn't been a whole month

since i posted

She knows what's up

"In one sense, reading is a great waste of time. In another sense, it is a great extension of time, a way for one person to live a thousand and one lives in a single lifespan, to watch the great impersonal universe at work again and again, to watch the great personal psyche spar with it, to suffer affliction and weakness and injury, to die and watch those you love die, until the very dizziness of it all becomes a source of compassion for ourselves, and our language, which we alone created, and without which the letter that slipped under the door could never have been written, or, once in a thousand lives—is that too much to ask?—retrieved, and read. Did I mention supreme joy? That is why I read: I want everything to be okay. That’s why I read when I was a lonely kid and that’s why I read now that I’m a scared adult."

— Mary Ruefle