Too late to start a New Year's Resolution? Nah. In the words of the immortal Michael Jackson: "If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make the change." With regard to resolutions, the only thing that makes January 1 special is that you probably had time over the holidays to think about where you are and where you want to be with your life. When you're unemployed, you get to think about this on a daily basis. So I'm taking advantage of my copious free time to pay attention to a few things that often get neglected when I'm off running the rat race. The subject of today's post...Book it! 2010 Edition.
You remember Book it!, the perfect pairing of capitalism and summer reading. Students were encouraged to read a bunch of books and were with personal pan pizzas from Pizza Hunt and Land Before Time rubber hand puppets. Taking a page from Margaret Feinberg I've decided to challenge myself to a bit of reading in the coming 12 months. The goal is to read 50 books from May 1, 2010 to May 1, 2011. I'll report to you guys on my progress and review books from time to time. I'll be focusing on a few goals/rules within this one:
2.1 - Read Book Club Books: I don't think it's fair to let my personal goal get in the way of my commitment to these ladies. So around 12 books (25%) will be allotted to these choices. If I've already read a selection that's chosen, it will not count toward the overall total.
2.2 - Finish What You've Started: I'm also giving priority to finishing series that I've started namely, Harry Potter (I know, I know!), Twilight, and the Inheritance Cycle (Eragon, etc). It skews the numbers a little higher toward fantasy that I'd prefer, but it's still around 25%. I've also debated whether or not re-reading a book as part of the series should count and I've concluded that as long as it's read during the time period allotted it does. My challenge, my rules.
2.3 - Read Books Related to Christian Spirituality - The biggest category of "good intentions" books on my shelves are those that relate to God, Christianity and faith. While I don't have all 25% of this category picked just yet, some of the ones on the list are: Blue Like Jazz and A Million Miles in a Thousand Years - Donald Miller; The Cost of Discipleship - Dietrich Bonhoeffer; Organic God, Sacred Echo and Scouting the Divine - Margaret Feinberg; and The Shack - William Young.
2.4 - Read Books Related to Health, Development, Economics and Politics - There are a ton of books that relate to my field that will help keep me up to speed with the latest happening and will challenge my brain. This list is still being developed, but it will account for the other 25%.
I reserve the right to change my mind on the exact weights of the categories. I want to stay well rounded as well as actually read a bunch of those books I've been meaning too forever. If you have suggestions, I welcome them. I have a feeling this book challenge isn't going to stop in 2011. Progress updates coming soon!
