Are you up for the challenge?

I was checking out my friend, Maggie’s blog, Magnolia Reads, and was immediately taken with the idea to do a ‘100 books in a year’ project myself. I am quite the avid reader (my husband says I devour books), and I really love recommending books to friends. Nothing makes me happier than getting a friend hooked on a series that I really and truly love. Hearing their take on it always makes me excited, because I get to relive the series again.
In spite of my voracity for books, I find that I tend to fixate on certain genres, and that does not a well-rounded reader make. I have a tendency to get really bored with certain genres and just not finish a book I have started in a genre that doesn’t really move me. The 100 books in a year challenge is (hopefully) going to force me to broaden my literary horizons.

Rules:

Rule #1:
All new material. Although I love to re-read books, and have a number that I re-read on a yearly basis, re-reading kind of defeats the purpose of this exercise.

Rule #2:
No audio books. I will limit my audio book listening in the workplace to books I have already read.

Rule #3:
The 100 books have to represent a variety of genres and subjects.
Here's how I’ve decided to break it down:

20 suggestions - 9 down, 11 to go
Send me some suggestions, and I will gladly read one of your faves! You can leave a comment on this post or e-mail me. I will read 20 books that have been suggested, no matter what. Unless I have already read them (see rule #1). If I get more than 20 suggestions, I will choose first based on books that are recommended multiple times and then in date order of recommendation.

20 "classics" - 5 down, 15 to go
I realize the term "classic" is subjective. I will base my selections on The Complete List, Random House's Modern Library and Eagle Forum's Classics That Endure lists.

10 books that have been adapted into movies - 4 down, 6 to go
I actually thought that, if I were to ever become a teacher, I would do a unit on reading books that have been adapted into movies. I can’t wait to check these babies out!

5 biographies and/or autobiographies - 1 down, 4 to go
Although I am not, in general a fan of biographies, I am willing to give them another shot. There are some really intriguing people out there, and I think that I would be able to pick 5 that I could read about.

10 other non-fiction - 2 down, 8 to go
I really, really, really dislike non-fiction. Could I throw another ‘really’ in there? Non-fiction always reminds me of reading a school text book. However, I will give it a go. And I will try to read about a variety of topics (read: I will try not to read 10 books about politics, which I actually enjoy).

5 historical fiction - 3 down, 2 to go
Mary, please give me some good suggestions. Seriously. I know that this can be a wonderful genre – I mean, who didn’t like the Little House on the Prairie books? However, since reading those books, I can’t say that I have opened another piece of historical fiction.

5 mysteries - 3 down, 2 to go
I am not generally a mystery fan, although I can sometimes get into them. I’ll give it a chance.

5 science fiction - COMPLETE!!
I am not the biggest sci-fi fan. I look at the sci-fi books I have read as a gateway to (better) fantasy books, but I am going to give this genre a go again. I have the sneaking suspicion that, like fantasy, there is a LOT of bad sci-fi literature out there.

10 fantasy - COMPLETE!!
I. Love. Fantasy. Books. Love them. I generally find new reading material by searching Google for new fantasy book series. For the purposes of this challenge, I will try to limit myself to only 10 fantasy books in a single year, and I will be shocked if I don’t find a way to sneak in more than 10.

3 graphic novels - 1 down, 2 to go
I have read and enjoyed several graphic novels, but, it was a while ago, so I think I am going to pick a couple for this challenge.

1 romance - COMPELETE!!
I will try not to make it a ‘paranormal romance’ (see limiting my fantasy reading, above), but I make no promises.

1 Oprah's book club pick
Not that I care about her opinion on books, but she has picked several good ones in the time that she has been doing the book club.

3 kids/YA books - COMPLETE!!
Because, why not?

2 Corey’s pick
Over the years, I have read several books recommended to me by my husband. In fact, I think that my relationship with him was definitely the only one that had a required reading list. I figure that if I could get through Moby Dick so that I could date him in college, I can read anything he can throw at me.

Rule #4:
I will post a book report style review for each book that I finish, and I will also rate them, using a 1-5 star rating.

1 star: This is the kind of book that I had to force myself to finish. I don’t usually do this, so I have nothing to give as an example. Seriously, even if I am 50 pages from the end of a book I can’t stand, I just put it down and don’t finish it, and I am completely OK with that.

3 stars: These are ‘sitcom’ or ‘brain candy’ books – something you enjoy and could read again, but that didn’t really have a significant impact on your life. This would be something like Bridget Jones Diary or the Southern Vampire Series, which I enjoyed immensely, and would read again.

5 stars: This is the type of book that spurs conversations, makes you look at your life in a different way and causes some serious self-reflection. For me, this is something like Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man or The Fountainhead. Well, that’s my plan. I can’t wait to get started. Hopefully I am smart enough to ration my fantasy books throughout this project…

Stay tuned everyone, and start sending me suggestions!