As a graduate student (last semester of coursework, God willing!), academic reading, writing, and all-around absorption is the norm.
I know I should accept that with grace and dignity, but the fact of the matter is, when I don't do at least SOME reading that's just for me, and not for a professor, or a paper, or a very specific purpose, I get cranky.
This, coupled with the fact that I'm actually quite the fast reader when I put my mind to it, has led me here, to resolve to read 52 non-assigned/required/etc books--ones that I haven't read before--in 2011.
There are no restrictions on length, style, or anything else for that matter--the only requirement is that I can't have been ASSIGNED to read them. Books in my subject area (that aren't on my comps list), as well as books that professors have suggested, are still fair game. I also will hopefully do at least mini-reviews of them--either here or on my GoodReads account.
Anyone want to join in?
BOOKS ON MY TO-READ LIST:
(Note: these are here because I either bought them or received them for Christmas, and thus have a built-in reason to read them, or because I already know that they're high on my list of books to read. It may shift as time goes on.)
--Catching Fire
--Mockingjay
--The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
--The Talisman
--Black House
1. Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro--FINISHED January 12, 2011
This was definitely an interesting choice to start out with--I had heard about it for quite awhile, and had read people's complaints that the trailer for the movie (that came out last year, with Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan, and Andrew Garfield) had "spoiled" the book, that they gave away major plot points, etc. Having not seen the trailer, I thought I should go ahead and read the book to save myself spoilers. I blazed through this one in an afternoon...and while, in retrospect, I really enjoyed the book, I found myself very emotionally shaken up by it, to the point where I actually didn't want to talk about it for awhile. It has its flaws, and you'll see many reviews that point them out--but for me, the book was emotional and intense, and very affecting, and thus that's the main thing I'll take away from it.
