list

Battle of the Books

~ garrettpinder ~ 2 Comments

People may think my book choosing methods are strange, but honestly, I just find it amusing. Considering my lack of interest in sports, a book bracket may be as close as I get to some type of Fantasy League. Here’s the breakdown:

I chose two books from eight different categories, yielding sixteen titles total. (Well, six. I doubled up on two categories.)

  • Stephen King Classics: Cujo vs Misery
  • Travel: A Year in Provence vs PTown
  • LGBT fiction: Will Grayson, Will Grayson vs The Brothers Bishop / In The Line of Beauty vs Hero
  • YA series (having 3 or more titles): Insurgent vs Rebel Heart / Beautiful Darkness vs Reached
  • Kindle Books (fiction): Ten vs Better Nate Than Ever
  • Fiction: Little Children vs Dogs of Babel

Once selected, I set the titles against one another in their respective categories and flipped some coins and followed the paths of the bracket tree. The resulting list will govern the order of the books I will read over the course of the next year. With my recent acceleration in reading (like reading 35 books in 14 weeks for class) I imagine this will be a breeze. I may push a title to the front of the list as an audiobook becomes available through OverDrive or my library.

  1. Reached
  2. Insurgent
  3. Cujo
  4. Dogs of Babel
  5. Hero
  6. Ten
  7. The Brothers Bishop
  8. A Year in Provence
  9. Rebel Heart
  10. Beautiful Darkness
  11. Will Grayson, Will Grayson
  12. In The Line of Beauty
  13. Misery
  14. Better Nate Than Ever
  15. PTown
  16. Little Children
Battle of the Books
Battle of the Books

Here we go!

The Sickness

~ garrettpinder ~ 2 Comments

BookSick
adjective

1. to be more concerned with collecting and owning books than reading
2. to derive pleasure in the acquisition of books

ex: I just got back from my friend’s apartment, and I’m worried he may be BookSick.

Symptoms:
I love reading, and I never go anywhere without a book. I buy books noticeably faster than I finish reading the ones I already have. I justify buying more books by buying clearance and used titles. I have strong urges to collect all the books written by the same authors. I multiple books at the same time. I spend hours in bookstores. With the exception of one book, I have never read a book more than once.

Treatment:
Now that I own… a lot of books, it’s time to buckle down and read. Part book review part self-therapeutic diary — this blog will help me document my journey as I work through my rather substantial personal library. I will finish the books I start reading. I will read one book at a time.

I cannot begin this process however, without recognizing certain obstacles.

First, I work a full-time job in retail. This means I work at least 40 hours every week. During the upcoming holiday season, those hours will increase. My job does not exactly facilitate reading during downtime, but reading ebooks on my phone is entirely feasible.

Second, I am an active member of a book club that meets once a month. Let’s face it, many of the books chosen will not be coming out of my own library. I will do my best to borrow rather than buy these titles.

Third, and most notably, in the fall of 2011 I will be joining the ranks of students aspiring to graduate with a Master’s Degree in Library Science and Information Studies. This part-time program will most likely consume one of my two days off every week.

Knowing my limitations, I will set a low goal for the time being, and I reserve the right to adjust the goal depending on the circumstances of my three limitations. That being said, I hope to read at least two books every month. One being a book club selection and another from my library.

Wish me luck!

And I’ll do my best not to buy more books.