I have a number of ongoing reading projects. Ongoing just means I still track my progress on reading books from some list. Ongoing shouldn't imply that my reading choices are informed by a stated desire to finish all the books in a given list or finish a series or some other reading goal defined by completing all of something. Maybe I will decide that a reading project should be abandoned by the time I finish this recap, but I wouldn't expect that to happen. It's more likely I get another side quest added to my already lengthy list of in process side quests. In porcess side quests outside of my reading goals would be a fun post. Maybe I should figure out the main quest while I'm at it. All good ideas. Let's get to the reading quests first.
Book Shelf Zero: If any of these quests should be considered a failure, this is it. Reading all the books that I own remains a worthy goal, I have just continued to buy books faster than I have finished reading what I already own. I tallied up my current owned but not read books to see where I was at New Years Eve. 199. I started this project on December 13, 2016. Nine years in, I have managed to read 238 books since staring the project. I started Book Shelf Zero with 190 books. Over all that time and all those books that I've read, I've managed to increase the size of my library. I'm honestly not quite sure what to make of this nugget. I guess the obvious answer is I like to buy books. Yes, I've known that since I was a pre-teen. The real question is whether I keep this as a formal reading project. I'm turning 40 this year. The project will be in progress for 10 years come December. Let's see what a more deliberate approach to reading does over the course of the year. Maybe I just maintain my tally without really trying to get it to zero (which is basically what I'm doing now).
Modern Library Top 100: I've read 56 of the 100 titles in this list. I can't even remember the last book that I read from this list. I own a bunch of them, so I can make progress on two projects by reading those titles, but they are just not the kind of books that I've been choosing to read. The last one I can remember trying ot read is Henderson the Rain King. I read about a third of that and set it aside for something more fun to read. My lack of progress on this particular project really shows me how much I have let my job steal energy I save for more meaningful parts of my life. I was choosing to carry work burdens that I was not obligated to endure. I had a thing happen at work on Friday that would have burdened me a year or so ago, but I just decided that I wasn't going to let it get to me. It's a situation that I will deal with at the right time, but I don't need to let it fill my mental space until that time comes. I was letting way too much get to me since I was embroiled in my PDI drama. I was actually on a Disney trip on this day when that entire situation was blowing up in 2020. The trauma of that experience has been hounding me for 6 years. I think I've finally put it behind me. Assuming I have been successful, maybe I will actually have the mental energy to read a few of these books in these books in the short term. They are usually good books, but they are usually not the kind of book you pick up and zip through (although a few of them have been that kind of book.) It looks like my most recent action on this list was finishing A Bend in the River in September 2023. It's pretty safe to say this list has not figured into my reading choices for awhile. I will look to change that soon.
NPR Science Fiction/Fantasy list: Take what I said about the Modern Library list and apply it here too. I'm even at a similar point in reading through the list, 54 titles. I would like to get back to some of these books. I don't own as many of them so I can't quite do the same 2 for 1 thing, but most of these books are pretty quick and easy reads. If I was to kill one of these projects to the point I stop tracking my progress, this would be it, but I also already have the list in my spreadsheet so why not just keep marking them off? I guess I will keep doing that. I just may not refer to the list when I'm looking for something to read though (not a big shift as I haven't really been doing that anyway).
I have a more comprehensive reading project bubbling in my head. Well, reading would be part of the project. I'm not certain if I will be shifting to that one. If I do, this blog will be a completed project. Early versions of this latest project may show up here first, at least until I'm ready to launch. We'll see if I decide I want to put in the effort (talk about a subject needing ti's own post..>O)
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