Has anyone heard of the book 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die? Another blogger made a spreadsheet with all the books in it so that you can keep track of what you've read. Spreadsheet. I downloaded it, went through it, and discovered that I've only read 17 of the books listed which equals 1.7%. It also calculates, based on your age and sex, how many books you need to read a year and I need to read 19 to complete the list. Wow. 19 Nora Roberts or 19 Patricia Cornwells doesn't equal 19 of the books listed. I would estimate that it's probably double or triple that. There's no way that I could read War and Peace in one day which is how long it's going to take me to read J.D. Robb's newest which I'll be getting next Saturday, hehehe.
Could I read all 1001 books in my lifetime? Probably not. Moby Dick's on that list and I already know that I can't get through that one. But there are quite a few on there that I intend to read anyway and one, The Life of Pi, is already on my TBR list and I've read about a chapter of it. Do I plan on going out of my way to attempt to complete the list? Nah. But I intend to buy the book and use it as a reference despite the negative customer reviews.
I do need another book reading challenge though.
Thanks for the link! It was interesting seeing what books were on the list. I've read 48 so far. There are several on the list I hope to read someday and many more I probably never will even think of reading.
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ReplyDeleteThat list gives me something to mark things off. And add to. I've read 34 from cover to cover, but if we count partial reads ("I got bored" or "I got distracted"), the number goes up considerably.
ReplyDeleteLF and Red~~There are also "support" groups for those that are attempting to read all 1001 books. I don't have any links readily available but I'm sure Google would provide.
ReplyDeleteFound you on NaBloPoMo. I checked out the list too; I've read 38 of them, which means I have to read 17 books/year. That's not impossible, but I think this list is WAY too biased towards modern times. I prefer things written before 1900. Currently I'm reading Tom Jones, which is one of the funniest books I've ever read! Too bad it's over 800 pages.
ReplyDeleteRonnica~~The list being biased is what I've been "hearing" a lot around the web. The reviews on B&N said the same also. Still, the list is a good place to start when you're looking for something new to read.
ReplyDeleteThe list is biased towards modern titles - 69 of the titles were written since 2000, and the top almost 800 books were written since 1900. I've read about 127 of the books on the list, and will have to read 17-18 per year for the next 50 years to complete the list. Biases aside, however, I have found the book to be really helpful. There are a lot of books/authors that I had never heard of, and each gets a one page description. Thus far there haven't been many that I have sought out simply because of the list, but there have been some, such as "Transit" by Anna Seghers. Overall, I think that it's a good reference book and a half decent list, flaws and all.
ReplyDeleteKristin~Thanks for the review. The one page descriptions are what I'm looking forward to most from the book. It's def not going to be the last word on what I choose to read.
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