Walking Into Mordor

I just posted my New Year's Resolution for 2012.

I'm pleased; I jumped on it right away. I'll tell you about it in a sec. Buuuuuut...it's also only taken a few days to reevaluate my goal.

Here it is (the Reevaluation): it's not going to happen. I can't read my bookshelf this year. I mean, maybe if I never read any of my assignments. And never watch Psych or the X Files in the afternoons. And not go outside, ever.  Especially not to the library. (I like the library!) And maybe not eat.

THEREFORE, I'm modifying. I'm going to make a start on my bookshelf. I'm removing any semblance of a time limit; otherwise I'll fall back in to the speed game, and thus defeat my own purpose. I shall embark upon my quest, if you will. And it may not be complete by January 1, 2013. (It won't.) In fact, it may evolve into a twelve-hour extended edition trilogy and lead directly to Mordor.  I just don't know. So there's that.

Additionally, I committed to reading all of my books, including those already read. Wellllll...I don't really want to do that. To explain this, I have to explain something else first. It went unstated in the original post, but all of my books are organized alphabetically by author's last name. To help me avoid Reader's Choice Anxiety, I am just going to read them in order. Ok, or I just want to read them in order. But that means that Little Women is Book #2. And I'm going to be honest: I tried to reread Little Women, just a few weeks ago. It's a classic, haven't read it properly since 5th grade. You know...I couldn't do it. I just don't like it. I'm sorry. I don't want to read it again.

Then, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale is Book #5. I read it in August. It was good enough, I enjoyed it. But I don't want to read it again, not this soon. It's no Pride and Prejudice. Which brings me to Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen). It's Book #7. I read it in September. In July I read the ebook version. I also read it at the end of April, when I needed a finals reprieve. Also last winter break. You get the idea.

An aside: as I'm writing this, I'm also watching Portlandia. If you like sketch comedy and hipsters/Oregon/organic free-range chicken/birds in general, you should watch it too. It's funny. Appropriately, this clip played:

I do not want to be this person. Although I do sort of like her sweater.

My point: in this, its inception, the purpose of this resolution is threefold:

(1) Material: it's to make sure I've gotten my money's worth from the fruits of all of my Amazon/Barnes&Noble/Babbit's Books buying binges. Seriously. My hard-earned dollars are sitting in alcoves in my wall, gathering dust and looking impressively intellectual. I did not buy intellectual wall adornments. I bought books.

(2) Educational: it's about discovery! I want to read new things, learn new things. Maybe that sounds cliche? I don't know. I'm expanding my horizons. I'm questing. I'm seeking wisdom and beauty and suffering and redemption and all of those wonderful things. Along with exciting plot twists and endearing and painful characters and lots of new vocabulary words.

(3) Recreational: I want to enjoy myself. I like to read! And I've fallen out of the habit.  I read textbooks now. I don't enjoy textbooks. Plus, I just bought some new rocking chairs for my porch, so naturally I need to sit in them, perhaps in a patch of sunshine, definitely with a good book, and preferably a glass of wine. It's going to be lovely.

All of that being said, I might fudge on the "alphabetical" rule. I might also fudge on the "all books" rule. Just a little. Full disclosure.

NOW THE EXCITING PART: BOOK #1

Watership Down

Richard Adams

This book is the one that made me realize I'll never do it all in a year. I've been reading a little bit, a few chapters, every night before I go to bed, since my last post (Jan. 9--one week). I'm on page 58. Page 58 of 474. Granted, one evening I skipped my reading and instead watched 7 episodes of Parks and Recreation before they expired on hulu. It's still slow going, at least, it's much slower than I'm used to. But I like it. "It" referring to either the pace or the book. Both. I don't have much to say about it (the book), having not gotten very far. It's about rabbits. But I'm enjoying myself. Mission accomplished.