I am truly terrible at following through when it comes to all the great book challenges being hosted all over the web these days. I've started three or four of them but am yet to finish even one. It seems that the allotted time to read the books expires before I even get a good start on my targeted reading. Right now, for instance, I'm participating in the 2nd Canadian Book Challenge and have read five of the thirteen books about Canada, or written by Canadian authors, that I need to read in order to finally complete a challenge. I've lost momentum, but I'm still hoping to finish by next July when the clock stops ticking on this one.But here's a challenge with no time limit - a good thing, since it will require the reading of 44 books, one on each U.S. president (unless you don't finish by the time that number 45 appears on the scene, of course). Lezlie, of Books 'N Border Collies, is hosting what she calls the U.S. Presidents Reading Project. And just to make things really easy, and to get interested readers jump-started, Lezlie provides a list of all U.S. Presidents and a few non-fiction books about them.
This might be just the challenge for those who need "lists" to keep them motivated to do some challenging reading on a regular basis. I'm going to give it an unofficial try because "bragging rights" will be cool for anyone managing to complete this one.
Hi, Sam! You can also read one book about multiple presidents and count it for all of them. It's all about how deep you want to dig into each individual and tailoring the project to your interests.
ReplyDeleteHave fun!
Lezlie
I'm trying to cool it on the challenges, but I like this one a lot! I could go back and finish McCullough's bio of Truman, finally tackle John Adams and of course, the Caro bio of LBJ. For starters.
ReplyDeleteI've only read three for the Canadian challenge, so far -- and it's my only challenge! But, I'm working on hacking down the ARC pile. I figure I'll catch up.
ReplyDeleteMy track record for completing challenges is notoriously bad, which is why I love perpetual projects - I'm not hung up on an end date! I'm doing this one, too :)
ReplyDeleteI plan to do it the hard way, Lezlie - eventually, that is. I'm the kind of person who won't review a book that I have not read every single word of, from pure stubborness, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteBybee, do you plan to read all three volumes of Caro's LBJ bio?
ReplyDeleteI was tickled to find a pristine first edition copy of the second volume of the biography for $6 this weekend. I think it was read one time, judging from the bookmark inside it, but it is hard to believe that the book is 14 years old.
You can't beat an open-ended challenge can you, ex libris? :-)
ReplyDeleteKeep hacking away at the stack, bookfool, but I have some bad news for you: you will never catch up. Book people simply do not do that kind of thing. :-)
ReplyDelete