12/29/2009 Reading Plan

I am a book whore.* 

I believe that if a book is worth reading, then it's worth owning.  And I believe that if I own it, I should read it, and re-read it, and make notes in it, and quote it randomly.  I cannot walk out of a bookstore without a book, and it's only grown worse since I became a mom, since I happen to LOVE kids' books.  I own over 800 books at last count (about 4 years ago).

The problem is that I acquire books faster than I read them, so I have decided that, in 2010, I am going to read a book a month.  While I'm not generally good with "New Year's Resolutions" - I am completely undisciplined and could never stick to a specific plan - I am a fast reader and am confident I can make it through a few hundred pages every 30 days or so. 
My rules for my 12 books are as follows:

1. I must currently own the book!  No purchasing new books to get my book lust aroused and try to motivate my reading.
2. For every new (previously unread) book I select, I must also choose 2 familiar books.  (an author I like suggested this habit so that I can truly enjoy and remember meaningful books) 
3. I must have a few novels in the mix.  I tend to dislike fiction and gravitate wholly towards biographies, history, and subjects related to my family or ministry.  But I'm determined to give novels a chance this year (you'll notice from my picks, below, that I chose rather safely in this category).

And here are the 'chosen' for 2010:
      Novels

• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (previously unread)
• the Odyssey (previously unread)
• Pride and Prejudice (read and didn't like the first time)
• Cry the Beloved Country (read)

     Biography/History

• Evidence Not Seen (read)
• My Dearest Friend - Letters of Abigail & John Adams (previously unread)

     Faith and Family

• A Woman After God's Own Heart (previously unread)
• Freedom of Simplicity (read)
• Mere Christianity (read)
• Future Grace (read)

I have 2 open slots for books I've previously read, which I will choose whenever I want next year (I don't like boxing myself in so much so that I couldn't even pick all 12 books ahead of time!).  And I'm not going to plan which book I'll read in which month, since I don't yet know what I'll be in the mood for.  But I am generally looking forward to reading 4 new books in my massive collection and revisiting 8 old friends.

If you have a 2010 reading plan, I'd love to hear it.  Then I can keep a list of all the books I'll get to buy myself at the end of the year!

* As far as I am aware, I coined the expression "book whore."  It was originally derived in the fall of 2003, when a friend spontaneously produced a small bottle of some Aveda product and asked me if I knew its purpose.  My snappy reply was "I'm not an Aveda-whore!", upon which I began adding the suffix "-whore" to objects in order to create an adjective describing a person who obsessively researched, collected, and/or used those particular items.