A New Year's Resolution...

Every year I make a bunch of resolutions. Lose weight, travel somewhere, learn something new, eat better, and on and on. Most years those resolutions are forgotten by February thanks to the realities of life.
But this year I made a resolution that I very much would like to keep. I set a goal for myself to read 100 books before next New Year's. I know others have tried it. I know that it is a ton of reading. But I have my reasons. You see, I am an avid reader. Such an avid reader in fact, that I decided to get a PhD in Comparative Literature. Yet, ever since I started working on literature degrees, beginning with an M.A. in German literature started in 2006, I am so caught up in required reading, that I never take the time to do personal reading anymore. That, in my mind, is a tragedy. Don't get me wrong, I love my required reading. You have to, when it is hundreds of pages of 18th century foreign literature a week. But I miss reading a book for the sheer pleasure of being swept away in a story, without having to do a "close reading" about it, or without having to really care if the story is academically worthwhile.
What is worse, I had fallen prey to the easier distractions and time-wasters when I was not working on homework. I found myself watching more T.V. and (as we all seem to do...) spending WAY to much time on facebook...That time could be perfectly well spent on literary escape.
So I decided to give myself a literary goal that would coax me back into the world of best-sellers and good stories. I decided to try to read 100 books in 365 days-not including my required course readings. Now a couple weeks into my goal, I decided to blog my results in the hopes that the thought that others might see my progress would keep me from slacking off.
So, here is the setup:
*It must be enjoyable and non-required reading. While I may from time to time post thoughts on the literature I am reading for a class, those works do not count towards my 100 books goal. Also, any book read as part of research for a paper for a class, even if not technically required for the coarse, does not count. However, since I am still pretty early in my dissertation research, and naturally I enjoy my dissertation topic, some books I read that might help my dissertation down the line (which covers 18th century popular fiction) might qualify, as long as I read it for distracting pleasure and not for a deadline.
*I will post as daily as I can, even if I haven't finished a new book. My goal here is to post my impressions or thoughts generated from the reading. Thus, I will try to avoid summaries (as I hope you want to read it too, and I don't want to give things away) but will discuss the book in a variety of other lights. Please feel free to add to the conversation or suggest other approaches you would like to see about a certain book! However, this is my pleasure reading, so the person who suggests I do a "close reading" of anything gets a frowny face. I get enough of that at school. Also, I am not here to criticize a writer's work. If I picked it up to read, it must have a redeeming quality. If it is a book I would not recommend, that will probably come out in my writing anyway, as I won't have much to say about it.
*I encourage comments!
*I will try to post as much information about the books as possible so that you can read them too! If you need or want to know something about a book, ask! However, I do not plan on posting the number of pages of a book, as many of the books I read are on an eReader and that distorts the true number of pages.
*This project requires an average of about two books a week. However, don't assume that if a book takes me longer to finish, I don't like it! I do still have my required readings and some weeks will simply be busier than others. On the flip side, I am sure there are those of you out there who think that reading books at this speed is not doing justice to the book itself. Although I can and regularly do read novels in a 24 hours period (I would never succeed in my chosen field if I couldn't read quickly and enjoy it), I will never read a book so quickly that I don't enjoy it. This is my attempt at pleasure reading after all! And as Henry Fielding says in his delightful book, Joseph Andrews "for however swift his capacity may be, I would not advise him to travel through these pages too fast; for if he doth, he may probably miss seeing some curious productions of nature which will be observed by the slower and more accurate reader. A volume without any such places of rest resembles the opening of wilds or seas, which tires the eye and fatigues the spirit when entered upon."
Ok, I think I have said it all for now...On to the project.
We being two-ish weeks into the new year already, I have already completed my first three books. The thoughts I had while reading these were the true inspiration to blog about it and hope for good conversation. The first three are:
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
Chosen by a Horse by Susan Richards
and The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel by Maureen Lindley
I have tons to say about these, so seperate posts for each, but in the morning. It is getting late now and I have a new book to start.