A couple of days ago, the New York Times had a story about a woman who decided to read a book a day for a year and blog about it. Think of it as a book-version of the Julie & Julia thing, where the woman cooked her way through Julia Child's cookbook for a year. Not as tasty, but a whole lot cheaper and less work.Nina Sandovitch started last October 28, so she's almost completed her effort. It's an interesting endeavor, but I feel conflicted about the project - happy she had the time and energy to finish a book and blog every single day, but wondering how enjoyable the exercise was for her (or would be for me), racing through books instead of savoring them.
And who has the time to read all day? Well, maybe if I didn't goof off so much - you know, with work and eating and dealing with families and all - and really put my mind to it, I could manage it. But then to blog about each book when finished? Yikes! Such discipline (as one can tell I lack with my infrequent posts).
Reading through her blog I notice that I've never heard of most of the books she's read. Maybe if I'd get my nose out of mysteries for a while, I'd have more diversity of reading matter.
What do you think? Admirable? Impossible? Enlightening? Frustrating?
7 comments:
I heard about this as well, and at first I was envious, but you bring up a good point--when does it go from pleasure to a chore? I've done a picture a day challenge this year and it's been kind of annoying, and that only takes a few seconds. To devote the time to reading, well, I think that it would get old fast. And I LOVE to read.
i've only heard of a couple of the books. Say You're One of Them (at the top of her list) isn't a book to be taken lightly. It took me several days to read that one and it really needed to be read over a long span.
If I did something like this, it would have to be novellas like Last Night at the Lobster (on her list) or really bad YA paperbacks (not on her list).
Yeah, I believe I'd have to start with a book a week (which would still be a challenge for me some weeks).
And I'm afraid blogging about them would be too much like doing a book report every day. I'd be thinking about what I was going to write while I was reading the book, rather than enjoying/learning from it.
Har! re: the bad YA paperbacks - now THAT blog could be fun!
I think that your definition of "infrequent blogging" is flawed. Especially compared to my own work-rate! :-)
I don't know, PT. I've really become a blog-slacker compared to my first couple of blog-years. But can you imagine? Committing to posting every single day for a year? NBL.
Impossible! Couldn't be done. Not properly. Silly.
Have you seen the Julia/Julie film?
There's no way my brain could handle it...my head would explode. I don't read many books these days...I'm too busy reading blogs..and reviewing them for BlogHer. Honestly, I'd have a meltdown reading books at this point. My eyes are blurry every night. I'm a blog slacker too Mary...I just can't help it. I don't mean to be, but there's just so much I can do...but I'm trying.
Liz - I agree. And yes, I saw Julie/Julia, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Joy - I think even if I had all the time in the world, I couldn't read a book a day, reader that I am. Maybe once in a while, but day-in-day-out I need a little variety.
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