I don’t know about you, but my New Year’s resolutions usually involve something like dropping a few pounds or saving a few dollars. I still have some weight loss and fiscal goals that I want to accomplish during 2012, but I wanted to change things up a little bit with this year’s resolutions. I wanted to take on a task that would prove beneficial, but would also be something I wouldn’t necessarily do unless it was my resolution.
It was with that in mind that I read my friend Kirsten’s post over at Fogged Clarity about how she was going to make 2012 “a new year of 100 books.” In other words, she wants to read 100 books in 2012 (or about two per week). I have to admit that this was very impressive to me and I almost immediately wanted to jump on board and scream “I’m doing that too.” But then reality struck.
While I’d have a decent chance of meeting that goal, it’s still a lot of reading. I mean, let’s face it, Kirsten’s an English professor and even she admitted that she “failed miserably and almost immediately” when she originally tried starting back in the spring. So while reading 100 books in a year is definitely a more laudable goal, I’ve decided to set my sites on reading 50 books in the next year (or basically one per week).
So what do I hope to get out of this? Well, there’s obviously the enjoyment of reading – but that’s not really my biggest reason for doing it. I’ve always had a good sized library (though I got rid of literally hundreds of books when I moved back to Virginia from Rochester, NY), but I’ve always found it easy to ignore those books in favor of the latest TV show. I really want to get rid of that habit because the information and experience you get from books is a lot more valuable. Of course there’s also the side benefit of being able to getting blogging material from the resolution by reviewing some of the books.
When it comes to putting together the list of books to read, I currently own twenty-five books that I haven’t read yet but want to finish in the next year. They cover a wide variety of topics, but generally fall into one of the four broad categories: baseball, activism, American history, and spirituality. As far as the other twenty-five books I’ll be reading, I’ll pick those up as the year goes on (looks like my library card and the Kindle I got for Christmas will be getting a lot of use).
For those of you who are interested, I’ve included a list of the books I’ve already put on the list to be read over the next year. It’s below “the fold.”
The Bullpen Gospels by Dirk Hayhurst
The Teammates: A portrait of a Friendship by David Halberstam
October 1964 by David Halberstam
Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption and Baseball’s Longest Game by Dan Barry
Take Time for Paradise by A. Bartlett Giamatti
The Original Curse by Sean Deveney
Like a Hurricane: The Indian Movement from Alcatraz to Wounded Knee by Paul Chaat Smith and Robert Allen Warrior
The Mayor of Castro Street by Randy Shilts
From Hate Crimes to Human Rights: A Tribute to Mathew Shepard edited by Mary Swigonski, Robin Sakina Mama, and Kelly Ward
Losing Matt Shepard by Beth Loffreda
Poor People’s Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail by Frances Fox Piven and Richard Cloward
Queer in America: Sex, the Media, and the Closets of Power by Michelangelo Signorile
Infamous Scribblers: The Founding Fathers and the Rowdy Beginnings of American Journalism by Eric Burns
The Death and Life of American Journalism by Robert McChesney and John Nichols
Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis
The Meaning of Independence by Edmund S. Morgan
Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief by James McPherson
Remembering Fairfax County, Virginia by Karl Reiner
Five Chiefs by John Paul Stevens
What Kind of Nation: Thomas Jefferson, John Marshall, and the Epic Struggle to Create a United States by James F. Simon
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
The Four Noble Truths by Geshe Tashi Tsering
Everyday Dharma by Lama Willa Miller
A Healing Legend: Wisdom from the Four Directions by Garry Flint and Jo Willems
2012: Crossing the Bridge to the Future by Mark Borax
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