Chapter One: An Explanation

It all started with this guy.

Yeah, I know, people who know me are probably rolling their eyes and saying, "Oh no, not again." Well, it's not that kind of story, so if I could continue please?

It all started with this guy, Kevin, that I met in July when I began working at Books-A-Million. Kevin is a writer, and he told me about an event he's participating in, NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. For those who don't find the title explanation enough, it's a challenge to write a 175 page, 50,000 word novel in a month. His purpose for telling me about this was basically to say "Warning you in advance that I can't hang out with you for a month." So like a good friend, I pouted for a bit and then a light bulb went in my head. Actually it could have been a mini-stroke, but whether it was caused biologically or intellectually, the end result was what I thought might be a good idea. If Kevin could do NaNoWriMo, then I was going to have NaNoReMo, or National Novel Reading Month. Rather than write a novel, I'd read a novel daily. One a day, every day, for 30 days.

Think I'm crazy yet?

As long as I can remember I've had a tiny goal in the back of my head to read a book a day, or 365 titles a year. It was something I figured I would tuck away to attempt when I was retired, as the act would be so time-consuming I wouldn't be able to do much more than read. Or so I thought. As Kevin explained the ins and outs of his writing challenge, ideas of how I could plausibly undertake a reading challenge began to form in my mind.

I have tentatively decided that 2009 will be my first official stab on my quest to read a book a day. I say tentatively because in 2009 I will also be continuing to work my 40-hour a week job, working with a start-up theater group, and going back to college in the fall. Someone once referred to me by saying, "Hi, my name is Sarah, and I have 10,000 commitments." Well, starting 12:00 AM, November 1, I'll introduce myself by saying, "Hi, my name is Sarah, and I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to catch up on my reading."

Kevin, though amused at my newly-dubbed counterpart to his own challenge, wants me to write in November. Once upon a time I was a writer, but then life started happening and my muse appeared less and less, and now while I gather rave reviews for my occasional blogs and notes inside cards on special occasions, the creative bug seems to be on its back, legs flailing and hoping desperately not to be squished by the gigantic foot that looms somewhere in the distance. So as a companion to the reading, I'll keep this blog to post thoughts and reviews of what I'm reading, and to update anyone who happens by of the decrease in my mental stability as I become a sleep deprived, squinty-eyed, pasty shell of my former self. Who knows, maybe (and that's a very tiny maybe) keeping a daily blog will help me get back into the writing habit, and next year I can participate in NaNoWriMo. Wait. Except I'll be two months from completing The Year of Living Literarily. Hmm. Maybe in 2010 then.

I tend to be an escapist reader; I can get very lost in characters and plot and I simply forget that there exists an outside world, and I'm often disappointed when I'm interrupted or when the story ends. I'm seriously one of those people who was left wishing for a secret wizarding community after finishing Harry Potter. So, if nothing else, I'm going to think of November as a nice, long, inexpensive vacation... from reality. Working retail in the holiday season? Won't phase me. Election results? Who cares! Give me books, or give me death!


Or in this case, it may be both. Nothing to do now but sit back, relax, and crack open a good book.

Or 30.