50 in 2011

*Disclaimer: this is my nerd tribute to all things literary, if you are not interested in (or obsessed with) books you may want to skip this page.

So, one of my passions in life is reading. This is something that I’m lucky enough to share with both of my parents and I credit them with my love of this pastime. I also credit them with my eclectic taste in books. My mom loves a good romance novel and has stacks of Danielle Steele and Nora Roberts books on her bedside table. I lovingly refer to this genre as “fluff” but will recommend these books to any of my girlfriends because this is what they are always looking for when they ask me what to read next. My dad on the other hand, wouldn’t touch a Nora Roberts book even if she was writing under the pseudonym J.D. Robb in the genre that he likes which is the basic action, suspense, mystery, manly novels. Authors he has introduce me to include Dick Francis, Gus Lee, and Clive Cussler. He is also the man who introduced me to my beloved Harry Potter within months of this unknown author’s book hitting the shelves, which allowed me to grow up with the whole Hogwarts gang. My paternal grandmother who has shared her love of fantasy/sci-fiction has opened me up to an all-new genre. So, growing up with these three book lovers, I was bound to have an eccentric taste in books.

I also have this really weird thing where I find reading lists and make it a goal for myself to read all of the books on the list, whether they’re popular or not. Now some people might think this is crazy (I’m a self-professed crazy person so I’m ok with that) and wonder why I would “waste my time” reading books people I don’t know suggest. But personally, I think there are thousands of great books out there that people will never know of because they weren’t made into a movie or didn’t make it to the top of the bestseller list. So I’m going to continue my eternal consumption of all books, genres, and stories, which I will find in any way I can.

One of the ways I find new lists and book recommendations is the lovely internet that seems to always bring people together over what they love. The best book website that I have found for my book obsession is Goodreads. You can use this website to find books, document and review the ones you’ve read, learn about your favorite authors, and discuss books with fellow diehards. It is through this website that I started my goal of reading 50 books a year. At first I thought this was going to be easy, I thought I read at least 50 a year because I’m constantly reading and I’m a pretty fast reader. But when I started this in 2010 (three months late and in the middle of War and Peace), I realized that life, grad school, and work really cut into my reading time and I’m reading less than a book a week. In the end, I reached my goal and am on track to do it again this year but I’d love to be able to read more than 50 because there are so many books and so little time.

I’m going to use the 50 in 2011 page to document the books I have read this year (which is almost over but I’ll start another one for 2012) and give you guys an idea of what type of random books I stumble upon. If you have any recommendations please let me know, I’m always looking for them! Hope you enjoy as much as I do!

Love, Em