Hi, fellow Gaps friends!
So here entereth the 3rd year of the Gaps project for some of us. (Well, sort of--we started in April, but January 1 seems like a nice milestone to observe.)
I'm so impressed with myself that I've stuck with a project this long, and I know I owe a big chunk of my commitment to the fact that there's a community of people helping keep me motivated. So thanks, guys :)
Based on the 75-book, 5-year goal, my hope was to average 15 books a year. And we're on track! I've finished a total of 34 books, although I confess a larger percentage of heavy reading was done in the first year than was done in the second.
Does anyone else fantasize about making a second Gaps list?
Part of my distraction from Gaps in 2010 was my (re)new(ed) interest in the scifi/fantasy genre, and a vague commitment to reading a lot of groundbreakers/classics in that genre. If I get more Gaps reading done, I might even make an sff auxiliary Gaps list. But not until I decide if it's reasonable.
(Any opinions? Emily, I know you did something similar a while ago...)
Actually, I think one phenomenon of the Gaps list is to want to make a second list almost immediately after embarking on reading the first--a number of my friends have had this happen to them. I'm interested if anyone else has had this "problem."
2011 Goals
My first book of 2011 was Jane Austen's Persuasion, which I reviewed here. I've also taken the step of downloading all the remaining public domain (ie free) books on my list onto my Kindle, so maybe I can make a dent in a couple of them without lugging around any of the real fatsos--a girl wants to avoid carpal tunnel if possible (these include Moby Dick, David Copperfield, House of Mirth, Moll Flanders). Other books I am eager to prioritize, based on feedback from friends, include: The French Lieutenant's Woman, White Teeth, Bad Behavior, and Go Tell It on the Mountain.
Read-alongs, anyone?
I have some above-mentioned fatsos, which I always get through better with read-alongs. So if anyone is interested in a read-along on any of the following, let me know!
Moby Dick
Infinite Jest
Wind-Up Bird Chronicles
House of Mirth
David Copperfield
Atlas Shrugged
The Second Sex
The Adventures of Augie March
Finnigan's Wake or Ulysses (kinda dreading them both)
The Brothers Karamozov
War & Peace
East of Eden
The Golden Notebook
So--where does 2011 find you? Are you on track for your own goals? Of the other people who started in mid-2009, I wonder how many people are still with us?
I'd love to hear from anyone!
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WELCOME to the FILL THE GAPS 100 PROJECT Ever have a book on your bookcase that you always say yo...
5 membersWELCOME to the FILL THE GAPS 100 PROJECT Ever have a book on your bookcase that you always say yo...
24 comments:
I'm still around. I started in June 09. I haven't made quite the dent I wanted only 30 books thus far (I think I missed a review or 2). But looking to make good progress in 2011.
Yes I fantasize about my next Fill In The Gaps list all the time!
Ha! I knew I wasn't alone :)
I'm pretty new, started the end of last year, but I want to make a pretty big dent in my list this year.
East of Eden is on my list too, and I think a read-a-thon would be awesome! Steinbeck is brilliant, but can get pretty heavy!
yay, ashley!!! duly noted. i wonder if anyone else will comment?! i'll give them a couple days, then we can put a sched together :)
I think I'm behind on my list (I keep getting free books from work and getting distracted), so I'm going to work on that this year.
By the end of this year I want to cross off The Illiyad and the divine comedy. And I'm definitely on board for a group read of Ulysses and Atlas Shrugged.
I've been thinking about another gaps list for nonfiction, but one list at a time right!
It would be great to have a real reason/motivation to read it! :) Like, another person waiting on me!
ooo, Briony, Ulysses is a big one. but i REALLY need help on that. so thanks for volunteering :) what do you think about spring/summer for that?
i know you plowed through MOBY DICK on your own; amazing feat. what would you say a good reading pace is for you? will MIDDLEMARCH we were doing 80-100 pages a week, and i found that just about manageable. but of course i can be flexible. i just wont be ready to start a REAL big one like that until a little later in the year.
Ashley--excellent! I'll get a copy :)
what's your reading pace? want to shoot for beginning of Feb to start?
That sounds fine! 100 pages is manageable for me for sure. I'm flexible too.
Beginning of Feb sounds good to me! I haven't read Steinbeck in a while, so I don't know my pace for sure, but I read fast, and I'm pretty sure whatever you want to set up is good. You mentioned 80-100 with someone else, and that should work for me, unless you have something else in mind. :) Yay! I'll go dig my copy out of storage!
oops, my comment didn't make it the first time.
so many books get in the way of the list. darn birthdays and christmases and new publications. thanks to this christmas alone, I've got Boswell's Life of Johnson, Flann O'Brien's novels, and Mark Twain's autobiography.
sheesh.
but the list is still there and still gets read at (into?).
I wouldn't mind reading along with whatever you decide on, even though none of them are on my original list...
I'm all for East of Eden too. It's on my list for this year again. And/or War & Peace.
All right!! We've already got 3 for East of Eden--that officially makes a club!! I'll post a suggested schedule anon.
Bree, I'll definitely need help with WAR & PEACE, too. Maybe later in the summer? Let's see if we can draft others to our cause :D
I'm way behind (on my 50-book list!), for two reasons.
First, my two book groups rarely choose anything associated with my list, although I was recently The Decider for both of them, and so managed to knock off the Vonnegut and the Lawrence within the past 2 months.
Second, my list is mostly filled with serious dramas, but my mood swings don't always dip into that range. So I'm often not in the mood for things on my list.
I read 39 books last year, but to my shame, only two of them were list books! I need to do better in 2011.
Me too - as above (like Rachel) I am way way behind, and on a few reviews too.
My new list is in the works. The problem is I have so many that I cannot narrow it down.
I have Wind Up Bird on my list and East of Eden, and am thinking about an abridged version in audio of The Golden Notebook, and just picked up a used copy of Middlemarch. So maybe trying a group read would be motivating.
And Moonrat I am loving Possesion in audio, I had ditched it 3 times prior in written form.
Rachel--don't be so hard on yourself!! That's why we give this project so much time :)
Shellie--join us for EAST OF EDEN in Feb! And I'm SO glad you're enjoying POSSESSION!! I must put up a review already. It's just so hard!
Hi All!
Last year was a really bad year for me as far as this list is concerned. I was busy, busy, busy, promoting my own book and had little time...
I haven't tallied my reads for 2010 - there were many -- almmost all audio in the car -- but few on my list.
I'm recommitted this year, and picked up an Annie Proux just yesterday.
I do admit that I read a Jodi Picoult last year as part of the list (The Pact) and now I'm devouring everything I can find by her. (It's refreshing to find an author I like out of my usual comfort zone!)
But I'm game for some classics, too... there are several on my list I need to get to.
Not sure if I can do a read along, but I'd like to try.
Kelly--I love that the Gaps project helped you discover an author you're crazy about. That's an added benefit :)
I started with you all in 2010, then decided to pull back and create my own project: 250 books by the end of 2015. (I'm 26 books in.)
But this place inspired my start. I still read all the reviews here. :-)
If I can get a copy of it in time, I'm in for East of Eden too! (I should really check my list before I start reading!)
Moonrat: yes! It's great that I've found another author to love. Broadens my writing perspective, too.
I'm in for East of Eden if I can find a copy by the time we start...
Sounds good to me. EofE to start in Feb and W&P for summer/fall.
I'm still around, but I've been pretty lax in keeping up with reviews as of late. I should probably fix that sometime soon.
I'm partway through Moby Dick, and I have to say that it's not a difficult read at all -- in fact, I find it delightfully fun and engaging. Just saying, it may not be the heavy, impenetrable tome most of us (including me before I started reading it) seem to think it is.
I'm here and still keeping up on my list, even though I don't always post my progress like I should.
I've finished 37 of the books on my list. I get into a stage where I read several in a row, then seem to put the list aside for a while. But I guess the progress all sort of evens out over time.
Shelly
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