I got the following idea from the lovely Mad Scientist over at Steampunkery and Book Reviews. She's giving herself the long-term goal of reading 1,000,000 pages in her lifetime. It's a pretty lofty goal but for lifelong bookworms it seems pretty doable. So I'm setting myself the same goal, starting with the books that I read in March. I'll be using this page to keep track of my progress.
Goal: 1,000,000 pages
March 2011
-A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller (334 pages)
-Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood (374 pages)
-Redwall by Brian Jacques (416 pages)
-Bend Sinister by Vladimir Nabokov (208 pages)
-Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (412 pages)
-The Road by Cormac McCarthy (241 pages)
-The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood (431 pages)
-The End Is Now by Rob Stennett (336 pages)
Monthly Total: 2752 pages
Pages Remaining: 997,248 pages
April 2011
-Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith (336 pages)
-Who Speaks for Islam?: What a Billion Muslims Really Think by Dalia Mogahed and John L. Esposito (230 pages)
-In My Own Words: An Introduction to My Teaching and Philosophy by His Holiness the Dalai Lama (212 pages)
-Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy (400 pages)
-Skulduggery Pleasant: Playing with Fire by Derek Landy (389 pages)
-Skulduggery Pleasant: The Faceless Ones by Derek Landy (320 pages)
-Skulduggery Pleasant: Dark Days by Derek Landy (415 pages)
-Skulduggery Pleasant: Mortal Coil by Derek Landy (572 pages)
-The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (307 pages)
-The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (533 pages)
-The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn (309 pages)
-A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering American on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson (400 pages)
Monthly Total: 4423 pages
Pages Remaining: 992,825 pages
May 2011
-The Complaints by Ian Rankin (400 pages)
-Numb by Sean Ferrell (288 pages)
-Cosi Fan Tutti by Michael Dibdin (256 pages)
-Barrel Fever by David Sedaris (196 pages)
-Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler (177 pages)
-The Engines of God by Jack McDevitt (419 pages)
-Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (320 pages)
-Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman (365 pages)
-Rage by Jackie Morse Kessler (213 pages)
-The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (224 pages)
Monthly Total: 2,858
Pages Remaining: 989,967
June 2011
-Death: A Life by George Pendle (272 pages)
-Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach (304 pages)
-The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (272 pages)
-Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman (360 pages)
-Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
-A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
-The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Monthly Total: N/A
Pages Remaining: N/A
Wow...you know for some reason I don't think this would be that hard with all the books I read. Oh and thank you for commenting on my other blog. For a "godless heathen" your guess was pretty darn good. Actually, it probably wasn't a guess. I have a feeling you knew what you were talking about. :]
ReplyDeleteThat's what I thought, too. It seems pretty doable, it'll just take some time. And then I can start on the next million. :)
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. The way you described the story made me laugh so hard. And, no, it wasn't a guess. I just think deep sometimes. LOL
Actually, it's more that my grandmother and I used to have really awesome conversations about religion, politics, society, etc. We'd never actually end up agreeing with each other but we learned a lot in the process, which is why we did it in the first place.
This is such a great idea! And I've already been keeping track of my pages read this year. I will have to add this to my challenges.
ReplyDeleteThank sounds just like my grandfather and I. Only, sometimes I really do agree with him and am in awe as to some of the things that come out of his mouth. As if he wasn't old and wise :] Your stories about your grandmother are very beautiful in their own way. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAs long as you attribute it to the Mad Scientist. I definitely didn't come up with the idea. :)
ReplyDeleteNonners: You're welcome. She was a wonderful woman who was very devoted to God. I think you two would have found a lot to talk about.
ReplyDeleteYour grandfather sounds just as awesome. We're really lucky to have such great influences in our lives, people who inspire us to expand our minds and our hearts.
Oh yes. He's a pretty awesome guy. There are times where I doubt him, but for some reason I feel like I shouldn't. It might be costly to do so. :]
ReplyDeleteAlso...are reading my other personal blog? For some reason it keeps saying someone from Rochester New York is reading it...and my other friend doesn't do blogs (period). weird.
ReplyDeleteI think I visited your other blog maybe once or twice when we first started following each other but I haven't read it since. I don't know who that would be.
ReplyDeletehmn. Oh well. I'm glad they like it. :] I'm trying to answer your comment now. But it's kinda hard for me to understand exactly what you mean.
ReplyDeleteWhat I mean is that, basically, whenever something goes wrong people who are religious (of any faith) tend to say, "Oh, well, it's all part of God's plan." What if it's not? What if, even if there is a higher power, most of what human beings suffer is not because God makes them suffer but because humans make themselves suffer? I just don't know if I believe that with 6.9 billion people on the planet that God goes, "Hmm, well, little Susie doesn't say her prayers, so I'm going to cause her parents to get a divorce." It's a simplistic way of saying, stuff happens but what if it's not for some higher reason?
ReplyDeleteIt's also a way of saying that humans create their own misery as well as their own joy. Does that make sense?
I don't think God does that either. If little Susie doesn't say her prayers, however, God does say that you will drift farther and farther away from Him. Just like in any relationship: If you don't talk to that person, how can you know them? And what if you started to know them for a while and really liked them, but then stopped talking to them. What do you think is going to happen? They're going to feel the empty space that was once a dear friend.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I left a comment :] It might take a while to respond to. So I think I'm going to stop and go to bed now. I've got so much to do that if I don;t go now, there will be a complaint post on my personal blog :]
ReplyDeleteBut please comment more!!! That was what I want to happen on my blog. Someone to question me!! I'm so excited.
ReplyDeleteGlad I can help. I think that more conversations in life should be people questioning each other, like a Socratic dialogue. Too often people talk and talk and never listen and they definitely don't say things like "So, what do you think?" I think that your new blog is great and I'm excited to see what you think about some of the other books you're planning to read for it.
ReplyDeleteAs for your first comment, I agree. Any relationship needs to be about communication. I think maybe I misunderstood the nature of Joseph's suffering, comparing it in my head to the story of Job. That is a clear case of God (and Satan) interfering in someone's life to test them. Obviously, Joseph's story is more about God using Joseph's human-inflicted trials as a way to help him rise above his troubles. They are two completely different things.
I'll go see what you've said in response now.
I've never bothered to count the pages I read, but this is quite intriguing. I may have to try this, starting with perhaps this year's reads...
ReplyDeleteI need to catch up a little bit, but I'm not too worried about it. Once I get my computer working again, I can take care of all the little things.
ReplyDelete