The Beginning

I like to read. A lot. Whenever I move, my mom asks “do we have to move all your books? Again?” I have managed to turn books into a sliver of my freelance career — I review for a few newspapers and magazines, and write about books and authors, too, if not profiles, then using them as ‘experts’ in my magazine articles.

I can’t give you one reason why I like books. I think they offer an escape, and a much more textured and indulgent one than you’ll find on TV. Even the frothiest of novels demands more from you than watching TV, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.

I know that reading a book a week is not a new idea, nor is it a new idea to do so and write about it. But why not give it a go? I find myself drifting when I don’t have a book to read, and I’m in need of an anchor.

Why? I was just dumped for the second time this year — for the third time in the last 12 months. Even aside from the dumping thing, it’s been a pretty crappy year: my grandfather died, my grandmother moved into an assisted living facility, my income took a dip, and I’m tired. Just…tired.

I need something, and I think this might be it. And where did I find inspiration to take on such a project? Through a book, of course.

After I got dumped, I immersed myself in Julie Powell’s Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen. She hadn’t just been dumped, but she was, like me, in need of an anchor. So why not start up a new project, and use a blog to hold me accountable? That’s what this is.

I will read 52 books in 52 weeks. This doesn’t mean that I will read a book a week — sometimes I can finish a book in a day, sometimes it takes two weeks — but I will read 52 by October 17, 2008, and I will post about each book as I finish them starting with…