I started this project because I got dumped. Or at least that was the final factor that pushed me into trying something new. Now that I'm looking back over the series, there's a lot of things that rolled into me making the decision to challening myself to read 52 books in 52 weeks.
I'd only been seeing the guy for a few months, but that break up (which I wrote about in my review of book 7 of 52) was another reminder that I had failed...again. I had tried to pick myself up off the ground after a major, heart wrenching, spirit crushing breakup that happened in March. I tried to start something new with someone else, and I had failed...again. It didn't help that the guy (well, both of them) dumped me. It was a big, bad blow that came at a bad time.
I started the blog soon after I turned in the manuscript for my book, which was just published last month. I was depressed, almost hung over from working on the book so intently for so long. I was at a loss for what to do next. I wasn't working that much (which is bad when you're a freelancer), I was seriously thinking about getting a conventional job. I had a mortgage that I couldn't afford, and not because of the subprime mortgage mess, but because the work just wasn't coming in. I hadn't run (and by that I mean seriously on-a-schedule run) since July, and I was looking it. Things were stalled all over my life, and I needed something to get me going.
This is what I wrote in my first post: "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."
That book was book 1 of 52, Julie Powell's Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen. I'd been meaning to read it since it came out, but could never find the time. Staring the blog gave me the time -- and permission -- to read that and a lot of books that I normally would have put in the "I can't read it because I can't sell anything about it" category.
Of course I ended up writing about it, and book 20 of 52, Ruth Reichl's Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table
By taking me out of that "I can't read it because I can't sell it" zone, this blog has lifted my work to another level. I read about stuff I never would have read about before. Books like Follow the Story: How to Write Successful Nonfiction
For example: I got an email today from Liz Claman, anchor at Fox Business Network, about a piece I wrote about her for Park Place Magazine. It was a very flattering letter and one she also sent to my editors. I had done the initial interview over the phone, but after reading Follow the Story, I knew something was missing to make it a really interesting interview. So I asked Liz if she'd like to go running (she had scolosis as a kid and was told she'd never run, but she ran the New York Marathon anyway). What a difference that run made. Here's the article. Could you imagine that piece without it and just a phone interview?
And that whole experience of being told to read Follow the Story: How to Write Successful Nonfiction
It wasn't just the 'big books' where that was important. It was in silly books took, like Sweet Valley Twins
So why was Heirloom: Notes from an Accidental Tomato Farmer
I can't even tell you how many times the books and this blog came to mind: The Importance of Music to Girls
I've always known that I learned from reading, but I never realized how much until I wrote about it on this blog. So if you ever say you're too tired/busy/stressed to read, I implore you -- yes, implore you -- to get off the computer, turn off the radio and turn off the TV and give it a go. I've gone days without watching TV because I was reading for this series, and you know what? I didn't miss it. Not one bit.
I started the blog on October 17, 2007. Obviously, it didn't take me 52 weeks, so I'm not sure what I will do now. I kept thinking that I'd keep going and keep writing about what I'm reading, but I have to admit that I'm tired. Blogging takes a lot of time and effort, and I'm running full steam ahead on my shore blog because it's promoting my book. So I might take a break, I might keep posting. We'll see....
On another note, thank you to everyone who has been following along. Your comments and emails have kept me going when I thought I was typing into the great unknown. It wouldn't have happened with out.
**UPDATE** I got a great suggestion of listing all the books from the series. So here they are, linked to their reviews:
The Beginning
1. Julie & Julia by Julie Powell
2. The Four Man Plan: A Romantic Science by Cindy Lu
3. Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner
4. Of a Feather: A Brief History of American Birding by Scott Weidensaul
5. Wired by Liz Maverick
6. The First Campaign: Globalization, the Web, and the Race for the White House by Garrett M. Graff
7. Smart Girls Like Me by Diane Vadino
8. How to Become a Famous Writer Before You're Dead by Ariel Gore
9. The Threesome Handbook: A Practical Guide to Sleeping with Three by Vicki Vantoch
10. Salty Dogs by Jean M. Fogle
11. Oh the Humanity! by Jason Roeder
12. Not Tonight, Mr. Right by Kate Taylor
13. Plug Your Book Online: Book Marketing for Authors by Steve Weber
14. Helping Me Help Myself by Beth Lisick
15. Office Mate: The Employee Hadnbook for Finding -- and Managing -- Romance on the Job by Stephanie Losee and Helaine Olen
16. To Cork or Not to Cork: Tradition, Romance, Science, and the Battle for the Win Bottle by George M. Taber
17. Sneaker Wars: The Enemy Brothers Who Founded Adidas and Puma by Barbara Smit
18. Ellington Boulevard: A Novel in A-Flat by Adam Langer
19. Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips
20. Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl
21. Blood Brothers by Nora Roberts
22. A Selection of Pieces from The New Yorker, The Talk of the Town
23. The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Getting Girls by Lisa Altalida
24. Rules of the Game by Neil Strauss
25. This Book Will Get You Laid by E. Dickens
26. Design Flaws of the Human Condition by Paul Schmidtberger
27. Follow the Story: How to Write Successful Nonfiction by James B. Stewart
28. A Short History of the American Stomach by Frederick Kaufman
29. The Wisdom of Donkeys by Andy Merrifield
30. Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years by Amy Hill Hearth
31. "Strong Medicine" Speaks: A Native American Elder Has Her Say by Amy Hill Hearth
32. Things I've Learned from Women Who've Dumped Me
33. Lee Miller: A Life by Carolyn Burke
34. The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
35. He Loves Me, He Loves me Not by Trish Ryan
36. The Wonder Spot by Melissa Bank
37. The Trap: Selling Out to Stay Afloat in Winner-Take-All America by Daniel Brook
38. Why Johnny Hates Sports by Fred Engh
38. A Summer Affair by Elin Hilderbrand
39. Dogface by Jeff Garigliano
40. Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan
41. First Marathons: Personal Encounters with the 26.2-Mile Monster
42. The Importance of Music to Girls by Lavinia Greenlaw
43. Quiet, Please: Dispatches from a Public Librarian by Scott Douglas
44. Sweet Valley Twins: Teacher's Pet by Francine Pascal
45. LoveHampton by Sherri Rifkin
46. ?
47. ?
48. ?
49. Up Until Now by William Shatner
50. The Scandal Plan or: How to Win the Presidency by Cheating on Your Wife by Bill Folman
51. The Book Stops Here: A Mobile Library Mystery by Ian Sansom
52. Heirloom: Notes from an Accidential Tomato Farmer by Tim Stark
Comments
Your blog inspired me to read more. I think I've read more this year so far than I read in '06 and '07 combined. Thank you! And I'm glad the project was so beneficial for you, too.
-Dawn
PS: Right now, I'm loving the Big Stone Gap series by Adriana Trigiani.
Thanks for sharing this.
Thank you for writing such a thoughtful blog. I have a long list of books to read thanks to you. But I've gotten much more from your posts than book recommendations. You have a wonderful voice.
And your story's come round full circle - you're cooking with a boy, getting bylines left and right, and having fun!
Now I have to go back and read the early posts I missed. I didn't discover the blog until the 20th-or so book and didn't realize that you started this from a breakup. The first thing I did almost crashing a car new years day, started a blog and promised to return to running.
I'll miss the 52-book series. What's next? May I suggest: 52 meals with Jen; 52 races with Jen; 52 trips to WaWa with Jen
Off to drown my sorrow in an upcake!