What's all this then?

First things first.....I like reading.  Blame it on being the son of a teacher, blame it on Dad going over football magazines with me at a young age, whatever.  I've always liked reading.  When I met Joe in high school, he was a kindred spirit in many ways. (Hand to god, within 5 minutes of meeting each other in Spanish class, we were talking...okay, arguing, about sports.  I'm not sure we've stopped since.)  But book-reading, well, that wasn't discussed.  Part of the problem was there was so much else to talk about, between analyzing the sports section of the newspaper, and all the drama of being in high school (which, sadly, we weren't involved in nearly as much as we should have been.  But we did still talk about it.), books just didn't come up.  Not unusual for 15-year olds.  Unfortunately, once I left high school, I stopped reading as much.  I'd read the occasional Clive Cussler action novel, or any random sports biography that caught my eye, but I kind of lost myself in other things, and stopped reading as much.  Joe read more, to be expected  considering his 32* years of college education. But it still wasn't something we discussed, or really knew how the other one felt. 

Then 9/11 happened. And I realized that, if I didn't want the terrorists to win, I'd have to make books a part of my life again.  The End.

Just Kidding.  Sort of.


What can I say, 2002 was a confusing time.  We were at war with Muslim Extremists, and I'll be damned if I knew what that term meant.  I didn't really even understand basic Islam.  How can you make sense of an extreme point of view if you don't have any normal reference to steer from?  So, I went down to the local library, found a couple of books on Islamic beliefs, checked them out (while probably flagging my name on some random FBI list; thanks Patriot Act!!!!), and started reading. And after that, I read a couple more.  Then I branched off onto other topics, and soon I was reading pretty regularly again.  I had rediscovered books, and in the process I had snapped my head out of the fog that clouded it.  The brain is a muscle too**; you have to exercise it, or it gets flabby and weak.  No reason for both my body and mind to be horribly out of shape.

 Anyways, while this was going on, Joe started reading more as well.  And, not being completely oblivious, we noticed that the other one was always talking about this book or that, and then we started recommending books, and expressing our love for Barnes and Noble (It's a crackhouse with shelves and a Starbucks!).  And then Joe came up with a brilliant idea.  We read 24(now 25) books a year, with certain rules and provisions.  2010 will the third year we've done it, and we've both made the goal each time.***

Here are the rules:

1. We have to read  25 books in a calendar year.  The books have to be finished by Dec 31.  The first book can be started slightly before the calendar year, As long as the majority of the book is read in said Calendar year.

2. We must choose one "Epic" book a year.  "Epic" usually means 700+ Pages, give or take.  It should be said, given the we are both giant nerds, we usually read a handful of epic books each year.

3. Other than the "Epic" book, there is no guideline to length or type of book read.  Long, Short, any Genre, it's all up for grabs.

4. Joe and I assign each other 2 books a year.  Again, no guidelines, any book will do.

And that's the challenge.  This year, I decided we needed a blog, to help keep track of what we have read, are reading, and our thoughts.  I hope to keep this site well updated, and to share my thoughts on what I read.  Because I've learned one thing: if we don't read, the terrorists win.

These Colors don't run!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





*= May be slightly exaggerated
**= Not True.  Sue me, I've yet to read an anatomy book.
***= Barely, at times.  The first year we had the challenge, I lagged behind all year, rallied late, and decided that I wanted to read the Federalist Papers, by Madison and Hamilton, to finish it off.  I also decided, in all my vain glory, that I would do it in the last two weeks of the year.  Long-Story-Short- I made it.  And I'm a fucking idiot.