This might just be the biggest first world problem in the universe, but I'm going to write about it anyway, because really, what else is a blog for? No, I shouldn't say that. I know a lot of blogs that are very nontrivial. Maybe it is me who is trivial and not blogs.
I was going over the list of books I've read, or, more accurately, the list of books I can remember having read. I am about 14 titles shy of 1,000. I won't pretend that I'm not impressed with myself. At one point I wanted to set a goal to read 1,000 books by the time I turned 30, but I abandoned it because I knew it was unrealistic. It could have been done, only at a really stupid cost. But this is the year, regardless of my age.
However, book number 1,000 needs to be special. It can't be just any book, right?
So, what's it gonna be? I need some ideas. I've already read pretty much every work of classic/highly acclaimed literature, and if I haven't read it yet, it's probably because I have concerns about the content and/or its possible effect on my mental and emotional wellbeing. Although I can't say that for certain, because as of last year I had not read The Grapes of Wrath or For Whom the Bell Tolls.
I have the top shelf of one of my bookcases reserved for literary masterpieces, and I studied it for a moment, wondering if the authors represented have works as yet unexplored by me. They do, but I've already read their greatest works. Book 1,000 can't be The Toilers of the Sea if I've already read Les Miserables. A Tale of Two Cities is there, but I don't think I'll ever be bored enough to want to read Little Dorrit.
If I don't come up with anything better it will probably end up being The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson. I have heard good things about this book by people who are maybe just a little obsessive over it. The only drawback is that it is the first in what will turn out to be a massive epic fantasy series, and I'm just not sure I want to get involved right now. And yet, I will get involved at some point, and if I wait too long I might get overwhelmed by the number of words to read rather than the time I will have to wait until the next part is written and published. Maybe Sanderson will be 999 or 1,001.
It wouldn't be that difficult of a decision if I counted re-reads. But I don't. So reading Jane Eyre for the 10th (or 11th or 12th ... or something) time isn't an option.
I could totally go ancient and read something like Pilgrim's Progress, or Paradise Lost. Pilgrim's Progress is the most famous allegory ever. And as for Paradise Lost, in order to graduate with an English Literature degree from BYU, you have to take a course solely on Shakespeare, Chaucer, or Milton. Milton is the only one I'm not too familiar with (though I'd be lying if I said I've read all of The Canterbury Tales or even the majority of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets). That could work.
I wonder if it should be a book about a bibliophile. Or about bibliophilia in general. Like Ex Libris or Experiment in Criticism. But I've already read them. Bibliokleptomania: The Book Thief? Already read it.
The sad truth is—and I seem to remember having written something similar to this on my blog already, so forgive me for repeating myself—that the more you read, the harder you have to work to be truly impressed by a book.
Thus, here it is. A blog post serving a dual role—1) asking for reading recommendations and 2) serving as an illustration of the oftentimes trivial nature of life in a developed country.
And to further that thought, I am really miffed about this snowstorm that hit today. Not because I don't have a safe, warm place to curl up while I wait it out, because I do, and I will mention that I'm really, really grateful for that, but because it means that I can't go to the gym today or tomorrow. And, more important, me and the Man are both off work at the same time for once, and because he lives in the next county, we can't see each other on his day off. It was officially recommended around 2 pm today that if you weren't already home, you should just stay at work overnight. And that led me to think about how fun it would be to have a game of hide and seek in my office building. Then I just wanted to see him. Because he is one in a thousand. Or a billion. Or something.
