I like to fixate on things…some people would call it obsessive, but I prefer the term “fixation” – it’s only mildly creepy.
I have had my share of fixations, not the least of which is an endless passion for reading. I would fill you in on my other obsessions (tea, yarn, travel,…owls) but they get stranger and stranger, and eventually you would dub me “odd,” so I’ll stick with reading.
Not two weeks ago, a friend of mine informed me that she would be attempting the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge in 2009. She asked me if I wanted to join her, and I immediately told her no. I have this nasty tendency to sign up for far too many things. She pressed a bit and I begrudgingly told her I’d think about it. After all, these things are stated all the time and not necessarily done. I think there’s even an idiom to that effect.
She had started a group in a website we frequent and she pressed me to join – then she pressed me to moderate with her. So now my friend and I had a group on our website called 52 Books in 52 Weeks. We invited our friends to join with us, one did, so it was looking like it was going to be a three person contest which would, no doubt, fizzle out by the end of January.
About a week and a half ago, we posted our group to the website and anyone who wanted to join could. Today, we have 426 members. Whoa…
No one is really going to notice that I’m a moderator, and they’re all strangers really – who’s going to care if I don’t hit my goal? - but suddenly I felt this pressure to actually attempt to read 52 books in 52 weeks.
Ah well, I suppose my reputation for being a project person is well deserved. I’m going to give it a go – eep!
So then the planning began. Only books begun after the 1st of January could be included in my total. That meant I had to finish reading all books I had started prior to that date, or I would have to start them over. It’s December 29th and I still have one to finish. Wish me luck, cause I have a good 300+ pages left to go, it’s the first book in an 8 book series, and I reaaaaaaally don’t want to reread the sucker.
My second order of business was making a mental list of the books I wanted to read in my mind…the fun part. I did the math quickly, recognizing problems like school (I start for a second bachelor’s degree on Jan. 6th), holidays, vacations, emergencies, etc. These things would put a serious crimp in the goal, because if you fall behind by one week, recovering would be a total bitch. A couple of “cheater” books would have to be necessary – I define cheater books as books that will take me two days or less to read.
I figure I should throw some of those cheater books in right from the get go 
Therefore, I’m going to start my 52 book challenge with one of the very first books that made me truly love reading…stay tuned for book review #1!
