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[FearfulJesuit]

Oh, I'd very much like to do this. Trouble is, in a week I'll be surrounded by books in a language of which I don't speak very much. I'd be fluently reading it, however, by...oh let's say Valentine's Day.

Would it be acceptable to do a 46-book challenge from February 15th to December 31st?

That would be interesting, each book would be in that language?

If it's so then I would allow you.

Many of them would be, certainly from February to July. I...don't know what I'd end up reading; the only big work of Lusophone literature I know is Camões and that's only because I found him in a used bookstore some weeks ago.

[Kansa]

Sure I will sign up for this

[Strife26]

Also, I'd like to suggest that everyone read at least a random book or three over the course of the year. Go to a second hand place and find something you *wouldn't* read. I read some very fun, broadening things, looking at all the weird stuff that ended up in my library in Iraq.

[GlyphGryph]

Books, is in the popular novel type, tend to last me a few hours. I could easily pull 52 in a month, but I won't, because that would be dumb. You average fantasy novel or long novel might take a day or two. They are an expensive hobby I've been trying to break myself from, if only expensive in time consumed.

So the problem here is that of those that remain after getting rid of the terrible soul sucking stuff in favour of stuff that actually makes me feel like I've gained something from the experience, I'm most naturally inclined towards reading anthologies and textbooks, which... well, let's just say they can take much, much longer to read.

What about magazines (smaller than the the huge anthologies I read, but generally of the same type) like a standard Analog, Strange Horizons, or the classic Fantasy & Science Fiction?

[Xantalos]

I'll PTW for now, and if I'm not too occupied by the new year, I'll join.

[fqllve]

Books, is in the popular novel type, tend to last me a few hours. I could easily pull 52 in a month, but I won't, because that would be dumb. You average fantasy novel or long novel might take a day or two. They are an expensive hobby I've been trying to break myself from, if only expensive in time consumed.

So the problem here is that of those that remain after getting rid of the terrible soul sucking stuff in favour of stuff that actually makes me feel like I've gained something from the experience, I'm most naturally inclined towards reading anthologies and textbooks, which... well, let's just say they can take much, much longer to read.

What about magazines (smaller than the the huge anthologies I read, but generally of the same type) like a standard Analog, Strange Horizons, or the classic Fantasy & Science Fiction?

Yeah, the problem with textbooks is that while you can read them in two or three days you aren't going to retain any of that. And I think good short fiction deserves to be read twice, if not more, because they can be hard to appreciate in just one read. I'm actually pretty much in the same boat you are, but I think it's possible with reading popularizations and fiction I think I'll actually enjoy. There are also collections of letters and journals that can be really informative on a person's work (and sometimes essential) and there's stuff like the Best American series, or the Best European which is much lighter reading than your usual anthology, although it pays for that by being of middling quality, culturally informative at least. Also, fiction awards regularly publish anthologies. I know the Nebula does and so does the O Henry and those are usually only around 400 pages.

Also, I'd like to suggest that everyone read at least a random book or three over the course of the year. Go to a second hand place and find something you *wouldn't* read. I read some very fun, broadening things, looking at all the weird stuff that ended up in my library in Iraq.

I'm totally doing this, because this is a great opportunity for it.

[SomeStupidGuy]

Also, I'd like to suggest that everyone read at least a random book or three over the course of the year. Go to a second hand place and find something you *wouldn't* read. I read some very fun, broadening things, looking at all the weird stuff that ended up in my library in Iraq.

Definitely doing that. In fact, I've got a nice little pile of bizarre pulp novels that I'd (probably) never take a good look at otherwise.

[Realmfighter]

I'll join, but only on the condition that all the 1000 page monstrosities I read count as two. If I started grabbing shorter books I could easily read one or two a week but I'm not really willing to start picking up books because of how short they are.

[Dutchling]

I'll join.

Spoiler: Books! (click to show/hide)

Books I plan on reading or that have been read. Some of these will be read before 1 Jan 2013, and will thus be removed from the list.

• The Prince - Machiavelli
• Inferno - Dante
• Purgatorio - Dante
• Paradiso - Dante
• The Silmarillion - J.R.R. Tolkien
• Pale Blue Dot - C. Sagan
• Peter the Great - Robert K. Masie
• Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Edward Gibbon
• The Tale of Cthulhu and other Weird Tales - H.P. Lovecraft
• The Discovery of Heaven - Harry Mulisch
• The Dark Room of Damocles - W.F. Herman
• Moord op Huilwater- Karin Brynard
• The Forgotten Soldier - Guy Sajer
• Dune - Frank Herbert

[Scelly9]

In. I'm going sailing for a month with no internet. Woo, books!

Goal - 100

[Xantalos]

In. I'm going sailing for a month with no internet. Woo, books!

Goal - 100

Woah boi.
I might be able to do that in the summer.

[Scelly9]

Hmmm. Book suggestions needed, STAT!

[Xantalos]

Hmmm. Book suggestions needed, STAT!

Dresden Files. Stephen King. This. Kinda a bit of swearing on the last one.

[Dutchling]

I might cheat a little and count "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" as mutliple books though , I can borrow that one from my brother.
Or I just read the other books a little faster...

[Yoink]

Hm. Sign me up for this. I used to read books- as in, your average novel- in a couple of days, but lately I've fallen out of the habit of reading and have spent way too much time on the internet instead. Well, I have been reading The Walking Dead and a heap of various comics, but obviously they don't count.

I've got a couple of new books to read, including the one I'm reading at the moment, (Billy Bathgate is the current one, and holy shit it is an amazing book. The prose is beautiful. Next up is Don Quixote, which will probably take me the remainder of the year to get through. ) but I have enough money to buy a couple of books or so each fortnight. There is an excellent bookstore in the City near me, in this lovely old building that is just jam-packed with books. I'll be glad of an excuse to shop there more often!