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[Urist_McDrowner]

I'm game.

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Sign me up. I'm not buying new books, though, so my number will be more in the mid-20's. My marine friend is deployed and she has the rest of my books. :[

[i2amroy]

Is there a list of suggested books?

Anything you want really, though if you read the first couple of pages you can see exactly what we decided counted as "books".

There's plenty of books that won't be that hard to digest in such a short time. If you're looking for short, try Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. It's under 200 pages and you could probably finish it in a single night. Not that hard to fit in some quality literature if you really want to accomplish more than simply turning pages.

Personally I'm avoiding most of what is defined as "quality literature" by english teachers as well, though for a completely different reason then fqlive. My thing is simply that the reason why I read is to exercise the imaginative portion of my brain. I use the analytical part that asks questions like "why is the writer doing this" and "what does this mean" all day running calculations for my engineering classes. So it's nice to be able to sit down with a good fantasy novel and let my imagination stretch instead of being bound into the real world like so much "quality lit" is.

In my opinion books are one of the few consumer methods of stretching your imagination (as opposed to supplier methods, such as creating art). Nowadays in the era of movies and games where we have pictures of everything painted out for us, it's rather rare to find things for consumers such as books or DF that force you to stretch your imagination.

[fqllve]

Personally I'm avoiding most of what is defined as "quality literature" by english teachers as well, though for a completely different reason then fqlive. My thing is simply that the reason why I read is to exercise the imaginative portion of my brain. I use the analytical part that asks questions like "why is the writer doing this" and "what does this mean" all day running calculations for my engineering classes. So it's nice to be able to sit down with a good fantasy novel and let my imagination stretch instead of being bound into the real world like so much "quality lit" is.

In my opinion books are one of the few consumer methods of stretching your imagination (as opposed to supplier methods, such as creating art). Nowadays in the era of movies and games where we have pictures of everything painted out for us, it's rather rare to find things for consumers such as books or DF that force you to stretch your imagination.

More modern lit has been getting less and less attached to realism, so there is stuff like Mieville, and Bishop, and other New Weird writers, along with a lot of the magical realism of Borges, Garcia-Marquez, and Eco, that's got a lot of fantastic elements and stuff that really exercises the imagination. The same is true for older literature, the further back you go the more fantastic elements seem to be present. Realism seems mostly to be a response to the 18th century. I also feel like it's kind of a mischaracterization to say realism isn't imaginative, some realism is highly imaginative (Hunchback of Notre Dame stretched my imagination as much as any fantasy novel) it's just imagination within constraints. Still, I can understand why you wouldn't feel like dealing with realism or something that requires a lot of analysis when you're an engineering student. Books are an excellent way to relax while still requiring a degree of active engagement on the part of the reader and without having to worry about being over-stimulated, but basically no one is going to read literature to relax.

I should say I am going to read a good bit of lit, I just don't actually expect I'll make it to 52 books, I'll be happy just having read more than I did last year.

[Frumple]

Yeah... it's worth noting I generally avoid heavy reading (that's doesn't lean toward academic philosophy, anyway) these days. Most of the "high quality" stuff... frankly, it tends toward goddamn depressing. (Unhappy) sex, death, and bigotry -- I just summed up 90+% of "great literature" I've read and heard about (and it's not an inconsiderable amount, because I chewed through a lot of it before I got sick of it.). If I want to observe that, I'll go outside or turn on the news, y'know? So I tend toward lighter stuff -- more specifically, I enjoy well written (from a stylistic/grammar standpoint, if not necessarily depth of meaning) crack fanfiction better than almost any other genre I've encountered. I love a good laugh, and a bit of well intentioned naughtiness, maybe a great quest or an interesting world and its explorations. I got tired of "weighty reading" and shoving the human condition in my face when I was about fifteen

[Jimmy]

Heh, looks like I'm the only contender here planning on making it to 52 from purely literary works. This makes me happy and sad at the same time.

[Dutchling]

Heh, looks like I'm the only contender here planning on making it to 52 from purely literary works. This makes me happy and sad at the same time.

I've planned on reading ~25% Dutch literature, ~25% foreign literature, ~25% informative and ~25% 'good' non-literature books.

[Heron TSG]

Purely literary? Not sure I know what you mean by that. (Are there books that aren't literature?)

I plan on reading about 33% fiction, 33% nonfiction, and 34% famous books that I probably should know about but never bothered to read.

[Dutchling]

Purely literary? Not sure I know what you mean by that. (Are there books that aren't literature?)

I don't what the English word is, but in Dutch the opposite of 'literatuur' is 'lectuur' (lecture is obviously not a good translation here). Basically, the 'lower, popularized form of written fiction', with stereotypical shallow characters who are often the exact same person at the end of the story

[Caz]

I will join! Put my goal down for 100 books. I tried this year (started in march really) and I'm around 70 or so. I think if I start afresh for 2013 I'll make it, especially with you guys around for the friendly competition. Read on!

[fqllve]

Purely literary? Not sure I know what you mean by that. (Are there books that aren't literature?)

Yeah literature is usually considered art writing.

Except that what people call art writing is this huge amorphous category that basically no one can agree on and that draws from every other category of writing from non-fiction to "junk" fiction.

He probably meant the literary "canon" though.

[Il Palazzo]

Put old Palazzo down for 52.
Boy, I hope I still remember how to read.

[Caz]

Yeah literature is usually considered art writing.

Like Shakespeare and stuff? Is the distinction arbitrary or is there some sort of list from the great reading authority?

Pretty sure my list is going to be filled with 'trash' fiction.

[fqllve]

You could find a list, but no two would agree, but yeah, like Shakespeare. I think it's pretty arbitrary, but I think art in general is a way of looking at things rather than a way things are.

[Caz]

You could find a list, but no two would agree, but yeah, like Shakespeare. I think it's pretty arbitrary, but I think art in general is a way of looking at things rather than a way things are.

I guess so. Maybe more likely the books that people pour years into writing, drawing on every memorable part of their lives and weaving it into the finished product, vs a seasoned career writer that does three books a year of rehashed procedural tripe (entertaining but leaves you feeling  hollow, like eating mcdonalds o-o)