read all the books i own and haven't read

Dear Chicago Public Library,
Why are you making me fail at this? I’m not buying new books, but I’m not reading the ones I do own because of you and your abundant treasures. And then you come out with the fall selection for One Book, One Chicago, which means brand new books with uncracked bindings. You know I can’t resist that. Why must you taunt me like this? I’d say we should maybe give it a rest, but let’s be honest, that won’t happen any time soon.
Lustfully yours,
Kim

Yeah…no progress still…but I did read four other books in the meantime…

To simplify, and ideally motivate myself, to do this task, I’m reducing what I’m considering my books. Right now, it’s just fiction that counts. The ones I’m focusing on are the following 10, which are all on Peter Boxall’s 1001 Books to Read Before You Die:

*Main Street—Lewis
*A Clockwork Orange—Burgess
*The Great Gatsby—Fitzgerald
*The Picture of Dorian Gray—Wilde
*Fahrenheit 451—Bradbury
*1984—Orwell
*Of Mice and Men—Steinbeck
*The Sun Also Rises—Hemingway
*Rebecca-DuMaurier
*Memoirs of a Geisha-Golden

(Yes, I know that the last two are new additions to my list. I got Rebecca for free and couldn’t let it pass, and Memoirs was in the garage sale pile at home and I yoinked it for the same reason.)

Fact: school really gets in the way of this. So does the library. I haven’t really had much time to read for leisure, despite wishing I did. Soviet history is taking up so much time, as is reading for workshops in Fiction Writing and Magazine Writing. And I got the new selection of One Book, One Chicago for the season (Raymond Chandler’s The Long Goodbye) from the library and would really like to finish it and go to some of the events they’re having for it.

Eventually, I will read my bookshelf. Someday…

Currently up: Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”

(Also, since last time, I finished most of “Franny and Zooey,” lost the book, and finished the last 10 pages sitting in the library. But losing the book sort of feels like it negates the point of reading books I own. :)

Official list of fiction as follows:
*East of Eden—Steinbeck
*Main Street—Lewis
*The Good Master—Seredy
*A Clockwork Orange—Burgess
*The Inferno—Dante (Pinsky translation)
*The Great Gatsby—Fitzgerald
*The Picture of Dorian Gray—Wilde (I read most of this, but I’m never sure if i finished it, can’t hurt to read again)
*Fahrenheit 451—Bradbury (similar situation as to the Wilde)
*Franny and Zooey—Salinger
*1984—Orwell
*And You Shall Know Our Velocity—Eggers
*Of Mice and Men—Steinbeck
*The Sun Also Rises—Hemingway

Reading Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. Finished Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas a few days ago, cleared it off my shelves with BookCrossing.

I went to the library and got a book…

so Fear and Loathing is briefly on hold, even though I really enjoyed the first two chapters. I’m going to quickly read James Baldwin’s Go Tell It On The Mountain, which is the Chicago Reads book of the season. Then, I will be back on track. For serious.

Finished the library book I needed to read for class. Will be starting Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas soon. I bought it used for $4 earlier this year (or maybe last year).

I also went through the books I have here and pulled five of them off the shelf. I’ve listed them on half.com because I’m just not that interested in music journalism anymore. It’s not to make my load of books I need to read easier (I still have a lot at home to read), it’s just being pickier about what I read. This way, I’m reading less junk, more good stuff.

I am making horrible progress on this. I really need to finish my book up for class. I also realized that I will have fewer books to read if I sell the ones I’m not interested in. Then, I will hopefully have more money to buy books that will sit on my shelf that I haven’t read. (It’s very circular…)

One down, far too many to go.

Main Street (Sinclair Lewis)
On The Road (Jack Kerouac)
Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas (Hunter S. Thompson)
The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
You Shall Know Our Velocity! (Dave Eggers)
Reason (Robert Reich)
What’s The Matter with Kansas? (Thomas Frank)
Real Punks Don’t Wear Black (Frank Kogan)
Nothing Feels Good (Andy Greenwald)

I have to take a short break on this to read a novel for class, but I think I’m going to pick up with The Great Gatsby once I’m done with the other book.

Honestly, some of the books I have I don’t want to read anymore. I bought them when I was really into being a rock journalist, which is no longer an ambition of mine. So maybe I’ll just unload them on half.com or bookcrossing and not have to read them…is that cheating?