Literary Musings & Legal Adventures

I was reading a post a few weeks ago on Book Riot about what it means to be well read and it got me thinking — I read a lot, but I don’t necessarily consider myself well read. There are so many classics (both old and modern) that I’ve never picked up, and so many of those books that you’re “supposed” to read or books that it feels like everybody but me has read. There are SO MANY of these books sitting on my bookshelves, and yet I am awful at picking them up and sitting down to read them. But I would like to be better about it!

So now I’m on a quest.

I think one of the best definitions of “well read,” that ever so nebulous term, is one discussed in the Book Riot post. Emily of Reading While Female (@ReadWhileFemale on Twitter) defined “well read” as: “Well read means reading widely from a broad range of genres and subjects…Reading widely includes, but is not limited to, literary fiction and classics. Reading 200 paranormal romances =/= well read.” And I think her definition is pretty spot on.

A few of the book bloggers whose blogs I read have taken on a Fill in the Gaps project/challenge, and I’m going to try one myself. The original challenge is to pick approximately 100 books, and to read 75% of them within 5 years. I’ve picked 120 books (most of them sitting on my bookshelf or in my Nook, though not all), mostly a variety of types of fiction but including some non-fiction as well. My goal is to read as many as possible, but at least 75% of the list, by the end of 2017.

And since I’m one of those hyper-organized, Type A types, my project wouldn’t be complete without a record! So, I’ve posted my list and will be keeping track of my progress on this page. Check it out if you’d like.