1001 books you must read before you die… a side note
A while ago I talked about how many books I had read from the list of books included in book titled 1001 books you must read before you die both on my blog and on the good ol’ thinkubator. I found it interesting that the post on my blog yielded no replies to how many books from the list people had read, but when I asked the same question to a more targeted community, the conversation went wild.
Now, I’m more interested in the guilt that is associated when people have numbers that they feel aren’t adequate. I posed this question on the thinkubator and recieved no response.
Why is it that my first reaction, having read 49 at the time of posting (now a proud 50), was to say “if I own more than half of them, does that count?” or “but you’re 10 years older than me, so that’s why your number is higher.” I’m interested in why there is this desire to make excuses for not having read more of the list. As if, once there’s a stick to measure against, suddenly there is a need to be measured well against it.
So, how many books have you read on the list?
What excuses did you create as you read through it?
I’m very interested to know. The most common one at work was “what if I have it on my shelf?” and “but I saw the movie…does that count…?”
Friends Keep Saying I Should Blog... 
As of yesterday, I have read 123. Not bad. By the end of this year, hopefully, I’ll have gotten to about 150. Then I feel that’s a respectable number.
However, a lot of the books on the list are bollocks — can you tell me that EVERY SINGLE book that Ian McEwan deserves to be on the list and not a single title by Margaret Laurence? I think not…
No need to stress pumpkin you’ve read plenty and you’re super-smart already.
ragdoll
January 23, 2007
That is a VERY respectable number! I’m hoping that the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die…The Club ups my number by at least 2 (surely we can get through 2 books in this whole year, right?).
And awwwwwwwwww, thanks for the super-sweet compliment 🙂
doth
January 24, 2007