Dear Rory Gilmore #2

i'm not the best reader.

but i LOVE books.

the smell of a new book. the smell of an old tattered used book. the notes in the margins. the dog-eared pages of a favorite book read many times. the first bend in the spine of a fresh new book soon to become an old fave. the characters that become friends. the note about the author and small glimpse into their life on the last page.

pictured below are most of the books i am currently reading:

there are a few more books scattered throughout my life right now that are not in this picture.

i started some of these very recently and will read them quickly. and some of them i started over a year ago and will finish them eventually.

in looking at this stack of books, i find it easy to pinpoint my favorite types of writing.

#1 being memoir.
i love a book that is written like a journal. as if someone is talking to me like an old friend. i enjoy the glimpse into someone else's life that allows me to learn a lesson or to see that maybe i'm not as crazy as a i think i am and that we are not alone in this world. or maybe we are all crazy, just each a different bread. one of my absolute favorites is tuesdays with morrie.

#2 being YA fiction
i love classic YA chapter books. many of which containing familiar stories that have been retold in various ways. my favorite YA books are peter pan and bridge to terrabithia. both are about imaginary places that are full of adventure and interesting characters. sometimes i feel a little silly being an adult (for the most part) and reading kids chapter books. but i love a simple story with some imagination required too much to feel silly enough not to read them.

most other books fall into the #3 all together in no preferred order.

my new goal is to finish all of the books pictured above by 10/1/12 before beginning any new ones.

this however will be a difficult task partly because of the time it takes me to read. but also because of my love of amazon.com and used book stores. i already found myself perusing amazon.com yesterday and adding potential new reads to my cart.

i have started to chip away. since setting the goal, 3 of the books in the pile have been finished. one of which it took me a year and a half to read the first 165 pages and i read that last 180 in 24 hours.

but of all the goals to set in life, i think finishing the pile of half read books that i have acquired will be one of the more enjoyable and rewarding this year.