~BOOKLUST Rules

NEW as of 5/22/2012! I have decided to read every book in Nancy Pearl’s Book Lust and More Book Lust AND Book Lust To Go. Here are the guidelines I am trying to follow:

1. I will only read the books listed in bold (or listed in the index – the same thing, hopefully).
2. I will adhere to the “5025 page or first chapter rule” (if by 25 pages or the first chapter, whichever comes first I haven’t gotten “into” the book I will put it down and call it “attempted”).
3. I will write a “review” of each book to prove that I’ve read it. I use the term review lightly because my goal is not to criticize the author, or Nancy for her choice, but only to indicate my partaking of the words as I read them.
4. I will allow myself “outside” reading (non Book Lust choices) of only Real Simple and other magazine subscriptions. AMENDED TO ADD: I will be reviewing Random House/ LibraryThing books on occasion. Those titles take priority over BL titles.
5. I will not “read” cookbooks, but rather glance through them, reading the introductions and “how-to” pages (bonus points for trying a recipe).
6. I will try to read the book rather than listen to an audio version or watch the video interpretation. Ammended to add: UNLESS I am training for the Just ‘Cause 60 mile walk!
7. I will try to get all books from libraries if I do not already own them.
8. I will not keep library books past their due dates and renew only once.
9. If I have to purchase any books I will check used bookstores and small independent bookstores before trying the chains or big guys like B&N.
10. I will not spend more than $200 total on books.
11. All books purchased will be donated (unless I really, really love them).
12. I give myself permission to skip over the books I read prior to the Book Lust Challenge, as long as I remember the plot, most characters and/OR the ending. I still have to post a brief blog.
13. I give myself permission to reread some of the books I’ve already read OR see the movie version as long as #12 applies.
14. In regards to poetry I will read only the individual poem(s) recommended and not the entire collection.
15. If the recommendation is “anything” by so-and-so (in regards to poetry) I will read one anthology/collection/book of poems of my choice by said recommended author.

10/23/07: I came up with a way to decide when some books will be read. (I was getting bored with trying to chose books at random.) I decided to look up “National —- Month.” National bicycle month. National dog month. National gardening month. Like, for example, November is National Adoption Month and Nancy has a chapter on adoption so I’ll read adoption books in November. I also looked up the birthdays of “Too Good to Miss” authors like Lee Child, Connie Willis, Robert Heinlein, and Mark Kurlansky. I’ll read something of theirs in their birth month. To further the list I looked up when Alabama became a state, when Alaska became a state, when Texas became a state etc, etc. I have nearly 90% of all challenge books organized this way. Update 5/22/2012: I have also started looking at festivals – Washington D.C. has it’s annual cherry blossom fest in May so I’ll read books that take place or are about D.C. in May…You get the point.

12/1/07: This has nothing to do with the reading per se, but I have decided to use my own pictures of the books I am reading from now on. This will require me to do a little more work, but at least I’ll be posting a pic of the actual book I’m reading and not someone else’s.

3/15/11: Obviously I gave up on the photo taking thing. I realized that I have a picture of what I’m reading here.

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