100 Books in One Year

I'll preface this, my 13000th blog on the Internet, with this confession: I'm generally not good at competitions. Houseleague basketball tourneys, NANOWRIMO, 24-hour famines, cribbage---I've attempted all of these activities in competition-based form, and have failed at all of them.

However, after seeing that today is the deadline for Cannonball Read I've decided to once again to step into the precarious territory of the Internet Competition and publish my progress.

The rules are simple: Read 100 books in one year. There's no prizes or anything. Like Nanowrimo (the yearly competition where you try to write a giant novel in the month of November) the victory will be personal. If I read 100 books in 2009, the glory will be mine and mine alone. The rules are as follows:

No books smaller than 200 pages.
Short story collections only count if they are at least 6 stories long.
Absolutely no re-reading. Books you have read before you start the competition do not count.
NO GRAPHIC NOVELS!??

I've amended the last rule because I acquired two extremely weighty graphic novels that I really want to get through this year. But everything else stands. I promise you people I will adhere to the rules. I ain't no pussy. I won't cheat.

This blog will track my reading progress and probably minute aspects of daily-life bullshit (jobs and stuff) that will invariably distract me from my goal. When I finish a novel, I will write a short review/personal study/raging invective about the finished work. I am not asking for pledges, donations or even positive reinforcement. I'm just putting this out there for people who might be interested.

Check me out at http://readnbleed.blogspot.com.

Feel free to criticize, agree, and especially RECOMMEND. I have a shortlist I'm starting out with but I definitely need more.
And if you want to make this a real balls-out competition, the way sports people do, you can join me. Throw down your gauntlet and see if you can beat me. Fool.

Why am I doing this? Well, I had a bit of a rough end of 2008 (I know, who didn't, wahhhh, recession, etc.) I got really sick and two close friends passed away. I'm looking to start 2009 with a healthier outlook. I love reading---it's the one thing I can do. The idea of channelling my favorite pastime into a competition is exciting. I need excitement. So do you. Join me!