Just What I Think

This is going to be the year of relationships. I can just tell.

I've already been delighted by the reemergence of some long lost pals. There were some great visits over the holiday weeks and some wonderful surprises in my mailbox. I does bring me great joy to think of rekindling some of these great friendships.

I am also quite happily looking at some other people in the fringes of my life and seeing them in a different light. I'm looking forward to seeing just how events will progress to allow these acquaintances to move into the realm of friends.

These things delight me.

The craze in some of my home school circles right now is a thing called The 888 Challenge. You might have noticed the link on the side. I can't decide if it amuses me or inspires me. I think it might be a great combination of both.

The idea is that you will create for yourself 8 categories to read books from. You will then read 8 books in each of the 8 categories, finishing by the end of 2008. Thus 888 Challenge.

For a day or so, I thought this was a great challenge. Especially if it gets people reading. I am often frightened by people who don't read, so something that encourages reading is positive to me. Then I really started to think it through a little more. At least in terms of myself doing it.

See, I've often kept a record of what I read in a year. I have some lists that date back into the 90's. The reasons for keeping those lists are mine though. I keep them partly just because I have a short memory for titles and author's names. I've in the past found myself part way through a book thinking, haven't I read this before? With the lists, I can go back and see. My lists also help me record what's happening in my life. A year with a tiny baby might have a lot of books, but they're "fluff" books. A year before kids had "hard" books. The lists help me remember what was going on in my day to day. There was a year of beginner home school books. A year of Autism survival books. A year when I day dreamed of being a "real" writer.

I don't really think I could do the 888 Challenge. There are a number of reasons. I don't think I could come up with 8 categories of things I'd like to read 8 books in. Sounds kind of petty or silly, I know. I choose my books on feel. It looked good in the book store or library. I knew someone who said it was a good book. I've liked the author in the past. I've read a review of the book and it caught my attention. It's a book on a subject that I'd like to, or need to know more about at this moment in my life.

I also don't think that I would like the pressure of checking off the lists. That lingering feeling that I must hurry through the book to get to the next so that I'll have read all 64 (or 56 if you're allowing the overlaps) before the buzzer goes off. Some books are meant to be read like a fast food burger is meant to be eaten quickly in the car before it congeals. Some are meant to be like the expensive, extravagant chocolate that you savor or the time spent in the tub with candles and wine. Some are meant to be like your favorite moments or lines from a sitcom or movie, recited aloud to others over and over for laughs.

So, I'll read this year. Rest assured in that. I can't imagine a year that I wouldn't read. I'll probably be a little more focused and assertive in my reading, just because this little craze sweeping the home school moms tweaks me. But I know I won't be setting any records other than my own personal list of what my life looks like this year. When we move into 2009, I'll be able to look back over the list and see things about the year 2008 that I won't be able to see while I'm living it.