Easter, the Library, and eBay

Part of this journey has been acquiring the books on the list. It’s almost as fun as reading them. Spending lazy afternoons in used bookstores, browsing time searching for decently priced (and reasonable shipping) online, and stuffing my kindle full of free ebooks of all of the classics. In about 2 months, I’ve doubled the collection I started with, and now own (or have been lent) about 30% of the list. It’s enough to keep me busy reading while I work out how to get the reaming 700 without breaking the bank. So, while I’m trying to quickly finish another book for a review, here’s a lovely story about my book finding antics…

Book #744 – Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

This book came out when I was in college, and would have immediately gone to the top of witchcraft obsessed high school me’s wishlist for books. Sadly, I was a broke college student reading my way through Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series, and whatever heat transfer book my professors were swearing by that year. So, the cursory glance over at the back cover while browsing the small literature selection in the campus bookstore? About as far as this book got with me 8 years ago.

The set-up is pretty much your typical high school transfer student….

Book #2 – Divergent by Veronica Roth

I know what you’re thinking. This is the first review, why is Book #2. Because this was Book #2 on “The List”, ranked with 2,339,658 ratings on Goodreads at the time the list was created.

I should premise this by saying I watched the Divergent movie when it came out because at the time, I was fascinated with dystopian futures the way practically everyone was in the post-Hunger-Games era that was the time of my college years. Unfortunately, while reading the book, I recalled next to none of the movie save small snippets.

How This Journey Started

Welcome to the Library.

The Library is where I’ll try to read my way through Goodreads top 1000 most read books. Once I finish a book, I’ll try and post a review that includes the title, author, and ranking of the book from the original list.

Why a list? Well, this is actually the third or fourth iteration of “The List” as it’s referred to by anyone that’s seen my sheaf of dog-earred, note-covered print outs of book titles. The first list was made when I was probably 8 or 9 and given free reign to run around the local library with a notebook and a library card. It’s basically a very long reading list because without structure of some sort, my personal library ends up a hodgepodge of bizarre titles. (Like it is now, to be honest).

Why Goodreads? Similar to the reason I would use IMDb for movies. It’s the largest database and user pool that I can find online.

When was this list created? So, the current list is ranked by number of ratings on Goodreads as of the end of January 2018. Or, as close as I can get because you can’t actually sort through Goodreads by number of ratings. You have to rely on lists curated and updated by other members. Likely, it will need updated every 5 years or so to allow for new sensational novels.

What about other books? Right now, I own (or have borrowed) about 200-300 books on the 1000 list. My library is some 600 books at last count, so I may throw in “freebies” if I ever burn out on the list.

So, if you’re wanting to know whether picking up that best seller is a good idea, I’m going to try and keep my opinions as fair as possible.

Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” ― Lemony Snicket