Thursday, August 30, 2012

What's going on here?



Hi, Hel here! I just wanted to drop a little note to let everyone know exactly what we are doing here and what the next few posts will be about. If Panda has anything to add, she will. 

Can't get that girl to shut up! 

Anyway, to cut to the chase. Panda and I have decided to read 12 books in the next 12 month and give an in depth review on each. When I say in depth, I mean it. It will be almost chapter by chapter. However, as our title suggests, this won't be a book report or summary. We've got way more style than that. Like Dumbledore. Also, because book lengths vary, we won't be assigning a strict month to each title. Some will receive more time, some less. But we won't go over one year. 

If we do, we have failed, and the consequences will be dire. 

The point of all this, you may ask?

I can only speak for myself. Having a four month old son makes your brain turn to mush. After I get done taking care of him, my husband, and the house all day, the last thing I want to do is engage my brain. But it's exactly the thing I SHOULD be doing. This will force me to read instead of vegging out to "Married to Jonas" (don't worry, this will be happening in addition to reading). I'm also hoping that reading will help me to get back to writing.

Picking books has been tricky and fun. I was scared Panda would make me read books I had no interest in and that I would spiral deep into depression once I was wasting my time reading instead of vegging out to "Married to Jonas”. So we decided that each of us would come up with a list of 15 books we want to read, and the OTHER person would pick six out of them.

In the coming posts, we will each explain why we picked the 15 books we have chosen, as well as why we picked the six we did from the other person’s list. Then, we will map out a timeline of which books we will read when.

I hope that made sense. If not, you’re probably in the wrong place. Your IQ can’t handle this. (Oh no she didn't!)

~Hel ;)  

O hai there. My name is Amanda. 

But long story short, I like books. In particular, novels. This is the reason I’m participating in 
this blog with my best friend Hel.

But, you see, I don’t get opportunities to read many novels these days because I recently started grad school for Library Information Studies and (believe it or not) LIS students don’t get to read novels or normal books. Nope, we read Hogwarts-sized magnum opuses over management and information organization. UGH.

So, by the end of the day my poor brain is leaking out my ears and gasping for creativity. 

That, or it’s too tired to even bother with leaking or gasping. 

Thus, I sort of need an excuse (and in other words motivation) to read – otherwise I will sleep all day like the fat and lazy Panda I am. This blog will not only give me what I want (novels) but the structure I need to feel productive.

…I think I worried Hel more than she worried me about the book lists. I can be pretty nonsensical at times (as you will see). My absurdity keeps her entertained, I’m sure. Now that I think of it, that’s probably one of the reasons she agreed to do this with me. She’ll seem normal compared to me (but don’t let her trick you).

Other than that, I think Hel summed the rest up nicely. Dire consequences, all that jazz.
So, yeah. We’re making our lists and checking them twice. Stay tuned!