Stephen Harper's Book Club

Or Yann Martel's book club.

Or, because I can't resist a challenge, something new for me to do in my "spare" time.

So, when I saw the link to this, I was a bit skeptical, because really, what would Stephen Harper read? And what would he have to say about what he read?

I shouldn't have worried myself.

Stephen Harper's book club's book were chosen by Yann Martel (of Life of Pi fame).

Yann Martel pledged to send Stephen Harper one new book every two weeks for the duration of his term as Prime Minister of Canada. With each book, Yann Martel included a letter.

Last week Yann Martel announced he had sent the last book, even though Stephen Harper is still Prime Minister.

The list of books he sent to the Prime Minister is intriguing. I went through it and I'm curious and excited - yes, I'm a dork. I've read 9.5 of the books lists (.5 because #61 is two books and I have only read one...Where the Wild Things Are. It's actually on the table at home. J picked it out at the library on the weekend). So, in addition to my other book challenge, I'm going to try to read through this list. 100 books sent every two weeks is 200 weeks - just a couple of months shy of four years. I can do this...it just might take a while! And books from this challenge will count for the other challenge (providing they meet the criteria!) I love that the list isn't just fiction or non-fiction, it's not just about current issues, and it's not just Canadian works.

Oh, and I sort of feel sorry for the Prime Minister's Executive Correspondence Officer. How many boring letters like the response letters to you think (s)he has to write every day.

What do you think of the idea of a Prime Minister's book club? How many of the books have you read?

Books I have already read - but I'll likely reread them. It's been a while since I read most of them:

2. Animal Farm
13. To Kill A Mockingbird
14. Le Petit Prince
15. Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit
31. Their Eyes Were Watching God
33. Persepolis
37. A Modest Proposal
51. Julius Caesar
61. Where the Wild Things Are
79. Charlotte's Web

Oh and I couldn't decide where to post this - it fits with both blogs, so it's posted twice. Sorry if you got it twice...

My new imaginary friend

Did you have an imaginary friend when you were little?

I did. I had multiple. I could never remember their names though. They changed all the time.

But I have an imaginary friend now, and I'm not that little (and I can remember her name). Her name is AndreaClaire and you can read about her over on Writings from a Nobody.

She's part of The Great Book Challenge, she's doing her own Project 365 and she likes postcards.

So we had an imaginary cup of tea together. Because it just seemed like the right thing to do!

A new challenge

Hanging on the bulletin board in my office is a now-yellowing copy of the Globe and Mail's 100 books to read (The Globe 100), published on November 28, 2009. It caused much discussion in our office and one of my coworkers thought maybe she'd try to read 100 books this year. Not necessarily that 100, but 100.

That's almost two books a week. You can have four weeks off where you only have to read one book.

I've been pondering her challenge to herself (I do know that she's postponed the challenge as there have been some other, more pressing challenges in her life the last few months) and wondering if I could do it. I KNOW I can't read 2 books a week. I have a toddler. Okay, scratch that, the other day we read about 50 books, some of them multiple times, but toddler books just don't seem to make the cut in my challenge to myself.

I've also been missing my book club. It was fun until it gradually disovled as we all became busier and busier and had less time to read and meet. Those ladies are some great friends!

So I thought about it and thought about it and thought about it and I'm going to try to read one book in a calendar month until the end of December. If that goes well, I'm going to try two books in a calendar month. Ideally I'd like to be at 52 books in the year, but not forcing myself to read one book a week. Quite honestly I know there will be weeks where I won't even pick up a book and other weeks where I plow through a couple.

So, I've started another site over there. Just for The Great Book Challenge.

And I've set myself a few rules:

1. If I cannot, absolutely bring myself to finish a book, I will not. I tend to torture myself and force myself to finish books even when they're not keeping my interest and I'm not enjoying them. I'm not going to do that for this challenge.


2. If I don't finish a book, I will still blog about it. Then I will attempt to read another book in that same, now truncated, month.


3. I will try to read books from all kinds of genres, not just fiction or memoirs or toddler books...


4. I will welcome suggestions from other readers. Actually, I always welcome suggestions from other readers. Please, suggest away!


5. For the purpose of this challenge, for a book to count as the book of the month, it MUST NOT be a book I have already read


6. If you have anything to add to what I write about a book or if you have a completely different opinion, leave a comment. Please...I want to hear about what you have to say (and I miss my book club!)


7. If you want to join me, please do! Click on the join tab for more information. Just because you've joined the challenge doesn't mean you have to post anything or read the same book as me.


8. I am going to only read "free" books. So borrowed, library, gifts, gift card purchases or books that already exist in my bookcases. If you decide to join, you do NOT HAVE to adhere to this rule. It's optional. I'm still on a book diet...hence the free book thing.
   

So, please, go visit me over there and see if I manage to accomplish this new challenge. Before I start it though, I guess I should finish the rejigging of this site. Sigh...multitasking only works when you don't get distracted while doing it. Actually, maybe multitasking is just another way to say distracted.