The Book List Challenge

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Recently, whilst browsing through Buzzfeed (the King of procrastination websites, if you didn't know-to the point where I've just lost half an hour on it instead of writing up this post...) I came across a list entitled '65 Books You Need To Read In Your 20s' which caught my interest enough for me to actually read it rather than just skim through it.
I was intrigued because it wasn't full of the usual books which seem to populate the numerous '101 books you should read before you die' lists that I've seen in various corners of the internet-lists that are usually full of archaic classics that people think will complete your life when you read them. Here's the thing (and call me a heathen if you like) but I don't really enjoy reading classics-I find them really difficult to get through and the story lines are tiresome and tedious. I really don't like the excessive amounts of detail in them-every little thing has paragraphs of unnecessary description that you have to wade your way through to get back to the important plot points and I just find it really rather dull. I can't say that I wouldn't enjoy the stories in  the end (as I've never really given them a chance) I'm just really unmotivated to actually try and find out really. If given a choice I would always prefer to read one of my gory, modern-day thrillers over a classic book, even if they are all almost the same. I will let you judge me as you will.

This book list though, is different, because it is mostly comprised of books that I've never even come across before-I've only heard of 3 or 4 of them, and I've only actually read one. Plus I love a challenge with a time limit-I'm in my 20s, I love reading, I could totally tackle 65+* books in 7 years. I could probably read them before I was 25 actually, if I had them all already in a nice, teetering stack, and didn't have to physically locate them all.

So there we go. I'm setting myself a challenge-complete the list before the end of my 20s (Deadline: 7/7/30). It means I'll read books from all around the world, from every genre and most importantly ones I probably wouldn't have chosen to read for myself. I'm always wanting to increase the range of books that I read because I do have a bad habit of sticking to the same genres again and again-essentially reading the same story a hundred times. (Seriously, if you want to know how to write a crime/thriller/police novel I can give you the perfect formula off the top of my head!)
I'm not saying I'll enjoy every book, but I will endeavour to read them all cover to cover (unless they turn out to be truly awful a few chapters in, to the point where I can't bear to read any more). The ones I love, I'll keep, the ones I'm not so fond of will go to a charity shop or back to the library (if I ever get around to setting myself up with a library card, that is!). I'll review them, if I remember, or at the very least record whether I enjoyed them or not. I'm not going to read them in the right order, and I'm not going to solely read books from the list because I've got 7 years to do it, I'm not in a big rush. I only need to read 10 a year or so to keep on track, and I probably read at least five times that each year.

Whatever happens, my bookcase will be full and my brain will be brimming with tales. It should be fun!

-Jenni-

*I say 65+ because some of them on the list are trilogies or series, so it's definitely a bit more than 65 in total.

P.S This is my 100th post, hurrah! Here's to the next 100 more, ey?
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