The rules:
- I will read 18 books a year, that is a rate of 1.5 books a month. Not counted in that number is The Bible which I will also start reading (I have done this before and plan for it to take three to four years to get from cover to cover).
- Any book reasonably over 500 pages counts a two books; for example Little Women is only one book, but War and Peace is two.
- I can re-read books that I read in college, because well it's been a while and I don't remember half of them (which is another reason for this exercise).
- And I have to follow the Guidelines laid out for choosing books. Thirteen of these books have specific requirements and should be chosen at the start of the year.
- Two books must be poetry. They can be an anthology or a single poet, and can be read slowly over the course of the year.
- Two books must be classic novels. I know this is a little vague. By classic I mean something you would read in a college literature class, the ones you think of that define a genera or a style, the ones everyone should read. And 'modern' classics do not apply.
- One play by Shakespeare. I have a love-hate relationship with the Great Bard, but all in all he has been very influential on the English language and I just need to suck it up and cope.
- One medieval primary source or scholarly text on the period. I am a member of the SCA and would be remiss not to read something about my field each year.
- One spiritual work. I'm Christian, of the Anglo-Catholic persuasion, so this will be works by the saints or other religious people from the Catholic or early Anglican churches.
- One on food. Mostly whole food or traditional food cook books or food history. Who doesn't want to learn the long history of salt.
- Three 'self betterment' books. These will be non-fiction, how-to type books on child development, gardening, finance, anything that I wish to learn about for real life application purposes. Honestly it's really just more of what I've been reading the past few years.
- Two Great Books. These are any of the Great Books of a classical education that do not fall into any of the above categories.
- Five free choice books. These can be more from the categories from above or they can be that book a trusted friend insists I read. These books won't be chosen at the beginning of the year like the rest, but can be picked through out the year as I feel the need to continue reading on a topic or need a flight of fancy into cheesy modern fiction.