Greetings

So I am a little new to blogging but have been debating a particular reading project of mine.  I have been planning on reading my way through popular and top books and sharing my thoughts with anyone who may want to listen.  Hopefully I can also get some of your feedback on these books as well.

Anyway, a little about myself, I am an avid reader and have been as long as I can remember. Looking back through my life, friends have come and gone, pets, jobs, classes, interests have all joined those friends that have made brief appearances, but one consistant thing I see looking back has been a book in my hand. I have my amazing mother to thank for my love of books, as a child she was constantly reading to my brother and me.  Once we were old enough to read for ourselves she took us to the library almost anytime we wanted, sometimes it was 3 or 4 days a week! She enrolled us in the summer reading program offered and I would read and read, until my dad would kick me out of the house and make me go ride a bike, my goal was always to get the free book (I think it was for every 50 or 100 books you read). Summers were the best time, during the day when dad was working mom would make a lunch and sit with us for a couple of hours reading a book aloud.  When bed time would roll around we would crawl into our beds while mom sat in the hallway between our rooms and read more to us.

In school my teachers encouraged the reading. I loved library days and the silent reading time, one memory I have in particular, I think I was in 2nd or 3rd grade and the teacher had a covered wagon in the room that I would sit in during silent reading and I read a  book called Stable Mates (I think) that I read over and over again.  I didn't encounter a book I didn't like until 6th grade when I was in an advanced reading program and had to read Jane Eyre, I don't know if I was just too young to appreciate to book or if it was just the fact that I was forced to read it.  That book was later followed with books in high school like The Scarlet Letter, Huckleberry Fin & Tom Sawyer.  All in all I loved most of the books I read.  I may have discovered some books I really didn't like in school but I also discovered books I would love forever in my English Classes.  I have to thank my 11th & 12th grade English teacher Mrs. H. for introducing me to some of my all time favorites which include: Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies, Frankenstien, and Island of Dr. Moreau just to name a few.

My first semester in college also introduced me to a new area of books that I fell madly in love with, Epic Poetry.  Dante's Divine Comedy, Iliad and Beowulf immediately joined the ranks of my favorite books!  That class was one of the classes I was most passionate about in my entire schooling career.

Now that I am out of High School and college I find myself in a job that I am not passionate about and so I try to get lost in my books again.  I read everything from childrens books to memoirs to poetry to fantasy.  I get so lost in my books, I loose complete track of time. No matter what happens throughout the day I always know there is a whole other world waiting for me when I get home.

 My only issue lately has been the fact that I have gotten stuck in a book rut, I have been reading only one particular type of book, I have been stuck in the Science Fiction/ Fantasy world for some time now even though I know that I would enjoy other genres of books.  So in order to help myself expand and to break out of my reading rut I decided on a little project for myself.  Over the next year I want to read what are considered top books of different genres. This idea started out big (and may eventually get there) with a goal to read the top 100 books of all time, the problem arose that everywhere I looked there was a different list of what was considered the best books.  The other problem was that I have a hard time finishing projects and the top 100 books seemed like far more of a project than I am prepared to take on.

So starting with the new year I plan on reading the top books of a few genres of books/pieces of writing.  I figure that I can start small with Childrens Books and then move to Young Adults, followed by Plays, Poetry/Essays and ending with Classics. This is just a tenative list, it may change once I start looking for lists.  With each genre I will try to compile a list of what are considered the top 10 works (in english at least). I will hopefully obtain each of these books for my own collection, if not then I will try to get them from the library.  As I read each book I will try to share with you all my thoughts, ideas, or anything that comes to mind. 

So any thoughts, ideas or suggestions for books or genres are really appreciated! 

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and I hope that you will join me on my journey!

Hope this finds you all in good health and high spirits!