Top Ten Tuesday - Bookish Bucket List

Top Ten Things On My Bookish Bucket List

1. Infinite Jest
Infinite Jest is my...well, it's my Moby Dick. I've started it, restarted it, researched it, spend hours glaring at it's cover. I just can't seem to read past the first 50 pages. It's not even that I don't like the story, or what I've processed of the story. It's that it's just so big. Now I'm sometimes one to shy away from high page counts but that's not what I'm refereeing to here. Infinite Jest is so large that it physically does not fit into 95% of my purses. It's actually heavy. I have a hard time getting comfortable when I'm reading it. All these things make it a bucket list goal.

2. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
Ages 10 through 18 were spent in various theaters. Vacations revolved around what plays we could see. I spent countless hours working on productions from Beauty and the Beast to Much Ado About Nothing. I fell in love with Shakespeare my freshman year of high school. It's always been one of my goals to actually read through his complete works. As it I've read/seen a large chunk of his plays but I rarely feel the urge anymore to seek out ones I haven't read. Sorry

3.Have a Year where I can feasibly read somewhere between seventy and one hundred books
Since I've been keeping track (2009) I've consistently read between 2 and 60 books. That 27 was a really bad year for me, but I remember fighting to pull off 60 while going to school and reviewing everything. Now I don't want reading to ever feel like work to me but I would really enjoy a year where I set a new record.

4. Find a literary awards list (Pulitzer, National Book, Booker, etc) and read through it
I get excited come bookish award season. I follow the long lists, the short lists, the author interviews and thrive off the excitement in the community. Every year I realize just how few 'award winners' I've read. I'd love to actually pick a list (even as I write this I've come up with pros and cons for each) and add those books to my rotation.

5.Write
Short and simple, right? I'm happier when I'm writing. Lately it doesn't seem to matter what I'm working on, posts for this blog, short stories, the occasional fanfic, I feel better after writing. I'd love to actually finish a sizable project, but I guess more importantly I'd love to know that this will always be a part of my life.

6. Make a sizeable dent in my TBR jar
This is pretty self explanatory, right?

7.Take trips just for the sake of visiting unique bookstores of libraries
I love to travel. I love books. I would love to combine the two. A lot of times my vacations focus around something major like seeing a friend or going to a specific museum. I'd like to add old libraries and indie bookshops to my destination list.

8. Get back into bookbinding
I took a bookbinding class while I was in college and absolutely fell in love with it. Unfortunately the stuff I really enjoy working on requires equipment I don't have. Recently I have been looking into paper arts studios around here that offer classes and free studio time. I just have to find the time and money to restart this hobby.

9.Start a book club
I don't care if it's online or in real life I want to run a honest to God book club. One that actually reads books and talks about them, not just consumes copious amounts of wine and whines about exes. As of now I'm working on a Harry Potter readalong for this year so we'll see if that can turn into something.

10. Find a way to incorporate my love for books into my work
I'm one of those awful millennials that magazines love writing think pieces on. I'll work for a paycheck, yes, but I'm tired of watching everyone around me be miserable because they hate their jobs. I'm currently in the process of getting into a Library Sciences program and hopefully that will finally put me in a situation where I can combine something I love with something I have to do.