Do you know Cole?
If you don't, you should, he's great. If that isn't feasible, you should read
his blog, Vitagraph American. Full of engrossing reviews and insightful commentary on
the world of film, I find myself often wishing that I had a year to play catch
up to Cole by viewing one-tenth the films he has.
But, the truth is,
I'd probably spend that time reading. Not because I don't enjoy films, but
because I will always enjoy books a little more.
Which got me
thinking; Cole recently had the idea to have friends choose his queue; what he would watch in a given week, for one week, every
month. I liked the idea so much that I swiped it and tweaked it to fit my
purposes.
Once a month, on
the first of the month, one of you will choose 5 books for me to be reading that month. I will not be able to read a book of my choosing until I have completed a book of your choosing*. I must finish all five books before month's end. I will then write up
reviews as I complete each book.
Where this gets
tricky is in terms of cost. My buddy, Cole, knows the chosen films are
available by limiting his queue choosers to what is streaming on Netflix. My
options work, as follows:
· You choose a book that I already own and either
haven't read or will re-read. Problem solved.
· I don't own the book, but would like to and will
treat this as an opportunity to purchase it.
· I'll finally get a fricking library card
· In rare cases when the book is harder to find**, you
will lend me said book. I'm careful.
Let me know if you
want to pick 5 for October. I will begin reading soon. Here we go.
*exceptions to this rule will be the two books required for the book clubs that I host and the Bible, which I am committed to reading every day
**I will assume that this won't attract pranksters that assign me textbooks or untranslated works. I reserve the right to ignore said prankster requests. I doubt it's going to be an issue.
