2009: 50 Book Challenge

If you're at all like me, you try very hard not to let the books in your house run wild. No matter how many books I read each year, I always seem to buy even more.

So for 2009, I've decided to try something novel: the plan is to read from books I already own, and not buy any additional books for an entire year. Is that doable? I don't know.

Here's the challenge: I don't care if you buy more books in 2009 or not. I just want you to read 50 books. Are you up to it?

I tried to narrow my selection to the "Top 50 Books to Read for 2009," but I couldn't narrow it to 50. But here's an idea (subject to change) of what I plan to read in 2009 (in no particular order):

Scott Adams -- God's Debris
Scott Adams -- The Religion War
Chuck Klosterman -- Killing Yourself to Live
Chuck Klosterman -- Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs
Chuck Klosterman -- IV
Russell Baker -- Growing Up
Frank McCourt -- Angela's Ashes
Frank McCourt -- 'Tis
Lee Stringer -- Sleepaway School
Claude Brown -- Manchild in the Promised Land
Ruthie Bolton -- Gal
Luis Rodriguez -- Always Running
Jim Knopfel -- Ruining It for Everybody
Brent Staples -- Parallel Time
Mary Roach -- Stiff
Mary Roach -- Spook
Mary Roach -- Bonk
Michael Palin -- Hemingway's Chair
Eric Idle -- The Road to Mars
Eric Idle -- The Greedy Bastard Diary
Robert Greene -- Seduction
Robert Greene -- War
Carl Sagan -- The Dragons of Eden
Carl Sagan -- Broca's Brain
Carl Sagan -- Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
Carl Sagan -- Pale Blue Dot
Carl Sagan -- Billions & Billions
Conversations with Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan -- The Varieties of Scientific Experience
Brian Greene -- The Elegant Universe
John McWhorter -- Losing the Race
John McWhorter -- Winning the Race
John McWhorter -- Authentically Black
Mick Foley -- Scooter
Nathan McCall -- Them
James McBride -- Song Yet Sung
James McBride -- Miracle at St. Anna
J. K. Rowling -- Harry Potter #5
J. K. Rowling -- Harry Potter #6
J. K. Rowling -- Harry Potter #7
Jamaica Kincaid -- Mr. Potter
Jamaica Kincaid -- Annie John
Ernest Gaines -- In My Father's House
Ernest Gaines -- A Gathering of Old Men
Ernest Gaines -- Of Love and Dust
Ernest Gaines -- Catherine Carmier
Ernest Gaines -- Mozart and Leadbelly
Tim O'Brien -- July, July
Tim O'Brien -- Tomcat in Love
Richard Wright -- Eight Men
Walker Percy -- The Thanatos Syndrome
Walker Percy -- Signposts in a Strange Land
Walker Percy -- The Moviegoer
Walker Percy -- The Last Gentleman
Walker Percy -- The Message in the Bottle
Bret Easton Ellis -- The Informers
Bret Easton Ellis -- Glamorama
Bret Easton Ellis -- Lunar Park
Chinua Achebe -- A Man of the People
Chinua Achebe -- Anthills of the Savannah
Chinua Achebe -- Arrow of God

Up for the challenge? What 50 books do you plan to read? Let me know.

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