So, after much deliberating, I have decided to abandon the list. I overestimated my ability to follow really strict guidelines. Without the constraints of what books I can read, I think I will have a much easier time finishing my goal. I should have known just trying to meet a goal of reading 100 books in 365 days was a good one in itself. This means, with the three books I have already read that weren't on my list, I have read 25 book so far this year. Need to get going, quarter of the way done, year is almost half way over! Terribly sorry if I have let any of you down. I may look like I'm from another planet, but really, I'm only human. No, really. I swear. There have been tests.

I'm on a roll. Spring roll, that is. I'm hanging around, blogging my little brains out (this is my third entry tonight) and eating Chinese food. I am happy. Happy am I. I effing love duck sauce. Animal lover that I am, I would still eat duck sauce even if the duck was to the sauce what the chocolate is to the syrup. (Real, duh.) Anyway, I'm writing this entry because I am faced with a dilema. I've mentioned how I want to start stalking Kevin Brockmeier, my new favorite author? He's the guy who wrote The Brief History of the Dead, which I lovity-love-loved. So I have the night-vision goggles, the stun gun, the net...but one thing I am still unequipped with is knowledge of all of his work. He has another novel, The Truth About Celia, which is supposed to be fantastic, and a collection of short stories, Things That Fall From the Sky, which I've heard are unbelievable. If I'm going to get him to write back to me, I need to coo and purr with all the facts behind me. A mouse won't spring the trap you put out if you don't know to set it first. So, I think in order to do this, I need to read his other books. And in order to do this, it requires...straying from The 100...

Now, I know, you're shocked speechless, but fear not. I'm not talking about not reading all the books I selected. Nor do I mean substituting one book for another. Significant Dave says I should have had planned an escape clause. But I didn't, so instead, I'm going to read them on top of The 100. I know, it's risky, but I'm a sixth of the way through the year and a fifth of the way through my goal, I'm getting a little cocky. Does anyone have any other ideas? Should we vote two of the books off the island? Revoke their rights? Please can I do it? Please please please?

...she has read a book and a half in the last two days, but for what? What does it all mean? *Sigh*

Only four days into my project and already I'm asking myself "What kind of frivolous distractions have been keeping me from reading like I used to? What have I been doing that was so important as to keep me from the written word?" I am thoroughly enjoying Inkheart. It's about a girl whose father can pull characters directly from the pages of books if he reads the story aloud. It's casting quite a little spell on me. See, I have the most fabulous bed. It's ginormous, frankly. If I lie in the middle of it with my arms reaching for the sides, they still don't quite make it. It's an island in the middle of my room, a giant ship, and while lying back, reading Inkheart, I almost feel it gently rocking me. Of course, it's being circled by the little grey Bella-shark, with her sharp teeth and fin-like tail, just waiting to bite my ankle should I dare to dangle a leg overboard...

Maybe my whole purpose here on your planet is to read. I drive myself crazy some days trying to figure out the point to all this. Maybe that is just it. Some people sing. Some people write. I was meant to read. And I don't just read. I ingest books. I can feel them humming with life on the shelves all around me at work. Call it heavy influence of the Buffyverse, but I think I may be the chosen one. I am destined to face all printed pages, break the spines of all the books I come up against, take the burdens of ink and paper upon me. Yes, the more I think about it, the more I am convinced. I am the Book Slayer...and Tom Holbrook is my watcher.

This morning at 2:57am, I finished A Thousand Acres. It was marvelous, really quite lovely and disturbing at the same time. It's a modern day interpretation of King Lear, which I have never read. Shakespeare makes my brain itch. So, if I were to continue reading a book every 2 days, I will be done by the third week in July. That would be exciting! I have chosen Inkheart for my next read. It's a young adult novel, written by Cornelia Funke, who also wrote the better known Thief Lord. It's 534 pages long, which I will hopefully finish before the movie version comes out this spring. I know, I know, the young adult read already, but I have a pounding headache that a saucer of milk just isn't helping, and I want to take it easy today. Forgive me?

Something, or someone, doesn't want me to meet my goal next year. People close to me are being used to help put an end to my quest. Objects have been placed in my path to tempt me.

Like the first season of "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer." I stayed up until 2 this morning watching it. Sure, I could probably watch the rest of it in the six days I have left to go. But once I start a series, I have to continue on until I've consumed every available bit of it. That's six more seasons!

Also, the Dynamic Duo got me "World of Warcraft." I would have watched more "Buffy" last night if I hadn't spent an hour stumbling around killing boars and getting myself lost. After ten minutes of wandering about, I forgot who I was looking for, and then I couldn't find the guy who sent me on the quest in the first place.

And books! People gave me books for Christmas! I have a hard time with the idea of tucking them in on a bookshelf, giving them a kiss and saying "See you in 2008." Especially when I want to read "The Martian Chronicles" so Significant Dave will see me for the sexy nerd that I am.

I will not be distracted! I'm a little cocky since I accomplished this year's goal. But this is much harder, it requires a lot more discipline, something I'm quite short on. And "Buffy" is so good...