Reading/Writing

A few years ago, I heard about this thing called "National Novel Writing Month" or "NaNoWriMo" for short. It's exactly what it sounds like. During the month of November, you are supposed to write a complete first draft of a full novel (minimum of 50,000) words. I have been wanting to try this for years, but this year I finally did. I completed my novel in 23 days with a total of 59,609 words. It's a far cry from Catcher in the Rye, but it's really just about the experience.

This month (December), I am embarking on something different. Instead of writing a ton, my goal will be to read an excessive amount (an exercise in hyper-literacy, as it were). At the beginning of the new year, I will be attending a workshop for preachers in which we will discuss the links between literature, poetry, storytelling, and the sermon. One of the requirements for attending said workshop is that I have to read all of the books on the assigned list. Therefore, over the next month, I will attempt to read all of the following books:

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (455 pages)
Mariette in Ecstasy by Ron Hansen (179 pages)
God Stories by C. Michael Curtis (394 pages)
Salvation On Sand Mountain by Dennis Covington (249 pages)
Silence by Shusaku Endo (201 pages)
Girl Meets God by Lauren Winner (320 pages)
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost (271 pages)
Compass of Affection by Scott Cairns (161 pages)
Not the Way It's Supposed to Be by Cornelius Plantinga Jr. (199 pages)

Total page number: 2,429
Total completed so far: 4

(4/2,429)

Even as I type this, my eyes are getting tired.