Starting off

So I have begun.

I start with The Emperor's Children by Claire Messaud. I truly have no intention of going straight down the list, I just happened across that book and what will be reading #2 as both being available from UVa's library. From the same library location. No small feat in the massive library system you come to expect from a major university.

Plugging away at this and I find myself trying to generate guidelines for the upcoming posts and also doing a lot of reading. Slowly. Was I always a slow reader? I was an English Literature major! 20-something reality check number 1 complete. I am a slow reader.

As I think about the "why" of the list - why is this a book a 20-something must read? - and as my co-worker pointed out, why is it for 20-somethings?, it forces me to relate to the characters and their stories. Not as an analyst of the text but as if they existed in the world. Do I know someone like them? When have I encountered something similar and how did I deal with that event?

I imagine my guidelines will evolve as the readings continue.

Stay tuned!