I usually wait until mid to late January before posting my reading plans or goals. Mainly because I'm very optimistic about my superhuman capabilities during the start of a new year but much of that enthusiasm fades over the next couple of weeks. I tend to believe I can read more than ever but reality is usually closer to how much I averaged in previous years. So, to allow myself the opportunity to dream big and then plan well, I take the ambitious goals for a road test during the first couple of weeks of the year. If they still look achievable, great! If not, I will part ways with those that are a stretch. The numbers I have an arbitrary number set in Goodreads for this year but it's not a number I will quote as I tend to change it often and it is intended to factor in the many picture books I read with my kids. But that said, there are three numbers I would like to improve this year (last year's stats in parentheses) - total number of pages read (approx. 11k), average n
At the start of this year, I made a commitment to read at least 5 books from my PIE list. Since that's not going too well (yet), I won't bring your attention to that just now. One of the books in that list is Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. My first introduction to that book was when I saw my roommate in India read that HUGE book at a bookstore. She eventually completed it and raved about it, enough to make me curious and still petrified at the thought of going through such a huge tome. So then Helen mentioned that she would be interested in reading it too, and soon we made a pact to read it over the summer. So, tada, we're holding the Shantaram read-along this summer!
Helen made this reading schedule that I have posted below:
June 1 to 8--Chapters 1 through 4
June 8 to 15--Chapters 5 through 9
June 15 to 22--Chapters 10 through 14
June 22 to 29--Chapters 15 through 19
June 29 to July 6--Chapters 20 through 23
July 6 to 13--Chapters 24 through 27
July 13 to 20--Chapters 28 through 32
July 20 to 27--Chapters 33 through 37
July 27 to August 3--Chapters 38 through 40
August 3 through 10--Chapters 41 to the end
After I posted about this readalong on my blog, and then Helen also announced it on hers, we got quite a lot of people interested in reading with us. I have already been in touch with some of you, but here's the Linky, all the same, so that Helen and I could have a single place with a list of members. If you're a blogger, please include your blog link. If you're not, any link to your online profile would work. Either way, please make sure there's some way we can contact you. I'm thinking of having a Google or Goodreads group for this read-along, because that just might be better and more interactive than posting about this once a week.
So go on ahead, sign up, especially if this book is in your must-read-now or better in your should-i-try-it list!
Comments
Looks like I've managed to catch up with the Shantaram reading plan. I'm reading Chapter 31 and enjoying every word. This book is making me so emotional...I cried my eyes out at the end of Chapter 30 but I won't tell you why in case you're not there yet.
I finished Shantaram. What an amazing book, I absolutely loved it! I'm glad I found your blog, it did give me that extra push to go and buy the book and read it. I'll try and write a review for it these days.