Here’s an update on my progress on #20booksofsummer:
My Sister Life, by Maria Flook
2. Rethinking Normal, A Memoir in Transition by Katie Rain Hill
3. The Rules of Inheritance, by Claire Bidwell Smith
4. Simians, Cyborgs and Women, by Donna J. Haraway
5. Animal Sanctuary, by Sarah Faulkner
6. Omon Ra, by Victor Pelevin
7. Mermaid in Chelsea Creek, by Michelle Tea
8. The Crooning Wind, Three Greenlandic Poets
9. Woman Rebel, The Margaret Sanger Story, by Peter Bagge
10. Hunger, by Knut Hamsun
11. I Love Dick, by Chris Kraus
To recap, I took the first 11 books on my to-read shelf, from the organized part in the beginning (not the stacks of more-recent arrivals piled in front of the organized part), which, as fixtures on the to-read, are all books that I’ve been passing over or haven’t felt in the mood for in quite some time. Years, in some cases. I don’t think any one of these books had been on the shelf for less than a year, and one at least has been there for three-and-a-half.
What I have learned from this experiment is that books are great even when I don’t like them. At least, the kind of books that wind up on my to-read shelf are. Despite harboring doubts about every book on this list, I have loved reading through them. Even the ones I didn’t “like” were thought-provoking. My reading this summer has been richer and more interesting than when I have the freedom to choose what book I’m in the mood for.
It’s hard not to buy books (though I’ve done OK this summer; I think I’ve added only three to the shelf, which might be a personal record (usually I add many more)), but I plan to keep doing this. My new goal is to read entirely through the to-read shelf, emptying it out for good. When the summer is over I’ll take a new random-ten books. I’m really looking forward to it.
I guess the conclusion is up with challenge and down with personal preference. :)
An Anthology of Clouds 
You could do ten books for each season, as the seasons are each three months!
I should!