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10MillionWords
- 01/03/10
- 11
Two days ago I officially began 10MillionWords. This is a year-long project in which, for 2010, I am going to read all of the New York Times bestsellers (non-fiction, that is). The purpose of the project is something that has maybe evolved a little in the months since I dreamed it up. It began as a kind of culture or worldview study in which I would learn about life, North American life, at the dawn of a new decade. After all, there is a lot I can learn about the culture through its bestselling books. It has also turned into something of a personal challenge in which I want to see just what I can learn from all of these books, what patterns I can detect in them, and what themes arise. The amount of reading I intend to do this year is, well, intimidating. Yet there are few things I love more than reading and I do anticipate enjoying myself a good deal.
Anyway, if you have not yet heard of this project, I’d encourage you to check it out. There are fifteen books on the list at any given time which means there were fifteen there as of January 1. I’ve already reading thirteen of them and will be finishing up the other two in the days to come. Through it all I will be keeping tabs not only on the books but on the process of reading and attempting to digest them all.
You can read the first couple of posts at 10MillionWords.com or subscribe via RSS.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
Releasing on April 1, The Next
Published in 2008, this book
This is a guide that calls men,
This review of the bestselling
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This is a guide written
Comments (11)
I am thoroughly intrigued by this personal challenge of yours. I hope you do it! I’d like to attempt reading all of the children’s lists.
Considering not a few titles on the NYT bestsellers list will contain profanity and even perhaps sexual overtones—I’m curious how will you discern? I don’t know that a blanket reading of all the titles will be edifying. You’ve probably already thought of this … and the answer is———-
Perhaps you can substitute a the #1 NYT bestseller by Ron Paul for one you don’t want to read on the 2010 list. :-) Best of luck in it all. It definitely sounds like a fun experiment.
Tony, he’s doing non-fiction. Unless it was written by Obama, that’ll cut way down on the profanity.
Tim:
Guard you heart above all things! You will have a huge intake of garbage into your life.
There were 15 books available on January 1st and you’ve already read 13 of them? Oh…my…goodness.
Seriously, I think you are half-man, half-machine Tim. ;)
Looking forward to your insights on some of these books.
Tim how do you read so much?!! I wish I could go through books like that. No, really?! Teaach mee
Tony - how will tim discern profanity?? I guess fairly easily when he reads a word he’ll know…. I’d have thought its subtle ideas that could cause more problems than the odd swear word…
A “discerning reader” can read anything - it’s not what goes in that defiles but what comes out of the heart (as Jesus said). So long as Tim is very familiar with truth he’ll discern nonsense a mile off rather than swallowing it. This seems like a really good idea as a project, a great way to get into the mind of the world and know people better….
A couple of things. Many of the thirteen books I read long before January 1. So I haven’t read 13 books in 3 days. That would probably have made me go insane.
As for profanity, well, there is going to be tons of it, no doubt. And I’m sure there will be books with sexual overtones, too. I see no reason to run from this. I can read profanity and remain pretty much unaffected by it. When I go and hang out with people in my neighborhood here I also encounter huge amounts of profanity and it doesn’t affect me. It’s just one of those things we cannot avoid. I have thought a bit about what I’ll do if a book shows up that I just cannot read for reasons of conscience. I guess I’ll cross that bridge when and if I come to it.
Of course, best selling books don’t reflect North American culture as a whole. You (Tim) have first-hand experience with what it takes to write and publish a book, so you know that what gets written and published probably represents only a very small fraction of the thoughts and experiences of people. And the fact that some books become bestsellers does provide some insight into what interests book buyers, but book buyers may not be a very large section of society, either.
Okay, phwwww. I can relax now knowing that you didn’t read 13 books in 3 days. I’m sure if that was the case, your wife and kids would NOT have been down with that. ;)
Still, you possess an uncanny ability to read like a machine.
By the way, you and Al Mohler should have a reading race. ;)