Try going head to head with Jason. Behold the list of 100+ books my favorite PhD candidate has spent the past 5 months reading.
Yes, the monster list, taped on the back of our closet door, is taller than both of us and took three photographs to capture. But Jason still managed to slay it. See all the little check marks?
For the past five months he’s been preparing for his oral exam, which he takes this Friday (!!!). For three hours, three professors will grill him on any/all of these books, asking questions like “How would you teach this text in an introduction to Shakespeare class?” And this is just the first of two monster tests he has to pass before he writes his dissertation. Hear that, all you future English PhD’s out there? Are you scared? (I’m scared.)
So around here, it’s been one book a day, every day, for five straight months. He wakes up in the morning, he reads. I take the dog for a hike, he reads. I fool around online for seven hours, he continues to read. Because these are major doorstops of books. Tomes. Like on Tuesday: he sat down and read the Bible. The whole thing! Another day he tackled the very thrilling Shakespeare’s Perjured Eye: The Invention of Poetic Subjectivity in the Sonnets. Sounds like a real page turner, huh? Today he’s reading Paradise Lost. He’s got serious speed-reading skillz.
I marvel at his reading stamina and am feeling very proud that he’s made it through this list. As if it wasn’t already before, his brain is certainly a goldmine now.
So good luck on Friday, Jason, and thank you for always flagging the angel references for me. xx
16 Comments
That’s impressive! I thought I was a decently fast reader, but I’ve got nothing on him.
Good luck to Jason indeed!
I am not scared away, though. I am jealous. Very jealous. I only wish I had that kind of time to read. Although there are probably books on the list that I wouldn’t want to read. I like to pick my own books completely. But I would gladly read a book a day. And paint a picture a day.
Then I’d bake cookies and snuggle with the cat. Could life be more perfect?
WOW – that is insanely awesome! I wish I could read that fast. I think I read rather slowly — and I have been trying to read faster (so I can make it through my TBR list this summer). My list is long – but that list……. Wow. *bows down*
Good luck to Jason!!!
WOW!!!!! and i thought i read a lot!!!!
Go Jasey Go!!! I know you will do better than anyone!
Love you all!
Thats what im doing i started two weeks ago and im on 15 books so far how do you think im doing? I have 85 books to go. Do you think ill make it?
XOXO
WOW!!! But i can read the list in 6 or 7 months:). im a BIG reader!
wow and I thought I could read thats unreal I wish I had the time to read a book a day!!
Wow, that is one long and semi-scary list. I’ve read 60+ books this year, and I’d never find the time even to just type up a list like that. Very impressive!
Thanks for stopping by my blog!
My head hurts now. Ow.
I am impressed. I wish I could read that fast. How do you get speed reading skills like that? Did he take a class? read a book? What is his secret?
Woah. I read a lot but I’m nothing compared to this guy. How does he remember everything? Good luck and I am jealous of all that time he have to read. But his head must hurt. Just sayin’
No effense but i read more books than that in a month.thats right if we were in a contest i would win
I’m a slow reader and time is always an issue with me. A book a week is about all I can manage (plus, if I read for too long, I tend to get drowsy and my retention level drops dramatically).
All that aside: I collect lists, so how do I get a hold of a copy of that list?
Cheers,
Michael
That’s a lot of books. You’re right, till I read this, I thought I read a lot. I try to make the most of the time I have for reading by reading short stories (about thirty a month) and reading two or three novels a month.
h. R.