What happens when two thirtysomething siblings relive the summer reading programs of their youth in an all-out battle of the books? The race is on as they read by the rules and keep tally on their logs to see who will be the ultimate reader by Labor Day 2010.

June 30, 2010

Preliminary Discussion of the Summer Reading Adventure (SRA)

One of the first arguments we got in over the reading list was when does the "program" begin. At the time of its inception, I was 200 pages into "Lonesome Dove," which I had temporarily put aside so I could read my sister's copy of "The Help" (70 pages in) while I was home for five days. A side note, toggling between "Lonesome Dove" and "The Help" is a terrible idea. I went from thoughts of getting the cattle to Montana on time to pondering racial injustice and the cleaning capabilities of Crisco. Basically, the only similarity between the two books is that women had minimal rights in both 1870's Texas and 1960's Louisiana. Although I have already started my fanfiction short story about the prostitute Lori Wood moving to Jackson and making quick work of all the Junior Leagues' husbands.

Anyway, could I count these books once I finished them, or could only books started after the SRA's inception be included? Kerry graciously conceded that yes, those books would count. We also agreed that plays counted, but not a short story in a magazine. This led us into a discussion about anthologies and the formulation of "The ISBN Rule." Neither of us mentioned poetry anthologies because nobody reads poetry. Kerry will probably lie and talk about how much she loves Billy Collins but really, nobody reads poetry.

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