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| Some of my 2013 reads, via flickr |
Bookmerica is my crowdsourced reading journey into Americanness: in the time it takes to grow a married permanent resident into a citizen, my goal is to read a book per state per year.
In short, between now and Dec 31 2016 I am looking to the denizens of the internet to suggest at least 150 different titles.
In short, between now and Dec 31 2016 I am looking to the denizens of the internet to suggest at least 150 different titles.
This madcap idea of mine is one that wouldn't be unthought so I made a website, grabbed a book, and embarked on a new internet adventure – by crowdsourcing reading suggestions from the fifty states via social media, I am hoping to connect with America at large and get a better idea of who America is.
The website will serve as a reading companion, a place to record suggestions, 'thoughts and feels' about whatever text I set eyes on, and related miscellany. I am also hoping to feature some human tidbits like conversations with other book lovers and a few words about those who suggest books, but only if they feel comfortable with being written about.
Heart-powered reading
Bookmerica is not an academic exercise or a catalogue of book reviews nor does it purport to be. Instead, I want to share how much fun reading is, and how much more fun it gets when you put some heart into it, which is why I am asking you to recommend books you love, as opposed to purely didactic ones.
With this in mind, I am keeping the criteria for Bookmerica as broad as possible. While I won't read textbooks or guide books because of their exponential yawn-inducing potential when taken out of context, if you send me a suggestion for a graphic novel or a poetry chapbook, chances are I will hunt high and low for it because it'll force me to get out of my fiction and non-fiction comfort zone.
What I am looking for is reading suggestions that reflect the diversity – social, ethnic, cultural, and geographical – of the United States. In other words, I don't just want to read books written by privileged white men from the East Coast. No offense meant – some of my favorite writers fall into this category, but only because my reading horizon hasn't been broadened enough yet.
A zero budget adventure
I wanted to do something interesting that would help me learn, integrate, and keep me writing while I look for a job in digital journalism, or anything else word- and communication-related I may not have thought of yet.
In other words, Bookmerica has no budget and runs on curiosity, passion, and of course my public library card. I am lucky to live in Seattle, WA, a city with an outstanding public library system, so outstanding in fact that the adjective always feels like an understatement.
I am trying to keep expenses as low as possible by borrowing most of the books from the library – via interlibrary loans if necessary – or friends, and purchasing cheap secondhand copies, something I have a lifelong habit of doing anyway.
The core principles of Bookmerica are inclusiveness and accessibility: anyone with a library card and access to the internet and a computer (both of which are available from the library, at a push) can do the same.
However, I do realize that I am only able to do something like this because of 1/ literacy, and 2/ being an English speaker, privileges that not all immigrants to the United States enjoy upon arrival.
Ambitious much?
Regarding the number of books I set as a reading target every year, it probably would have been easier to immigrate to Canada as it only has ten provinces and three territories rather than fifty states! Then again, when I tallied the books I remembered reading in 2013, I was only a few tomes shy of fifty so I figured it would be do-able.
What remains to be seen is whether reading – traditionally a solitary pursuit – can be transposed into an opportunity to connect with others.
Yesterday, I received my first Reddit and Twitter suggestions, and promptly did a little happy dance.
Today, I'm asking you to fill in my reading suggestion form.
Tomorrow, we might become friends.
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This post was first published on Medium.
