As I prepared to start, this hunger felt a bit new to me. I was hungering for the depth of conversation found in these books.

I talk to tons of people every day in my life and work. The conversations are wonderful. But I wanted to go further. I wanted the challenge and the depth of these books. Well. Maybe not 50 Shades of Gray (easily my pick for the most confusing choice in the 100), but you get the overall idea.

I wanted to force myself to stop my life for stretches of hours to disappear into these stories. It’s what I always did in my childhood. Could it still work now?

I also felt hungry for some great expression and important thoughts. I’m scared that I won’t be able to stay with them for hundreds of pages – my focus is busy and scattered – but I want to try.

I loved amazing stories. And my life would benefit from a nice dose of disappearing!

The upshot of all these thoughts is that I shot my premise already. Shot so soon! I started early, four months before my 60^th birthday.

I wrote every title on an equally shaped green square of paper (Yes, that would be a little OCD-ish, I know. I accept that.). I quickly finished the three books I was already reading, so that I could hurry up and start.

With my job as the director of a music department, it was my busy season. What a perfectly perverse time to start! Right when my schedule won’t allow this, I must try it.

Might as well get this reading party started!

And to think, I never joined a book club because I didn’t want to have to read anything that I didn’t want to read. This was a firmly held belief on my part and lasted years. And to think that now – sooner or later – I have signed up to read War & Peace.

Times change. Or I’m deranged. Time will tell!