Here's what I want to read this year - how about you?

In an attempt to organize all aspects of my life in 2012, I started making lists. Long, detailed, sprawling lists of things I want to accomplish are saved in my email drafts, on scraps of paper, and on unpublished blog posts. My goals for reading got special attention. I collected so many titles and challenges that it spawned this book club!

There are three main things I hope to accomplish this year: clear off my TBR shelf (the books I physically have that are collecting dust), complete a classics challenge (because I've never been a big fan of the Classics and it really would be a challenge for me), and complete a non-fiction challenge (because, I thought it would be a good education!). Of course, I like to do a lot of fun reading as well... so this has created a pretty big list!

After doing a lot of research, these are the books I've decided to read in 2012, and the themes I chose them for within each challenge.

Classics Challenge
Any 19th Century Classic: Emma by Jane Austen
Any 20th Century Classic: Lady Chatterly's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Reread Any Classic: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Classic Play: The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
Classic Mystery/Horror/Crime Fiction: A Study in Scarlet (Sherlock Holmes #1) by Arthur Conan Doyle
Classic Romance: Jayne Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Classic Award Winner: 1984 by George Orwell
Classic Set Somewhere I Probably/Cannot Visit: Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Non-Fiction Challenge
Culture: SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes And Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner (ebook)
Art: Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson
Food: The Gallery of Regrettable Food by James Lileks
Medical: Woman: An Intimate Geography by Natalie Angier
Travel: Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour by Kate Fox
Memoir/Biography: Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
Money: The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell
Science/Nature: Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships by Daniel Goleman
History: Pink Think: Becoming a Woman in Many Uneasy Lessons by Lynn Peril

On my TBR List
1. Three Weeks With My Brother by Nicholas & Micah Sparks
2. White Oleander by Janet Fitch
3. She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
4. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
5. Baby Talk/Parent Talk by Sirgay Singer
6. Confessions of An Ugly Stepsister by Gregory McGuire
7. Second Glance by Jodi Picoult

So that's what I would like to accomplish this year, but here is what I would like to read from the Reading List the most:

1. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling
7. Room by Emma Donoghue
19. Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason by Alfie Kohn
20. Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids by Lisa M. Ross
26. Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by Richard H. Thaler, Cass R. Sunstein
29. Seriously I'm Kidding by Ellen DeGeneres
40. MWF Seeking BFF by Rachel Bertsche
79. The Magicians by Lev Grossman
82. The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night by Elizabeth Pantley, William Sears
83. A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard
84. Enough: Breaking free from the world of more by John Naish

I've presented 35 books here, and I hope to read all of these within the year. I don't expect to read all of these for our book club, and I also expect there to be more additions as the year goes on, but I think this is a good place to start! I would love to hear your input from this list - what would you like to read along with me? What do you think would make for a good discussion? What do you want to read?

Based on your input, I'll will chose our first book. I really want to have the book chosen by tomorrow (the 31st) so we can get moving on Book #1! It will still be a pretty quick race for those who are trying to take the Speed Reader route, so consider that in your suggestions - picking something brand new probably wouldn't be feasible for our first book!