The Century Project

So summers are prime writing times for most academics. I am in the middle of a major edit of the first chapter of my dissertation and drafting the fourth. It's actually going fairly well. However I have a horrible confession I have to make. It's pretty embarrassing really. 

Friends, I don't really read any more. Like, at all. 

Sure, I read news articles. I read instructions on how to cook ketogenic meals. I read tweets.  But recently I realized that I could not remember the last book I read. Was it when I was in a book club? How many months ago was that? 

So, in order to kickstart this project I thought I would set a fairly ambitious goal: 100 books. Specifically I would like to read one hundred books before the end of this year. This may seem unrealistic to other people but I have always been a fairly fast reader. Plus, I would really like to expand my knowledge of comics, particularly short-form works like minicomics. I want to teach a class called "Misunderstanding Comics" where we dismantle comics form and theory for a whole semester. 

Friends have given me great suggestions so far, I also am slowly going through a pile of books I swore I would read "when I had more time." I plan to log all the books I have read on this blog and post sporadic updates on Twitter. Follow along using the hashtag #centuryreadingchallenge. 

I'm trying to read a hundred books this year, mostly trying to focus on novels, popular nonfiction, and independent comics. What are some you love and would recommend?