On suggestions

My thanks to everyone who has posted a book to the suggestions list!

All suggestions that are submitted are stored for my approval first before they show up on the suggestion list. That's in case some wise guy starts posting a few too many suggestions in the 306.77 category. Rest assured, I get all of your suggestions.

I'm planning to update the suggestion list to provide columns to give a little feedback on if a book was accepted or rejected, and why. The most common reasons I would reject a book are:

1. Already read it, so I can't use it.
2. Already read something in that category. One book per category, remember?
   
3. I already have too many picks in that category on the book list. I don't mind having a couple choices in each category, but once I have a couple good choices I will be very reluctant to accept more.
   
4. Not to be rude, but it sounds boring. This challenge is going to be hard enough as it is. I'm have to focus on fascinating books that can keep my interest.
5. It's too long. That's a horrible reason to not read a book, but I have to have some limits. If my list fills up with 900 page volumes, this is going to take two decades, not one.
6. My local library doesn't have it. This shouldn't happen very often, as the library is connected to a large network of bigger libraries. But if it's particularly rare or oddball, then it might happen. I'll probably leave it on the suggestion list until I can find a copy myself.

If I decide to use a book, I'll add it to the book list.

I currently have about 30 books on the book list. My goal now is to expand the list to 100 books, with coverage across all categories. This will make it easier to analyze new suggestions, and decide if they should be added to the reading list.

158: On quitting

No, I haven't given up already. I finished my second book a few days ago, but just didn't get around to writing the review for it.

My second book is from 158, Applied Psychology. The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When To Quit (And When to Stick) by Seth Godin, is all about quitting at the right time. It's a quick read, but an interesting one. Godin's books tend to be short and focused on a single topic, and this one is no exception, weighing in at a mighty 80 pages.

Most new ventures, from businesses to mastering a skill, start out fun and exciting, but that doesn't last. You inevitably hit a decline. The business expands, and suddenly you're dealing with lots of hassles and less of the fun stuff. You reach a point where you're not progressing any more. What then?

The conventional wisdom is to never quit. "Winners never quit and quitters never win," as the quote from Vince Lombardi goes. Godin skewers this cliche, and amply demonstrates that there are times where it does make sense to quit, and to quit early.

It's a fun read, and recommended.

How long will this take?

There are 1000 entries in the Dewey Decimal system, from 001 Knowledge to 999 Extraterrestrial worlds (side note: my local library has a ton of UFO books in 001. So their collection starts and ends with extraterrestrials). About 90 of these categories are unused entries.

Some categories are entirely foreign language. Being monolingual, I'll have to skip those.

There's also a number of sections that are largely reference works, such as 453 -- Italian dictionaries, or 031 -- Encyclopedias in American English. Unless I find something readable in that section, I'll have to skip those as well.

My guess is that will be about 800 books total. I'm a fairly fast reader, but that's still daunting. 2 books a week, 50 weeks per year (2 weeks off for vacation) comes out to 8 years of work.

As I said before, I'm not in a huge hurry. I read lots of non-fiction anyway; this is just channeling and guiding it. I'm not planning on dropping all my other activities so I can crank out this challenge in record time.

394: First book

I've finished my first book! Well, the first one that counts for the contest anyway.

It is a selection from 394.8, General Customs, titled The Duel: A History of Dueling, by Robert Baldick.

Overall, I found it a very interesting and well-organized look at the evolution of dueling over time and location. The first appearance of the duel was in Europe around 500 AD, and it was used to determine innocence or guilt in a criminal trial or a dispute. Over time, as criminal codes and judicial systems took over the role of criminal justice, dueling evolved into a method of resolving disputes, primarily among the gentry. Dueling was often officially illegal, but the laws were sporadically enforced and rarely deterred the combatants.

The book primarily focuses on France and England, but also includes a good section on dueling in other countries, including Germany, Russia, and America. The majority of the book is spent recounting famous, infamous and often ludicrous duels over the centuries. It bogs down a little at times as it recounts duel after duel, but remains a fun read, and well worth checking out.

The book is very attractive, with some nice woodcut illustrations and period paintings throughout, and even a few very early photographs. One minor criticism I had was that the illustrations are generally nowhere near the text in the book that refers to the picture.

Suggestions

It's occurred to me that there are a number of dark corners of the library that I know nothing about. Take 866 -- Spanish letters. I have no idea what kinds of books I'm going to find there. Famous letters, maybe? Are they all in Spanish, or can I find an English translation?

Or 960 -- History of Africa. Africa is a big place, and that is a huge topic. Sure, I can just grab the first likely looking book off the shelf in that section, but I'd rather read a really good book on the topic. Besides, I know myself. As this contest goes on, I'm probably going to be grabbing books based on thickness.

To avoid having to read too many random grabs, I'm asking for suggestions. If you know of a good non-fiction book, particularly an esoteric and interesting book in an odd category, let me know! It'd be nice if you could include the call number and the other info, but don't worry about it if you don't know it.

Suggestions can be posted as comments to this post, or you can use the Suggestions form located in the links section.