The Project

Welcome to my 30@30 blog! Eventually this blog will hold 92 posts: this initial post, one post for each of my 30 books and 60 movies, and a final concluding post.

I got the idea for a 30@30 project from my friend Carla, who set out to do 30 things in her 30^th year – things that she’d never done previously. She’s much more ambitious than I am, and more creative. So I’ve taken her idea and altered it to fit my life a little better: with books and movies!

So I set out to find 30 books to fill my 30^th year. I scoured the internet for lists of books everyone should read before they die. I found quite a few lists, with a wide variety of books; I even found a list called “Not the 50 books you must read before you die.” I compiled my own list of all of these suggestions and went to work narrowing that list down. There were some titles that made several lists, and one that made nearly all of them: To Kill a Mockingbird.

I also took suggestions from friends, asking for both serious and more light-hearted options, to give my final list a better-rounded feel. You can find my final selections on the list to the right. Some of these I am extremely excited to read, while others I’m dreading a bit. If you’re curious as to who, if anyone, suggested a particular title, send me a message!

My original plan for the 30 movies was to ask my friend Tim (who you may know as the Lord of Entertainment) to create a list. He’s currently embarking on his own cinematic journey called the “365 Days of Cinema II: Electric Boogaloo,” in which he reviews one movie each day. I may not always agree with his taste, but I always appreciate the reasons behind his love of a certain movie, song or artist. Appreciate and respect. Tim’s movie list will be to your left on this page, as soon as I receive it from him.

And then I got to thinking… perhaps I should open this movie idea up to my other friends and family. So I added a third part to my 30@30: I will watch 30 movies as suggested by 30 different people. I reached out to folks I thought would give me a wide range of selections. When not all of them responded, I opened it up to Facebook friends. The list is definitely a hodgepodge, and again there are some I’m looking forward to watching, while others I am dreading. But, that’s not to say I won’t find that I like something much better after seeing it than I did when judging it based on my feelings toward an actor or director. That list is on the left as well.

So that’s it, that’s the project! Check back periodically for new entries as I review each movie and book. And feel free to send your own thoughts on the selections I’ve made. I won’t be changing them, but I’d be interested to hear how you enjoyed/hated a particular book or movie.