Goal for 2009 #1 (Reading)

The local Barnes and Noble had a fundraising event tonight where a small portion of the proceeds from purchases would go to Grace's elementary school, so the family went and bought books, despite the fact that I am convinced that someday this house will collapse under the weight of all the books we already own. I picked up Philip Roth's brand new novel The Humbling. After getting home, and thinking about having read about a half dozen of Roth's books in the past two years, I have come up with official blog-published goal #1 of 2009. It's a modest goal:

By the end of the year, I will read at least 4 books by authors whom I have not read before. Also, should I go on a binge, at least half of the books I read must be by "new" authors.

This whole goal-setting idea might be an interesting exercise. It will be fun to go back at the end of the year and see how many of these goals I have actually been able to accomplish. I'm a little worried, because I tend to have the attention span of a flea, and I think at some point I will probably need a goal that says "no more new goals until I finish some of the goals I already have." That's quite likely, actually...