37 Great Books in My 37th Birthday Year

So I turn 37 in March. In honor of this usually unceremonious birthday, I've decided to try to tackle 37 "great" books in the calendar year of 2008. Why would I embark on such a task? I've no earthly idea, but it seems like something different to do.

It's definitely going to be a challenge, as I usually read around 35 books per year (but this year I'm well into the 50s). So we'll see how that goes.

I'm including both fiction and non-fiction in the reading list (which will be developed on an ad hoc basis) and they'll all be in English (since I don't read any other language well at all) but this doesn't preclude reading translations. Since it's my project and likely nobody will read this blog but me, I'll be identifying books that are considered "great." I'll largely rely on other folks lists, such as the Modern Library Top 100 lists, but I want to get some 19th century stuff in there too (possibly some 18th as well). I've read quite a few of the books on the Modern Library list, so I know those are good recommendations. We'll see how it goes.