So far it feels fairly reasonable to work through about one shelf (of a five-shelf bookcase) per day -- reviewing the pages I previously marked over the past year of reading, photocopying the salient passages, tagging the photocopies, and sorting them into a file folder for each respective chapter (or section of a chapter). The process is quite similar to the many long, research papers I have written in the past, except I'm working on a much larger canvas.

I am hopeful that I may even finish this major part of the sorting process by the end of next week, although that does not include sorting each of the individual folders into even more specific divisions within each chapter or section.

The sorting has begun.

I'm following a plan adapted from the book Destination Dissertation. So, I'm developing an outline, then I'll photocopy quotes I want to use and tag them based on my outline.

For now, I'm plowing through a bunch of notes I made for myself low these past few months. Now I have to organize them. I hope to emerge a week or two from now with a better map for moving forward.

I am essentially done reading, although I will, in reality, continue reading for my dissertation throughout the next year -- principally new books that will be released over the next year or so.

I'm, thus, in the process of shifting my focus from reading to outlining -- that is, directing my first and best energy toward outlining. I'm preaching this Sunday, but hopefully next week I'll be able to start outlining in earnest.

I finished Charles Taylor's breaktaking A Secular Age on Thursday, October 1, one day after my somewhat-arbitary, self-imposed deadline to finish reading by the end of September -- which is not too shabby since my original goal was to finish reading by the end of 2009.

Now I only have three books left, in addition to a few articles that I'm waiting to arrive from Interlibrary Loan. So, I hope to have most, if not all, of my outline done in October, so that I can start writing in November.

The end is drawing nigh. I've got approximately 6 books left to read as well as about 11 essays; however, I've got an inch of essays on my desk with notes on them that I need to follow-up on, so I may be adding a few more items to the list. Nevertheless, I can see the light at the end of the reading tunnel.

I doubt I'll finish by the end of September exactly. Maybe by the end of the week that starts on Monday, September 28 -- that is, by the week ending Sunday, October 3...we'll see. Stay tuned.

I haven't posted this week because I've been waiting to process a bunch of notes from the stack of books and articles on my desk, but I doubt I will get to the stack today...maybe tomorrow (too many unexpected duties have cropped up this week to get to paperwork). Will I finish reading by the end of September, or even by the end of the week that begins Monday, September 28? It's possible, but I'm not certain. Stay tuned.

I hope to, at minimum, finish in early October, and then perhaps be done by the end of October with an detailed outline, so that I can perhaps start writing in November.

14 books in 5 weeks = 3.5 books/week.

However, one of those 14 books is Charles Taylor's A Secular Age, which is massive, but also directly addresses many topics I'm interested in. His book may mean I do not finish my reading until the end of October, but that will allow time for all my interlibrary loan requests to arrive. I'm currently waiting on 8 books to arrive in addition to 26 chapters/articles.