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It's an intriguing idea, and I'd be up for it, because I'm ordinarily reading most of the time anyhow.
However, and pardon my rant here, if the book list is going to consist mostly of the canon, or of books that people choose to read generally because they look good under your arm at the coffeeshop, then...meh.
While I'im all for the thought-provoking, experimental novel, I desperately wish people would discard this notion that good literature by definition has to be obscure, difficult to read, etc. I realize this is not necessarily the attitude anyone is taking with their suggestions, but a lot of seemingly superficial novels are overlooked because of their mass appeal or accessibility.
I've found authors like Stephen King, John Irving, or Salman Rushdie infinitely more 'educational' and provocative than people like Hemingway. I suppose it depends on what your motivation is (I suppose I'm something of a deconstructionist), but, children, I implore you, don't swallow the forcefed bullshit of academia.
Again, I see the merits of reading books of the 'artistic' ilk - if nothing else, they're good for a knowledge base. But, coming from a jaded Literature major, literary dissection is something that, while ridiculously easy to do, is often overdone.
I can't believe I paid money to sit in a classroom and listen to a group of naive, pompous fucks expounding upon the symbolism of monkey heads in "Woman Warrior" and stroking each other's cerebral cocks. Because frankly, if you need someone else to point these things out to you, you're a lost cause anyhow, and you should put the book down before you even bother to begin it.
My point? If we can read books that do not for the most part exist to be conversational pieces on grassy knolls outside the university coffeeshop, I'm in.
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