Speaking of being a reader, I know that you have all been wondering, "How's that New Year's Resolution thing going?" And even if you haven't, my goal is to milk old posting topics until they're dry like desiccated ancient mummies .... So I thought I'd update you on my reading list for 2006.If you recall (and I didn't—I had to check) my goal for 2006 was to again read 50 books, but this time they would include a minimum of 12 classics (as defined here) and a maximum of 10 cheesy romances/chick lit.
So far, so good on the overall count and the romances. I've read no romances so far (I'm hoarding the brain candy for when things get more stressful). I also finished 5 books in January, for which I patted myself on the back and poured a large glass of red wine. They were:
- The Vesuvius Club by Mark Gatiss
- Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire
- The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (I'm a little irked that it's not on the 100 best books list, but what can you do?)
- The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory
- Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
So I'm taking the easy way out for now. But it's early days yet. I can only avoid the difficult, obscure classics for so long.
If you're looking for recommendations, I would recommend all of the above books depending on what mood you're in. But then again, I can probably count on one finger the number of times I actually put down a book without finishing it because I just thought it was that awful. (Gone with the Wind—I couldn't stand dealing with Scarlett anymore!)
If you want to be ...
- shocked and amused, read 1 or 5.
- certain the world is coming to an end, thanks to George W. Bush and the religious conservatives, read 3.
- disillusioned about the happily ever after of childhood fairytales, read 2.
- grateful that at least you're not being burned at the stake for your religion, read 4.
7 comments:
Because I am a geek who likes to build giant charts in Word and/or Excel: I made myself a table of the top 100 you linked to and discovered that I had read all or parts of 38 of them. Yay, me. Or something.
And, you should have started with Metamorphosis. It's a short story, for crying out loud, and GE is an agonizingly long and depressing Dickens-got-paid-by-the-chapter novel.
Even if you picked Metamorphoses (Ovid) from the list, that would be better--it's just a collection of Greek myths, so that's almost as good as a romance novel anyhow, what with all the gods transforming themselves for the purposes of having sex with humans and whatnot.
But maybe I'm just bitter because GE brings back memories of high school English.
Speaking of high school English, we've got somebody writing a curriculum unit on Metamorphosis right now. Can't wait to proof that one....
Great Expectations isn't too bad. I taught it to my remedial English boys, and they liked it. But Dickens just never did it for me. I suppose I can give Dickens a nod for excellent imagery, but his symbolism is too heavy-handed.
Do read Metamorphosis! I think it has been made into a more intimidating story than it needs to be. But it's also one of those stories that I could read a million times, each time with a different approach and interpretation. It has so many layers but my suggestion is just to read it the first time, don't analyze it until subsequent readings.
Meanwhile, because my brain likes candy, I'm searching back for the title of the romance novel about the woman and the vampire ... Valentine's Day is coming and I'll only have a trashy novel to celebrate with.
Wanna read and not spend any money? Here is a link to lots of books that have fallen into the public domain and are available for legitimate, free downloads. Most are classic books that are not copyrighted in the US.
http://www.gutenberg.org
I usually take the files to work and print / 3 hole punch them. A 3 ring binder is a great way to read in the car or on an airplane.
Wow! The Rev. Jeremy really threw me off. I thought you were some random guy, sent from above to show me the light;)
Thanks for the tip!
you thought some crazy person was trying to sell you something, eh.
Um yeah, a little. Next time you're in town, maybe you can explain where the name comes from. I'm betting it's an interesting story ....
Well Jeremy is a crazy person, I still haven't figured out what he is selling... ;-)
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