61 Books Deep into Saints & Poisonwood
A couple years ago I made a list of 100 books I wanted to read. The list was compiled by professors, friends, family, bestseller lists, must-read lists, and my own backburner list of books to read.
I'm proud to say that I'm 61 books into the list and still trekking.
I did take a couple months (about three) off just recently. While in Europe, for example, I took whatever English books I could get, some not being on the list. And, since being in the middle of nowhere CO without much income to speak of, I've been settling for a re-reading of some of my favorites.
But I wanted to post my progress. So here's where we're at:
* = horrible book. completely unimpressed
** = not a total waste of time, but close.
*** = a good book.
**** = really well done. I applaud the authors.
***** = oh my god
Have Read:
1. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke *****
And Childermass knew the world. Childermass knew what games the children on street corners were playing—games that all other grown ups have long since forgotten. Childermass knew what old people by firesides are thinking of though no one has asked them in years. Childermass knew what young men hear in the rattling of the drums and the tooting of the pipes that makes them leave their homes and go to be soldiers—and he knew the half-eggcupful of glory and the barrelful of misery that await them. Childermass could look at a smart attourney in the street and tell you what he had in his coat-tail pockets. And all that Childermass knew made him smile; and some of what he knew made him laugh out loud; and none of what he knew wrung from him so much as ha’ pennyworth of pity.
2. Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain ***
3. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott ***
4. The Call of the Wild by Jack London **1/2
6. Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie ****
7. Your Big Break by Johanna Edwards **1/2
8. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley ***1/2
9. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli ***
10. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen ****
11. Holidays On Ice by David Sedaris **1/2
12. The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby ***
13. If You Could See Me Now by Cecelia Ahern ***
14. Who Wants to Be a Sex Goddess? by Gemma Bruce ***1/2
19. The Testament by John Grisham ***
20. Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski ****
23. The Di Vinci Code by Dan Brown **1/2
24. Animal Farm by George Orwell ***
31. The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood ****1/2
32. Beauty of the Husband by Anne Carson **
33. Flashbang: How I Got Over Myself by Mark Steele ***
34. The Good Girl's Guide to Bad Girl Sex by Barbara Keesling ***
36. Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding ****
38. No Place Like Home by Mary Higgins Clark **1/2
39. Marley & Me *
40. Inkspell by Cornelia Funke ***1/2
41. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate Dicamillo ***1/2
42. The Last Juror by John Grisham **1/2
43. Labyrinth by Kate Mosse **1/2
44. The Downtown Girl's Guide to Wine by Buckley & Bykofsky ***1/2
45. Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier ****1/2
46. Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver *****
47. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer **1/2
48. The Iron Lance by Stephen Lawhead ***
50. Message in a Bottle by Nicholas Sparks **1/2
53. City of Saints & Madmen by Jeff Vandermeer **1/2
54. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold ****
55. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens ***
56. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle *
58. Life of Pi by Yann Martel ***
60. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee *****
62. The Waste Land & Other Poems by T.S. Eliot ***1/2
63. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith ***1/2
64. Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot ***1/2
65. The Hero & The Crown by Robin McKinley **
67. No Touch Monkey by Ayun Holliday ***
68. The Last Unicorn by Peter Beagle ****
72. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon ***
73. Lady Chatterly's Lover by D.H. Lawrence ****1/2
76. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine **1/2
82. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris ****
83. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde ****
85. Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton ***1/2
86. Princess Academy by Shannon Hale ****
88. Exodus by Leon Uris
89. Naked by David Sedaris ***1/2
93. Franny & Zooey by JD Salinger **1/2
94. The Princess Bride by William Goldman ****
95. Never Threaten to Eat Your Co-Workers by Bonnie Burton ****
97. Watership Down by Richard Adams ****1/2
99. The Once & Future King by T.H. White **1/2
100. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame *
Have Not Read Yet:
5. Blankets by Craig Thompson
15. Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell
16. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossenini
17. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
18. The Dive From Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer
21. House by Frank Peretti
22. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
25. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
26. The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington
27. Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
28. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
29. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
30. Atonement by Ian McEwan
35. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
37. In Dubious Battle by John Steinbeck
49. The Last Word & the Word After That by Brian McLaren
51. El Principito (The Little Prince)
52. A Mind of It's Own: A Cultural History of the Penis by David M. Friedman
57. Night by Elie Wiesel
59. High School Confidential by Jeremy Iberson
61. House of Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorn
66. Middlemarch by George Eliot
69. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffery Euginedes
70. Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck
71. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
74. An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina
75. The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
77. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
78. Papillon by Henri Charrierre
79. Size 12 is Not Fat by Meg Cabot
80. Cheating At Solitaire by Ally Carter
81. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
84. Charlie & the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
87. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Foer
90. The Time Machine by HG Wells
91. You Belong To Me by Mary Higgins Clark
92. Silas Marner by George Eliot
96. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
98. Persuation by Jane Austen
-later I am going to post some of my favorite quotes by these authors. Because I know you want to read a bit. Yep, you're salivating at the thought, aren't you?
Gigi
