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Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Books, Books And More Books

I found this today and thought it interesting! Here is a list of 106 books most often marked as “unread” by LibraryThing’s users. I suppose they could have been purchased by consumers to sit on the shelf in hopes that those titles would make said consumers look ever so intelligent or oh so sophisticated! Especially if they came with those pretty leather bound covers and all....hmmm....oooh. Or, better yet, antique ones that are sweetly musty smelling with delightfully frayed corners. I love those!

But, just for fun, let's see. I will highlight those I HAVE read in RED and any I own, but have NEVER actually read, in PINK. Those that I started but never finished will be highlighted in PURPLE!

Please play along if you wish!

  • Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell~ Anna Karenina~ Crime and Punishment~ Catch-22~ One Hundred Years of Solitude~ Wuthering Heights~ The Silmarillion~ Life of Pi : a novel~ The Name of the Rose~ Don Quixote~ Moby Dick~ Ulysses~ Madame Bovary~ The Odyssey~ Pride and Prejudice~ Jane Eyre~ A Tale of Two Cities~ The Brothers Karamazov~ Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies~ War and Peace~ Vanity Fair~ The Time Traveler’s Wife~ The Iliad~ Emma~ The Blind Assassin~ The Kite Runner~ Mrs. Dalloway~ Great Expectations~ American Gods~ A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius~ Atlas Shrugged~ Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books~ Memoirs of a Geisha~ Middlesex~ Quicksilver~ Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West~ The Canterbury Tales~ The Historian : a novel~
  • Brave New World~ A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man~ Love in the Time of Cholera~ The Fountainhead~ Foucault’s Pendulum~ Middlemarch~ Frankenstein~ The Count of Monte Cristo~ Dracula~ A Clockwork Orange~ Anansi Boys~
  • The Grapes of Wrath~ The Once and Future King~ The Poisonwood Bible : a novel~ 1984~ Angels & Demons~ The Inferno (and Purgatory and Paradise)~ The Satanic Verses~ Sense and Sensibility~ The Picture of Dorian Gray~ Mansfield Park~
  • One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest~ To the Lighthouse~ Tess of the D’Urbervilles~ Oliver Twist~
  • Gulliver's Travels~ Les Misérables The Corrections~ The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay~ The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time~ Dune~ The Prince~ The Sound and the Fury~ Angela’s Ashes : a memoir~ The God of Small Things~ A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present~ Cryptonomicon~ Neverwhere~ A Confederacy of Dunces~ A Short History of Nearly Everything~ Dubliners~ The Unbearable Lightness of Being~ Beloved~ Slaughterhouse-five~
  • The Scarlet Letter~ Eats, Shoots & Leaves~ The Mists of Avalon~ Oryx and Crake : a novel~ Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed~ Cloud Atlas~ The Confusion~ Lolita~ Persuasion~ Northanger Abbey~ The Catcher in the Rye~ On the Road~ The Hunchback of Notre Dame~ Freakonomics : a rogue economist explores the hidden side of everything~ Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : an inquiry into values~ The Aeneid~ Watership Down~ Gravity’s Rainbow~ The Hobbit~ In Cold Blood : a true account of a multiple murder and its consequences~ White Teeth~ Treasure Island~ David Copperfield~ The Three Musketeers~
Here is where I should note that "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: an inquiry into values" makes a wonderful book title when you are playing Charades! Now, I must say that some of those HAVE READ titles were during High School and College but I suppose that still counts right? I guess I need to work on those pink and purple titles and check into those that remain in the black. I read a lot but not as often as I once did I am sad to say. My favorite novel remains "To Kill A Mockingbird" and I re-read it every year. Harper Lee created some of the strongest characters ever written. In my humble opinion, it is literary perfection! Another favorite book is the poignant and powerful "Anne Frank : The Diary of a Young Girl" which I read every year as well. Being able to visit her hideaway in Amsterdam was one of the highlights of my life. I adore anything written by Jane Austin, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway. I love E.M. Forster, Edith Wharton, C.S Lewis, Alex Haley, Charles Dickens, John Irving. And how I love to read the work of Pearl Buck, J.K. Rowling, John Berndt, Frank McCourt and Arthur Miller. I have read everything by Bill Bryson, Nora Ephron, Shel Silverstein, Roald Dahl, A,A Milne, Eugene O'Neill, William Faulkner and James Herriot. ....and isn't Janet Evanovich fun? I often find myself happily engrossed in delicious biographies, the life stories of politicians, actors and even the authors themselves. And oh those fantastic books on history! I have my favorite children's books...how I adore so many stories and aren't the beautiful illustrations in many children's picture books delightful? I cherish many books from childhood...Anne of Green Gables, The Little Princess, The Secret Garden. Oh yes, there is also my love for decorating and travel books. At last count, we owned 232 decorating books and YES! I do actually read each one and am often dragging out one or two for inspiration or just the pure joy of reading it again. Right now I am enjoying Mary Emmerling's new "Beach Cottages: At Home By The Sea". I have long been a fan of her books. I also adore Mary Englebreit's decorating books, her children's books and her cookbooks! She has a book to fit into each of my favorite genres! I may not be the best cook in the world but oh how I love my collection of cookbooks! Just try to take away my Paula Deens! Thankfully, I am married to a die hard bookworm. He usually has two to three books going at once. He is reading through "Finnegan's Wake" now. And although I think James Joyce is brilliant, that is one novel I have yet, or probably will ever try, to tackle!
What are some of *your* favorite books?
Reading can be a pleasure like no other! Can you remember discovering a fantastic new author or one that was new to you? How sweet it is to cozy up with a good book and a cup of tea on a weekend or a rainy day. Try it...become life-long friends with a great character or simply lose yourself in the worlds created by books.
There is nothing like the printed word...
Love and Hugs, Susie Q

14 comments:

Lisa Pogue said...

Holy Cannoli, you have read some books. Not just Harlequins either. That's great. I used to read all the time, I don't so much anymore. I've noticed my spelling isn't so great either and I think it's because I don't read as much. It does make us smarter doesn't it. I'll have to think about my own list, this was very fun, thank you!

Mary Isabella and Kiley too! said...

I share your interest for reading and have read a lot of these...Mary

Rosemary said...

You get the gold star for reading today Susie!!
I will have to sit down and make my list sometime.
I have been too busy to even read my magazines lately.
I hope I get time for some good books this summer.
Rosemary

Carolyn said...

I just finished A Tree grows in Brooklyn. That should be on the Classics- Must read list. It is like a time capsule back to the early 1900's. I loved it! Read it if you haven't, get it if you don't have it!

Carolyn

Janet said...

Well aren't you just a Miss Smarty Pants??? You know I love you anyway...I have read a lot of those books ( mostly in school), but now that I read just for enjoyment I read less scholarly tomes. I am reading the new Harlan Coben right now. I used my 40% Borders coupon to buy it hot off the press. I read every night and can not get to sleep if I don't read first.

Sheila said...

That's quite a library of decorating books Susie..!
I have read some of the books on the list, but not nearly as many as you.
I loved To Kill a Mockingbird as well.
I must think on this and compile a list of my faves.
hugs
xx

Anonymous said...

I love to read. My dream house would be one where I have an acutally library with the tall library ladder and all. That was an interesting list! Like you some I've started but never finished. My favorite book - it's hard to say I love so many of them. I really loved The Mists of Avalon and of course anything Austen!

Manuela

Sugar Bear said...

This is a very interesting list and I am very impressed with all the reading you have done!
Karla

Penny from Enjoying The Simple Things said...

I read every day (actually night, in bed with a reading light attached to my book, for a half hour or so)

I love going into a bookstore or library...I could spend hours in either of them...
xo
Penny

Mockingbird Hill said...

Quite a list you got going on there! I used to read much more than I do now and my stash is also a bit different! My attention span seems shorter so I enjoy magazines mostly..from decor to crafts to weddings to food. But, If I do feel the need to read a book it's usually something not too deep...anything by Stephen King or Belva Plain or Nora Ephron. I'll stop now since this is your blog and this is starting to look like a post ;)

Cassie

Anonymous said...

What a fun little exercise! It looks like you and I read--and didn't read--most of the same ones. I'm glad to see you're a Jane Austen fan (this means we can be friends). I love E.M. Forster, too--especially "A Room With a View."

Seeing all these titles makes me want to read some of the good ones again. I was an English major and spent four years reading a lot of the classics. It would be nice to read some for pleasure now. -Julia :-)

Cheryl Wray said...

Of the ones on your list that are not marked as read, I would have to highly recommend One Hundred Years of Solitude. Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of my favorite others and this one is great. Also on your "not read" is Tess of the Durbervilles and it is wonderful!!! I am currently reading The Time Traveler's Wife.

I LOVE to read; it's one of my greatest joys.

Strawberry Lane said...

What beautiful books! Nothing better than old leather books in a room to feel comfy. And nothing better than ... reading them.

What a fabulous list of books!

sheila from life @ #17 said...

I had to smile...I almost bought Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell this past Friday at the book sale in Perry...but couldn't bring myself to part with the $5 for a book I checked from the library and just couldn't get more than a few chapters into...I guess I'm not alone since it heads up the list, lol!

(but you really have to read The Hobbit :)