I thought those of you still on dial-up might relate to this. Since dial-up or expensive satellite are my only options for the internet, usually I have 5+ windows open at one time, trying to maximize the wait. I also play Hearts and Spider Solitaire quite frequently. (Side note: While I am a very consistent winner at 2 handed Spider Solitaire, my husband can actually win at 4 handed! What a smartie!)
Anyway, I have begun to read books now instead of the useless, but fun card games. I read for a chapter or section while waiting for my sloooooooow internet access. I have found it a much better use of my time. I have even listened to some audiobooks, but that gets a bit tricky if I’m trying to read other blogs or important stuff.
So. . . just an idea for those still in the stone age.
I got this meme from a post on framed’s blog. The instructions are this: Look at the list of books below. Highlight in red the ones you’ve read, highlight in green the ones you might read, leave the ones you won’t read in black, italicize the ones on your book shelf, and place parentheses around the ones you’ve never even heard of.
The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger The Hitchhhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audry Niffenegger His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling Life of Pi by Yann Martel Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland Animal Farm by George Orwell Catch-22 by Joseph Heller The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon Lord of the Flies by William Golding 1984 by George Orwell Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaba by J.K. Rowling One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold Slaughterhouse 5 by Kurt Vonnegut Angels and Demons by Dan Brown Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (Crytonomicon by Neal Stephenson) The Secret History by Donna Tartt A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte Brave New World by Aldous Huxley The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (Good Omens by Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman ) Atonement by Ian McEwan The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath Dune by Frank Herbert The History of Love by Nichole Krauss
These won’t be read in this order; I just want to keep track of how many books are on my list. I would like to read 100+ books this year, but if I get to 52 I will be satisfied. Finished titles are crossed out. Titles moved to 2008 are asterixed.
Note: I had to move some titles to 2008 to accommodate different titles for various challenges. Those are asterixed with a new book replacing its “number”.
1. New Testament – God Rating: 5
2. Psalms & Proverbs – God 3. Peace Like a River by Leif Enger Rating: 4.5 4. Atonement by Ian McEwan Rating: 3.5 5. Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner Rating: 4
*(moved to 2008) My Name is Asher Lev – Potok 6. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert Rating: 4 7. Inkheart – Funke Rating: 4
*(moved to 2008) The Neverending Story - Ende
*(moved to 2008) Fall on Your Knees – MacDonald 8. The Handmaid’s Tale – Atwood Rating: 4.5 9. The Blind Assassin – Atwood Rating: 3.5
*(moved to 2008) Possession – Byatt 10. Phantastes – MacDonald Rating: 4 11. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Rating: 5 12. The Echo Maker by Richard PowersRating: 4
* (moved to 2008) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Haddon
13. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
14. The Kite Runner – Hosseini
*(moved to 2008) Beneath a Marble Sky – Shors 15. The Princess and the Goblin – MacDonald Rating: 4.5 16. The Secret Life of Bees – KiddRating: 4.5
17. The Known World – Jones
*(moved to 2008) The Poisonwood Bible – Kingsolver
18. Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller 19. The Sea – Banville Rating: 2 20. March – Brooks Rating: 3.5
*(moved to 2008) Life of Pi – Martel
21. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn – Smith
22. The Good Earth – Buck
*(moved to 2008) Interpreter of Maladies – Lahiri 23. Grendel – Gardner Rating: 2
24. Lisey’s Story – King 25. A Severe Mercy by Sheldon Vanauken Rating: 4
*(moved to 2008) Miss Garnet’s Angel - Vickers
*(moved to 2008) The Last Town on Earth – Mullen 26. The Memory Keeper’s Daughter – Edwards Rating: 4.5
27. O Pioneers! – Willa Cather
*(moved to 2008) The Meaning of Night – Cox 28. My Sister’s Keeper – Picoult Rating: 4 29. The Black Pearl - O’Dell Rating: 4.5
*(moved to 2008) Peter Pan in Scarlet – McCaughrean
30. Mr. Ives’ Christmas – Hijuelos 31. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan – See – Rating: 5 32. The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency – Smith Rating: 4.5 33. The Road by Cormac McCarthy Rating: 4.5
*(moved to 2008) River Rising – Dickson
34. Kristin Lavransdatter – Undset
35. Never Let Me Go - Ishiguro
*(moved to 2008) Jean de Florette – Pagnol
*(moved to 2008) Manon of the Spring – Pagnol 36. The Inheritance of Loss - Desai Rating: 3.5 37. The God of Small Things by Arundhati RoyRating:
*(moved to 2008) I, Juan de Pareja by Elizabeth Borton de Trevino
*(moved to 2008) Alice Adams - Tarkington
*(moved to 2008) The Secret History – Tartt 38. The Color Purple - Walker Rating: 4
*(moved to 2008) The Brothers K – Duncan
*(moved to 2008) The Five People You Meet in Heaven – Albom 39. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Rating: 4.5
*(moved to 2008) Things Fall Apart – Achebe
40. The Travels of Marco Polo
41. The History of Love – Krauss 42. Broken for You – Kallos Rating: 4
43. Arthur & George – Barnes 44. The Woman in White – Collins Rating: 4.5 45. Heart of Darkness – Conrad Rating: 5 46. The Birds – Aristophanes Rating: 2.5 47. Silas Marner – Eliot – Rating: 4.5 48. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde – Stevenson Rating: 5 49. Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell – Clarke Rating: 4.5
50. The Hours - Cunningham
*(moved to 2008) Oryx and Crake - Atwood
51. Queen of the Tambourine – Jane Gardam
52. Veronika Decides to Die – Coelho
53. The Yearling – Rawlings
54. Zorro – Allende 55. The Eyre Affair – Fforde Rating: 4 56. Gathering Blue – LowryRating: 4.5
57. Middlesex - Eugenides 58. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane - DiCamillo Rating: 4.5 59. To Kill a Mockingbird – Lee Rating: 5 60. Amos Fortune, Free Man – Yates Rating: 4
61. Buying a Fishing Rod for My Grandfather – Xingjian
62. Suite Française – Nemirovsky
63. Ishmael – Quinn
64. The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Kundera
65. X Stands for Unknown – Asimov
66. A Death in the Family – Agee
*(moved to 2008) The Possessed – Dostoevsky
67. We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
68. Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Hardy
*(moved to 2008) Pippi Longstocking – Lindgren
69. The Bookseller of Kabul by Seierstad 70. Walking Across Egypt by Clyde EdgertonRating: 4 71. The Myth of You and Me by Leah Stewart Rating: 3.5 72. Everyman by Philip Roth Rating: 1 73. Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung ChangRating: 4.5 74. The Giver by Lois Lowry Rating: 4.5 75. The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books - ZaneRating: 3.5 76. The Stone Diaries – Shields Rating: 4.5 77. The Bone People – Hulme Rating: 4 78. The Translator by Leila Aboulela Rating: 4 79. Messenger by Lois LowryRating: 4 80. The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli Rating: 4 81. The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron Rating: 4 82. The White Stag by Kate Seredy Rating: 4
83. A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick 84. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle Rating: 4 85. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry Rating: 4 86. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean RhysRating: 4 87. Coraline by Neil Gaiman Rating: 4.5 88. Stardust by Neil Gaiman Rating: 4
89. Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
90. Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
91. Winter Wheat by Mildred Walker
92. The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler 93. Stargirl by Jerry SpinelliRating: 4
94. Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons by Lorna Landvik
95. The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint Exupery
96. Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
97. Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
98. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson
My Title and Author A to Z Challenge list is now here.
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. (1 John 3:1, ESV)
