I come from a family of big-time Readers – both parents, all grandparents, aunts and uncles. I am more likely to stay up reading than stay up partying or watching tv. I made sure to marry someone who also loves to Read; he finishes 150+ books every year, mostly by listening to audiobooks on double speed. I listen to audiobooks while cleaning the house, knitting, crocheting, and driving. I also maintain a healthy pile of books on my nightstand and on our four bookshelves. I love to read!
I think that books are one of the best forms of entertainment – I find something new every time I re-read a favorite book. (happy sigh) That said, I do not think that every book is for everyone. I do not believe that everyone has to read “the great books.” In my experience, most so called great books are not great or enjoyable to read. The trick to being a Reader is reading books and stories you enjoy reading.
The following is my take on Goodreads 50 Books to Read before you Die
1) To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee
Pretty good; movie covers the best parts
2) The Diary of a Young Girl – Anne Frank
Mostly boring; really is a young girl’s diary. There are better autobiographies about this time
3) The Harry Potter Collection – J.K. Rowling
well-built world and good storytelling
4) 1984 – George Orwell
Have not read
5) Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
It is good; is well written and surprisingly timeless
6) The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
Stalking before we had a word for it; did not like
7) Holy Bible
8) The Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien
Too many words! Watch the movies
9) Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
Longing at it’s best; did not like
10) Life of Pi – Yann Martel
Have not read
11) Through the Looking Glass – Lewis Carroll
Entertaining; fun cartoon
12) The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
Been a while since read but mostly I remember revenge
13) Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
It is fine
14) Hamlet – William Shakespeare
Karma will get you
15) The Color Purple – Alice Walker
Awful people; have not re-read
16) The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
Good adventure
17) One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Ken Kesey
Have not read
18) The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
Indulgent whiner; I did not like
19) Don Quixote – Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Dreams make life worth it
20) Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
Made me sad
21) The Divine Comedy – Dante Alighieri
Read for college class; read fast; do not remember much
22) A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
Good; have re-read; audiobook read by Tim Curry is fab
23) Lord of the Flies – William Golding
humanity is doomed without rules
24) Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
People are people, accept it
25) Frankenstein – Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
holds up; like it
26) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon
Have not read
27) Catch-22 – Joseph Heller
War is looney
28) Gulliver’s Travels – Jonathan Swift
Liked before I knew all the political satire in it
29) The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
Have not read
30) Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
I do not remember the point of this book, so not great
31) The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
I did not like Mr. Gray
32) The Stranger – Albert Camus
Have never heard of this book
33) The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
Nope; depressing, so depressing
34) The Canterbury Tales – Geoffrey Chaucer
Good tales; do not read in Old English
35) The War of the Worlds – H.G. Wells
OG science fiction and it shows
36) Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
Do not be a second wife
37) Moby-Dick – Herman Melville
Obsession
38) A Passage to India – E.M. Forster
Have not read
39) Ulysses – James Joyce
Poor story written interestingly
40) The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Grahame
Good stories
41) His Dark Materials Collection – Philip Pullman
Have not read
42) On the Road – Jack Kerouac
Did not like
43) Robinson Crusoe – Daniel Defoe
Pretty good
44) The Quiet American – Graham Greene
Have not read
45) Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
Never heard of this book
46) The Way We Live Now – Anthony Trollope
Never heard of this book
47) Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
Felt grim and suffocating
48) A Bend in the River – V.S. Naipaul
Never heard of this book
49) Money – Martin Amis
Never heard of this book
50) Men Without Women – Ernest Hemingway
Have not read
51) The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
Felt grim and a bit hopeful
Next post will be books I truly love, recommend and gift