Wednesday, January 21, 2009

I know I used to have a brain. . .

Because of this post by Jamie, I realized that apparently I read nothing last year other than twaddle, fluff and drivel. Or if I did read anything of importance, I forgot it.

Once upon a time, I did read good stuff. For fun. Like Tale of Two Cities, Wuthering Heights, Sense and Sensibility, Hamlet and Jane Eyre (2 times for school and also again on my own). I even read Vanity Fair -- the longest book ever except for the Bible, at 1008 pages. And that was before the movie was made.

Most of them I read because I assumed that if I heard of them and they were old . . . they had to be good. Most of them were. The only book that I absolutely hated, loathed and despised was Lord of the Flies.

So then at Jamie's blog I read about the 9/9/9 challenge, which sounds great until you realize that it is 81 books. But I am going to try anyway.

It's got to be better than last year, where I don't remember anything I read.

Even if I only read 1/2 of them.

So anyway, the idea is to read 9 books in 9 different categories during 2009.

I don't have my list completely ironed out yet (because who knows what whims will strike between now and then) but here is what I am thinking:

    General fiction

  • to be honest, I am not going to try to guess anything that will go here. This one will be the easiest to fill though


    Non-fiction

  • Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv

  • Bringing up Boys, Richard Dobson

  • again, I don't know what all will go here


    Classics I want to reread:

  • Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte -- I haven't read it in at least 15 years

  • Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen

  • Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

  • Persuasion, Jane Austen

  • Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

  • A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

  • Kidnapped, Robert Louis Stevenson

  • The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne - one of the few American Lit that I liked

  • The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas


    Classics I may have missed: I don't remember these, but I may have read them. I tend to read all the books of a particular author I like.

  • Villette, Charlotte Bronte

  • Shirley, Charlotte Bronte

  • Mansfield Park, Jane Austen

  • Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen

  • Emma, Jane Austen

  • The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas

  • The Man in the Iron Mask, Alexandre Dumas

  • Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson

  • The Wizard of Oz, Frank L Baum


    Classics I know I missed:

  • Swiss Family Robinson, Johann Wyss

  • The Last of the Mohicans, James Fenimore Cooper

  • King Soloman's Mines, H. Rider Haggard

  • The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, Victor Hugo

  • The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe

  • The Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane

  • Ivanhoe, Walter, Sir Scott

  • Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens

  • David Copperfield, Charles Dickens --I started either this or Oliver T and never finished. Might as well add it to the list.


    Books to read aloud to the kids:

  • Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

  • Junglebook, Rudyard Kipling

  • Kim, Rudyard Kipling

  • some of the Marguerite Henry books like Sea Star, & Misty of Chincoteague

  • Sarah, Plain and Tall, Patricia MacLachlan

  • A Door in the Wall, Marguerite De Angeli

  • Robin Hood, Howard Pyle

  • The Moffats, Eleanor Estes

  • The Burgess Animal Book for Children, Thornton Burgess


    Biography

  • The Hiding Place, Corrie Ten Boom --I will be rereading it, but it's been over 15 years

  • To the Last Salute: Memories of an Austrian U-Boat Commander, Georg von Trapp

  • Maria, by Maria von Trapp (and maybe some of the others by her)

  • Any suggestions?



    Christian / Theology

  • The Shack, Will Young

  • Fox's Book of Martyrs, John Foxe

  • Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis

  • The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis

  • Rumors of Another World, Philip Yancy


    Books I own but haven't read yet:

  • Poisonwood Bible

  • Blessing, Deborah Bedford

  • others in random places around, that I have been meaning to read


Anyone else up for the challange?

5 comments:

  1. Jane Eyre is one of my favorites. I read it when I was in 9th grade, and thought it was a bit strange (but didn't hate it). Then I re-read it about a year ago and absolutely loved it.

    Villette is a little bit different, and I wouldn't call it a favorite in the same way -- but I was riveted just the same. Her style of writing is very unique -- strange and sort of dark and brooding, but very insightful -- and it still has that.

    The Count of Monte Cristo -- that was one I thoroughly enjoyed but so wished I had read *with* someone, because it's the kind of book that just begs to be discussed.

    OK, I won't go down your entire list or this comment will be ridiculously long, but I will say good luck! I know I'm gonna need plenty of luck (OK, and a good dose of self-discipline, which I never have when it comes to reading) to get through 1/2 of my own list, LOL. :)

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  2. Oooohhhh....you just passed on an awesome challenge! I'm with Jamie above...Count of Monte Cristo is one of my very favorite books! I used to try to keep a list of everything I read but that slipped easily. I'll get back on here later to try and start w/ya!

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  3. What a great idea. I wonder if I could pull it off. I will have to think about that. I left a comment at my blog regarding your comment about the chess book. :-) The book would be helpful, I think. The illustrations will stick in your mind if only because they are unusual.

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  4. Actually...Dr. Thunder is not a favorite, you are right. BUT...if needed, I can make my taste buds THINK it's Dr. P...however, my dentist is really not hip on my drinking that so much anymore, blah blah blah

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  5. Me again...in your biography category, I can totally help you out...I love biographies. I have Michael J Fox, Myself (Katherine Hepburn...I LOVE this one), I'm not at home so I can't remember all but I do have a few more I can let you know about :)

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