Hi there,
In a previous post I created a list of books that I wanted to get through by the end of 2008. Although I initially created a list of 52 books (one per week) and some alternates, the book list has grown legs and I’ve added a good deal more. On this page, I’ll be keeping track of the ones I’d like to get through and the ones I’ve finished. Any recommendations would be welcomed and will be added to the list. A synopsis would also be appreciated.
Cheers!
The Book List
1. The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
2. The Almost Moon – Alice Seabold
3. A Certain Slant of Light – Laura Whitcomb
4. The Road to Avalon – Joan Wolfe
5. The Little Friend – Donna Tartt
6. Land Girls – Angela Huth
7. The Light of Asia 1903 – Sir Edwin Arnold
8. Twilight (Twilight Saga) – Stephanie Meyer
9. Anansi Boys – Neil Gaiman
10. Acacia: Book One – The War with the Mein – David Anthony Durham
11. Making Money (Discworld) – Terry Pratchet
12. Fugitive Pieces – Anne Michaels
13. “Wuthering Heights” (York Notes Advanced) – Emily Bronte
14. Tropic of Cancer (Harper Perennial Modern Classics) – Henry Miller
15. The Wings of the Dove (Oxford World’s Classics) – Henry James
16. The Mill on the Floss (Penguin Classics)- George Eliot
17. The Private Memoirs and Confessions Of A Justified Sinner: With a New Introduction by Ian Rankin – James Hogg
18. The Trial – Franz Kafka
19. White Teeth – Zadie Smith
20. Fragile Things – Neil Gaiman
21. The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Milan Kundera
22. Natural Selection – Bill Dare
23. Fury – Salem Rushdie
24. Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
25. The Photograph – Penelope Lively
26. Heart-Shaped Box – Joe Hill
27. The Scandal of the Season – Sophie Gee
28. The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
29. The French Lieutenant’s Woman – John Fowles
30. The Magic Mountain – Thomas Mann
31. The Six Wives of Henry VIII – Alison Weir
32. Beloved – Toni Morrison
33. Q – Luther Blissett
34. Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph – T. E. Lawrence
35. The Queen of Subtleties – Suzannah Dunn
36. Far from the Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
37. In the Company of the Courtesan – Sarah Dunant
38. Rope Burns – F.X. Toole
39. Smashed: Growing Up a Drunk Girl – Koren Zailckas
40. New Moon – Stephanie Meyer
41. Lucky – Alice Seabold
42. Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen
43. Intruder in the Dust – William Faulkner
44. Look Homeward, Angel – Thomas Wolfe
45. War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
46. Moll Flanders – Daniel Defoe
47. Daniel Deronda – George Eliot
48. Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
49. Middlemarch – George Eliot
50. Rebecca – Daphne Du Maurier
51. Human Croquet – Kate Atkinson
52. Sophie’s World: A Novel About the History of Philosophy – Jostein Gaarder
Note: Completed books are in Bold.
1. We Need To Talk About Kevin – Lionel Shriver
2. The Samurai’s Garden – Gail Tsukiyama
3. The Street of a Thousand Blossoms – Gail Tsukiyama
4. The Dressmaker – Elizabeth Birkelund Overbeck
5. A Confederacy of Dunces – John Kennedy Toole
6. Battle Royale – Houshun Takamia
8. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson
9. Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog – John Grogan
11. The White Castle – Orhan Pamuk
12. Death and the Penguin – Andrey Kurkov
13. Rape: A Love Story – Joyce Carol Oates
14. How to Survive a Horror Movie – Seth Grahame-Smith
15. The Ice Queen – Alice Hoffman
16. Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Truman Capote
17. The Book With No Name – Anonymous
18. Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
20. Siddhartha – Hermann Hesse
21. Burning Bright – Tracy Chevalier
22. Lost Girls and Love Hotels – Catherine Hanrahan
23. Nefertiti – Michelle Moran
24. Tan Lines: A Novel of Sex and Sunburn – J.J.Salem
25. The Fifth Child – Doris Lessing
27. Real World – Natsuro Karino
28. The Choice – Nicolas Sparks
What an auspicious list! Glad to see Morrison and Faulkner on there as they are two of my favorites. INTRUDER IN THE DUST is one I have yet to read…still need to find a copy of it to grab! Thanks for reminding me!
If you like Faulkner, I highly recommend LIGHT IN AUGUST.
Also, from Henry James, I recommend THE TURN OF THE SCREW.
By: David Schleicher on March 12, 2008
at 2:52 am
Hi Dave, Thanks for your comment. I’ve read the Turn of the Screw. Spooky! Excellent book. Did you ever see the screen adaptation, “The Innocents”?
As for Light in August, I’ll add that to the list. Thanks!
E
By: elizadashwood on March 12, 2008
at 11:38 am
Eliza,
No, I haven’t seen “The Innocents” though I have heard it is a superb adaptation of the book. It’s definitely on my list of things to watch.
Many recent ghost movies seem to have been influenced by “The Turn of the Screw.” Most notable are “The Others” and the recent Spanish film, “The Orphanage.” These are two movies that I really enjoyed, and it was a review of “The Orphanage” that compared it to James’ work that prompted me to read it. It’s always great to find the source of the inspiration.
By: David Schleicher on March 12, 2008
at 1:41 pm
I would recommend Nabokov’s ‘Pale Fire’, also Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things fall apart’. The first is a fake commentary on a fake epic poem, turning into a twisting insight into obsession, history and self delusion. The latter is the first novel written in english by an African about the life of an African – one man’s view of a violently changing world, with all the loss and subtlety that entails. Very moving.
By: alicemary on March 12, 2008
at 6:31 pm
Hi there! Thanks for stopping by. I’ve read “Pale Fire” and you’re quite right, it’s brilliant. I haven’t read “Things fall apart”, so I’ll be sure to add that to the list. Thanks for the recommendation.
E
By: elizadashwood on March 12, 2008
at 8:10 pm
One of my favorites is by the Austrian writer, Robert Musil. The book is called “The Man without Qualities.”
By: lethebashar on April 16, 2008
at 3:32 am
I’m glad to see that Marley & Me is on there, it is a really moving read and I really enjoyed it, it is hilarious and sad, finnished within 2 days. So get reading it!!!
The rest of the books seem boring to me. I don’t know how you read Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I read it for school and wrote essays on it so now whenever I see it I wan’t to scream.
Fire, bed and bone is a good book for you looking at the titles you want to / have read.
Mice of Men is also ok.
I prefer adventure books that have you on the edge of your seat, Robert Muchamore’s CHERUB series are awesome. My mum likes them so it proves they can be enjoyed by people of all ages.
A place called Here is also good.
By: Megan on July 28, 2008
at 10:29 pm
That’s a good list. I’ve read the TWILIGHT SAGA books by Stephanie Meyer. I must admit though, books 2-4 do not match up to the first one in my opinion (still trying to get through book 4…)
MILL ON THE FLOSS was something I read in college. It was good; it ended up being better than I initially thought.
And of course anything by Jane Austen is great
I find myself reading mostly historical fiction, especially those that don’t take place in the U.S.A. (as that’s where I’m from). I absolutely love Lisa See’s books, SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN and PEONY IN LOVE. Both are great stories; PEONY is a bit on the paranormal/supernatural side and slightly odd, but very compelling. You may like reading those, if you want to add more to your list. (I have a list that grows by the day; I have it in an Excel spreadsheet).
By: Dara on October 3, 2008
at 7:26 pm
i agreed with author. thanksqz
By: masahira on October 19, 2008
at 5:41 pm
What an inspiring list! One a week?! Including War and Peace? You are a courageous and voracious reader, I take it. Have you heard of Shelfari.com? You can track books you’ve read, want to read and what others are reading (along with discussion groups and reviews!)
Some of my favorites:
The Kite Runner is a MUST!
I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb
She’s Come Undone, also by Wally Lamb
For a light read: Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster
Have fun!
By: writerinspired on December 8, 2008
at 3:26 pm
I’ve just discovered your blog today and so far I’m loving it. Your book list is impressive. Have you finished War and Peace? I started reading it about a year ago and am ashamed to say that I’m a long way from finishing it. I’m also reading Jonathan Saffran Foer, Everything is Illuminated. Thanks for sharing your list.
By: Sharon (thesunlitdesk) on May 26, 2009
at 12:27 am
Personally was REALLY disappointed with the Little Friend by Donna Tartt. If you read her first book, don’t waste time on this one. It bears no resemblance, has no suspense, very little plot. If you want to read 500 pages of descriptive scenery and character development, then go for it.
Anansi boys on the other hand, is one of my favorites from the last year or two. Incredibly creative, hilarious at times, creepy and suspenseful at others. A very smart but/and also very entertaining read.
I also give an unreserved recommendation on Never Let Me Go. It’s one of those page-turners that doesn’t feel like a page turner, and it’s one that burned it’s way into my memory like it was a real experience.
By: rtfoleystl on November 30, 2009
at 8:39 pm