The Book Meme

So I saw this meme (what does meme mean?) up for grabs and I took it.

I do actually love reading, so I was surprised when I saw how few of these books I had read. I mean, if this is any measurement, I am seriously not well read. But there is a lot of classics here, as well as modern bestsellers, of which I don't like either. I don't really like things that "most people recommend" - meaning I probably would end up liking them but its hard to pick it up if everyone else is.

I still have not bought crocs and probably will only once they go out of style.

I either get to it early before anyone else does, or have to wait until nobody is doing it anymore.
And I don't like sad books. Hence Dickens, and classic tragedies are out. If I am reading a book, it is for entertainment and relaxation. I don't read to be frightened, angry, or saddened. I read to laugh, enjoy, and fall in love.

The books in bold are books I've read. Red means recommended.

But here goes:

• 1984 This should be mandatory reading for everybody.
• The Aeneid I read this too long ago, and in high school which means that I probably didn't appreciate it.
• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay Never did get around to finishing it ....
• American Gods
• Anansi Boys
• Angela’s Ashes : A Memoir - eh. Not so my style. Too sad
• Angels & Demons
• Anna Karenina
• Atlas Shrugged Started it, couldn't get beyond the first 10 pages.
• Beloved I think I read this? Looks familiar. Couldn't have appreciated it much, maybe I should pick it up again.
• The Blind Assassin
• Brave New World
• The Brothers Karamazov Again, a classic. Also the Russian authors get too descriptive for me. I need long, but lots of dialogue. If nothing happens on a page, I don't read it, and then it doesn't matter if its long because I skip most of the pages.
• The Canterbury Tales Read in high school, don't remember.
• Catch-22 I did read this, but didn't like it and skimmed most of it.
• The Catcher in the Rye
• A Clockwork Orange
• Cloud Atlas
• Collapse : How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
• A Confederacy of Dunces
• The Confusion
• The Corrections
• The Count of Monte Cristo Read in high school and actually did a paper on it. Loved it, although I hated the teacher. Or rather, I was just smarter than her.
• Crime and Punishment Classic. Nuf said.
• Cryptonomicon
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - No, but I would like to, if I could bring myself to read something that everyone is recommending.
• David Copperfield
• Don Quixote
• Dracula
• Dubliners
• DuneEats, Shoots & Leaves
• Foucault’s Pendulum
• The Fountainhead
• Frankenstein
• Freakonomics : A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
• The God of Small Things
• The Grapes of Wrath
• Gravity’s Rainbow
• Great Expectations
• Gulliver’s Travels
• Guns, Germs and Steel: The fates of human societies
• A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
• The Historian: A Novel Loved this one. Given to me by a co-worker, and everyone else in the office scoffed. Wasn't their style - great, its mine, and since nobody else wanted to read it, I felt I could.
• The Hobbit Never got through the first chapter. One of Ben's greatest disappointments. Too descriptive - BORING.
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame
• The Iliad Read in high school, no recollection. Is it good?
• In Cold Blood : A True Account of a Multiple Murder and its Consequences
• The Inferno
• Jane Eyre
• Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
• The Kite Runner - Heard this was good, and its sounds like I might like it. Although its a bestseller, I'd read it. Anyone have a copy?
• Les Misérables - eh.
• Life of Pi : A Novel
• Lolita
• Love in the Time of Cholera
• Madame Bovary - good book, terrible characters. Hated all of them.
• Mansfield Park
• Memoirs of a Geisha - ahhh, a wonderful story. Things happen!
• Middlemarch
• Middlesex
• The Mists of Avalon
• Moby Dick
• Mrs. Dalloway
• The Name of the Rose
• Neverwhere
• Northanger Abbey
• The Odyssey
• Oliver Twist Dickens, too sad. I skip to the happy parts.
• On the Road
• The Once and Future King A fun read but skimmed a lot.
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
• One Hundred Years of Solitude
• Oryx and Crake : A Novel
• A People’s History of the United States : 1492-present - This sounds terrific. Who has a copy?
• Persuasion - Another one of those that I can't remember if I read or not. I think I did take it out of the library, but don't think I enjoyed it.
• The Picture of Dorian Gray
• The Poisonwood Bible : A Novel
• A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
• Pride and Prejudice
• The Prince Quicksilver
• Reading Lolita in Tehran : A Memoir in Books - Very good.
• The Satanic Verses
• The Scarlet Letter
• Sense and Sensibility
• A Short History of Nearly Everything
• The Silmarillion - Another one of Bens disappointments. If only....
• Slaughterhouse-five
• The Sound and the Fury
• The Tale of Two Cities
• Tess of the D’Urbervilles
• The Three Musketeers
• The Time Traveler’s Wife - read this in a weekend plus a day.
• To the Lighthouse
• Treasure Island
• Ulysses
• The Unbearable Lightness of Being
• Vanity Fair
• War and Peace
• Watership Down I love this book.
• White Teeth
• Wicked : The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West I love this book too. Really I do.
• Wuthering Heights
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance : An Inquiry Into Values I really did not love this book at all. Surprised and disappointed.

I would add to this list some of my faves:

• The Clan of the Cave Bear trilogy
• The Assyrian
• The Blood Star
• The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
• It
• Rose Madder
• Orfe
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
• Books by L.M. Montomery, Cynthia Voigt, and Tabitha King - pretty much their entire collections.

Montgomery, Voigt, and King are usually considered writers of young adult reading. I myself read them in high school, but identified with them so strongly that I still really appreciate them.

I think L.M. Montomery is one of the most entertaining authors Ive ever read. Simple, enjoyable stories and enjoyable reading - and unbelievable funny.
Voigt - the part of me that is still 16 loves Voigts books, especially the kingdom series. Its unbelievable to me that my in laws are friends with the Voigts, and that they were at our wedding.
King - also appeals to Bethami of 16. Angry, righteous, rebellious, and vindicated in the end.
And there you have it.