I consider myself to be a voracious reader. I don't remember the full tally from 2007 but it was around the 25 mark. Not shabby, I thought.
Coming to the end of the year, I expect I could burn through a couple more books and I wanted to see how I did in expanding my mind through reading this year.
To my dismay, I realized I haven't read even 15 books as of today for the entire year. I have been slacking, some would say. It would be easy to blame my old job or my classes but that's hardly fair. There have been many hours of sloth-like behaviour and poker-playing online that could have been used in much better fashion.
Here's the list of what I've read:
The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
Death in the Afternoon by Ernest Hemingway
The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck
It by Stephen King
Salem's Lot by Stephen King
Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut
The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
Watchmen by Alan Moore
Not a bad list. I could tentatively include The Stand by Stephen King as well as I read the second half of it this past summer. I had started it about five years ago, put it down and plum forgot about it until this summer.
Within the next day or so, The Poisonwood Bible will be complete and I'll likely move on to another to devour in the coming weeks, not sure yet what it will be.
Due to my lack of reading accomplishment -- 13 is paltry -- I am making my sole New Year's resolution. I will read at least 30 books next year. Luckily, quitting smoking does not have to be a resolution as I am two weeks into that project and have suffered no setbacks as of yet.
I am looking for suggestions of what to read in 2009. Believe me, I'll read pretty much anything. It doesn't have to be fiction, it can be politics, travel, sociology, etc. Here are a few titles I plan on reading (all for the first time...some should have been read years ago):
Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
Finnegan's Wake by James Joyce
Big Sur by Jack Kerouac
The Cold Six Thousand by James Ellroy
1984 by George Orwell
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Cider House Rules by John Irving
The Hotel New Hampshire by John Irving
Skinny Legs and All by Tom Robbins
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Cocksure by Mordecai Richler
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
So if you have any other suggestions, please comment here or let me know in any way you can figure out.
Also, if you're looking for books to read, check out the following lists:
50 Greatest Travel Books
Books that induce a mindfuck
Time Magazine's top 100 novels
Cheers,
JCW
4 comments:
I don't know if you want to include two books by the same author, but I recommend adding Cormac McCarthy's The Road. I found that the story it tells is mind-numbing, and the father/son relationship makes for a memorable read.
Some other suggestions are Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series (if you enjoy fantasy and have a LOT of time on your hands) and the Harry Potter series, which is surprisingly well written for a children's series.
I've been reading skinny legs and all for five years now. I even brought it to the Yukon with me. If I ever finish it I'll probably die the next day or something.
-Emily
ps. sometimes I remember you have a blog and read it. sometimes I forget its you and think its somebody I don't know. weird?
Dude...I thought you LIKED John Irving...but if you haven't read those 2, then I am starting to wonder...
Hey, easy now. The fact that I have read World According to Garp and Prayer for Owen Meany should be enough. Garp is top five ever! I just like to vary my reading experience from author to author.
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