Echo Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 There are only 15 days until school starts, and with the beginning of the fall semester comes two gigantic reading lists. I don't know how much time I'll have to read recreationally, so here is my list of books to read and finish by August 20th: The Turn of the Screw Anne of Green Gables Persuasion The Bell Jar I may try for more, depending on how I do with these. The race is on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted August 6, 2007 Author Share Posted August 6, 2007 I've spent the last few days cataloging my books, and I've been able to compile a list of my actual TBR collection: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court - Mark Twain A Passage to India - E.M. Forester A Portrait of a Lady - Henry James A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce A Room of One's Own - Virginia Woolf A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy Coming of Age in Mississippi - Anne Moody Desperation - Stephen King Galilee - Clive Barker Gerald's Game - Stephen Kinh Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell Hard Times - Charles Dickens Houses Without Doors - Peter Straub Jarhead - Anthony Swofford Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy Les Miserables - Victor Hugo Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert Middlemarch - George Eliot Mystery - Peter Straub On the Road - Jack Kerouac Orlando - Virginia Woolf Reservation Blues - Sherman Alexie Saint Maybe - Anne Tyler Scarlett and Black - Stendhal Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky The Eyes of the Dragon - Stephen King The Glass Blowers - Daphne Du Maurier The Great Train Robbery - Michael Crichton The House of Sand and Fog - Andre Dubus III The Hunt for Red October - Tom Clancy The Jane Austen Book Club - Karen joy Fowler The Jungle - Upton Sinclair The Mill on the Floss - George Eliot The Mystery of Edwin Drood - Charles Dickens The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway The Red Badge of Courage - Stephen Crane The Shipping News - E. Annie Proulx The Sound and the Fury - William Faulkner The Throat - Peter Straub 'Tis: A Memoir - Frank McCourt To Have and Have Not - Ernest Hemingway Tolkien and the Great War: The Threshold of Middle-Earth - John Garth Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted August 6, 2007 Share Posted August 6, 2007 Ooh, you've got some good'uns there - several that i've read and some on my TBR and wish lists too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted August 10, 2007 Author Share Posted August 10, 2007 Here's my review of "The Taking" by Dean Koontz, which I finished about 10 minutes ago. Title: The Taking Author: Dean Koontz Date of Publication: 2005, Bantam Books Synopsis: "On the morning that marks the end of the world they have known, Molly and Neil Sloan awaken to the drumbeat of rain on their roof. A luminous silvery downpour is drenching their small California mountain town. It as haunted their sleep, invaded their dreams, and now, in the moody purple dawn, the young couple cannot shake the sense of something terribly wrong. As the hours pass, Molly and Neil listen to disturbing news of extreme weather phenomena across the globe. By nightfall, their little town loses all contact with the outside world. A thick fog transforms the once-friendly village into a ghostly labyrinth. And soon the Sloans and their neighbors will be forced to dram on reserves of courage and humanity they never knew they had. For within the misty gloom they will encounter what is happening to their world...something that is hunting them with ruthless efficiency." -Blurb from back cover Review: I both loved and hated this book. It was thrilling, scary (it gave me nightmares), and shocking, but was also all over the place in terms of its storytelling. The end of each chapter was a cliffhanger, and the final revelation at the very end seemed almost an afterthought. The plot didn't wander at all, it was simply that it didn't feel as well thought-out as it could have been. The characters never seemed as surprised as they should have been at the horrors they witness throughout the night, and at the end it seemed as if Koontz had given up, letting them go with the "strange reluctance" to talk about anything they had gone through, as if they didn't care. On the whole, though, this book was incredibly exciting, and the twist at the end literally had my mouth hanging open. It's a perfect choice if you're going on vacation, or on a long plane ride. Just don't expect too much out of it. B- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maureen Posted August 15, 2007 Share Posted August 15, 2007 There are only 15 days until school starts, and with the beginning of the fall semester comes two gigantic reading lists. I don't know how much time I'll have to read recreationally, ...my problem exactly...that's why I'm reading like crazy at the moment! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted August 17, 2007 Author Share Posted August 17, 2007 I'm hurrying up to finish re-reading Nicholas Nickleby this weekend. I'm also hoping against hope that my teachers won't assign too much reading the first week, as we can't even order our books until Monday, when they release our money, and we're going to have to spend every day getting ready to move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted October 3, 2007 Author Share Posted October 3, 2007 Wow! I just realized I haven't updated this lately. I'm currently reading both The Bostonians by Henry James for my American Literature class, and The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler, which is from my TBR pile (see below). The Bostonians is great, but long, which is intimidating, considering how far behind I am with my school reading. I only read The Jane Austen Book Club at night, just before I go to sleep. It's OK so far, but kind of all over the place. It seems to be written in first person, but I can't tell who that person is, which is so frustrating! Since I'm halfway through, I'm going to stick with it, and let you all know what I think of it! Here are the books I've recently read: The Wheel of Darkness Caleb Williams The House Behind the Cedars McTeague The Awakening The Rise of Silas Lapham Ragged Dick And next up on my list is: Giving by Bill Clinton Ruth Hall by Fanny Fern Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted October 5, 2007 Author Share Posted October 5, 2007 I finished The Jane Austen Book Club last night. Eh...still can't figure out what I think. There were parts I likes, parts I didn't. I started Giving tonight. I think an uplifting non-fiction book will be a good break for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted October 20, 2007 Author Share Posted October 20, 2007 I'm still reading Giving and I'm really loving it so far. He writes about all of the diverse ways to help people and give back to your community. It's taking me a while to get through because I've had so much reading to do for school. I'm hoping to finish it in the next week or so, and start on something new. I hope that Persuasion is the book chosen for the reading group, because I've been wanting to re-read that for a while now. If it's not, I have a book coming about fairies and their link to Celtic beliefs coming from Amazon soon, so maybe that will be next. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 I'm still reading Giving and I'm really loving it so far. He writes about all of the diverse ways to help people and give back to your community. It's taking me a while to get through because I've had so much reading to do for school. I'm hoping to finish it in the next week or so, and start on something new. I hope that Persuasion is the book chosen for the reading group, because I've been wanting to re-read that for a while now. If it's not, I have a book coming about fairies and their link to Celtic beliefs coming from Amazon soon, so maybe that will be next. I have heard Giving is an insightful read. I am looking forward to your final thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louiseog Posted October 21, 2007 Share Posted October 21, 2007 I finished The Jane Austen Book Club last night. Eh...still can't figure out what I think. There were parts I likes, parts I didn't. I started Giving tonight. I think an uplifting non-fiction book will be a good break for me. I think this is much better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted October 21, 2007 Author Share Posted October 21, 2007 Thanks, Louise! That does look good. I'll have to add it to my wish list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted October 25, 2007 Author Share Posted October 25, 2007 I'm still trying to finish Giving, but I haven't been able to get enough time to read it. I think I might be spreading myself a little bit thin. Here's what I'm actually currently reading: Giving by Bill Clinton The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England by Antonia Fraser (before bed every night...it's one of my favorites) Hope Leslie by Catherine Maria Sedgwick (for school) The Bostonians by Henry James (for school) a collection of poems by William Wordsworth (for school) Oh my god...how am I going to finish all of these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted October 25, 2007 Share Posted October 25, 2007 I'm still trying to finish Giving, but I haven't been able to get enough time to read it. I think I might be spreading myself a little bit thin. Here's what I'm actually currently reading: Giving by Bill Clinton The Lives of the Kings and Queens of England by Antonia Fraser (before bed every night...it's one of my favorites) Hope Leslie by Catherine Maria Sedgwick (for school) The Bostonians by Henry James (for school) a collection of poems by William Wordsworth (for school) Oh my god...how am I going to finish all of these? That is alot of books. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted October 30, 2007 Author Share Posted October 30, 2007 I'm giving up on Giving, and I'm going to give it to my dad, who has been wanting to read it. I'm going to start on The Fairy Faith in the Celtic Countries and see how I do with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted October 31, 2007 Share Posted October 31, 2007 I'm giving up on Giving, and I'm going to give it to my dad Your giving Giving. . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted October 31, 2007 Author Share Posted October 31, 2007 Your giving Giving. . . I know. I burst out laughing when I saw what I had written. So far today, I've only been able to read for school...4 essays for my Gender and Politics class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted November 25, 2007 Author Share Posted November 25, 2007 I finally gave Giving to my dad yesterday, and he's really excited to read it. I'm now re-reading The Kitchen God's Wife, and I think I'll re-read The Lord of the Rings after that. But I'm always changing my mind! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icecream Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 But I'm always changing my mind! Me too! How annoying is that?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Echo Posted November 26, 2007 Author Share Posted November 26, 2007 It's so annoying! It takes me about three false starts with different books until I settle into one. I think I start planning my first book too far in advance, and by the time I'm ready to read it, I'm no longer in the mood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icecream Posted November 26, 2007 Share Posted November 26, 2007 Yes, that may well be my problem too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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