Thursday, March 18, 2010

On books

Remember the other day, when I said that I felt myself getting dumber because I hadn't had much time for reading lately? Well, I got a huge shock yesterday and realized how very book dumb I am becoming. 

I used to set a goal of at least reading 52 books in a year. I did this for years and always exceeded my goal. So when I saw a listing on Amazon for a book titled, 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, I was intrigued. 

I decided during my lunch break to find the list online and see how many of the books I had read. I was figuring I would be somewhere in the 100 range. Boy was I wrong. Of 1001 books that I MUST read, I've read ten. Yes, ten books. That was completely unacceptable to me, so I decided I must order this book and make it my life's goal to read the other 991 books.

I was telling Micah about this find when he came home from work last night. His response - I guess you've been reading the wrong books. That's an understatement. I would estimate that I've read at least 1000 books in the last 20 years and only ten were good enough to make this list? I've read every book that CS Lewis ever wrote, excluding the Narnia series, and let me tell you that there wasn't a single Lewis on the list. That can't be right. 

I guess I've got a lot of work to do, starting with The Hobbit, which my dear friend Adam and I had already discussed me getting to read to Jay since he is bored with The Lord of the Rings. 

Just as a reference, here are the ten books that I have read. Thank goodness for a professor in college who made me read two of them and an ex-boyfriend who thought it was a good idea to give me another for Christmas one year. I also read three of these books in high school, which brings my total of books read by choice to two, The Black Dahlia and House of Leaves. I will admit to never finishing Les Miserables. It was terribly depressing. And I'm still working my way through Lord of the Rings.

Brave New World
Lord of the Rings
The Black Dahlia
House of Leaves (thanks, Adam!)
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Great Gatsby
Siddhartha
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Les Miserables
A Tale of Two Cities

I swear I just felt myself lose a few IQ points.

8 comments:

  1. Lovely site, I like your top ten books

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  2. You are doing better than I am. Although I haven't seen the whole list, I have only read 3 of the 10 you listed. You sound just like my husband. I'll have to show him the list.
    I am impressed with what you have read though. I am a murder mystery reader myself. Doesn't do much for the IQ though. I may have to read some on your list of 10. Which one was your favorite?

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  3. I like that goal! and I'm ashamed to say that of all the books I read, I've probably read less than 10 on that list. reading your blog killed a few points on my IQ, too. :p

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  4. Sonora~ Brave New World was probably my favorite. I had to read it in college, but I've actually re-read it several times since.

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  5. hi there.
    I stopped over after reading your comment on Pixel Perfect.

    I think I have it figured out. In Picnik....there is a 60's editing option that shades the picture that color. {you can lighten it, darken it} Pretty neat right? I loved it too!

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  6. I got "The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn" and that's only because my five-year-old requested it. Guess that means my IQ doesn't even exist.

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