1001 Books and What I've Read.

One of the questions I get asked most often is whether I've looked at the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die List (you can see it here). The answer is that yes I have, but I have always steered away from it.

First, the list has been revised a couple of times already. I find it a bit annoying that a book can be removed and another added, so it really makes the list longer than 1001.

Second, I'm offended that the creators of this list neglect plays. I'm sorry, but everyone should read Shakespeare. And while yes, I know you should SEE Shakespeare as it was intended, there is a lot to say about reading his plays. There are so many nuances you can pull from them by seeing the text.

Third, epic pieces, such as The Odyssey, Iliad, etc are also excluded from the list. REALLY?

Anyway, I've pretty much ignored the list for those 3 reasons...but also because I find the list daunting. While I consider myself to be more well-read than the average Joe, looking at the list intimidates me...and well, I know I won't ever complete the list. It's not something I will ever attempt, but I do think it's worth looking at...and maybe reading a few titles from.

You can blame O from Delaisse for inspiring this post. In a very recent post, she mentioned that rather than looking at the whole list, she would simply list the books she HAD read. I really like that idea, so I'm copying that here. :) I don't think she'll mind too much.

The time periods are listed below, with the titles I've read from that era.

The 2000s:
1. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon
2. Everything is Illuminated – Jonathan Safran Foer
3. Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides
4. Atonement – Ian McEwan
5. The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood


The 1900s:
6. Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
7. Alias Grace – Margaret Atwood
8. The Shipping News – E. Annie Proulx
9. Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks
10. The Things They Carried – Tim O’Brien
11. A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving
12. The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul – Douglas Adams
13. Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency – Douglas Adams
14. Watchmen – Alan Moore & David Gibbons
15. The Cider House Rules – John Irving
16. Contact – Carl Sagan
17. The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
18. The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Milan Kundera
19. The Color Purple – Alice Walker
20. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
21. Breakfast of Champions – Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
22. Sula – Toni Morrison
23. The Bluest Eye – Toni Morrison
24. Slaughterhouse-five – Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
25. 2001: A Space Odyssey – Arthur C. Clarke
26. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – Philip K. Dick
27. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez
28. Wide Sargasso Sea – Jean Rhys
29. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater – Kurt Vonnegut
30. Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut
31. The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
32. A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
33. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie – Muriel Spark
34. Catch-22 – Joseph Heller
35. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
36. Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe
37. On the Road – Jack Kerouac (technically I'm still reading this, but I'll be done soon).
38. The Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien
39. Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
40. Lord of the Flies – William Golding
41. The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
42. Wise Blood – Flannery O’Connor
43. The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
44. I, Robot – Isaac Asimov
45. Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell
46. Animal Farm – George Orwell
47. The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
48. Go Down, Moses – William Faulkner
49. The Outsider – Albert Camus
50. For Whom the Bell Tolls – Ernest Hemingway
51. Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
52. Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
53. Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston
54. The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien
55. Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell
56. Absalom, Absalom! – William Faulkner
57. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
58. The Waves – Virginia Woolf
59. A Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway
60. The Sound and the Fury – William Faulkner
61. Orlando – Virginia Woolf
62. Lady Chatterley’s Lover – D.H. Lawrence
63. The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway
64. Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf
65. The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
66. Siddhartha – Herman Hesse
67. The Glimpses of the Moon – Edith Wharton
68. The Age of Innocence – Edith Wharton

69. Summer – Edith Wharton
70. Tarzan of the Apes – Edgar Rice Burroughs
71. Sons and Lovers – D.H. Lawrence
72. Ethan Frome – Edith Wharton
73. A Room With a View – E.M. Forster
74. The House of Mirth – Edith Wharton
75. Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
76. The Hound of the Baskervilles – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle


The 1800s:
77. The Awakening – Kate Chopin
78. The War of the Worlds – H.G. Wells
79. Dracula – Bram Stoker
80. Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
81. The Yellow Wallpaper – Charlotte Perkins Gilman
82. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
83. The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
84. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson
85. The Mayor of Casterbridge – Thomas Hardy
86. Germinal – Émile Zola
87. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain
88. The Death of Ivan Ilyich – Leo Tolstoy
89. Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson
90. The Portrait of a Lady – Henry James
91. The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoevsky
92. Return of the Native – Thomas Hardy
93. Far from the Madding Crowd – Thomas Hardy
94. Middlemarch – George Eliot
95. War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
96. The Idiot – Fyodor Dostoevsky

97. Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
98. Journey to the Centre of the Earth – Jules Verne
99. Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevsky
100. Fathers and Sons – Ivan Turgenev
101. Silas Marner – George Eliot
102. Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
103. The Mill on the Floss – George Eliot
104. The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
105. Madame Bovary – Gustave Flaubert
106. North and South – Elizabeth Gaskell
107. Hard Times – Charles Dickens
108. Walden – Henry David Thoreau
109. Bleak House – Charles Dickens
110. Villette – Charlotte Brontë
111. Cranford – Elizabeth Gaskell
112. Moby-Dick – Herman Melville
113. The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne
114. David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
115. Mary Barton – Elizabeth Gaskell
116. Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë
117. Agnes Grey – Anne Brontë
118. Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë
119. The Count of Monte-Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
120. The Three Musketeers – Alexandre Dumas
121. The Pit and the Pendulum – Edgar Allan Poe
122. A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
123. The Fall of the House of Usher – Edgar Allan Poe
124. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby – Charles Dickens
125. Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens
126. Last of the Mohicans – James Fenimore Cooper
127. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner – James Hogg
128. Frankenstein – Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
129. Northanger Abbey – Jane Austen
130. Persuasion – Jane Austen
131. Emma – Jane Austen
132. Mansfield Park – Jane Austen
134. Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
135. Sense and Sensibility – Jane Austen
136. Castle Rackrent – Maria Edgeworth


The 1700s:
137. The Mysteries of Udolpho – Ann Radcliffe
138. The Interesting Narrative – Olaudah Equiano
139. Rasselas – Samuel Johnson
140. Candide – Voltaire
141. A Modest Proposal – Jonathan Swift
142. Gulliver’s Travels – Jonathan Swift
143. Love in Excess – Eliza Haywood
144. Robinson Crusoe – Daniel Defoe


Pre-1700s:
145. Aesop’s Fables

There you have it, a good 145. I was a little nervous when I started deleting titles. It's obvious that I haven't read hardly any contemporary fiction. I like my old writers. :)

I was also happy to see at least another 100-200 titles that are on either my 250 list or my list for the Classics Club. I can be happy about that.

So what do you think about lists like this?

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books That Intimidate Me.

The lovely folks over at The Broke and the Bookish have an interesting topic for this week-the top ten books that intimidate us!

When I started out blogging, I was intimidated by most of my list. I had never read anything by the Brontes, I hated Dickens (I have a love/hate relationship with him now), and truthfully, I knew nothing about many of the authors on that list. Now, 4 years later, I feel much more confident about myself as a reader, and I have already conquered many of those intimidating titles (like Moby-Dick, Atlas Shrugged, and War and Peace).

So, to come up with my list of intimidating titles, I decided to base it on the titles I have left to read (less than 100). Some of these books will hopefully be obvious as to why they're here, but others...they require some explanation. :)

Without further delay:

1. Ulysses by James Joyce: When I was looking at other lists this morning, this is a title I found over and over again on lists. I've already decided that it will be the last title I read off my 250 list. I've started it once (got about 50 pages in) and gave up. I'm hoping that by waiting a little longer, I'll be better prepared to tackle it.

2. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad: I hate Heart of Darkness more than any other book. It makes me want to gouge my eyes out. So, the thought of reading another book by Conrad gives me heart palpitations. I've been avoiding this title like it's my job, but I know I'll eventually have to read it.

3. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens: This is the last Dickens titles on my 250 list. By this point, I've read the other 6 titles with mixed feelings. Hated Great Expectations and Bleak House, but loved everything else, especially David Copperfield (LOVE MORE THAN ANYTHING). But this title scares me. First, it seems to be a favorite for many. Second, it's Dickens. Again, while I have had mixed success, I'm worried I'll hate it!

4. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding: To be honest, the main reason I'm intimidated by this one is length. It's long. And written in the 1700s...so...complicated language + length = scary.

5. Faust by Johann Goethe: I actually started this one earlier this year and set it aside when school got crazy. Like most books I set aside partially read, I'm worried about picking it back up and starting again.

6. Paradise Lost by John Milton: I remember an old roommate from college reading this for one of her classes. At night she would sit with the book open on her desk and her hands in her hair. That image scares me to this day! I imagine that it can't be that bad, but still...

7. Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov: While I liked Lolita well enough (as much as you can like a novel about a pedophile), I've heard that some of Nabokov's other novels are very experimental in style. I know little about Pnin, so I'm a bit worried about this one!

8. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand: I managed to conquer Atlas Shrugged already, and I've heard this one is easier, but still. It's RAND. She's very philosophical in ways that I don't agree with and...ugh.

9. The Aeneid by Virgil: The translation I own is by Fagles, so at least this has that going for it. But this is another one of those ancient, epic tomes that I'm hesitant to take on. Who knows, I might fly through it after I finish The Odyssey.

10. Clarissa by Samuel Richardson: I attempted to conquer this one about a year ago, and failed miserably. My bookmark is still 400 pages in...the idea of rereading those 400 pages to remember what happened makes me whimper. This is one of the longest books in the English language and I just don't know when I'm going to be able to conquer this.

There you have it, the 10 books on my list that most intimidate me. Do we have some in common? Any other books that scare you? Let me know!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I've Read in 2013.

When I saw this week's topic for Top Ten Tuesday, I chuckled a little bit. My goodreads reading challenge tells me I've read a paltry 34 books this year. I believe that at this time last year I was in the 50s...but oh well!

Most of what I've read this year falls into the YA category, which I'm actually okay with. I miss my classics diet, but I needed some YA in my life!

Without more rambling, here are the top ten books I've read this year. They aren't in any particular order-just going from January to now.

1. Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns: I thought this was a brand new book when I began reading it in January, but it was so familiar to me that I eventually put the pieces together (apparently I read this as a sophomore). I loved the small town focus of this, and the hilarious scenes. It was heart-felt and warm...and just what I needed to kick off the year.

2. My Antonia by Willa Cather: I was really worried I would hate this, since I hated it as a high school freshman, but imagine my surprise when I LOVED it. I loved it so much that I kicked off my Willa Cather Project and began reading a long list of Cather titles. This is the perfect story about life on the plains...I kind of want to read it again.

3. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald: I think what made me love this book even more was being able to teach it. I got to pull so much from it to share with my kids and they, in turn, pulled a lot to share with me. It was a great experience, and this is most definitely my favorite book I've taught (I'm guessing until I teach The Catcher in the Rye this fall. I have a feeling that I'm going to LOVE that).

4. Graceling by Kristin Cashore: I adored this novel. It was the perfect fantasy novel, with a great and believable love story. And lots of action! It is what jump-started a series of YA books on my nightstand. I ended up flying through Cashore's other 2 titles shortly after...and now I have to wait for the next one.

5. Loteria by Mario Alberto Zambrano: This was a title that I accepted for review...and have yet to actually review on the blog. It's the story of a young girl who pieces her story together slowly, and as she inspired by the pictures on Loteria cards. It was a beautifully written book-one that was slowly put together, and I really fell in love with the writing and mix of Spanish and English.

6. Every Day by David Levithan: I tried another Levithan book earlier in the year, but wasn't a huge fan. Since this one had pretty good reviews, I selected it as my second chance title...and wow. I love the premise of this-waking up in a different body every day and experiencing a new life every morning. It was wonderfully written and had great conflict. It also left me wanting to try another by Levithan!

7. Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys: I am deeply in love with Sepetys' other novel, Between Shades of Grey. It blew me away and I convinced about 10 people at school (teachers and students) to read it over the last school year. So I was very excited for her sophomore title! I loved this one as well-a great story about a girl in New Orleans who is struggling to find her place in a truly messed up environment. It was a fast and absorbing read!

8. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz: I don't know what I thought I was getting when I started this one, but wow...this was something. There were many lines that made me laugh loudly (so I had to share many with my husband, who was wondering what exactly I was reading). But I loved the story of this family-woven in and out of the generations. In some ways it reminded me of One Hundred Days of Solitude...but more intense in some ways. It was great.

9. Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris: First, let me just say that the title of this is awesome. And the cover equally so. I won this during the readathon, and I was excited to dive in. This is the only title by Sedaris I've read (I have another on a shelf somewhere), so I went in not knowing what to expect. It was funny, random, and just what I needed to get through the last week of school.

10. Under the Dome by Stephen King: My most recent read, but one that I really loved. It was my first fiction book by King (I had previously only read On Writing), so I was a bit hesitant. I ended up becoming completely obsessed with this book for the better part of 5 days until I managed to finish. It was simply awesome, and I cannot wait to try more novels by King (of the non-horror persuasion).

Let me know what your favorites have been from this year!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books on My Summer TBR List.

It's Tuesday, and that means the folks over at The Broke and The Bookish are hosting "Top Ten Tuesday." Each week they pick a topic and bloggers count down their top ten in the given category.

This week is the "Top Ten Books on our Summer TBR Lists." These lists are some of my favorites-I love making lists for my TBR piles. :) And since I am just getting back into the swing of blogging on a regular basis, I think counting down the ten books I most want to get to this summer is great inspiration.

In no particular order:

1. Under the Dome by Stephen King: I'm actually already reading this. I heard there was a readalong going on a couples weeks ago, and I knew I would pick this up as soon as school got out. The only other King book I've read is On Writing, so this is a new experience for me. :) I've been wanting to read this since it came out, so I'm glad the opportunity is here!

2. The Odyssey by Homer: I'm hosting a readalong of this starting on July 1. I'm excited to reread one of my favorite books of all time and share my love and passion with all of you. It's also been a few years (4) since my last reread (the first book I read for my classics project), so I'm hoping this will further inspire me to tackle the remaining titles on my classics list.

3. On the Road by Jack Kerouac: I only have a few more days to finish this for Adam's The Beats of Summer event. This is a title that's been on my mental TBR for a long time, and I think the timing is perfect. Assuming I can tear myself away from King for a day or two, this will be my very next read. :)

4.  The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather: This is the next title for my Willa Cather Project, and I'd really like to finish it (I actually started it and finished 50 pages this spring but set it aside in favor of sanity. From what I read, I know I'm going to love it, so it's just waiting on my nightstand.

5. Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy: I'm thinking of hosting another Victorian Event come late summer since last year's was a blast. This title was one I really wanted to read last year, but I never had a chance...and it has been calling to me ever since. Even if I don't host another Victorian event, I'm still going to read this!

6. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: I started reading this back in January and got pretty far before setting it down...and never picking it up again. This is a title I'm ready for, so I think this will become a priority come July.

7. Teaching with Love and Logic by Jim Fay and David Funk: The closest I can come to explaining my classroom teaching style is "Love and Logic," but it has been a really long time since reading this (and I know I don't follow it to the letter, but I don't think I need to). I do want to read this again as a refresher before school starts up again in the fall. While I was happy with how I ran things this past year, I have a lot to learn.

8. Going After Cacciato by Tim O'Brien: This is another one that has been on my mental TBR for a long time. I've only ever read The Things They Carried by O'Brien, so I'm looking forward to another O'Brien experience.

9. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne: This is a title that has been calling to me from my bookshelf for a while. I haven't read it since my miserable experience has a high school sophomore, so I think it's time to give it a go! It can't be as bad as I remember, right? :)

10. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath: I haven't read Plath's novel since I was in college, but I think I need to read it again! One of my groups of sophomores researched her for their American author project, and that spurred a desire to pick it up again.

There you have it-the ten books I most want to read and finish this summer! Let me know what you're planning to read!

Top Ten Authors on my Auto-Buy List.

Hi everyone! Happy Tuesday!

It has been quite some time since I've participated in a top ten tuesday post, but I just couldn't pass this one up.

Since I generally only talk about classics here, it may seem odd that I continually purchase new releases. There are a number of authors that I purchase on a regular basis, even though I haven't read their work in years (eek). It drives my husband batty, and I'm sure it doesn't make all that much sense, but I know that one day, in the right moment, I will return to my loves. :) So, without further delay, the authors I buy from on a regular basis.

1. J.K. Rowling: This one is really a no-brainer. I own all of her work, including A Casual Vacancy. While I haven't gotten to that newest release just yet, I will in time. 
2. Robin McKinley: I own all of McKinley's works, and I purchase her books when they come out (the most recent being Pegasus, which I have reviewed at some point on the blog). I love McKinley. Her books are usually fairy tale retellings or original fantasy.
3. Orson Scott Card: While I really despise Card as a person, I still have a soft spot for his work. Inevitably, his books find a way into my hands and back home with me.
4. John Green: I first discovered Green a number of years ago when a somewhat battered copy of Looking for Alaska found its way into my hands at the bookstore. Since then, I have sought out and purchased all of his books shortly after publication.
5. Rick Riordan: While I haven't read all the Riordan I own (The Kane Chronicles come to mind), I will continue to purchase his books as they are published. I love his writing and the "fun" element of his stories!
6. Markus Zusak: I'm not sure if Zusak really counts, since his last book, The Book Thief, was published way back in 2005 (when I bought it and read it). But when he does publish his new book, I will be the first one to run to the store to buy it.
7. Jennifer Donnelly: This is another new writer to me, but after reading two of her books, A Northern Light and most recently, Revolution, she is a writer that I will return to on a regular basis, especially with the publication of new titles!
8. Brandon Sanderson: Sanderson is relatively new to me, but I know he is a writer I will be exploring more of in the future, especially since I have enjoyed his work thus far. He is most definitely a writer I will automatically buy!
9. Neil Gaiman: I've been collecting Gaiman titles since I was in high school, and I doubt I'll stop, even though I haven't read anything by him in a long time! I always grab his new books off the shelf when they come out, and they sit waiting on my shelves.
10. John Flanagan: Flanagan is the author of one of my biggest guilty-pleasure series, The Ranger's Apprentice. He has since moved on to a parallel series, which I have also purchased and loved. I will continue to purchase his new books as they debut!

There you have it. What authors do you automatically buy?

The Classics Spin! *w/edit!*

The Classics Club is hosting a "Classics Spin," where we make a list of 20 books off of our Classics Club list, wait for a number to be chosen, then make sure to read that book by the deadline (deadline is April 1)! I'm a little late to the game, since the number will be announced in the morning, but I'm sneaking in.

You can divide the books into categories to make the game more fun, or you can just list 20 titles. I decided to divide (mainly because of my crazy tendencies).

Here's my list!

4 Books I WANT to Read:
1. Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
2. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
3. The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather (book 5 in my Willa Cather project!)
4. The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton

4 Books I DON'T want to Read:
5. Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyon
6. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
7. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
8. Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov

4 Books Matt Chose (based solely on title):
9. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
10. Enemy of the People by Henrick Ibsen
11. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
12. The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

4 Books from my TBR Challenge:
13.Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
14. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
15. Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
16. Remains of the Day by Kazou Ishiguro

4 Chunksters:
17. Clarissa by Samuel Richardson (because this would be a good push to finish it)
18. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
19. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
20. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding

There you have it! I'll update this post once the number has been picked so you can see what I'm stuck reading! :)

*edit*

The lucky number was 14, so I get to read the Angelou! I'm pretty excited about the book choice (especially that I'm not reading one of the chunksters), since it was a book I needed to get to at some point this year! Let me know what you ended up with according to the spin!

Two 2013 Reading Challenges.

I swore that if I didn't complete a couple of challenges this year that I would avoid them in 2013...you can see where this is going, right? Needless to say, while I didn't complete all of my challenges for 2012, I have decided to join in on a few for 2013. :)

Both of these are challenges I've been a participant in for the last two years (at least), so it seems like I should soldier on, right?

Without further adieu...

Sarah's Back to the Classics Challenge 2013

This challenge is one of my favorites because of the categories that Sarah picks each year. Unlike some other classic challenges, Sarah picks fun little categories that your classics need to fit into. It is a great way to get some diversity into your classic reading. Personally, I love Victorian-era and turn of the 20th century classics, so this forces me a bit outside my comfort zone!

This year, Sarah has given us 6 required areas with a few "bonus" categories for anyone who feels pulled to read more. I am doing three of the bonus categories in addition to the required 6, but make sure to check out the sign-up post to find more information about the bonus categories!

The List:
1. 19th Century Classic: Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy. This is one I really wanted to get to this summer during my Victorian event, but just ran out of time.
2. 20th Century Classic: All Quiet on the Western Front by Remarque: This is a title I feel like I should have read by now...
3. Pre-19th Century: The Frogs by Aristophanes: Surprisingly, when I went to look at my 250 list, there were very few pre-19th century titles left!
4. Classic concerning the African-American Experience: Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe. This is another "should have read" title that I'll be getting to sooner rather than later.
5. Classic Adventure: Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs: I was actually sent a beautiful new edition of the Tarzan stories, so this is a great excuse to dive in and review this for the publisher. :)
6. Classic Featuring an Animal: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Kesey. This title has actually been on a challenge list ever since I started doing challenges. 2013 is the year!

Bonus Categories:
Russian Classic: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. I really wanted to read this during this fall, but obviously I didn't get to it. I really want to read it before it disappears from theaters, so I'm thinking this might be my first book of 2013?
Classic Children's Book: Jane Austen's Complete Juvenilia. Does this really need an explanation? :)
Short Stories (at least 3 by one author): I have a big Mark Twain collection, so I am sure that'll be my focus this coming year!

Adam's 2013 TBR Pile Challenge

Third time is definitely going to be the charm for Adam's challenge. I swear!

Adam's challenge is a great way to clear books off the good ol' TBR. Rule is that these books have to have been on your TBR for at least 12 months-so only books published in 2011 and earlier. I choose to focus on classics since that is my main focus anyway!

Each participant gets to choose a list of 12 books they want to finish before the year is out, as well as 2 alternates, just in case...I always seem to want to read my alternates more than my list books...or books not on my list at all. :) Anyway, I scoured my dwindling 250 list and found 14 titles for Adam's Challenge.
The List:
1. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: Maya Angelou (year 2 on the list...)
2. Cold Sassy Tree: Olive Burns
3. Moll Flanders: Daniel Defoe
4. Sister Carrie: Theodore Dreiser
5. The Sound and the Fury: William Faulkner
6. Brighton Rock: Graham Greene (I believe this is the third year for Mr. Greene on my list...)
7. Doll's House: Henrick Ibsen
8. On the Road: Jack Kerouac
9. Billy Budd: Herman Melville
10. Going After Cacciato: Tim O'Brien
11. Ivanhoe: Sir Walter Scott
12. The Jungle: Upton Sinclair

Alternates:
1. The Once and Future King: T.H. White
2. Remains of the Day: Kazou Ishiguro

So, there you have it-2 challenges with the books all picked out. I'm doubting I will join any other challenges, unless they seem enticing... ;)

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books on my Fall TBR.

I figured a late post today would be better than none, and since a top ten requires minimal brainwork, I figured I could squeeze it in (I say that because I am sick).

Anyway, I love these top tens for the season, so I always make it a point to participate in these lists! I find it to be a great motivator as I move through the seasons to have something to refer to. :)

Without further ado, the books I am hoping to read this fall.

1. The remaining Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling: I am participating in Jenna's readalong that goes through December 15. I've already read the two school titles, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, and the first two titles. I am also about 100 pages from the end in Prisoner of Azkaban...so this little challenge is going well. :) I actually think I'll finish the series by the end of September!
2. Clarissa by Samuel Richardson: I started this back in April during a failed readalong with Adam and Jillian, and I set it aside for a few months. I've been craving getting back into it, so I think I might make it a goal to finish it by the end of the year.
3. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo: This is one that I should be reading for a readalong, but I haven't even started it yet! With the movie coming out, I really want to make time for it. 
4. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien: Yet another title I want to read before the movie comes out! I haven't read this in ages, and it is one of the titles I've been "saving" for a while. 
5. The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf: I really want to get back into some Woolf titles, and since I have a few left on my 250 list, I should probably get on that. I started this one last spring and I keep meaning to return to it!
6. Mythology by Edith Hamilton: Technically, I have to finish this since I am using it as a book for my mythology class, but since we are using only some portions of it, I've skipped around quite a bit. I really want to finish it, so I'll be setting aside some time to do that.
7. The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton: I've been sinking into a lot of comfort reads recently, and while I wouldn't really classify this book as "comforting," I really want to reread it. I just love it and it has been so long since I've read it...well, I want to read it. :)
8. Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan: I think this would be a great read during the fall months, and since I am reading a lot of Puritan selections with my sophomores this fall, this would be an interesting read for me on the side. 
9. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins: I purposely saved this one for the fall months since the mystery aspect would be great for the RIP Challenge (which I haven't officially signed up for yet). I loved The Woman in White, so I have high hopes. 
10. Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon: This is another Victorian I wanted to save for the fall. Jillian and I have been talking about reading it together and have plans for a little buddy review at the end of October. :) It should be a good time!

What are you planning on reading this fall?

Nightstand Pile: August 3, 2012.

It has been a little over a month since I last did a nightstand pile post. Basically, I always pull books that interest me from my shelf to put in a pile on my nightstand. When I'm looking for a new book to read, I go to my pile rather than my bookshelves (most of the time-you know how that goes).

With the Victorian event ending, school lurking in the not so distant future, and my reading challenges going relatively untouched, I put back almost all of the books I had left from the last nightstand pile and pulled new books. Some are repeats, others are new. Well, let's just see them, shall we?

From top to bottom, then left to right:

• The Hobbit by Tolkien: With the first movie coming out in December, I figured it was time for a reread. :) I love this edition of the book. I bought it when I was in 7th grade on a family vacation in Colorado (I bought The Lord of the Rings in the same editions). That was before the movies came out!
• Main Street by Sinclair Lewis: I've never read anything by Lewis, but I seem to have acquired quite a few of his novels. This one will count for my TBR Challenge...which I am DETERMINED to complete this year.
• Oedipus Rex by Sophocles: I have no idea why I haven't just finished this. I started it in May, then set it aside in favor of the Victorians. This will be an easy afternoon read (I'm halfway through it already!). This will count for my Greek Classics Challenge.
• When I Whistle by Shusaku Endo: This is the second of two books by Endo I was sent for review...back in April (oh, how time flies). Jillian said she just finished this one and really enjoyed it, so this one is near the top of the pile for more than one reason!
• Sanditon by Jane Austen: One of the two titles for Adam's Austen in August event that I am bound and determined to finish. I have never read this one, so I am looking forward to it!
• Mansfield Park by Jane Austen: The other Austen I must finish this month! I'm not as familiar with this one (it's been awhile since I've read it), but I'm really excited to read it!
• Beloved by Toni Morrison: It's been some time since I've read anything by Morrison and this one seemed the most interesting of my pile! This also counts for my "Back to the Classics" Challenge...that I am failing. whoops!
• Light in August by William Faulkner: I think I meant to read this one last August as well, but it never happened. *crosses fingers
• The Remains of the Day by Kazou Ishiguro: This one jumped out at me on the shelf, so I snatched it. I probably won't get to it until September, but it'll be tempting me until then.
• A Passage to India by E.M. Forster: This is one that will be going to the top of the pile, since I started it months ago and set it aside for the Victorians. I was having a hard time getting into it before, so I think I just need to restart it! This is another one for the TBR Challenge.
• American Indian Myths and Legends: This is a book I bought for my mythology class. I've already read a couple of stories and I'm getting some good ideas for the class!
• Mythology by Edith Hamilton: This is the textbook for the class I am teaching, so it is probably a good idea if I read it!
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou: This is another one that jumped at me off the shelf. Does it surprise you that I've never read it? I was also surprised to see it was an alternate for the TBR challenge, so that's good news, right?
• The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf: Yet another title I started in the Spring and never managed to finish. I'm only 30 or so pages into this one, so like the Forster title, I'm just going to restart it. I imagine I'll save this one for the fall, but I'll be eying it, I'm sure. Oh, and this is yet another title for the TBR challenge.
• Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray: I started this one LAST June. It's another challenge book (Books I Started but Never Finished), so...yeah. I actually really like this one...I just stopped reading for no reason.
• The Car Thief by Theodore Weesner: I accepted this one for review because it was set in Flint and Detroit. It sounds interesting-I just haven't made time for it! Soon, I hope??
• The Norse Myths: Another book I bought for my mythology class. The teacher who used to teach it told me that the materials she had were mostly on the Greeks, so I wanted to change it up a bit. I haven't read anything from this yet, but I did flip through and it looks awesome!
• Clarissa by Samuel Richardson: It's BAAAAACK. This has been languishing on my nightstand sit I set it there in frustration back in April. I'm not planning on reading it all this month, but I do want to get back into it. I've been craving it, believe it or not! I'd like to finish it by the end of 2012, so we'll see if that happens!

There you have it! My nightstand pile for the next couple of months. I'm sure I pulled too many books, but I think that's a good problem to have!

Let me know what your reading plans are!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Favorite Victorian Novels.

Every week the folks over at The Broke and the Bookish host Top Ten Tuesday, a meme where bloggers count out their top ten in that week's given topic. This week is an open topic, so I decided to do a countdown of my favorite Victorian titles, since we are in the middle of A Victorian Celebration.

Making this list was hard, especially because I decided to rank the books I listed!

Here we go:

10. Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte: I just finished this one on Sunday, but I was blown away by this seemingly simple story about a governess. I think the Anne is completely underrated, and I cannot wait to read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

9. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: I loved this novel about a man so consumed with his own beauty and image-such a great and moving story! I am hoping that I'll have the opportunity to teach this one in the future, as I think it would be a great novel for high school students!

8. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: I can't believe it took me so long to read this one! It was so passionate and so full of fire! And that line that begins with "Reader." Ugh, it gets me!

7. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell: This story of Margaret Hale and Mr. Thornton has been a favorite since I first read it. I also love the BBC adaptation and watch it fair too often.

6. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins: Collins is a writer I had never heard of until I started blogging, and I am so happy you all forced him on me. This mysterious tale had me flipping pages until late at night. It also has one of my favorite heroines of all time!

5. Villette by Charlotte Bronte: While I loved Jane Eyre, I adored Villette. This is a more mature Charlotte and the story about Lucy Snowe is one that had a huge impact on me. I related so much to Lucy and her struggles. This one will always remain a favorite.

4. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy: Of the three Hardys I've read, this is by far my favorite. It is such a desperate and tragic novel, and the reception from Hardy's audience in the Victorian era is why Hardy stopped writing fiction completely. This is a MUST read.

3. Germinal by Emile Zola: Technically Zola was not a part of the Victorian gang over in England, but this novel from the French writer is as powerful. Set in a mining town in rural France, it depicts the harsh realities of life for the miners. It will break your heart.

2. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens: Considering that I call Dickens my arch-nemesis, you might be surprised to see this here. But Dickens and I share a favorite novel of his, and it's this one. This is a very autobiographical novel and it really spoke to me.

1. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot: This is by far my favorite novel by Eliot. I push this one on everyone to read, all the time. I can't even begin to describe how wonderful and moving and passionate this novel us. You MUST read this one!


What are some of your favorite Victorian novels?

My Victorian Celebration Reading Plans.

So...A Victorian Celebration starts in TWO days. Where has the time gone?

I am really excited for the event to launch and to finally get to all the lovely Victorian titles I've been craving in the last few months. I'm also excited for school to get out in three weeks so I can read like a maniac. :)

Anyway, I'm trying to decide what to do for the event in regards to my reading. I am currently in the middle of a number of titles that are certainly NOT Victorian in nature. And while I wasn't planning on focusing solely on the Victorians for all of June and July, I do need to switch gears a bit. I think I may set aside a few of the titles I am in the middle of in favor of picking up a Victorian or two...or three. We'll have to see how voraciously I pick up books when I am free (at last) from the demands of teaching (although, I finished my last set of essays yesterday, so that frees up a TON of time in the evenings).

I thought it would be a good idea to make a list of all the Victorian books that I have on my shelf as options for the event. I have them listed below in some categories. I am looking for suggestions in a couple areas, so please, recommend!

Books from my 250 Project List:

• Tess of D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy (I have a feeling I will really like this one, so I might save it for later on in my project)
• Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy (Really want to get to this one!)
• Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy (I believe this is Amanda's favorite Hardy - correct me if I'm wrong - so I definitely want to get to it!)
• Middlemarch by George Eliot (Haven't read this one in ages, but I'd like to read it during the event!)
• Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell (not sure if I'll tackle this one. I might save it)
• Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray (I started this one last year and never finished it. if I recall, it read very quickly, so this is a definite option)
• Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad (I really have no desire to read this one after suffering through Heart of Darkness in December)
• Kim by Rudyard Kipling (another possibility, but my first try wasn't successful)
• The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (might save until October...)
• Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens (I'm in the middle of this one, so this will be the first title I finish for the event!)
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (the last Dickens title on my list, and one I'm looking forward to!)
• Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe (An American Victorian...why not?)
• Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope (tried this one a couple years ago and couldn't get into it. I'm willing to try again)
• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (LOVE TWAIN, and yes, another American Victorian)

 Other Victorians I have on my Shelves:

• The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling
• North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell
• Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte (really want to get to this one, so I will probably make time for it)
• The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
• Shirley by Charlotte Bronte 
• Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
• Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell
• a whole slew of short stories by Twain, Gaskell, Dickens, Eliot, etc, etc.(pretty easy to squeeze in stories between all those chunky Victorians)
• Poems by Thomas Hardy (I'm a fan of Hardy's novels, so I'm curious about his poetry)
• I also have a collection of Victorian poems, so I'll probably visit those

Any others I should think about as options? I know I don't have a lot of diversity in authors-hardly any by the lesser-known Victorians. I'm open to suggestions!

Biographies, etc:

• The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth Gaskell (Really want to get to this)
• Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin (This one is a definite)
• The Dickens Bicentenary (I started this one back in February, so I want to finish it!)

I'd really like another biography on Hardy if anyone knows of a good one!

Obviously, I know I'm not going to get through all of these titles (THAT would be crazy), but I do want to make some great progress.

What are you planning on reading for the event?

Teenager Friendly Classics.

I got into a conversation yesterday with a group of students about books. I think they meant to derail me away from hounding them about progress on their research project, but it was related to the class, so I caved in and talked to them...then I hounded them. :)

Anyway, one of the students was one who got a copy of The Book Thief from World Book Night. She already finished the book and was asking for more recommendations. I asked her what she usually liked and all she said was, "No vampires." That made me laugh.

I ended up recommending a mix of things to her. Some of the YA titles I recommended were by John Green, Sarah Dessen, Carrie Ryan (zombies were okay), as well as some standalone titles (I told her to read Zusak's I am the Messenger as well). There were a few other YA titles I pushed, including one of my favorites, Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood by Ben Saenz.

Then she asked for "grown-up" books...which is a whole other post I could go into. But she specifically wanted classics. This led to other students chipping in about classics being boring, old, and not very exciting. So, I had to rack my brain for books I think she would like and that would be "teenager friendly."

Now, I'm not saying that teenagers can' read or understand classics. Because I'm definitely NOT saying that. All I am saying is that some books are more accessible than others. I think she would have run away had I recommended War and Peace as a serious option. But I offered up these 5 titles as options, and promised I would think of more (keep in mind I kept some obvious ones off the list because they are part of our curriculum, or she had read them already).

1. North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell: She had already read and loved Pride and Prejudice, so I pushed this one as being similar in theme. I also told her about the great BBC mini-series. ;)
2. Silas Marner by George Eliot: She liked the sound of this one, and since it is a simpler story, I thought it might be a good bridge to some of Eliot's other works, as well as other Victorians (I also mentioned The Mill on the Floss because I love it so). 
3. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather: Again, I thought this would be a good bridge into some other great work by the same author.
4. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: I firmly believe that this should be a book for a course. I think teens would really get into the story and the "horrid" part of Dorian.
5. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins: She asked for a mystery (not Sherlock Holmes) and this was the first one that popped into my head. 

I know I could have recommended others in the moment (the Brontes, hello? What was I thinking?), but she caught me on the spot! Talk about pressure!

But I thought you all might help me think of other "teenager friendly" classics. What would you recommend to a 15 or 16 year old who wanted to get their feet wet in classic literature?

Top Ten Tuesday: My Top Ten Future Project Books.

Welcome to this week’s Top Ten Tuesday! The topic is an open one this week, so that we can pick our own topics and lists. I was struggling to find a subject to write about, but then I started poking around on my blog to look for future reads.


I am still in the middle of my 250 Project list, but there are a LOT of classics that are still on my TBR. The following is a list of the ten titles I am most anxious to get to when I finish my 250…or they might be books I get to sooner than that. ;) We’ll have to see.

In no particular order:

1. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett: I just read The Secret Garden last week for the first time since I was a girl (loved it), but I’ve never read this title. I’m looking forward to discovering it as an adult (and…my new Puffin classic edition is on its way to my door RIGHT NOW).

2. Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte: Anne never made it on to my 250 list, so I am curious to see what her writing is like. I have loved everything by Charlotte and Emily that I’ve read, so I am hoping for some more wonderful Bronte action.

3. Writings on Nature by John Muir: Like I have said many times before, I work at a park in the summer. I’m not really a super “outdoorsy” kind of a girl, but I love being at the park and learning more about nature. This title has been on my mental TBR for a long time, as Muir was an individual who helped the government protect land in the form of National Parks. The edition I’m craving has pictures and such as well.

4. East of Eden by John Steinbeck: I left this one off the 250 list in favor of Travels with Charley, but I kind of wish I’d kicked off another book in favor of this one. This seems to be a favorite among Steinbeck fans, so I want to see why!

5. A Backward Glance by Edith Wharton: I am a Wharton fanatic, so you shouldn’t be surprised to see this. This is her autobiography, and I have wanted to read it since I found it in a used bookstore.

6. Nana by Emile Zola: I loved Zola’s Germinal since I read it early on in my project. It was the only title by him on my list, so I can’t wait to read more by him. I know that there are a few other bloggers who have been discovering Zola recently, so I am hoping to get to more of his work in the future.

7. Rasselas by Samuel Johnson: This will actually be a reread for me. I read Rasselas as well as many of Johnson’s other writings in college for a class (with the professor who had a Benjamin Franklin action figure), and I was really in love with them. Rasselas was my favorite of the collection, so I want to revisit and see if I still feel the same.

8. Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank: I am somewhat ashamed to say that I have never read this. I need to fix that.

9. Belinda by Maria Edgeworth: I read Castle Rackrent in college and fell in love with it. Since then, I have been meaning to get back to Edgeworth and her work, but simply haven’t had the time. This is yet another title that I want to read sooner, rather than later.

10. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen: The only title of Austen’s “Big 6” not on my 250 list, I kind of feel bad not reading it. I am definitely not as familiar with the story (have only read this once), but I liked it when I first read it. I also have that pretty new clothbound that I got for Christmas, so…
What books are you most looking forward to reading in the future?

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books on my Spring TBR List.

It's Tuesday! And that means it is Top Ten Tuesday, a lovely meme hosted by the folks over at The Broke and the Bookish where bloggers count down their top ten in the week's given category.

I have been excited about this topic since January, since I have some wonderful books planned for this Spring. You might laugh at that, but my reading for the first three months of the year has been planned out! I can't wait to dive into some of these titles!

Without further adieu, here are the ten titles I am most looking forward to this Spring. They are in no particular order, except for the first one. :)

1. Clarissa by Samuel Richardson: I am starting this one in April with a few other bloggers. I think we have been planning our little readalong since October or November. We're going to try and tackle this one in a month, and since it is one of the longest novels in the English language (almost 1 million words), this will be a huge challenge. I think it is perfectly doable since I read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand at 650,000 words in one week last year. What's 400,000 more? ;) You are more than welcome to join in! (Here is the sign-up post)
2. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller: This is a book I have been avoiding for quite some time, but I am excited to finally read it. I pulled it off the shelf and put it on my nightstand a few nights ago, so hopefully I get to this one sooner rather than later.
3. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster: The 3rd book I read for my project was by Forster, and I absolutely adored it (A Room with a View). I actually had a hard time finding a copy of this one, but finally grabbed one last fall. Like Heller's book, this one has been added to the nightstand.
4. Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy: I have read two books by Hardy for my project so far, and I have loved both of them (The Mayor of Casterbridge and Jude the Obscure). Amanda has claimed this one to be her favorite by Hardy, so I can't wait to see what I think of it. I think Hardy has potential to be a new favorite author!
5. Beloved by Toni Morrison: I'm going to be reading this one to fulfill a challenge, but I'm excited for it. I have had a mixed experience with Morrison-I loved The Bluest Eye, but didn't really care for Sula. I can't wait to read more of her work, and this one is definitely going to be coming up soon.
6. Native Son by Richard Wright: I have picked this one up numerous times in the last 2 and a half years, but it always goes back on the shelf unread. My interest is peaked, so I am going to give it a try in the near future. I've heard only good things.
7. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair: Now, this is a book I have REALLY been avoiding...mainly because I like food, and I am worried I won't eat while reading this. But I also think this is a really important title for me to read, especially because it started a food revolution here in the U.S. Has anyone read this?
8. Common Sense by Thomas Paine: I read this one back in college for a history course, but that was so long ago that it has grown a little fuzzy. But I am excited to pick this one up again and relive all the grievances the early colonists had against the King. :) It's also short, so maybe I will pick it up during the month of Clarissa??
9. Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe: I am curious about this one, especially since I was impressed by Robinson Crusoe, a book I expected to hate. I don't know much more about it-which will hopefully be a good thing!
10. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner: Since I am huge fan of Faulkner, it always surprises people to hear that I haven't read this one. It has also been some time since I've read one of his books and I have 3 left on the list! Better get cracking!

What are you looking forward to reading this spring? Do we have any in common?

Weekly Wrap-up for February 26, 2012: Playing Catch-up and Teaching Texts.

I'm trying to wrap my head around the idea that this month is almost gone. While I haven't been busy doing too many things, I still feel like I am far behind on getting anything accomplished. I guess I will reevaluate that when I get to March 1, right?

I ended up going to see a movie with my mom on Thursday night, which we haven't done in a long time! We went and saw One for the Money, based on the Stephanie Plum series. I read the first ten a real long time ago, and my mom, I think, it caught up on the series, so it was fun to see the movie. It was definitely a good choice-funny with cute guys-and we had a good time.

On Friday, our district had a snow day. We were supposed to get 8+ inches of snow. We got maybe 1. But, Matt had the day off, so we took advantage of it and went to see an early movie. We figured that by going early, we would miss a lot of the crowd (the movie was at 4:30), but we walked into a theater that happened to have a large group of my old students. They all said hi, stared at Matt a bit, and made it that much more fun. :) We saw Wanderlust, which was a little more...extreme than I had planned on (don't get me wrong, it was funny, but a little over the top in regards to the humor). After, we hit up a local seafood place for dinner. It was a good date night and we both needed it, since we never go out anymore.

I've also been doing a lot of reading this week. I knew I had my third Roots post to read for, but I swore not to touch the book until I finished David Copperfield. I managed to finish it Tuesday so I could read Roots all day Wednesday. I finished both books, which was exciting since it doubled my monthly book number. :)

So while I managed to read a lot this week, I didn't read as much as I wanted to. I would have liked to be done with a few more titles (maybe a challenge book or two), but I can't help it that the chunky books are calling to me. My next read is Nicholas Nickleby, so I suppose I just do these things to myself, right? I doubt I will finish Nicholas Nickleby by the end of the month like I want to, but hopefully I can hit the halfway point.

The only other exciting thing to happen this month was my meeting to learn more about my long-term placement on Thursday morning. I'm starting on the 5th, just over a week away, and I will be there until the end of the school year. I'm really excited to get back into it, especially because of all the wonderful books pictured below:

The only two books that are new to me are The Color of Water and Alas, Babylon. I don't know much about either, so if you've read them, please give me some pointers. I do think Alas, Babylon will fit into Adam's Challenge for March, so I'm glad it will serve double duty.

I've read everything else at least once. I probably won't read The Crucible again until we're reading it in class since I am fairly familiar with it (so excited to teach it again), but I want to read through everything else before we get to it in class. Two of the classes are in the middle of two books, Night and Kindred, so I have to finish up the units on each. I'm planning on reading both this week (I read Kindred when I was a high schooler and Night a few years ago).

And can I tell you how stoked I am to teach Ender's Game and The Hunger Games? Card's novel got me hooked on science-fiction, so I have a soft spot for it. And The Hunger Games is just going to be fun. :) They just bought the books and no one has used them yet, so I can't wait to develop a unit for the book. I'm going to be reading that one with the class for the non-readers, so it should be a fun time.

So, my last week before teaching is going to be full of reading, don't you think? In addition to making some good progress with the Dickens title, I need to get through those other two titles. We'll see how that goes. :)

Well, I am spending the rest of my morning and afternoon reading, writing, and doing a little lesson-planning.

Hope you all have a happy reading week!

Weekly Wrap-up for February 5, 2012: On Singing, Babies, Books, Shakespeare, and More.

I am tired this morning, but I did force myself out of bed to get some things accomplished this morning. I guess I have myself to blame.

Last night we went to a karaoke bar. Now, anyone who has been in a car with me, to a concert, or by me while I think I am alone knows that I cannot sing to save my life. My husband says I can't really call it "tone-deaf" since I can tune myself when I am playing my trumpet, but I cannot carry a tune (Yes, I play the trumpet. Matt and I play in a community band once a week. And yes, I am better than him. ;) Don't tell him that).

So last night was a little tortuous for me, since the friends we went with have not been graced by the beauty that is my singing voice. Needless to say, even with all their peer pressure tactics, I didn't get up on stage and sing. I stayed at our table and listened. Our friend Jay was a little scared of the stage as well, so we just pretended that we were way too awesome to let others hear our golden voices. ;)

It was a good time, and I am glad Matt forced me to go. I was ready to snuggle in bed with a book, as is befitting for a hermit like myself, but I had fun with everyone.

I also went to a baby shower yesterday for one of my oldest and best friends. I met Jenny in the first grade and we have been friends ever since (over 20 years?). She lives down in Knoxville now, but her parents live out in Ann Arbor (about an hour from me). It was great to see her and some other old friends. She doesn't know what she's having yet, so I am excited to see come April.

It seems like a lot of people I know are pregnant or just had a baby! There is baby fever everywhere! I was at one of the schools I worked in on Thursday, subbing, and discovered that three of their English teachers are pregnant! They are all due near the end of July/early August. They were cracking jokes at lunch about something being in the water over there.

Today I don't have too many plans besides recuperating from a busy day yesterday and selling back some books to my local bookstore. They only buy back used books once every couple of months, and the last time I was there, their used section was a little on the empty side (their new sections were also a little bare, which confused me). I still have all those books I culled in November (I missed the weekend buy-back by a week), and since this is the first weekend to sell back since then, I am ready to get these books out of here. 140+ books take up a lot of space when they are just sitting there. Hopefully they'll take most of them. The rest I am going to donate to one of the schools in the area. And, hopefully, I'll get some store credit to buy a few things I've been eying.

In other good, bookish news, I was accepted to be a giver for World Book Night! I don't know which book of my 3 choices I'll be handing out, but I am really excited. I am going to go in and give half the books to some old students (as long at the two teachers I worked for are okay with it), and the rest I am passing out in the area. I am going to hit up one of our local malls. It should be a great experience and I am so excited that I get to do this.

In regards to the blog, Shakespeare Month is wrapping up on the 10th (I extended it) and to be honest, I'm kind of excited to get it finished. I feel a little drained with all the posting, reading, and writing about Shakespeare. Don't get me wrong, I love Shakespeare, but I am burned out. I read 11 plays, so I'm allowed. I still need to go read all the posts everyone wrote as participants, so that will be my main goal this week.

I am also planning a Victorian themed event for June and July. I have a lot of Victorian books to read on my list, so it is a good excuse. I've already started thinking about some prizes (you're going to love them), as well as 1 or 2 challenges to offer something different to the challenge. I'm planning on hammering out all the details in the next two months and announcing it in April. If you have some Victorians on your TBR, save them for June and July! :)

Well, that's all I have for this week. I am planning on catching up on some reading. I am in the middle of Roots by Alex Haley for the readalong, so I want to get to our goal for Wednesday before diving into something else. I'm having a hard time deciding if I should read David Copperfield, Nicholas Nickleby, or one of the two biographies on Dickens. I was thinking of saving the bios (one is the Bicentenary book I showed earlier this week, the other is the Tomalin) for later, but now I am second-guessing myself...Any suggestions?

Happy Reading!!

Magical March Announcement Post.

I can't resist a great event, especially when it is hosted by a friend! Adam, from Roof Beam Reader, is hosting Magical March: A Magical Realism and Fantasy Event during the month of March.

It turns out that quite a few books on my project list qualify, and since I was going to read them anyway, this is the perfect excuse and opportunity.

Here are the rules, copied directly from Adam's post:

1. You must register with the Mister Linky below prior to March 5^th in order to be eligible to participate.
2. You must read only “new” books – meaning, no re-reads are allowed.  Books for other challenges can be cross-used for this one, but you must read the book and review it in the month of March (previously completed books for other challenges do not qualify).
3. You must link up each book review to a separate Mister Linky, which will be available on March 5^th (once registrations close).
4. Challengers must post on their blog an “Announcement” post, indicating they are participating in this challenge and which level they hope to attain. One completer from each “Class” will be randomly selected to win the corresponding prize for that level. 
   1. You do not need to meet your level in order to win a prize.  If you aim for “Grand Merlin Class” but only achieve “Magician’s Class,” you will still be entered into the Magician’s Prize Pool!
   2. You do not need to list your books in advance, but I plan on doing so (to keep me motivated and to help me stay organized). 
5. Any Fantasy, Science Fiction, or Magical Realism books will qualify.  This means you can read Young Adult, Dystopian, Steampunk, or Alternative Histories.

Sounds like fun, right?

There are different levels for participation, so I chose my level based on the amount of books on my project list that qualify. :)

I am aiming for the second level, Wizard's Class, which requires me to read and review 3-5 books during the month. Here are the books I am planning on reading:

• The Once and Future King by T.H. White (Fantasy)
• Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne (Science-fiction)
• A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (Dystopian)
• The Time Machine by H.G. Wells (Science-fiction)
• Free choice. :) When I finish those four, I am going to read a random fantasy or science-fiction novel NOT from my list. I just don't know what yet. *EDIT* When I told my husband about this challenge, he told me what to read to fill in this last spot-the first two books in Martin's series (The Game of Thrones). He wants me to read at least the first two so I can enjoy the series with him, and since I have the books, I might as well. :)

There you have it, my reading for March planned out. :) Anyone have any suggestions for that last book?

Top Ten Tuesday: The Top Ten New-to-Me Books from my Project List!

Every week the folks at The Broke and the Bookish host Top Ten Tuesday-where bloggers create their top ten in the week's given category!

This week, however, they have left it up to individual bloggers to create their own lists, revisit a topic they missed, or repeat a topic they really liked. I think this is a fabulous idea and while I debated creating a list not based on classics, I thought it would be even more fun to talk about the top ten "new-to-me" books I have read off my project list so far.

I have read 130 titles off my list and have loved many of them, so narrowing it down to ten was agonizing and painful. I could have easily created a top 50. ;)

But, I pushed through and after lots of painful whining and deleting books, here are the top ten titles I've read off of my project list so far (these are in the order I read them, from earliest to most recent. Trying to rank them was painful, so I didn't so that). I should also mention that I only chose books that were new to me when I read them. All rereads were immediately disqualified:

1. Germinal by Emile Zola: This was the 13th book I read of my project list, way back in the December of 2009 (right before I got married). I knew nothing about the author or the book when I made my list, but it was one of the very first titles I bought when I went shopping to add a few more titles to my classics collection. It is about a young man who finds himself working in a village with a large community of miners. They are poor, starving, and yearning to fight back. The novel is tense, tragic, dramatic, and hopeful-not to mention beautifully written. I still think about it, and I cannot wait to read it again, as well as some of Zola's other work.
2. The Dollmaker by Harriette Arnow: Book 18 came out of nowhere to knock my socks off. One of the "modern" classics on my list, it was also a hard book to find. I wound up finding a used copy at John King books in Detroit. The novel is set in World War II era Detroit. The main character is struggling to maintain an identity in the midst of war and her children's demands. And man, this novel is heartbreaking. It was also a novel I had an intensely personal reaction to and immediately became one of my all-time favorite books.
3. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot: I was a long-time Eliot fan even before I decided to read this as book 22. But my love for other Eliot novels paled in comparison to the overwhelming surge of passion I felt for this-what I think is Eliot's best work. It contains one of my favorite female characters, a whole lot of passion and emotion, and the ending-GOSH the ending! 
4. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell: I avoided this book for YEARS because I thought it was some silly romantic nonsense. I eventually picked it up as book 45, and I had the hardest time setting it down to act as a functioning adult. This book was everything I thought it wasn't. I loved the epic scope of the story, the attention to detail, and the characters. Oh Rhett! What a phenomenal character!
5. Villette by Charlotte Bronte: The first book by Charlotte I read, book 59, was another extremely personal book for me. I felt a kinship to Lucy Snowe as she seemed to observe rather than live life. I loved the description of the school, the characters, and Lucy's life. And while I have since read Jane Eyre (and loved it), there is something about the quiet maturity in this novel that I love more. I cannot wait to revisit this one again.
6. The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham: Book 69 was a book that wasn't on my original project list. When I realized that I had doubled a James Joyce story, I added this one instead...and boy, was it worth it. Set in Hong Kong, the book explores the relationship between a couple where the wife cheated. It is in part painful, but also beautiful and hopeful. It gave me so much to think about, and I am sad I have no more books by Maugham to read on my project list!
7. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins: 2011 started off with a bang, and so did book 72. Collins was an author I added to my project list in January 2010 (I removed some of the non-fiction books in favor of more fiction). I had never even heard of Collins until I started blogging! This book was a fabulous winter read-full of mystery, suspense, and a kickass female character. Oh, and did I mention the villains? Superb! I have another Collins, The Moonstone, on my reading list for this year, so I cannot wait to read more!
8. Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko: Another "modern" classic, Silko's novel had me from the opening line. Centered on a young Native American veteran, the novel is lyrical and focused on his struggle to find himself again. The language in this one is beyond description. There were so many beautiful and haunting passages... (this was book 104)
9. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville: I don't think I intended to love Melville's ode to a white whale, but gosh, once I started reading, I knew that the book was about more than a whale. As I finished each chapter, I was continually in awe of Melville's ability to change and alter the way I viewed his work. The attention to detail was magnificent and I slowly savored this one throughout the fall as book 113.
10. The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James: Book 122 solidified James as a favorite author. Focused on Isabel Archer, this novel follows her as she comes into a great deal of money-allowing her freedoms and choices she didn't have before. Gut-wrenching and beautiful, this book was the focus of my gushing in the end of 2011.

You guys must realize how hard it was for me to narrow it down to these ten. I've left off Shakespeare! Austen! Dickens! Wharton! and more. The truth is, I have read so many phenomenal books so far that it was extremely difficult to narrow it down so far.

Have I convinced you to read any of these (or all)? Let me know!

A Winter's Respite Readathon.

I wasn't going to sign up for this readathon, but after thinking it over today, I decided I better. :)

This readathon is hosted over at The True Book Addict and lasts from today through Sunday. I am signing up late, but I don't think it is a big deal. :)

Since this week is exam week for the school districts around here, I doubt I will get many, if any, subbing jobs. And while there are a few other things to take care of this week, I would love to make more progress on my reading list.

Here are my reading plans for the week:

• Finish the five remaining Shakespeare plays I have on my project list: Henry IV Part I, Henry IV Part II, Othello, The Merchant of Venice, and A Midsummer Night's Dream
• Read Volpone by Ben Jonson and Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe to finish my plans for Shakespeare Reading Month (both were contemporaries of Shakespeare, so I thought it would be a fun way to end the month).

That's it! I hope I can at least get the Shakespeare plays done-that would be a huge relief! :)

Are you joining in? Either way, what are you reading plans for the week?

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I'd Recommend To Someone Who Doesn't Read Classics.

Today is Tuesday, and every Tuesday the lovely folks over at The Broke and the Bookish post a topic for Top Ten Tuesday. Participants post their top ten list in the week's category.

This week's category is "Top Ten Books I'd Recommend To Someone Who Doesn't X." I'm looking forward to reading everyone's lists, since every participant is going to fill in something different for X!

Obviously, since I am a classics blogger, I will be talking about 10 classics that I think are great introductions into authors and larger works. Hopefully if classics aren't your thing, you'll find one or two to add to your TBR. :)

These are in no particular order...

1. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury: This is actually one of my favorite books, and I think it is a great little classic for people just starting out a classics journey. What really works about this novel is that it also ties into the big "dystopian" trend going on right now. The novel takes place in the future, where firemen don't put out fires, but start them to burn books. This is a must read for all you book-lovers!
2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: I put off reading this one for a long time-partly because I thought it wouldn't live up to the hype, but also because I thought I wouldn't like it! I was surprised by how much I loved the novel and how easy it was to read. This would be a great choice for those of you who love romance.
3. The Crucible by Arthur Miller: I know that some of you don't read plays on a regular basis, but this is a great and passionate play that will grab you from the beginning. A fictionalized account of the Salem Witch Trials, this is a fast-paced and emotional play that will suck you in. It isn't difficult, but it is deep and moving. 
4. The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes is one of the most recognizable characters from literature, but many have never read one of the stories that made him famous! I read the whole collection in the first year of my project and really loved all of them. The stories are diverse and fun. They are a great choice for mystery lovers, or those who are just looking for a small piece of classic literature.
5. Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier: This is a fabulous novel and one that I have recommended often in the last year. It is not only a mystery, but a great story of love and intrigue. I was unsure going into this one, but it doesn't read as old and stuffy at all! This is one that grabs you right away.
6. Persuasion by Jane Austen: Since people normally recommend Pride and Prejudice, I want to give another option. This is a more mature book that P & P, giving a deeper and more lasting impression of love. It is also a little shorter, and, in my opinion, better than P & P. :)
7. Hard Times by Charles Dickens: Of the Dickens titles I have read, this has by far been my favorite (except for A Christmas Carol). This one isn't as complex as some of the bigger titles and is on the shorter side. For anyone not used to reading Dickens' sometimes convoluted language, this is a great introductory read. It still has bits of what makes Dickens so popular, but it is far less intimidating.
8. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway: This is a beautiful little book about perseverance and hope. It is short, simple, and a different perspective of Hemingway's writing. I think everyone should read this at some point.
9. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath: To be honest, I haven't read this one in a long time, but it is a fascinating read and one that a lot of female readers will connect to in some way. It is a more modern classic, so that may make it more approachable for many.
10. The Custom of the Country by Edith Wharton: I adore Wharton, so I was trying to think of a title to recommend (and I think I have raved about The House of Mirth enough). In Custom, Wharton creates the most amazing character in Undine Spragg (lovely name...and it suits her if you know what I mean). The novel is about upward mobility and what measures people will take to get there. This is a GREAT book. :)

There you have it, a list of ten classics I think you should check out, even if you aren't the biggest fan of the oldies. I have hundreds more to recommend, so if you ever want options, please ask!

What other classics would you recommend?