slice of my life

Monday, April 02, 2007

Summer Reading List?

When I got to have a girls' night out Friday, my friend and I thought about starting a book club. We both have kids who are getting more independent and we really do have a bit more time to ourselves lately. I want to read more---and I long to have people discuss what I'm reading!! My friend recommended And the Shofar Blew by Francine Rivers. I am really enjoying it. I can't wait to get to work tomorrow and discuss the 100 or so pages I've read so far.

Today I saw a meme on Three Sons and a Princess which I have seen other places, too. Here is a list of Classic "must reads" and the ones in bold are ones I read (or read part of!)

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) part
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien) only part
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible - never all at one time or even all in one year.
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

I also have these on my list----
The Mitford series (I read the first one)
When Invisible Children Sing (non-fiction)

I think that was 28 out of 100---better than I thought I'd do.

If you have any recommendations for me---or even more important, books to avoid!---leave me a comment. Do you think any of these would be good for a group to read in a month and then go out to dinner to discuss?

Any ideas about starting a book club? We thought we might pick a "hostess" for the month and then she picks the book and the place to go out to eat. We don't need anything too heavy, but I don't want to waste my time on fluffy-too-predictable books, either. I'm sure Christian fiction would be well recieved, but I really want it to be good stuff.

The first rule of Book Club is - you do not talk about Book Club. (I mean Fight Club---from the movie I never saw, but I can't get this quote out of my head for some reason!) I don't really need to keep a book club secret! :-)

Labels:

7 Comments:

  • Oh, you MUST read To Kill a Mockingbird! That's hands down my most favorite book ever. It would be a good book club book, as would The Kite Runner, which is one of those books that's hard to put down.

    By Blogger Southern Girl, at Monday, April 02, 2007 1:26:00 PM  

  • I am amazed that you've never read To Kill a Mockingbird!! It is a must. I read it in junior high, high school, and college. I gleaned new lessons each time and I'm sure if I were to read it again I would learn even more.

    And it totally cracks me up to hear you quoting from Fight Club. Having seen that movie more than once I cannot even imagine you sitting through the first 30 minutes. Definitely don't put that on you to do list. Isn't it funny though how pop-culture that we've never even been part of invades our lives and minds? Funny, or sad? I don't know.

    By Blogger sarahdawn, at Tuesday, April 03, 2007 7:53:00 AM  

  • I've read many of those books also. I thought you had read To Kill a Mockingbird.
    Mom

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at Tuesday, April 03, 2007 9:49:00 AM  

  • How fun! I'll post my list (and recommendations) on my blog. Stop by when you get a moment. :)

    By Blogger a, at Tuesday, April 03, 2007 6:00:00 PM  

  • Well, I checked out To Kill a Mockingbird to read after I finish the one I'm on!

    By Blogger jenny, at Thursday, April 05, 2007 4:46:00 PM  

  • This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    By Blogger Rachel M., at Saturday, April 07, 2007 7:26:00 PM  

  • I have several of those books (The Stand, The Notebook, Catcher in the Rye, Interview with a Vampire, The Little Prince) if you want to borrow them. I just read Bridget Jones' Diary, it was good but alot like the movie so not so exciting. I read Cause Celeb by her and now I am reading another novel by her, Oliva Joules and the Overactive Imagination. It is really good. I like you list!

    By Blogger Rachel M., at Saturday, April 07, 2007 7:27:00 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home