I always think I never read, and then somebody asks me hey, how many books do you think you read and then I realize HOLY #^%T&, maybe I’m not an illiterate after all! I suppose must of the reason why I feel as if I never read anything is because most of the stuff I read is for school, and it doesn’t matter how enjoyable I find it, it’s still your job to read it, so it almost doesn’t count. Also, I’m a big proponent of reading modern literature, of supporting the newbies and debuts and all that good stuff, but then I make a list and realize I might as well have been a proponent of name something cool and insidious here, because apparently it didn’t matter a little dinky bit. So okay, here goes, my list for 2009 in no particular order, and who knows, I’ll update you if I manage to squeeze in one more:
Books I Read For 2009
*indicates book read for school
- *Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
- *Bartleby The Scrivener by Herman Melville
- *Summer by Edith Wharton
- The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women by Jessica Valenti
- EEEEE EEE EEEE by Tao Lin
- The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
- Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- *The Places In Between by Rory Stewart
- *Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace One School at a Time by David Oliver Relin and Greg Mortenson
- The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
- *No Exit by Jean Paul Sartre
- *Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
- *The Seagull by Anton Chekov
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- *A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
- *Hedda Gabbler by Henrik Ibsen
- *The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga
- *A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
- *Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
- *A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif
- *Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatje
- *Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
- *Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
- Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
- *The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
So, what books did you read this year? Are you as disappointed by the results (and number) as I am? Well why don’t you tell me and, while you’re at it, promise you won’t ever read a book my Edith Wharton? I swear, the woman kills brain cells. BRAIN CELLS. And believe me, I like my brain cells.
I finished 13, but I started dozens. Mostly poetry. I’ll probably finish Bartleby and maybe Stoner by John Williams. Hmm…I’ve been looking forward to reading Wharton’s House of Mirth. We’ll see. Also, Henry James.
My goal was to finish 150. Needless to say, a disappointment.
That must be some school you go to if you’re reading Sartre and Nabokov. At my school it was all Of Mice and Men and The Scarlet Letter.
I think I’ve been trying to read 100 books a year since I was in the 6th grade. Problem is, it gets harder as you get older since the books you read get more advanced but you’re still only reading a page a minute. Besides, the world wide web is a pretty big distraction.
I’ve only read two of Henry James’s: Washington Square and Turn of the Screw. I’d say go for Turn of the Screw, simply because there’s a sick delight in not being able to tell whether the babysitter’s crazy, or the kids are, or the reader is, or if the house really is as haunted as one believes.
Yep, my school is pretty extraordinary. That being said, I also just take a lot of English and Theater courses. Besides, we covered our bases with the Scarlett Letter and buckets of Shakespeare. Thankfully, I’ve passed the point of ‘laying the foundation’ and moved onto the fun stuff.
You’re planning on reading W-w-wharton? I walk away closely in fear of flying shrapnel–or worse–flying cliches. Personally, I’d stick with Mr. James, but I do feel sympathy for the fact that it’s not entirely Wharton’s fault that her stories at times feel soap opera-like, since she existed before their time, or that, as in my experience with Summer, the potential for a really traditional chick lit novel to turn deliciously strange just turned out traditional and strangely sour.
But yes, I’ve found myself in the rut lately of not being able to finish books I read. With so little time…how can I have the tolerance to finish a book that just hasn’t GRABBED me? Maybe that’s why more often than not I reach for the ‘sure things.’ Why did you stop reading the books you started?