I don't have the entire year's reading list, but here is the first (in no particular order):

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
Battle Cry of Freedom (History of the Civil War) by James McPherson
Lolita by Nabokov
The Federalist Papers (articles 1787-88 giving reasons for adopting the Constitution) by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay
To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
God Created the Integers by Stephen Hawking
Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement by John Lewis and Michael D'Orso
The Art of Teaching Writing by Lucy McCormick Calkins
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
A Testament of Hope by Martin Luther King Jr.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Final Cut Pro HD for Dummies by Helmut Kobler
How Fiction Works by James Wood
Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson
Introducing the Enlightenment by Lloyd Spencer and Andrzej Krauze
Common Sense, The Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings of Thomas Paine (Signet Classics) by Thomas Paine
Dancing to Almendra by Mayra Montero
Memoria de mis putas tristes in Spanish by Gabriel García Márquez
The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt
Sula by Toni Morrison
House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
Living Buddha, Living Christ by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley
A History of God by Karen Armstrong
Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas by Elaine Pagels
Saint Joseph Edition of the New American Bible: The New Testament
The Iliad translated by Robert Fagles
We Drink from Our Own Wells by Gustavo Gutierrez

This is a start. The emphasis in nonfiction is on primary sources.

2008/01/10
I'm reading Walking with the Wind by John Lewis. It's so great to hear his voice and his direct feeling about non-violence. Also great to read for its spirituality as well as the history. I read The Children by David Halberstam, which is great. The Children is more polished writing, but I am enjoying Walking with the Wind as much or more. I also read some of Taylor Branch, which is more comprehensive.

Adding: Reviewing U.S. and New York State History by Elaine Farran and Ann-Jean Paci. It's a middle school text, but comprehensive and to the point. It will cover some areas that I forgot.

I tried to read English Patient. I quit half way through. The only character I could not stand was the English Patient himself. I found his characterization melodramatic and sensationalist -- way over the top without reason.

I read Gilead, which is fantastic. I'm including Home in my new Kindle book purchases.

I also read Jazz by Tony Morrison, what a fantastic novel, but very difficult.

Other books just read:
Methods of Teaching Science as Inquiry by Joel E. Bass
Death Comes For the Archbishop by Willa Cather

Books to get for Kindle if I can:

Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson
Home by Marilynne Robinson
Experience and Education by John Dewey
Pedogagy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen
Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol
Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol
Letters to a Young Teacher by Jonathan Kozol
The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America by Jonathan Kozol
The Age of Entanglement by Louisa Gilder
Minority Status, Oppositional Culture and Schooling (Sociocultural, Political, and Historical Studies in Education) by John Ogbu
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
Relentless Pursuit: A Year in the Trenches with Teach for America by Donna Foote
Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education by John Dewey
More than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City by William Julius Wilson
The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt
The White Tiger: A Novel (Man Booker Prize) by Aravind Adiga
The American Future: A History by Simon Schama
Walking with the Wind by John Lewis
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

Message edited by its author, Mar 29, 2009, 12:48pm.

Hi, davefromnyc!
Looks like you have lots of good books on your list. Hope 2009 is a great reading year for you.
--BJ

I just finished (today is 2009-01-05) Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. I thought it was a masterpiece. I put a longer review in my library comments. Yesterday I checked out Walking with the Wind by John Lewis from the library.

Thanks billiejean for your comments. Looking at my list, I see four themes: general literature, religion/spirituality, American history/civics and science/math. So I may put off reading the Iliad and The Origins of Totalitarianism until next year, and focus on European history and related epics then. By next year, I would like to know Spanish well enough to read One Hundred Years of Solitude, The Discovery And Conquest Of Mexico by Bernal Diaz and Don Quixote in the original.

Oh, I will add books on continuing to learn Spanish this year.

Hi, Dave! Loved Gilead even though I'm an atheist which I think makes it an even better recommendation. I've got a whole category for books about teaching writing on my 999 Challenge. May I surmise that you are a teacher?

davefromnyc,

How did you like Battle Cry of Freedom? I'm reading it now as part of my 2009 reading challenge. We have some general topic interests in common too--at least for this year: I'm also trying to read more on American History (specifically the Civil War) and religion/spirituality.

Years ago, I had enough hubris to believe my Spanish was good enough to read 100 Years of Solitude, but I'd like to re-read it (in English) to see what I missed :-)

Happy Reading!

I am listening to Gilead now on my ipod. I'm early on (disk2), it is a nice one to listen to, someone is telling ME their story. I'm sure it reads the same but I listen to a lot of books and many are just that, books being read aloud, this is a story being told. Glad to hear the book is good till the end.

Yes, I've taught middle school in NYC, but finishing grad degree in elementary. I kept wanting the minister to "take action" and tell his wife in Gilead. I got so impatient with him, but he knew better.

wrmjr66,

I read Battle Cry of Freedom a long time ago and plan to reread it this year. That is how much I liked it. I'd like to find the best book on John Brown too after reading Gilead (where he played a role in the history of the family).

I have read 100 Years of Solitude in English. Really it is a goal by the end of the year to get my Spanish up to the level where I feel I can read it well (though slowly).

Message edited by its author, Jan 10, 2009, 11:11pm.

sydamy,

There were sections of Gilead, especially about the theology, where I really wanted to slow down my reading, slower than someone reading it out loud. Also, I reread a number of paragraphs.

I want to read her latest book, Home.

dave

Hi Davefromnyc,

Welcome to the 50 book challenge. You've put together an interesting list. I don't really make annual lists (I'm more of a "fly by the seat of my pants" kind of reader), but I do have plans to read the Illiad this year. After some discussion with others I chose the Lattimore translation (in conjunction with the Illiad Companion, also by Lattimore), but understand the Fagles is also awfully good. I'll be interested in reading about your experience. Good luck with your reading year. See you around.

theaelizabet,

The Iliad is actually one book I may not get to this year because I might shift towards more American books (just seems to be my theme this year). I'll read it, just not sure when.

Dave