Streamsong's 1001

Hello, I'm Janet a mild mannered microbiologist living in an absolutely beautiful corner of the country.

I think I had a thread when this group first opened, but it is buried in the mists of time, so I'll start a new one. I think I've read 88 books off the list.

Progress Index Wiki: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/1001_Progress_Index

1. 1984 by George Orwell - 1949 - UK
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke - 1968 - UK
3. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - 1884 - US
4. Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte 1847 - UK
5. Animal Farm by George Orwell - 1945 - UK
6. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath - 1963 - US
7. Beloved by Toni Morrison - 1987 - US
8. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - 1932 - UK
9. Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegu - 1973 - US
10. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger - 1951 - US
11. The Color Purple by Alice Walker - 1982 - US
12. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole - 1980 - US
13. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas père - 1844 - France
14. Cry, The Beloved Country - Alan Paton - 1948 - South Africa
15. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon - 2003 - UK
16. The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham - 1951 - UK
17. The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho - 2001 - Brazil
18. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams - 1987 - UK
19. (The Strange Case of) Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson - 1886 - UK
20. The Dumas Club by Arturo Pérez-Reverte - 1993 - Spain
21. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery - 2006 - France
22. Family Matters by Rohinton Mistry - India/Canada - 2002
23. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - 1818/1831 - UK
24. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell - 1936 - US
25. Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - 1939 - US
26. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - 1925 - US
27. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift - 1726 - UK
28. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood - 1985 - Canada
29. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad - 1899 - considered himself Polish - Multinational - UK/Poland/Russia/Ukraine
30. The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien - 1937 - UK
31. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote - 1965 - US
32. Independent People by Halldór Laxness - 1935 - Iceland
33. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai - 2005 - India/UK
34. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - 1847 - UK
35. The Leopard - Giuseppe Di Lampedusa - 1958 - Italy
36. Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel - 1989 - Mexico
37. The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - 1943 - France
38. Little Women - Louisa May Alcott - 1868 - US
39. The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul - Douglas Adams - 1988 - UK
40. Lord of the Flies - William Golding - 1954
41. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien - 1955 - UK
42. The Man with the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren - 1949 - USA
43. Had not read the one originally here - see end of list
44. Metamorphoses by Ovid - 8 AD - Italy
45. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie - 1981 - India /UK
46. Monkey - Wu Ch'eng-en - circa 1570 - 1st printed 1592 - China
47. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro - 2005 = UK/Japan
48. The Nine Tailors - Dorothy L. Sayers - 1934 - UK
49. Of Human Bondage - W. Somerset Maugham - 1915 - UK
50. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck - 1937 - US
51. The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway - 1952 - US
52. The Once and Future King - T. H. White - 1958 - UK
53. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - Alexander Solzhenitsyn - 1962 - Russia/USSR
54. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey - 1962 - US
55. Persuasion by Jane Austen - 1817 - UK
56. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - 1891 - Ireland/UK
57. Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren - 1945 - Sweden
58. The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe - 1842 - US
59. The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver - 1998 - US
60. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - 1813 - UK
61. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurie - 1938 - UK
62. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne - 1850 - US
63. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse - 1922 - Germany
64. Snow by Orhan Pamuk - 2002 - Turkey
65. Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky - 2004 - France
66. Summer in Baden-Baden by Leonid Tsypkin - USSR
67. Surfacing by Margaret Atwood - 1972 - Canada -
68. A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz - 2002 - Israel
69. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - 1859 - UK
70. The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith - 1955 - US
71. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe - 1958 - Nigeria
72. Threepenny novel by Bertolt Brecht - Germany - 1934
73. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - 1960 - US
74. A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute - 1950 - Australia
75. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson - 1883 - UK
76. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James - 1898 - USA/UK
77. U.S.A. by John Dos Passos - 1938 - USA
78. Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe - 1852 - US
79. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray - 1847 - UK
80. Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho - 1998 - Brazil
81. Walden by Henry David Thoreau - 1854 - US
82. The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells - 1898 - UK
83. The Wars by Timothy Findley - 1977 - Canada
84. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks - 1984 - UK
85. White Teeth by Zadie Smith - 2000 - UK
86. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys - 1966 - UK
87. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte - 1847 - UK
88. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman - 1892 - US

I decided I had not actually read the original #43, but discovered another one I had read:

43. The Purloined Letter - Edgar Allen Poe - 1845 - US

According to JS, my average book at the beginning of 2014 is a 359 page tome written in 1950.

2014 1001 Reads
89. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf - 1925 - ROOT challenge, RL book club - UK
90. The Hamlet by William Faulkner - 1940 - American author challenge - US
91. Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro - 1971 - RL book club - Canada
92. All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy - 1992 - American Author challenge - US
93. Jazz by Toni Morrison - 1992 - American Author challenge - US
94. The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty 1972 - American Author challenge - US
95. Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood - 1996 (5/22) - Planned to read in Atwood April - Canada
96. Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut - 1969 (6/1/2014) - American Author Challenge - US
97. Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut - 1963 (7/5/2014) - American Author Challenge - US
98. Hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle - 1901 - Missed this one! Read October 2013 - UK
99. The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett 1930 - category challenge - noir/hardboiled (7/17/2014) - US
100. The Plot Against America - Philip Roth 2004 (8/29/2014) - US
101. Giovanni's Room - James Baldwin 1956 (9/30/2014) - US
102. The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton 1920 (10/29/2014) - US

2015 1001 Reads
103. Rabbit Run - John Updike- 1960 - US (1/9/2015)2014 American Author Challenge
104. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro (1/15/2015) (1989) 2015 British Author Challenge ROOT
- (Reread) - Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen 1813 - UK- (Austen in a year challenge) - ROOT
105. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh - 1945 - UK -BAC
106. Mansfield Park - Jane Austen 1814 UK - (3/29/2015) (Austen in a year challenge) - ROOT
107. Fingersmith - Sarah Waters - 2002 UK - (04/21/2015); BAC challenge
108. Castle Rackrent - Maria Edgeworth - (1800) - Ireland - 5/11/2015; group read
109. Main Street - Sinclair Lewis - 1920 - US AAC 6/10/2015
110. A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess - 1962 - UK BAC 6/17/2015
111. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen - 1811 - UK - (Austen in a year challenge) - ROOT
(112). The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri - 2003 - US - (Read in 2014 with RL book club - didn't realize it was a 1001)
113. At the Mountains of Madness - H. P. Lovecraft -1936 - US 7/06/2015 (novella)
114. To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf - 1927 - UK - 7/31/2015 - ROOT
115. Silence - Shusaku Endo - 1966 - Japan - 8/08/2015
116. Emma - Jane Austen - 1815 - UK - (Austen in a year challenge) - ROOT
(117). Doctor Zhivago - Boris Pasternak - 1957 - Russia - Previously read but not counted on list
(118). A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens - 1843 - UK - Previously read but not counted on list
119. The Quiet American - Graham Greene - 1955 - UK BAC audiobook 8/25/2015
(120). The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco - 1980 - Italy - Previously read but not counted on list
121. Evelina - Frances Burney - 1778 - UK - 8/31/2015
122. The Dispossessed - Ursula Le Guin - 1974 - US 9/16/2015 AAC
- (Reread) - 2001: A Space Odyssey - Arthur C Clarke - 1968 - audiobook - US
123. Midaq Alley - Naguib Mahfouz - 1947 - Egypt - 9/30/2015
124. Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen - 1817 - UK - 10/25/2015
125. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark - 1961 - UK - 11/27/2015
- (Reread) Persuasion - Jane Austen - 1817 - UK - 12/08/2015

19 new/3 rereads/ 4 overlooked, not previously logged as 1001 books

2016 Reads

126. Kristin Lavransdatter - Sigrid Undset - 3 vols 1920-1922 - Norway 1/3/2016 ROOT
127. Thank You, Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse - 1934 - UK 1/09/2016
128. Ragtime - E. L. Doctorow - 1975 - US - 1/18/2016
129. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie - 1925 - UK 2/29/2016
130. Tess of the d'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy - 1891 - UK 03/15/2016 ROOT
131. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy - 1869 - Russia 03/28/2016 ROOT
132. Silas Marner - George Eliot - 1861 - Britain - 4/13/2016
133. Fifth Business - Robertson Davies - 1970 - Canada 4/16/2016
134. Annie John - Jamaica Kincaid - 1985 - Antigua 4/24/2016
135. Contact - Carl Sagan - 1980 - US 6/20/2016
(xx). Animal Farm - George Orwell - 1945 - UK - Reread - does not add to total
136. The Shipping News - Annie Proulx - 1993 - US 6/30/2016
137. The Invisible Man - H. G. Wells - 1897 - UK - 07/16/2016
138. Cannery Row - John Steinbeck - 1945 - US - 07/25/2016
139. Return of the Soldier - Rebecca West- 1918 - UK 07/26/2016
140. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz - 2007 - DR 8/4/2016
141. Elizabeth Costello - J.M. Coetzee - 2003 - Australia - 8/13/2016
142. Atonement - Ian McEwan - 2001 - UK - audio - 8/19/2016
143. Black Water - Joyce Carol Oates - US - 1992 - 8/29/2016
144. Life of Pi - Yann Martel - 2001 - Canada - 9/23/2016
145. Casino Royale - Ian Fleming - 1953 - UK - audio 09/25/2016
146. Cider With Rosie - Laurie Lee - 1959 - UK (Wales) - ROOT 9/28/2016
147. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens - 1860 - UK 9/29/2016
148. The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien - 1990 - US 10/20/2016
149. The 13 Clocks - James Thurber - 1950 - US _ 10/27/2016
150. A Modest Proposal - Jonathan Swift - 1729 - Ireland - 12/13/2016
151. Of Love and Shadows - Isabel Allende - 1984 - Chile - 12/17/2016

2017 Reads

152. The House in Paris - Elizabeth Bowen - 1935 - Ireland/UK author
153. Transit - Anna Seghers - 1944 - (location-France/German author) 02/08/2017
154. Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell - 1851 - UK - listened to audiobook 02/13/2017
155. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold - John LeCarre - 1963 - UK - audiobook 03/25/2017
156. Love Medicine - Louise Erdrich - US - 1984; 4/29/2017
(reread) Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
157. Bleak House - Charles Dickens - UK - 1853 - 06/21/2017
158. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden - US -1997 07/2017
159. Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami - Japan - 2002 08/2017
- (Reread) Little Women - Louisa May Alcott - 11/2017
160. The Fall of the House of Usher - Edgar Allen Poe - 1839 - 11/2017
- (reread) The Purloined Letter - Edgar Allen Poe
- (reread) The Pit and the Pendulum - Edgar Allen Poe
161. On Beauty - Zadie Smith - 1996 - UK 12/2017 (audiobook)

2018 Reads
162. The Museum of Unconditional Surrender - Dubravka Ugrešić - 1996 - Croatia
163. Enduring Love - Ian McEwan - 1997; - UK
164. The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler - 1939 - US
165. The Hour of the Star - Clarice Lispector - 1977 - Brazil

2019
166. Solaris - Stanislaw Lem - 1961 - Poland
167. The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka - 1915 - Czechoslavakia
168. The Monk - Matthew Lewis - 1796 - Britain
169. Labyrinths - Jorge Luis Borges - 1962 - Argentina

CUMULATIVE BY DATE PUBLISHED:

8 - Metamorphoses - Ovid - Italy/Roman Empire
1592 - Monkey by Wu Ch'eng-en - circa 1570 - 1st printed 1592 - China
1726 - Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift - Ireland
1729 - A Modest Proposal - Jonathan Swift - Ireland
1778 - Evelina - Frances Burney - UK
1796 - The Monk - Matthew Lewis - UK
1800 - Castle Rackrent - Maria Edgeworth - Ireland
1811 - Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen - UK
1813 - Pride and Prejudice- Jane Austen UK
1814 - Mansfield Park - Jane Austen - UK
1815 - Emma - Jane Austen - UK
1817 - Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen - UK
1817 - Persuasion - Jane Austen - UK
1818/1831 - Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - UK
1839 - The Fall of the House of Usher - Edgar Allan Poe - US
1842 - The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe - US
1843 - A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens - UK
1844 - The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexander Dums pere - 1844 - France
1845 - The Purloined Letter - Edgar Allen Poe - US
1847 - Agnes Grey - Anne Bronte - UK
1847 - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - UK
1847 - Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray - UK
1847 - Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte - UK
1850 - The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne - US
1851 - Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell - UK - listened to audiobook 02/13/2017
1852 - Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe - US
1853 - Bleak House - Charles Dickens - UK - 6/21/2017
1854 - Walden by Henry David Thoreau - US
1859 - A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens - UK
1860 - Great Expectations - Charles Dickens - UK - 9/29/2016
1861 - Silas Marner - George Eliot - UK
1868 - Little Women by Louisa May Alcott - US
1869 - War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy - Russia
1883 - Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson - UK
1884 - Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - US
1886 - (The Strange Case of) Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson - UK
1891 - The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde - Ireland/UK
1891 - Tess of the d'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy - UK 03/15/2016
1892 - The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gilman - 1892 - US
1897 - The Invisible Man - H. G. Wells - UK - 07/16/2016
1898 - The War of the Worlds - H. G. Wells - UK
1898 - The Turn of the Screw by Henry James - USA/UK
1899 - Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad - considered himself Polish - Multinational - UK/Poland/Russia/Ukraine
1901 - Hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle - UK
1915 - The Memamorphosis - Franz Kafka - Czechoslovakia 6/2019
1915 - Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham - UK
1918 - Return of the Soldier - Rebecca West- 1918 - UK 07/26/2016
1920 - The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton - US
1920 - Main Street - Sinclair Lewis - US
1920, 1921, 1922 - Kristin Lavransdatter - Sigrid Undset - Norway
1922 - Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse - Germany
1925 - The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - US
1925 - The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie - UK
1925 - Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf - UK
1927 - To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf - UK
1930 - The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett - US
1932 - Brave New World - Aldous Huxley - UK
1934 - The Nine Tailors - Dorothy L. Sayers - UK
1934 - Thank You, Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse - UK
1934 - Threepenny novel by Bertolt Brecht - Germany
1935 - The House in Paris - Elizabeth Bowen - Ireland/Uk author - 2017
1935 - The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien - UK
1935 - Independent People by Halldór Laxness - 1934/1935 - Iceland
1936 - At the Mountains of Madness - H. P. Lovecraft - US
1936 - Gone With the Wind - Margaret Mitchell - US
1937 - Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck - US
1938 - U.S.A. by John Dos Passos - USA
1938 - Rebecca - Daphne du Maurie - UK
1939 - The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler - US
1939 - The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck - US
1940 - The Hamlet by William Faulkner - US
1943 - The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - France
1944 - Transit - Anna Seghers - (location:France) German author 2/2017
1945 - Animal Farm by George Orwell - UK
1945 - Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh - UK
1945 - Cannery Row - John Steinbeck - USA
1945 - Pippi Longstocking - Astrid Lindgren - Sweden
1947 - Midaq Alley - Naguib Mahfouz - Egypt
1948 - Cry, The Beloved Country - Alan Paton - South Africa
1949 - 1984 by George Orwell - UK
1949 - The Man with the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren - USA
1950 - The 13 Clocks - James Thurber - USA
1950 - A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute - Australia
1951 - The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger - US
1951 - The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham - UK
1952 - The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway - US
1953 - Casino Royale - Ian Fleming - UK - audio 9/25/2016
1954 - The Lord of the Flies - Willliam Golding - UK
1955 - The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien - UK
1955 - The Quiet American - Graham Greene - UK
1955 - The Talented Mr. Ripley - Patricia Highsmith - US
1956 - Giovanni's Room - James Baldwin US
1957 - Doctor Zhivago - Boris Pasternak - Russia
1958 - The Leopard - Giuseppe Di Lampedusa - Italy
1958 - The Once and Future King - T. H. White - UK
1958 - Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe - Nigeria
1959 - Cider With Rosie - Laurie Lee - UK/ Wales 9/29/2016
1960 - Rabbit Run - John Updike - US
1960 - To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - US
1961 - Solaris - Stanislaw Lem - Poland (read 2019)
1961 - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark - UK
1962 - A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess - UK
1962 - Labyrinths - Jorge Luis Borges - Argentina
1962 - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn - Russia/USSR
1962 - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey - US
1963 - Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut - US
1963 - The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath - US
1963 - The Spy Who Came in From the Cold - John LeCarre - UK -
1965 - In Cold Blood - Truman Capote - US
1966 - Silence - Shusaku Endo - Japan
1966 - Wide Sargasso Sea - Jean Rhys - UK (Dominica)
1968 - 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke - UK
1969 - Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut - US
1970 - Fifth Business - Robertson Davies - 1970 - Canada
1971 - Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro - Canada
1972 - The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty - US
1972 - Surfacing - Margaret Atwood - Canada
1973 - Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegu - US
1974 - The Dispossessed - Ursula Le Guin - US
1975 - Ragtime - E. L. Doctorow - U.S.
1977 - The Hour of the Star - Clarice Lispector - Brazil
1977 - The Wars - Timothy Findley - Canada
1980 - A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole - US
1980 - The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco - Italy
1981 - Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie - India /UK
1981 - Summer in Baden-Baden - Leonid Tsypkin - Russia
1982 - The Color Purple byAlice Walker - US
1984 - Love Medicine - Louise Erdrich - US - 1984;
1984 - The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks - UK/Scotland
1985 - Annie John - Jamaica Kincaid - 1985 - Antigua - 4/24/2016
1985 - Contact - Carl Sagan - US
1985 - The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood - Canada
1987 - Beloved by Toni Morrison - US
1987 - Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - Douglas Adams - UK
1988 - The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul - Douglas Adams - UK
1989 - Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel - Mexico
1989 - The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro - UK (Japan)
1990 - The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien - US
1992 - All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy - US
1992 - Black Water - Joyce Carole Oates - US
1992 - Jazz by Toni Morrison - US
1993 - The Dumas Club by Arturo Pérez-Reverte - Spain
1993 - The Shipping News - Annie Proulx - US
1996 - Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood - Canada
1996 - The Museum of Unconditional Surrender - Dubravka Ugrešić - Croatia
1997 - Enduring Love - Ian McEwan - UK
1997 - Memoirs of a Geisha- Arthur Golden - US
1998 - The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver- US
1998 - Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho - Brazil
2000 - White Teeth by Zadie Smith - UK
2001 - Atonement - Ian McEwan - UK
2001 - The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho - Brazil
2001 - The Life of Pi - Yann Martel - Canada
2002 - Family Matters - Rohinton Mistry - India/Canada
2002 - Fingersmith - Sarah Waters - UK
2002 - Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami - Japan
2002 - Snow - Orhan Pamuk - Turkey
2002 - A Tale of Love and Darkness - Amos Oz - Israel
2003 - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon - UK
2003 - Elizabeth Costello - J.M. Coetzee - 2003 - Australia
2003 - The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri - US
2004 - The Plot Against America - Philip Roth - US
2004 - Suite Française by Irène Némirovsky - France
2005 - The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai - India/UK
2005 - Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro - UK/Japan
2005 On Beauty - Zadie Smith - UK
2006 - The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery - France
2007 - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz - Dominican Republic

Welcome back!

CUMULATIVE BY NATIONALITY OF AUTHOR:

Antigua: 1
- Kincaid, Jamaica - Annie John - 1985
Argentina
- Borges, Jorge Luis - Labyrinths - 1962
Australia: 2
- Coetzee, J.M. - Elizabeth Costello - 2003
- Shute, Nevil - A Town Like Alice - 1950
Brazil: 2
- Coehlo, Paulo - Veronika Decides to Die - 1998
- Coehlo, Paulo - The Devil and Miss Prym - 2001
- Lispector, Clarice -The Hour of the Star - 1977
Canada: 7
- Atwood, Margaret - Surfacing - 1972
- Atwood, Margaret - The Handmaid’s Tale - 1985
- Atwood, Margaret - Alias Grace - 1996
- Davies, Robertson - Fifth Business - 1970
- Findley, Timothy The Wars - 1977
- Martel, Yann - The Life of Pi - 2001
- Munro, Alice - Lives of Girls and Women - 1971
Chile : 1
- Of Love and Shadows - Isabel Allende - 1984 - 12/17/2016
China: 1
- Wu Ch'eng-en - Monkey circa 1570 - 1st printed 1592
Dominican Republic - 1
- Diaz, Junot - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - 2007
Croatia - 1
- Ugrešić, Dubravka - The Museum of Unconditional Surrender - 1996
Czechoslovakia - 1
- Kafka, Franz - The Metamorphosis - 1915 - 6/2019
Egypt 1
- Midaq Alley - Naguib Mahfouz - 1947
France: 4
- Barbery, Muriel - The Elegance of the Hedgehog - 2006
- de Saint-Exupéry, Antoine - The Little Prince - 1943
- Dumas, Alexander - The Count of Monte Cristo - 1844
- Némirovsky, Irène - Suite Française - 2004
Germany: 3
- Brecht, Bertolt - Threepenny Novel - 1934
- Hesse, Hermann - Siddhartha - 1922
- Seghers, Anna - Transit - 1944 - (location:France) German author
Iceland: 1
- Independent People by Halldór Laxness - 1934/1935
India: 3
- Desai, Kiran - The Inheritance of Loss - 2005 - India/UK
- Mistry, Rohinton - Family Matters - India/Canada - 2002
- Rushdie, Salman - Midnight's Children - 1981 - India /UK
Ireland: 5
- Bowen, Elizabeth - The House in Paris - 1935
- Edgeworth, Maria - Castle Rackrent - 1800
- Swift, Jonathan - Gulliver's Travels - 1726
- Swift, Jonathan - A Modest Proposal - 1729
- Wilde, Oscar - The Picture of Dorian Gray - 1891 - Ireland/UK
Israel: 1
- Oz, Amos -A Tale of Love and Darkness - 2002
Italy: 3
- Di Lampedusa, Giuseppe - The Leopard - 1958
- Eco, Umberto - The Name of the Rose - 1980
- Ovid - Metamorphoses - 8 AD
Japan: 2
- Endo, Shusaku - Silence - 1966
- Murakami, Haruki - Kafka on the Shore - 2002
Mexico: 1
- Like Water for Chocolate - Laura Esquivel - 1989
Nigeria: 1
- Achebe, Chinua - Things Fall Apart - 1958
Norway: 1
- Undset, Sigrid - Kristin Lavransdatter - 1920 -1922 (3 vol)
Poland: 2
- Conrad, Joseph - Heart of Darkness - 1899 - considered himself Polish - Multinational - UK/Poland/Russia/Ukraine
- Lem, Stanislaw - Solaris - 1961 - (read 2019)
Russia: 4
- Pasternak. Boris - Doctor Zhivago - 1957
- Solzhenitsyn, Alexander - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - 1962
- Tolstoy, Leo - War and Peace - 1869
- Tsypkin, Leonid - Summer in Baden-Baden - 1982
South Africa: 1
- Paton, Alan - Cry, The Beloved Country - Alan Paton - 1948
Spain
- Pérez-Reverte, Arturo The Dumas Club - 1993
Sweden: 1
- Lindgren, Astrid - Pippi Longstocking - 1945
Turkey: 1
- Pamuk, Orhan - Snow -
UK: 61
- Adams, Douglas - Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - 1987
- Adams, Douglas - The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul - 1988
- Austen, Jane - Sense and Sensibility - 1811
- Austen, Jane - Pride and Prejudice - 1813
- Austen, Jane - Mansfield Park - 1814
- Austen, Jane - Emma - 1815
- Austen, Jane - Northanger Abbey - 1817
- Austen, Jane - Persuasion - 1817
- Banks, Iain - The Wasp Factory - UK/Scotland - 1984
- Bronte, Anne - Agnes Grey - 1847
- Bronte, Charlotte - Jane Eyre - 1847
- Bronte, Emily - Wuthering Heights - 1847
- Burgess, Anthony - A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess - 1962
- Burney, Frances - Evelina - 1778
- Christie, Agatha - The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - 1925 - 2/29/2016
- Clarke, Arthur C. - 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke - 1968
- Dickens, Charles - A Christmas Carol - 1843
- Dickens, Charles - Bleak House - 1853 - 6/21/2017
- Dickens, Charles - A Tale of Two Cities - 1859
- Dickens, Charles - Great Expectations- 1860 - 9/29/2016
- Doyle, Arthur Conan - Hound of the Baskervilles - 1901
- du Maurier, Daphne - Rebecca - 1938
- Eliot, George - Silas Marner - 1861
- Fleming, Ian - Casino Royale - 1953 - audio - 9/25/2016
- Gaskell, Elizabeth - Cranford - 1851 - listened to audiobook 02/13/2017
- Golding, Willliam - The Lord of the Flies - 1954
- Greene, Graham - The Quiet American - 1955
- Haddon, Mark - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - 2003
- Hardy, Thomas - Tess of the d'Urbervilles - 1891 - 03/15/2016
- Huxley, Aldous - Brave New World - 1932
- Ishiguro, Kazuo - Never Let Me Go - 2005 UK/Japan
- Ishiguro, Kazuo - The Remains of the Day - 1989
- Le Carre, John - The Spy Who Came in From the Cold- 1963 - UK - audiobook 03/25/2017
- Lee, Laurie - Cider With Rosie - 1959 (Wales) - 9/28/2016
- Lewis Matthew - The Monk - 1796 (Aug 2019)
- Maugham, W Somerset - Of Human Bondage - 1915
- McEwan, Ian - Enduring Love - 1997; audiobook 3/2018
- McEwan, Ian - Atonement - 2001 - UK 8/19/2016
- Orwell, George - Animal Farm by George Orwell - 1945
- Orwell, George - 1984 - 1949
- Rhys, Jean - Wide Sargasso Sea UK/Dominica 1966
- Sayers, Dorothy - The Nine Tailors by - 1934
- Shelley, Mary - Frankenstein - 1818/1831
- Smith, Zadie - White Teeth - 2000
- Smith, Zadie - On Beauty - 2005
- Spark, Muriel - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - 1961
- Stevenson, Robert Louis - Treasure Island - 1883
- Stevenson, Robert Louis - The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde - 1886
- Thackeray, William Makepeace - Vanity Fair - 1847
- Tolkien, J. R. R. - The Hobbit - 1935
- Tolkien, J. R. R. - The Lord of the Rings - 1955
- Waters, Sarah - Fingersmith - 2002
- Waugh, Evelyn - Brideshead Revisited - 1945
- Wells, H. G. - The Invisible Man - 1897
- Wells, H. G. - The War of the Worlds - 1898
- West, Rebecca - The Return of the Soldier 1918
- White, T. H. - The Once and Future King - 1958
- Wodehouse, P. G. - Thank You, Jeeves - 1934
- Woolf, Virginia - Mrs. Dalloway - 1925
- Woolf, Virginia - To the Lighthouse - 1927
- Wyndham, John - The Day of the Triffids - 1951
US: 51
- Alcott, Louisa May - Little Women - 1868
- Algren, Nelson - The Man with the Golden Arm - 1949
- Baldwin, James - Giovanni's Room - 1956
- Capote, Truman - In Cold Blood - 1965
- Chandler, Raymond - The Big Sleep 1939
- Doctorow, E. L. - Ragtime - 1975
- Dos Passos, John - U.S.A. - 1938
- Erdrich, Louise - Love Medicine - 1984
- Faulkner, William - The Hamlet - 1940
- Fitzgerald, F. Scott - The Great Gatsby - 1925
- Gilman, Charlotte Perkins - The Yellow Wallpaper - 1892
- Golden, Arthur - Memoirs of a Geisha - 1997
- Hammett, Dashiell - The Maltese Falcon - 1930
- Hawthorne, Nathaniel - The Scarlet Letter - 1850
- Hemmingway, Ernest - The Old Man and the Sea - 1952
- Highsmith, Patricia The Talented Mr Ripley - 1955
- James, Henry - The Turn of the Screw - 1898
- Kesey, Ken - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - 1962
- Kingsolver, Barbara - The Poisonwood Bible - 1998
- Lahiri, Jhumpa - The Namesake - 2003
- Le Guin, Ursula - The Dispossessed - 1974
- Lee, Harper To Kill A Mockingbird - 1960
- Lewis, Sinclair - Main Street - 1920
- Lovecraft, H. P. - At the Mountains of Madness - 1936
- McCarthy, Cormac - All the Pretty Horses - 1992
- Mitchell, Margaret - Gone With the Wind - 1936
- Morrison, Toni - Beloved - 1987
- Morrison, Toni - Jazz - 1992
- O'Brien, Tim - The Things They Carried - 1990
- Oates, Joyce Carol - Black Water - 1992
- Plath, Sylvia - The Bell Jar - 1963
- Poe, Edgar Allen - The Fall of the House of Usher - 1839
- Poe, Edgar Allen - The Pit and the Pendulum - 1842
- Poe, Edgar Allen - The Purloined Letter - 1845
- Proulx, Annie - The Shipping News - 1993
- Roth, Philip - The Plot Against America - 2004
- Sagan, Carl - Contact - 1980
- Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye - 1951
- Steinbeck, John - Of Mice and Men - 1937
- Steinbeck, John - The Grapes of Wrath - 1939
- Steinbeck, John - Cannery Row - 1945
- Stowe, Harriet Beecher - Uncle Tom's Cabin - 1852
- Thoreau, Henry David - Walden - 1854
- Thurber, James - The 13 Clocks - 1950
- Toole, John Kennedy - A Confederacy of Dunces - 1980
- Twain, Mark - Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - 1884
- Updike, John - Rabbit, Run - 1960
- Vonnegut, Kurt - Cat's Cradle - 1963
- Vonnegut, Kurt - Slaughterhouse Five - 1969
- Vonnegut, Kurt, Breakfast of Champions - 1973
- Walker, Alice - The Color Purple - 1982
- Welty, Eudora - The Optimist's Daughter - 1972
- Wharton, Edith - The Age of Innocence - 1920

First one of the year finished:
# 89. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf for my RL book group tomorrow.

I really enjoyed it, but computer problems at home have me limitted to brief snippets of computer time at work. I'll try to get caught up on reviews later.

In February, I anticipate reading Alice Munro's Lives of Girls and Women (also for the RL book club) and William Faulkner's The Hamlet for the AA challenge/Faulkner February over in the 75'ers group.

#90. The Hamlet by William Faulkner

My first incursion into Faulkner with the American Authors challenge. Enjoyable, but I'm not ready to rip through his entire canon.

I'm currently reading Alice Munro's Lives of Girls and Women for the RL bookclub. Loving this one!

#91. Lives of Girls and Women by Alice Munro

Read for my RL book group, this is the first I've read by Munro. I loved it. The best coming of age story of a woman that I've ever read. 4.5 stars.

Plans for March:

All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy - American Author challenge; Geocat challenge
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle - ROOT ; MysteryCat challenge, TIOLI

and possibly The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao byJunot Diaz - ROOT; GeoCat

End of March: Although I'm working on the Sherlock Holmes (actually reading the whole canon), once more I had to give a miss to Oscar.

But I did finish:

92. All the Pretty Horses - Cormac McCarthy

Working on a review -I've just finished it and I need to get my thoughts together a bit.

I'm coming up to All the Pretty Horses myself - looking forward to seeing what you thought of it!

read this fairly recently actually. My review is at http://johnandsheena.co.uk/books/?p=4542 if you are curious what I thought of it...

Ok, so here's my review from my 75'ers thread:

This was a very enjoyable read, the first novel I've read by McCarthy.

It's the story of two boys, who in 1949 ride their horses into Mexico, looking for a bit of adventure and the old time romantic cowboy life. They found more than they bargained for.

I found the writing beautiful and the story un-put-down-able.

Truthfully, I did put it down at one point when it got a bit intense, even though this one has the reputation of being much less violent and bloody than McCarthy's other books, including the others in this trilogy. But I soon picked it back up and soldiered on, too enthralled by book to let it go into the 'finish it later' pile. And yeah, I shed actual, real tears for the protagonist in the final chapter as he rode on past the oil wells and into his quest for the old ways.

I'm pretty jaded with authors getting details about horses so wrong. I liked McCarthy's writing about horses - neither over romanticized nor over brutalized but with a solid understanding of cowboying. Most surprising detail? A minor point where John Grady Cole is talking bloodlines and the ones he mentions are actually the bloodlines of the founders of the western short running horses such as quarter horses and appaloosas.

Will I go on with the trilogy? Probably, at some point. This is the year for me getting the TBR planet under control. And yet, library and other books keep following me home. Next year perhaps. Too many books! Too little ......

>12 arukiyomi: outstanding review!

>11 QuartInSession: Thanks for stopping by - love your user name. I'll pop into your thread to see what you're reading.

93. Jazz - Toni Morrison

Loved it! Read the last few chapters with Billie Holiday singing in the background.

94. The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty

I had read a collection of Welty's short stories when I was in college and wasn't a big fan.

But I really enjoyed The Optimist's Daughter}.

It was really personal, since I buried my father last fall. So it may have been a case of right book at the right time.

But ... the feeling of desperately trying to change the fate of an ill parent; then afterwards being surrounded by family and friends like sinking into a feather comforter and wanting to stay there forever; the searching for the past, only to find that when you've found that bit, it's already been changed and moved on.

And the judge's second wife, Fay, has to be one of the most narcissistic people in literature.

95. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. (5/22)

Although I've only read a handful of Atwood's books, I've enjoyed all that I've read. This one was no exception.

I'll write a bit more of a review soon.

96. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

When I had tried reading the print edition in the 70's, I couldn't get past the random silliness of the book. The audiobook got me past and through and left me somewhat shaken on the other side. Wow. (I did miss the line drawings, though).

So it goes.

In the interview afterward, Vonnegut speaks about how pleased he is with the movie version. In fact he says that Slaughterhouse-Five and Gone With the Wind are the only two movies that do justice to the original books. So, on that recommendation, SHV has gone to the top of the Netflix queue.

97. Cat's Cradle - Kurt Vonnegut - (7/5/2014)

Since I really enjoyed Slaughterhouse-Five, I decided to go on with this one.

It didn't blow me out of the water the way the other one did, but still glad to have finally read it.

See the cat? See the cradle?

Whoops! Missed one! Read this one in October 2013:

98. Hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle - (10/13/2013)

Any plans for 100?

I'm thinking about taking a page (heehee) from someone else on the group and read Les Miserables for my 100. It's sitting here on Planet TBR.

#99 is my audiobook in the car so Les Mis will be up very soon.

99. The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett - Detective category challenge - noir/hardboiled 7/17/2014

The Plot Against America - Philip Roth

Well, it wasn't Les Mis, which is what I said I'd read for NUMBER 100 but Number 100 it is. My goal was to reach number 100 this year, but I should get a few more completed.

I'm taking part in waaaaay too many challenges this year, but at least The American Author challenge on the 75's is keeping me going here on the 1001. Next up fitting both challenges will be Giovanni's Room.

Congratulations on reaching 100!

Congratulations on hitting the 100 mark!

Thank you, Paruline and Ursula and thanks for stopping by my thread.

101. Giovanni's Room - James Baldwin (9/30/2014)

102. The Age of Innocence - Edith Wharton (10/29/2014)

2014 Summary:
2 - Canada
2 - UK
10 - US

2014:
1 - 1901
1 - 1920
1 - 1925
1 - 1930
1 - 1940
1 - 1956
1 - 1963
1 - 1969
1 - 1971
1 - 1972
2 - 1992
1 - 1996
1 - 2004

103. Rabbit Run by John Updike - (1960) - US

I had meant to do this one in November with the American Author's challenge, but the audio was checked out and then life happened.

Very bleak outluck as Harry 'Rabbit' Angstrom drifts with circumstances and commits to nothing.

I'm debating whether to go on with the sequels.

104. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro (1/15/2015) (1989)

(Reread - not counted for total) Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

105. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh - (3/09/2015) audiobook - Published 1944

106. Mansfield Park - Jane Austen - 1814 - UK - (3/29/2015) (Austen in a year challenge)

The British Author Challenge and the Read-All-of-Jane-Austen- in-a-Year Challenge are skewing me towards the UK this year.

107. Fingersmith - Sarah Waters - 2002 (04/21/2015); BA Challenge

I just finished Castle Rackrent. You probably have to read the lengthy Introduction to understand why you are reading it at all. It's an odd book, even for the end of the 18th century.

>35 annamorphic: Thanks for stopping by and your comments. Castle Rackrent is definitely out of my wheelhouse and one that I would probably not attempt without the group read going on in the 75. I'll lurk quietly in the corner and let the people that have more knowledge show me the way.

108. Castle Rackrent - Maria Edgeworth - (1800) - Ireland - 5/11/2015

This is a very short novella, easily read within just a few hours. (I read it in its entirety on Project Gutenberg).

Thady Quirk is the steward for an Irish estate and relates the doings of three generations of the English estate owners. It's written in broad Irish dialect with every word lampooning either the Irish themselves or the English masters of the estate.

The group read and 1001 Books to Read Before You Die assure me that this novel, published in 1800, is quite important. ln a quote from Wikipedia it is : often regarded as the first historical novel, the first regional novel in English, the first Anglo-Irish novel, the first Big House novel and the first saga novel." It widely influenced authors such as Jane Austen and William Butler Yeats.

Something about the broad dialect and the satiric remarks remind me of Mark Twain. In addition, there is one incident where a character determines to attend his own funeral that is quite Twain-ish.

I found it quick and fairly enjoyable. It's recommended to those who are interested in the history of the novel or the era.

I read it to help me better understand Jane Austen. However, Bitch in a Bonnet, which I'm reading now, is a much more enjoyable way to accomplish that.

110. Main Street – Sincliar Lewis 6/13/2015

Dr Will Kennicott travels from his small town to the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota where he meets, woos and eventually weds Carol Milford and takes her back to Gopher Prairie, Minnesota.

In Carol's eyes, the small town is ugly and its inhabitants backward. She begins a series of campaigns to redesign everything about the town from its physical appearance to establishing the arts. Unfortunately, the residents aren't eager to be reformed and Carol does not see that other people are also working toward similar goals.

The townspeople are often cynical and biting in their criticism of Carol her friends chosen from unusual social circles. Finally, under a firestorm of gossip, she leaves the town to pursue a different life in Washington DC, busy and bustling because of World War I.

What happens after several years there, seems a bit unlikely to me and I was rather disappointed in the ending. Still, when this was published in 1920, I can see how the idea of a wife leaving her good, hardworking husband was shocking. She finds some peace and yet is still realistically unbowed in her defiance of taking life in Gopher Prairie as the end-all of the American dream.

“I do not admit that Main Street is as beautiful as it should be! I do not admit that Gopher Prairie is greater or more generous than Europe! I do not admit that dish-washing is enough to satisfy all women! I may not have fought the good fight, but I have kept the faith. (Chapter 39)”

I found it a good read. Sinclair Lewis really captured the insularity of small town life, which, unfortunately, is not much different a hundred years into the future from when this book was written. I also found it quite a sympathetic portrayal of a woman not content to be merely her husband's wife.

3.5 stars

It's inspired me to do the group read of Evelina in July. It's a classic that I've never read it, but I'm interested in hearing a voice from a hundred years prior to Main Street, also addressing a woman searching for more.

Thanks for stopping, by, Cliff. This is the first Sinclair Lewis I have read, although I'll eventually get to more. He did have some absolute lions for contemporaries, though, didn't he?

I liked Main Street a lot, too. I vaguely remember being a little dissatisfied with parts near the end, but whatever they were didn't make a big impact on my overall impression, obviously. And I had been prepared for that one to be boring!

110. A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess - 1962 - UK

This takes place in a dystopian future where bands of young men prey on others – robbing, raping, murderous attacks for the joy of watching the blood – krovvy – flow. Our little narrator Alex is the leader of one of these bands, happily smashing in litzos – faces- with his sabogs and having his droogs applaud while doing the old in and out.

Eventually betrayed by his group, Alex ends up in prison where he is the first subject of an experimental model which makes him physically ill if he even thinks of violent acts. Because of his conditioning, he also has the same negative reaction to music which he has always loved and has been one of the few bright points in his life. All of this makes him the darling of the too-much-government-interference crowd.

This is where my summary ends because of spoilers. US editions, alone out of the entire world, left off the final chapter. And the final chapter **was ** hard for me to swallow as I saw Alex as a true conscience-less sociopath.

This is a violent novel with marvelous wordplay in the invention of the Nadsat slang. The book raises very interesting social questions – when is coercing someone to do good OK? And where does that leave our present justice system?

I think a good part of my enjoyment was that I listened to the audio performed/read by Tom Hollander who gave an absolutely brilliant rendition of the slang. I much preferred his reading to that of Anthony Burgess's reading of a few chapters, which was also included with this audiobook.

3.8 stars. Strong cautions for rape and violence - the impact of which is somewhat diluted by the use of the slang.

111. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen - 1811 - UK - (Austen in a year challenge) - ROOT -

Why I read it Now: Read-all-of-Jane-Austen-this-year group; 1001; TIOLI#17. Read a book that was published by Oxford World's Classics; ROOT 2014 (26/50) = 1 ROOT point = 108/200

Feeling like the only person in the world who hasn't read the Jane Austen novels, I joined in with the Austen-in-A Year group read over on the Category Challenge.

This is the third Austen I've read this year and also my favorite so far. This one revolves around the lives of two sisters, the older sister Elinor who is sensible and honorable , and the younger sixteen year old Marianne, ruled by her emotions. Both are at That Marriageable Age when they find themselves in reduced circumstances. Both think themselves in love, somewhat rightly, somewhat wrongly. Lots of witty, very funny, social commentary ensues in the presence of very amusing minor characters including their half-brother, John (who only lacks mustachios to twirl) and his wife, Fanny, also in need of the same.

I greatly enjoyed reading this along with the commentary on the book from Robert Rodi's Bitch in a Bonnet:Reclaiming Jane Austen from the Stiffs, the Snobs, the Simps and the Saps (Volume 1), which I honestly find laugh-out-loud funny in the best sort of way (while learning a lot at the same time).

(112. The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri - 2003 - US - Read in 2014 with RL book club - didn't realize it was a 1001)

113. At the Mountains of Madness - H. P. Lovecraft -1936 - US 7/06/2015 (novella)

I needed a bit of relief from the Jane Austen-esque books that I've been reading, so when a group read of Lovecraft was proposed, I jumped on the bandwagon. I had never ready anything by him, although back in the 70's when I was working in a bookstore, a colleague tried very hard to sell me on him.

(Not sure that the cover has much to do with the book}:



This book consist of the novella At the Mountains of Madness plus three other short stories.

At the Mountains of Madness : Explorers in the Antarctic find what they believe is a huge a huge ruined city when they go in search of the killers of part of their expedition. The city, however is still inhabited – not only by the original occupants but even stranger, more bloodthirsty beings the "star-spawn of Cthulhu", who destroyed the original civilization of the Elder Things before the down of time and exist only as folk tales throughout the world. According to 1001 Books to Read Before You Die. most of the horror takes place off the page marking this as the forefather of later psychological horror, earning this novella a place in that book.

Not bad, although I think I was looking for something creepier - many, many years of alien stories since this was written in the early '30's have perhaps taken the terror away.

The other stories:

The Dreams in the Witch House- interesting that he Lovecraft was invoking quantum physics in the 30's to explain supernatural events and parallel universes.

It also contains two more creepies: The Shunned House , and The Statement of Randolf Carter, both involving stirring up things that should not have been stirred.

3.5 stars. I’m glad to finally have read some of his stories;I won’t avoid them in the future, but won’t seek them out either. The ones I read would make good Halloween reading - creepiness, but not the graphic blood and gore of the modern genre.

114. To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf - 1927 - UK (7/31/2015) British Author Challenge; ROOT

In the first part we are introduced to the Ramsey family and various friends gather in the family vacation cabin on the coast of Skye. In the middle section, we revisit family members and death; and in the final section the remaining members once again gather after a period of some years and the end of WWI.

This is another of Woolf's stream of consciousness novels. Here she uses the technique to explore the dynamics between various members of the group and their relationships to each other and the family unit itself.

I much preferred the only other Woolf that I've read, Mrs. Dalloway. In comparison, I found this one much slower going. However, in To the Lighthouse there were just enough startling flashes of recognition on my part ("Oh yes! That's true! I've just never put that into words) that I kept with it.

115. Silence - Shusaku Endo - 1966
- 1001 July group read;
- August TIOlI -Read a book whose title starts with, in rolling order, letters in the word SMILE;
- library

In the 1600's the shoguns of Japan tried to exterminate Christianity from their shores. This was done with brutal torture, often to the death, of both native Christians and foreign priests. If the soul being tortured would apostate - deny their religion and trample on a Cruxifix - the torture was often ended. Many Christians chose death; some became apostates; some only gave in as they watched and listened to others' torture.

A young Portuguese priest, Sebastião Rodrigues, travels to Japan to help nurture the faith and to find out the truth as to whether his friend and mentor, Father Ferreira, has indeed committed apostacy. Father Rodrigues almost immediately finds out the truth of the Japanese torture as he is forced to watch the brutal deaths of Christians he has come to know. He is given his own choice to watch others be tortured to death or to free them by denying his God. Throughout this ordeal, Rodrigues questions the silence of God during times when Christians are undergoing horrifying brutal acts for their faith.

Father Rodriguez, who gave up his life to be a priest, and was asked to give up his priesthood to save others emerges a broken man, trying to come to terms with his life and God's silence.

It truly is an interesting book which can be read on many levels. An atheist would see the silence of God. A believer may find hope in the very taunts of the children themselves.

5 stars.

116. Emma - Jane Austen - 1815 - UK - (Read Jane Austen in a Year) - ROOT - 8/15/2015

Emma, well-born, beautiful, and rich enjoys matchmaking and forming people into what she thinks they should be. Things go wrong.

While I don't think I'll ever be a reread-Jane-Austen-so-frequently-that-I've-got 'em- memorized type of person, I am appreciating her humor, satire, and characterizations, thanks in part to reading the Bitch in a Bonnet books along with them. (This one is addressed in volume 2).

(117). Doctor Zhivago - Boris Pasternak - 1957 - Russia - Previously read but not counted on list
(118). A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens - 1843 - UK - Previously read but not counted on list
119. The Quiet American - Graham Greene - 1955 - UK BAC audiobook 8/25/2015
(120). The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco - 1980 - Italy - Previously read but not counted on list
121. Evelina - Frances Burney - 1778 - UK - 8/31/2015
122. The Dispossessed - Ursula Le Guin - 1974 - US 9/16/2015
--- 2001: A Space Odyssey - Arthur C. Clarke - 1968 - US Reread - not counted in total 9/2015
123. Midaq Alley - Arthur C. Clarke - 1947 - Egypt - 9/30/2015
124. Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen - 1817 - UK
125. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - Muriel Spark - 1960
--- Persuasion - Jane Austen - 1817 - Reread - not counted in total

My 2015 totals: (as of 10/31/2015) - 18 + 4 rereads

1 - Egypt
1 - Ireland
1 - Japan
14 - UK
5 - US

Men: 9
Women: 13

1778
1800
1811
1813
1814
1815
1817 - 2
1920
1927
1936
1944
1947
1955
1960
1961
1962
1966
1968
1974
1989
2002

The British Author Challenge and the Read-All-of-Jane-Austen- in-a-Year Challenge are skewing me towards the UK this year.

I've just finished reading Midaq Alley - Naguib Mahfouz (1947, Egypt)

Next up will be Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen

I'm about a month behind in getting reviews posted.

I couldn't tell if Emma was a reread for you or not--sounds like it might have been? That was my first Austen, and I really didn't like it. I got the social commentary, but didn't realize it was supposed to be actually funny so I didn't like it at all. Also, I was annoyed by Emma herself. I've since learned to see the humour in Austen, which makes all the difference. I'm currently listening to the audio book of Alexander McCall Smith's Emma (don't know how to fix the touchstone to link to a second book with the same title, sorry). I'm sorry to say I'm not liking this version of Emma any better. But one day I will reread the Austen version (along with the Bitch in a Bonnet commentary, of course).

>50 Nickelini: Thanks for stopping by! No, I hadn't read Emma before this time with the category challenge group read. I know it's a favorite novel of many, but I agree with you - Emma herself is annoying. I wish you much enjoyment of the Bitch in a Bonnet books when you get to them. Are you joining in the category challenge's group read of Northanger Abbey?

>51 streamsong: - I don't have time to reread Northanger Abbey but I'll follow along with the discussion.

124. Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen - 1817 - Number of Austen Workss on Combined Lists:6; Number left to read: 0

And with this I finish reading the last of Jane Austen's six major works, although I will probably reread Persuasion in November/December with the Read-Austen-In-A-Year group.

This is Austen's satire of the popular Gothic novels beloved by readers of the day. Here we have Catherine, a heroine who does not draw, nor play the pianoforte, nor sing, nor enjoy sewing. As a child she enjoyed active sports; now she devours novels.

Our leading man, Henry, also refuses to join the ranks of the conventional hero. He confides that he enjoys helping his sister design her frocks as well as reading hundreds of light “women's” novels. He lives, of course in Northanger Abbey, which unfortunately has none of the dark secrets and musty chambers that Catherine expects when she visits there. She does,however, meet one of Austen's literary monsters, Colonel Tilney. And while he didn't enact the Gothic villain, he fails as both a parent and a person.

”Catherine, at any rate, heard enough to feel that in suspecting General Tilney of either murdering or shutting up his wife, she had scarcely sinned against his character, or magnified his cruelty. ” (Ch 30)

I quite enjoyed this one. It's very straightforward and the humor is broad, but the insights into the workings of the human brain are still acute. In addition, there are some absolutely great comments on novels and novel reading.
This was the first of her novels that Austen wrote as an adult but it remained unpublished. She later reworked it and it was released soon after her death.

I've heard Austen lover say this novel is atypical and not the place to start reading Austen's work. If you've tried other Austen's and they have left you unmoved, give this one a try. Preferably alongside Robert Rodi's highly entertaining and informative Bitch in a Bonnet: Reclaiming Jane Austen from the Stiffs, the Snobs, the Simps and the Saps (Volume 2).

Next up I will be reading The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie with the British Authors Challenge group. And since I haven't read any of the chunksters on the list for a while, I've started The Bridal Wreath, the first volume of Sigrid Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter.

I read Miss Brodie a short while ago and it's still going around in my head. I think I'll probably re-read it and see if I should upgrade it to a 4 star.

>55 M1nks: Ah, interesting! I've wondered how many people reread titles from the 1001. I only reread a handful of books each year (mostly for book club or group discussions); this year so far 2 out of my 3 rereads were from the combined list.

I'm a huge re-reader if I like a book :-) I wouldn't like to think how many times I've re-read all of Jane Austen's works for instance....

I've probably read Miss Jean Brodie about five times! But there aren't that many others on the list that I've read more than once.

>57 M1nks: >58 annamorphic: I'm glad to hear that Miss Jean Brodie is a favorite. I'm paddling along in the shallow end of the pool, only reading a book or two off the list each month, mostly chosen for various author challenges.

It's discouraging to see so many 1 & 2 star reads on the threads and hear that so many of the books are not rewarding. But then, my goal is not finishing the list, but just doing some literary broadening and exploring.

Though one person's one-star book can easily be another's four or five stars. God knows I have loved books some others have hated and vice versa. (and here's another thumbs up to Miss Jean Brodie, I should reread it too...)

>60 hdcanis: >61 Cliff-Rhu-Rhubarb: Yup, I absolutely agree about differing tastes and differing reading experiences. Still, it's nice to know when I'm planning to read one that is a favorite rather than one that is disliked by many.

I usually skip the reviews on a book until after I've read it since so many have what I consider spoilers. I do take into account the star ratings and their distribution. To me the distribution of the ratings is more interesting than the average stars a book has.

Although I have occasionally tripped over spoilers in Goodreads, I've yet to find one in this group. I find that people are very good at either couching their reviews in general terms, sticking to what is so well known about a book that it can't be termed a spoiler or just using spoiler tags.

I've come to depend on the good judgement of those on this group so much that I am no longer wary when I read everybody's reviews.

>64 Cliff-Rhu-Rhubarb: However, I'm still open to infection by bouts of enthusiasm :)

Wonderful phrase! I think I'll print it out and tape it over my computer!

Personally, I haven't seen what I'd consider spoilers on the threads so much as in the book reviews on the book's main page. And honestly, I'm not bothered by spoilers as much as some - unless of course it's a major surprise plot twist and then I'd rather discover it for myself.

Having a taste of your own is an important step in reading other people's reviews, so you can better judge whether the good points in positive reviews or bad points in negative ones are significant to you.
Sympathizing with the characters is not important for me either, but yeah, I have noticed it is for some. Some readers want to be immersed in the book's world and characters, I tend to keep my distance so that often brings up differences. If a review complains about things I know I don't like, then it is a good reason to proceed with caution (as well as praising the book about things I know I don't like...a book can be praised to heavens for the poetic language of its stream-of-consciousness passages, I'm all set to dislike it).

But I'm agreeing with M1nks that people here seem to be quite good at commenting about the books without having to resort to spoilers. Which is a useful skill.

>66 hdcanis: "Sympathizing with the characters is not important for me either",

This is true for me, too. A creative writing teacher once told my daughter that characters need to be either sympathetic or interesting.

"If a review complains about things I know I don't like, then it is a good reason to proceed with caution (as well as praising the book about things I know I don't like..."

Well said.

125. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie: A Novel - Muriel Spark - 1961/UK ; Number of books by author in 1001: 4; Number left to read: 3

Miss Jean Brodie, whose fiance was killed in France in The Great War, has arrived at a private Scottish girls' school. She draws around herself a group of six students to give special attention and lessons. Each girl has a role assigned her in Miss Brodie's mind – the pretty one, the one famous for sex, the one whom everyone can blame.

Miss Brodie is an ardent admirer of Mussolini and then Hitler as they come to power. In turn, she rules the thoughts and actions of her six girls with an iron tongue.

The following is from 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die:

”From Miss Brodie's chilling Jesuitcal assertion – 'Give me a girl at an impressionable age, and she is mine for life' – through to the novel's dark conclusions, Spark poses a series of difficult questions about education, femininity and authoritarianism.”

Saying that I “enjoyed” this book is not quite accurate, since I found it disturbing. however, it is one that I am sure that I will remember for a long time to come.

4 stars

>125 streamsong: One of my all-time favorite books. Now you should watch the movie, which is also brilliant and disturbing. Different from the book but great in its own way.

Good idea! I've just requested it through our library system.

ooh that sounds like a really interesting book! will have to track this on down and read it after your review

(Reread) Persuasion - Jane Austen

This is a reread so it doesn't add to my numbers of books read from the ole 1001. But it does complete my challenge to read the Austen 6 this year. :-)

It seems to me to have less of the snarky social commentary than her others. I just didn't find it as funny or as fun. There were some great moments, and some great lines, but overall, no.

It was the first Jane Austen that I ever read and is, actually, the one that made me think Jane Austen perhaps not my cup of Regency tea.

Currently reading The Bridal Wreath the first volume of Kristin Lavransdatter.

It's been a while since I read one of the 1001 tomes. I'm practicing my tome-reading for a group read of War and Peace that is starting in January.

>69 annamorphic: Thanks for the suggestion. I watched the movie version of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie this weekend and really enjoyed it.

For anyone unfamiliar with the movie (I'm assuming if you've seen the movie, you know the answer) , can you recognize the actress playing the lead role?

>74 streamsong: I recognized her! (And then I googled to make sure I was right, so I won't post it as a guess.)

>75 ursula: yay! Full points. Definitely the crème de la crème !

Yeah, the film was good, cutting some corners like films do but the actress known for many fine roles completely owns the role of miss Brodie. (I wonder how much one should read continuity in a later film series where she also plays a teacher...)

>77 hdcanis: Too funny! I hadn't thought about that. Given my choice, I'd much rather have her as a teacher in the later film series than be at the Scottish school for girls.

From the Resolution Thread so I keep my 2016 focus:

I'd love to say that I'll get to 150 books in 2016; I'm now at 125 with 19 read in 2015. I currently have three lined up which I'd hoped to finish in 2015. I'm within the last 150 pages of Kristin Lavransdatter and have Thank You, Jeeves and Ragtime checked out from the library.

Besides the library books, I have 13 on my physical pile of books to read - I'll try to get to some of them, starting with the War and Peace group read.

The list living on Planet TBR (also called ROOTS for the Read Our Own Tomes challenge)

War and Peace - start group read in January
A Hundred Years of Solitude January geocat
Memoirs of a Geisha
Possession
Women in White
Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Tess of the d'Urbervilles March BAC
Les Miserables geocat - Western Europe;
The God of Small Things
The Things they carried
Elizabeth Costello geocat South Africa or Austrailia
Life of Pi
Wild Swans

I have quite a few I can match with various challenges; I guess that is one advantage to not having read many of the 1001 - or perhaps doing waaaay too many challenges! Besides some of the ones mentioned previously, I am also working the geocat challenge and Reading Globally, along with trying to read a couple for the tomes challenge.

And I'll read at least one each from three of the 'most-abundant-number-of-books' authors that I haven't yet read:

J.M. Coetzee (geocat) (10 on list)
Ian McEwan (8 on list)
Don Delillo is in the December AAC challenge (8 on list)

First book of 2016 (meant to finish before new Year's Eve, but didn't quite)



126. Kristin Lavransdatter - Sigrid Undset - 3 vols 1920-1922 - Norway 1/3/2016

This consists of three volumes: First is The Wreath telling of Kristin's childhood and young womanhood in 14th century Norway.. She is the daughter of a well to do farmer and local leader. She matures into a strong young women who is able to convince her father to let her marry the reckless man she is passionate about instead of the steady, reliable man her father has betrothed her to. It's an active, grand love story, including love triangles and mistresses, battles with axes and swords and eventually murder. The second volume, The Wife tells of Kristin's marriage and children and of her husband's political plotting, which eventually brings his downfall. The final volume The Cross tells of the last days of Kristin's marriage, the shrinking of her family as her seven sons meet their own destinies. Kristin eventually decides to enter the nunnery in order to let her daughter-in-law become fully the mistress of her estate and farm; she grapples even harder with her spiritual understanding of what it means to serve God with everyday acts of love and labor.

In each step of her life, Kristin is an active, strong participant. She chooses her destiny within the limited roles medieval society offers to women. She is an uncommon woman in a not-uncommon life.

The depiction of medieval Norway is historically accurate as Undset's father was an archaeologist and historian of medieval Norway and Undset joined with her father's dedication. Undset was also a devout Catholic which informs her character's spiritual struggles at a time when Christianity was only a few centuries old in Norway and people believed that the old spirits still made appearances in the forest and turned to placating the giantess Hel with human sacrifice during times of plague.

I can't remember the last time I wept over a book but I wept over this one, even though, as the author states “Every fire goes out.”

I had a quick glance at Wikipedia to see what I had missed. Wikipedia points out that at the time of publication this novel was quite controversial for its portrayal of female sexuality.

Undset won the 1928 Nobel Prize for literature, with this trilogy being the basis for the award.

****************2016 1001 List Books *****************

2016 TOTAL READ: 26 + (1 Reread) - stats in () for rereads

Women authors: 9
Men authors: 17 +(1 reread)

Countries Represented
- 1 - Antigua
- 1 - Australia
- 2 - Canada
- 1 - Chile
- 1 - Dominican Republic
- 1 - Ireland
- 1 - Norway
- 1 - Russia
- 10 - UK +(1 reread)
- 8 - US

Dates of Publication
- 1729
- 1861
- 1860
- 1869
- 1891
- 1897
- 1918
- 1920-1922 - 3 volumes
- 1925
- 1934
- 1945 + (1945)
- 1950
- 1953
- 1959
- 1970
- 1975
- 1984
- 1985
- 1985
- 1990
- 1992
- 1993
2 - 2001
- 2003
- 2007

**************From the 1001 Resolutions Thread:**********************

Read 25 books for an anticipated goal of 150; currently: 23 Read: Total: 148 (+1 Reread this year)

I have 6 authors with 8 or more books to read:
I'll read one from at least three of them:
✔ - J.M. Coetzee - 10 (geocat)
- Don Delillo - 8 - AAC challenge
✔ - Ian McEwan - 8 BAC
- Martin Amis - 8
- Samuel Beckett - 8
✔ - Charles Dickens - 8


ROOTS/TBR pile acquired before 01/01/2016:
A Hundred Years of Solitude January geocat audio
Memoirs of a Geisha
Possession
Woman in White
✔ Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
✔ Tess of the d'Urbervilles March BAC 3/15/2016
Les Miserables - Dec geocat
The God of Small Things
✔The Things they carried
✔ Elizabeth Costello
✔ Life of Pi
✔ War and Peace
Wild Swans
✔ Cider With Rosie
The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Acquired 2016
✔ Great Expectations
✔ Return of the Soldier - Rebecca West
Love Medicine - Louise Erdrich - All Montana read

>80 streamsong: Great review! I've been wanting to read Kristin Lavransdatter, but I'll have to move it up on my TBR list.

127. Thank You, Jeeves - P.G. Wodehouse - 1934 - Dec 2015 BAC; January TIOLI #21- Read a book with tea mentioned in the text; 1001; audiobook in the car; library

From 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die : “People seem not to know how to read Wodehouse. Readers tend to see him as a comic writer and expect jokes – but there are none, just as there is little as regards an engaging plot or interesting characterization. P. G. Wodehouse is now somewhat unfashionable, as the world that he created, an everlasting midsummer England untouched by either of the World Wars, peopled with characters endowed with the psychology of a prepubescent has long gone – even in the realms of fantasy. … His ability to to weave from nothing a supremely comic metaphor or simile is still unmatched in the novel form.”

This was a good bit of entertaining fun. Bernie Wooster has found a new passion – learning to play the banjolele. However, his new hobby leaves him ejected from his apartment in town and abandoned by his butler, Jeeves. He retires to a country cottage for uninterrupted banjolele practice and hires a new butler.

But when Lord 'Chuffy' finds his fiance, who is also Bertie's ex-fiance, in Bertie's bed dressed in Bertie's heliotrope pajamas, life for Bertie becomes complicated. His new butler, prone to chasing people about with carving knives and setting cottages on fire, isn't working out well, either. Only the reappearance of Jeeves can untangle the mess.

This audiobook was narrated by Jonathan Cecil. He was absolutely brilliant. I have no doubt that his reading added immensely to my enjoyment of the deadpan British humor.

I think the audios of this series would be fun on car trips. Entertaining enough to make the miles go by quickly, but no major plot points to lose if one is distracted for five or ten minutes.

4 stars for light, fun enjoyment

>82 Tanglewood: Thank you, and thank you for stopping by! It's a great engaging read and I'm happy to be able to have read another of the tomes on the list.

I read Thank You Jeeves last year and wasn't all that impressed. But now that I read your quote from the 1001 book, I wonder if that was why. I read it like it was a comedy and expected to laugh throughout the whole thing (mostly because everyone I know kept saying that it was hilarious). I might go back and read some more with this in mind. Thanks!

>85 Yells: You know, if I hadn't listened to the audiobook, I think I would have felt very much the same. I believe I wouldn't have read it with the proper 'voice' in my head.

In fact when I started reading, I was also underwhelmed and thought it reminded me of the farces that we did in in high school drama back in the '70's. But somewhere along the line it changed to The Real Thing and I ended up enjoying it a lot.

128. Ragtime - E. L. Doctorow - 1975- U. S. - finished 1/18/2016 review to come.

128 Ragtime - E.L. Doctorow - 1975 -US

“It seemed like such a foolish thing to have happened. It seemed to be his fault, somehow, because he was Negro and it was the kind of problem that only adheres to a Negro. His monumental negritude sat in front of them like a centerpiece on the table.” (186)

This novel is a mosaic of real characters and the intersection of a black family and a white family in the time leading up to World War I. In an interesting twist, the white family are nameless and their members are known only with designations such as 'The boy”. "The Mother" finds an abandoned black infant, left to die, and takes it in. Soon the infant's depressed unwed mother, Sarah, is also taken into the household; when the baby's father, ragtime musician Colehouse Walker, Jr., arrives, he also is befriended.

But Colehouse is bullied by a group of volunteer firemen outside their station house and Colehouse's cherished Model T car is vandalized. As Colehouse attempts to get justice, the situation spirals out of control leading to outright disaster and a standoff with the police.

It's a good enough story, but I didn't have fun with this book until I spent a bit of time investigating Ragtime music. I could hum one or two popular rags but that was the extent of my knowledge.

According to Wikipedia and other sources, ragtime is a style of music where the left hand plays a rousing, almost march tune in driving 2/4 or 4/4 tempo with the occasional chord thrown in on the unaccented beat. The right hand takes the melody and “rags it up” giving it a syncopation that sometimes sings and sometimes jars with the tempo played by the other hand. The combination of dissonance and harmony drives the musical piece onward with a feeling of urgency.

Ragtime references abound in the text as in this passage:

“But an hour later he stood between the cars on the milk train, going up to New Rochelle. He considered throwing himself under the wheels. He listened to their rhythm, their steel clacking, like the left hand of a rag. The screeching and pounding of metal on metal where the two cars joined was the syncopating right hand. It was a suicide rag. He held the door handles on either side of him, listening to the music. The cars jumped under his feet. The moon raced with the train. He held his face up to the sky between the cars, as if even moonlight could warm him.” (173)

And then there are all the mentions of specific ragtime tunes. I listened to them all on Youtube, but the book is best summed up with Colehouse Walker Jr.'s performance when he meets the family for the first time:

“The musician turned again to the keyboard. “Wall Street Rag,” he said. “Composed by the great Scott Joplin”. He began to play. Ill-tuned or not the Aeolian had never made such sounds. Small clear chords hung in the air like flowers. The melodies were like bouquets . There seemed to be no other possibilities for life other than those delineated by the music.” (159)

Here it is, the – The Wall Street Rag. If it sums up all the possibilities of life, it must also sum up all the possibilities of this novel and so I'll let the music do the speaking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zym1iQDvUAU

4 stars

What a great reveiw!! I enjoyed Billy Bathgate and have been saving this Doctorow for when I needed something with that kind of flavor. I will make sure to add a musical accompaniment when I read it.

Enjoyed your review of Kristin Lavransdatter - I didn't really know much about this book previously, and you have me moving it up the 1001 list.

>88 annamorphic: Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoy it when you get to it!

>89 LisaMorr: Good to see you! I enjoyed KL, even if it is one of the tomes (three volumes like LOTR) on the list.

129. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie - 1925 - UK

(This one was read to add a bit of lightness since I am 900 pages into War and Peace.)

I confess, it's the first Christie I have read, other than a short story in a Christmas murder anthology.

And I enjoyed it - had parts figured out, but not the whodunit. Sneaky, ain't she?

Warning, though: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die has a spoiler for one of the major clues. Don't read the entry until after reading the book - even though, this is one part that I did have figured out and I still hadn't solved the ending.

I do agree with this part of the review in the 1001:" this is one of the few detective novels that compels a second reading to see how the murderers's tracks are so masterfully obscured." Yup, I could do that.

130. Tess of the d'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy - 1891

When John Derbyfield discovers by accident that his family is descended from the lordly d'Ubervilles, he sends his daughter Tess. to them to see if she can achieve an advantage in life. Unbeknownst to him, however, the current d'Ubervilles are not relatives but mere noveau riche who have assumed the name.

Tess is raped or seduced and returns to her family home in disgrace where she bears a child whom is not long for the world. Tess then sets out once more to earn her way through hard work; although she briefly has a chance for happiness, she is rejected by her new husband when she confesses her story to him. Once more, fallen further, she scrapes a living, until again victimized by a man.

The universe itself seems to conspire against her, producing an ending with murder, a brief moment of sublime love and more death.

I found this to be a gritty novel set in a time with little compassion for women from either inside or outside the Christian church.

4 stars

Note - because the copy I had living living on Planet TBR said 'edited by Willliam Baxler', I ended up reading most of this online at Project Gutenberg.

131. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy - 1869- Russia- First book read by this author - 4 books on combined list

This is the story of several intertwined Russian noble families during the Napoleonic wars with Russia in the first part of the 19th century.

But it's so much more.

There are wonderful descriptions of Russian life, battle scenes and complex relationships and great loves.

There are also diatribes on spirituality, FreeMasonry, history and what makes a great leader great. These often became a bit tedious. I especially struggled through the second epilogue on history and greatness.

I'm really glad to have read it, although it is a significant commitment of time. I can see how a rereading far off in the future might well be a good thing. Since this is a fairly complex work, I'm sure I would realize new aspects through many rereads. In that respect, it might well be one of those make it onto my 'five books to take with you to a desert island' list.

Thanks, Cliff. When I get behind (which is always), I often list books and then fill in the review later.

Thanks, Cliff. When I get behind (which is always), I often list books and then fill in the review later.

:-) Don't we all!

I've been two months and about 15 books behind before! For once though I'm actually all caught up. I'm sure it won't last long though.

132. Silas Marner - George Eliot - 1861

Betrayed by his best friend and his religion, Silas Marner moved from the town he had always lived in to one some distance off. There he was perceived with a good deal of skepticism, both because of his odd physical looks and his 'foreign ways.'

Silas, however, was a skilled weaver and soon the new townspeople were happy to make use of his services and to add to his ever-increasing pile of gold. Friendless, the gold took on a life of its own and became Silas's only comfort.

Then one stormy night a thief broke in and stole Silas's gold. The thief left the door open to the storm and a toddler girl with golden hair wandered in to be by his fire. The toddler's mother was soon found dead in the storm, and the village was content to leave the little girl with the weaver.

The occurrences over the years become a coming of age story for Silas, the little girl and the village itself.

Well written, with enough twists and turns to keep this classic interesting. 4 stars

Although I have not read any books by George Elliot, I distinctly reading the 'Classics Illustrated Comics' edition of this in the 1960's when I was nine or ten years old. Or at least I remember pictures of the miser and his pile of gold and the little girl with golden hair whose picture on the cover is no doubt why I chose to read this one.

I never bought the Classics Illustrated comics because they cost a quarter instead of the usual twelve cents for the regular sized comics. Even buying them at the used comic book store was too expensive for my budget. However, my older brother did buy them and I remember reading several of his.

133. Fifth Business - Robertson Davies - 1970 - Canada

Dunstan Ramsay is a typical kid, growing up in small town Deptford, Ontario, Canada.

But then he dodges a snowball, which instead hits Mrs. Dempster, a rather childish pregnant bride. His life and hers change for ever.
She begins to lose touch with reality. Is it also possible that she begins to do miracles?

Ramsay feels a responsibility toward the Dempster's prematurely born son, Paul. Ramsay has an interest in magic and as a way of entertaining the little boy, teaches Paul some of his hard learned sleight of hand. The universe shifts again as it is clear that Paul has gifts in this area.

I loved the theme of humanity's need to believe – in the supernatural, in saints, in illusions, in other people.

Beautifully written, my first 5 star book of the year.

>97 streamsong: I am so glad you liked Fifth Business so much. In my opinion Robertson Davies is one of the best writers Canada has ever produced but he never got the attention some other writers of his time did.

>98 gypsysmom: I'll definitely be reading the rest of the Deptford series. What else of his would you recommend?

134. Annie John - Jamaica Kincaid - 1985 - Antigua

“My mother turned to face me. We looked at each other, and I could see the frightening black thing leave her to meet the frightening black thing that had left me. They met in the middle of the room and embraced. What will it be now, I asked myself.” p 101

Set in the Caribbean paradise of the author's native Antigua, Annie John is Antigua's answer to Laura in the Little House series of books. Annie is free-spirited, curious and intelligent.

Unlike the Little House series, as Annie reaches adolescence after a loving childhood, a darkness develops between the main character and her mother. Annie sees her mother as over-critical and unloving. Annie's mother actually loves her deeply but doesn't quite understand her daughter and longs to protect her, trying to cage her free spirit.

I usually don't read the entry in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die before reading the book, since some of the entries contain spoilers. This time, however, it would have been interesting to read at least this part of the entry as the colonialism parallel escaped me. (blush)

... ”the troubled mother-daughter relationship that mirrors the motherland-colony problem, the mental distress of the dominated woman, and the urge to escape from the cage via migration. " p 761.

4 stars

Woot! Finished:



135. Contact - Carl Sagan - 1985 - US 6/20/2016 (library)

This is a group read from several months ago on the 1001 book group. I took forever getting started. I’m really glad I did.

A radio-astronomer has her array set toward the heavens, when after many years, something that could be a bi-numeral code is detected. Code it is, and it also contains codes within codes. The receiving civilization must be advanced enough to detect, decipher, and eventually build a machine using technologies and materials not known to mankind but detailed in the received manual.

This is an interesting twist to the ‘aliens show up and humans react’ scenario. There are years, decades, in between receiving the message and deciding what to do. Not everyone reacts the same – some believe the machine should not be built because it will be a doomsday machine for earth or perhaps a portal for hostile aliens; others have religious reasons for denying the machine be built.

And when it's built, who can say what really did happen? And who should know?

Lots of really good scientific details in this one.

Now I need to re-watch the movie.

4 stars.

136. The Shipping News - Annie Proulx - 1993 - US

From 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die:

”Quoyle is thirty-six year old reporter from New York with a traumatic and stressful life- his parents have committed suicide and his wife died in a car accident while she was with another man. His aunt has always wanted to return to the land of her history and she convinces Quoyle and his daughters to move with her to Newfoundland . He overcomes his fear of water to accept a job as the shipping correspondent on a local paper.”

I loved this odd novel. It was full of quirky rugged individualist characters who weren't 'warts and all ' but often seemed to be made of only warts; they are actually quite similar to the type of rugged individualists that I've known here in Montana, living in environments on the edge, that are almost, but not quite, wildernesses.

The realities of the Newfoundland setting refused to stay in the background and became a character as vivid and vital as all the rest.


4.5 stars

137. The Invisible Man - H. G. Wells - 1897 - UK - audiobook 7/15/2016

138. Cannery Row - John Steinbeck - 1945- US (2006 edition only) 7/25/2016

Short review: Beautiful descriptions of place and people. I've seen it described as a short book where not much happens, but a lot is going on.

139. Return of the Soldier - Rebecca West - 1918 - UK 07/26/2016

Christopher Baldry is at war, in the trenches of WWI France.

At his elegant English estate, two women wait for his return. Kitty Baldry is his beautiful but superficial wife. Jenny Baldry is a cousin who loves him dearly and understands him deeply.

And then one day a third woman, Margaret West appears at the door. She is a judged to be a very common type; both the Baldry’s are rather appalled at her appearance and manner. But Margaret has a strange story – Christopher Baldry has been wounded and has written to Margaret whom he loved in his youth instead of writing to his wife or family.

On investigation her story is true. Christopher Baldry has lost his memory of the last fifteen years due to shell shock. He returns home and can be comforted by no one but his previous love, Margaret. He has no memory of his wife and is dismayed by the aging and changes of his cousin and others he knows.

What will be the key to unlocking his memory? And what will be the price?

This is a wonderful gem of a story. It’s very short and available on Project Gutenberg. One could read it in a few hours. But it’s by no means short on impact. It will definitely be appearing on my list of favorite reads for this year.

5 stars

July is the 100th anniversary of the battle of the Somme - perfect book to read in commemoration.

>105 streamsong: I plan to read that this month, great to hear you enjoyed it!

I hope you enjoy it, Lisa!

I'm going to try to fill in missing reviews starting from most recently read to help me get over my reviewing slump. So I've just added the review for Soldier and will be reviewing Oscar Wao soon.

140. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz - 2007 - Dominican Republic/ US

Another great read which won a US Pulitzer Prize. According to the LT list of books, this one only appeared on the 1001 list in 2010.

4.5 stars. Review to follow. (listened to audio)

I've been wanting to read that but none of my libraries have a single copy!

>109 M1nks: I hope you can find a copy. I'm not sure where you live, but let me know if you'd like me to chase down a used copy for you.

141. Elizabeth Costello - J. M. Coetzee - 2003 -

This is the first book I've read by Coetzee, and it probably wasn't the best initial book. It was a series of previously published essays loosely worked into the framework of a novel. Still I found it interesting, even if some of the philosophical elements went over my head. I see it only appeared on the 2006 list.

I chose this particular one for the June GeoCat Australia and New Zealand category - (can you tell I'm a bit behind?) as well as trying to achieve one of my resolutions to read at least three of the authors on the list that have 8 or more books that I haven't read . See >81 streamsong:

I quite like Coetzee but this one is my least favourite so far.

:-) Thank you streamsong but I'm sure that if my libraries don't eventually add it to their list I'll be able to buy it from ebay.

I try not to buy books as I really have no room on my shelves for them but if I can't get hold of a book any other way then I will eventually resort to purchasing it.

>112 Yells: Thanks, Yells. I found Elizabeth Costello interesting, but not so much so that I would be inspired to gallop on with the other nine books on the list. He'll be a priority again next year and I think I'll try to pick one of his 'big' books.

This brings up a point being discussed on several other threads about the order one reads books by a given author. I tend to read a lot of them rather randomly. I love book scouting in various second hand stores and the rack of donations being sold by the Friends of the Library. If I see a book that I recognize as being on the list, I tend to pick it up. But what I'm discovering, is that a lot of these books, aren't the authors' best books. They tend to be secondary books that the reader has decided not to keep. The 'big books' tend not to show up or perhaps are snapped up quickly.

Of course there are exceptions. I picked up Return of the Soldier from the FOL shelf and absolutely loved it.

>113 M1nks: I hear you about not acquiring more books. What can I say? I'm addicted. I think the BWLOOW was one of the books given away a few years ago by a US literacy program and so used copies are very common.

I'm trying to read the ones I already have on my shelves and resort to library books and Interlibrary loan instead of purchasing. It's not working very well. :-)

142. Atonement - Ian McEwan - 2001 - UK

I listened to this on audio. I haven't seen the movie and had no idea of the plot, so I went into it with no expectations. I really enjoyed it, especially the ending with its twists.

I love the way that it left many questions to ponder. Who is the atonement for? Can there ever be atonement or only forgiveness? How much can the word of a child be weighted? How much should a child be held responsible, especially if other older people, kept quiet?

It's the second McEwan I've read with the other being the non-list The Children's Act. It also ended with many questions. I had read it with my RL book club and it generated a lot of discussion. Atonement has that same 'good for a book club' quality.

This is an example of reading an author's "big book" before lesser books. For me, it worked. I'll continue on with more McEwan with a bit of anticipation. It's much more motivating than starting out with the lesser Coetzee and thinking there are better ones out there.

-Chosen for the British Author Challenge read in another group as well as my resolution to read at least three of my eight-or-more-books-left authors.

143. Black Water - Joyce Carol Oates - 1992 - US

This is a re-imagining of the Chappaquiddick Incident in which a probably drunk Senator Ted Kennedy drove his car into a river, drowning his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne. According to the Wikipedia article, Senator Kennedy failed to call for help for nine hours after the accident and there is evidence that Mary Jo died of suffocation rather than drowning.

In this short novella the senator is only identified as ‘The Senator’, however his life details are quite clear, including the assassination of his brother Bobby. Mary Jo Kopechne is given the fictional name, Kelly Kelleher.

The story plays out from Kelly’s viewpoint as she is dying. She recalls her life, her growing beyond her parents, her decision to attend the swank party where she meets her political idol, The Senator. And finally her fatal decision to leave with him.
Beautifully written. Haunting and haunted. This is one I won’t forget for a long time.

>143 streamsong: I didn't know that's what Black Water was about - interesting!

I'm pretty random with how I pick the books also - this year I've tried to map them to monthly category challenges and in August picked several that are Virago Modern Classics to match up with the VMC All Virago/All August challenge. I like your resolution to read at least three of the authors on the list that have 8 or more books that you haven't read - I may copy that for next year.

>118 LisaMorr: Thanks for stopping by. I'm also mostly mapping them to category challenges as well as the American, British, and Canadian Author challenges. Life of Pi is the category geocat challenge for Southeast Asia as well as being a ROOT.

I picked up the resolution to work on the authors with the most books entered from others in the group. In the "questions" thread, one of the early questions was how people choose what to read. I find it fascinating how everyone does it! I recently read someone say they read one pre-1800's book a year and I think I'll add that to my resolution list, too.

144. Life of Pi - Yann Martel - 2007 - audio

Review to come - but I really enjoyed it. Especially the ending!

145. Casino Royale - Ian Fleming - 1953 - UK - audio

Short review - a steady diet of this would not be my thing, but it was fun to read this first of the series and see the real James Bond.

Time to get the two movie versions for a quick comparison.

146. Cider With Rosie - Laurie Lee -1959 - UK/ Wales 9/29/2016

Short review: Lovely lyrical description of a boyhood in Wales in the early part of the 20th century.

147. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens - 1860 - UK 9/29/2016

148. The Things They Carried - Tim O' Brien - US 1990

Interconnected short stories about America's war in Vietnam. These are tough, often brutal and mostly about the stupidity of war.

Two quotes;

The first from the book:

"A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest
models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things they have always done.
If a story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you
feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been
made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no
virtue. As a first rule of thumb, therefore, you can tell a true war story by its absolute and
uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil." p 65

And from 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die:

O'Brien uses various mismatches between experience and description against his readers, who may find themselves longing for the deceptive luxury and easy comfort of uncritical narrative the way "O'Brien" and his fellow soldiers long for home.

Horrifying, well written. Life changing read about how I feel about this war. 4.5 stars.

149. The 13 Clocks - James Thurber - 1950 - US

This is a very short fairy tale which appears to me to be written for young adults. I love Thurber's playful way with words, but overall, I'm not sure why this is on the 1001.

Don't get me wrong - I'm a Thurber fan and have been since my older brother came home from school one day and insisted on reading their current short story assignment to the family - The Night the Bed Fell. This one is just not one of my favorites.

3/5

150. A Modest Proposal - Jonathan Swift - 1729 Ireland
- online audiobook through Librivox

Black humor Juvenalian satire about how to eliminate the problem of the Irish poor by eating Irish babies. Mocks not only the Irish landlords, but the Irish poor, the Catholic church and the rationalistic pseudo-science of the day.

Since this is a very short work I also listened to several of the Youtube lectures, including this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG9agBGrPho

This is my only pre-1800 work for the year.

That short story is like the ancient and respected progenitor of the entire satire family line!

As an aside, one of my libraries has now acquired an ebook of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao which we were talking about a little further on up your thread. So, I think I'll have to make room in my reading plan for that very shortly :-)

>127 M1nks: Thanks for stopping by, M1nks. It's a wonderful piece, isn't it!

I remember last year when several people were talking about it here on the group. I meant to read it then, but somehow passed it by.

With the strangeness of American politics recently and the anticipated cuts to social programs, it seems incredibly relevant to where our country is going.

I hope you enjoy Oscar Wao as much as I did!

151. Of Love and Shadows - Isabel Allende - 1984 - (unnamed S American country, Chile) 12/17/2016

2016 Summary

****************2016 1001 List Books *****************

2016 TOTAL READ: 26 + (1 Reread) - stats in () for rereads

Women authors: 9
Men authors: 17 +(1 reread)

Countries Represented
- 1 - Antigua
- 1 - Australia
- 2 - Canada
- 1 - Chile
- 1 - Dominican Republic
- 1 - Ireland
- 1 - Norway
- 1 - Russia
- 10 - UK +(1 reread)
- 8 - US

Dates of Publication
- 1729
- 1861
- 1860
- 1869
- 1891
- 1897
- 1918
- 1920-1922 - 3 volumes
- 1925
- 1934
- 1945 + (1945)
- 1950
- 1953
- 1959
- 1970
- 1975
- 1984
- 1985
- 1985
- 1990
- 1992
- 1993
2 - 2001
- 2003
- 2007

2017 (Possible!) GOALS):

I'll plan to read 25 again this year.

These are my 'most books left' authors that I've never read (actually I've read 1 Coetzee), so I'll try to read at least three of them.

J.M. Coetzee - 9
Samuel Beckett - 8
Don DeLillo - 8
Paul Auster - 7
J.G. Ballard - 7
Saul Bellow - 7
D.H. Lawrence -7

I'll read one pre-1800's and a tome or two - starting with Les Miserables. And like everyone else, I'll try to read books already on my shelf!

2017 STATISTICS

TOTAL READ:9 (+ 4 reread)

Women authors: 4 +2
Men authors: 5 + 2

Countries Represented
- 1 - Germany
- 1 - Ireland
- 1 - Japan
- 3 - UK
- 2 - US (+ 4 rereads)

Dates of Publication
1 - 1839
(1 - 1843 - Reread)
(1 - 1845 - Reread)
1 - 1851
1 - 1853
(1 - 1868 - Reread)
1 - 1935
(1 - 1937 - Reread)
1 - 1944
1 - 1963
1 - 1984
1 - 1997
1 - 2002

2017 Reads

152. The House in Paris - Elizabeth Bowen - 1935 - Ireland/UK author
153. Transit - Anna Seghers - 1944 - (location-France/German author) 02/08/2017
154. Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell - 1851 - UK - listened to audiobook 02/13/2017
155. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold - John LeCarre - 1963 - UK - audiobook 03/25/2017
156. Love Medicine - Louise Erdrich - US - 1984; 4/29/2017
(reread) Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
157. Bleak House - Charles Dickens - UK - 1853 - 06/21/2017
158. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden - US -1997 07/2017
159. Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami - Japan - 2002 08/2017
- (Reread) Little Women - Louisa May Alcott - 11/2017
160. The Fall of the House of Usher - Edgar Allen Poe - 1839 - 11/2017
- (reread) The Purloined Letter - Edgar Allen Poe
- (reread) The Pit and the Pendulum - Edgar Allen Poe

152. The House in Paris - Elizabeth Bowen - 1935 - Irish/UK author
- 1st book read by this author; Number remaining on combined list: 5

Eleven year old Henrietta, quite precocious for her age, has recently lost her mother. She's being escorted by various acquaintances of her family to the south of France to live with her grandmother. It's been arranged for her to stay with a friend of her mother's in Paris for a day while waiting for the next leg of the journey. She hope to see a few sights during her layover.

Instead, she finds an elderly autocratic dying woman, her devoted spinster daughter and a boy named Leopold who is also spending the day at the house waiting.

Leopold has never met his mother. He knows only that the circumstances of his birth are mysterious and that he has been adopted by a couple in Italy. His birth mother has summoned him to Paris to meet her, and to Leopold this is a dream come true.

Events unfold with a long middle section flashback where we discover the story of Leopold and then to a final section where Leopold's story continues.

The writing is lush. The characters are intricately drawn and well realized. I thought the ending was superb. It's one of those that leaves you wondering: Is this a happy ending? What happened next?

4 stars

Note - This one is on the 'extended' list. Removed from the current list before the 2011 Boxall book came out.

I am curious to read your review. I have never read Bowen but have quite a few on the shelf.

>133 Yells: Hi Yells. I enjoyed House in Paris, but it is an analysis of feelings and psychology surrounding relationships. Some people would say it falls into the 'girlybooks' category.

153. Transit - Anna Seghers - 1944 -
- Only book by this author on the 1001
- (location:France) German author

... 'don't you ever feel like going home again?'
'A leaf blowing in the wind would have an easier time finding its old twig again.'” p 156

The narrator, who has escaped from a Nazi concentration camp has been captured and interred in a French camp. As the Nazi's approach, he fears for his life, and escapes a second time to flee to Paris. But once again, the Nazis are advancing, and after attempting to deliver a letter to a writer named Weidel whom he discovers has committed suicide, he flees south once more with Weidel's suitcase in hand.

The French, however, are not fond of refugees and so our narrator winds up with a variety of false identities as he enters Marseilles, France's last open port. He'd like to stay there, but is only allowed to be there if he is actively trying to leave, so he begins to half-heartedly play the game of acquiring the proper visas. This is complicated since visas must be obtained for exiting France, entering the destination country, obtaining transit visas for each port in every country the ship may stop, and booking ship passage. The bureaucracy is almost insurmountable – one can not obtain item 'A' without first having item “D” and each item is only good for thirty days. He is one of a faceless mass, with very few of the overworked officials caring about much but their own safety.

It's also a deadly game as many of the refugees will be imprisoned if they aren't able to leave before the Nazis arrive- Jews, escapees from concentration camps, cripples, gypsies and those who fought against Franco.

The novel's repetitiveness and frustrations leave us feeling those emotions along with the refugees. It's a world where identities are lost and no plans can exist as one can only wait to see what happens next.

154. Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell - 1851 - listened to audiobook

UK author; 3 on list: 2 remaining (have read one other not on list)

”In the first place, Cranford is in possession of the Amazons; all the holders of houses above a certain rent are women. If a married couple come to settle in the town, somehow the gentleman disappears; he is either fairly frightened to death by being the only man in the Cranford evening parties, or he is accounted for by being with his regiment, his ship, or closely engaged in business all the week in the great neighbouring commercial town of Drumble, distant only twenty miles on a railroad. In short, whatever does become of the gentlemen, they are not at Cranford.”

Sweet, gentle satire of the ladies in a fictional Victorian village. We see their fight to stay “genteel” in the face of poverty, their alarms over possible theft and crime, regrets over lost loves, and through al,l their loyalty and kindness to each other.

I listened to the audiobook read by Clare Wille, who did an excellent job.

>134 streamsong: Well, I was a women's studies/psych major once upon a time, so that sounds like the perfect read to me :)

>135 streamsong: That sounds really interesting, on to the wishlist it goes!

>135 streamsong: I agree, Transit sounds great - I will need to read it sooner than later.

>137 Yells: In that case, Yay! I'll be interested to see your take on it.

>138 paruline: >139 LisaMorr: I hope you two enjoy it! It does strike close to home with the current refugee situation. It was a book for a community literature seminar that I attend, but I wasn't able to be there, since I managed to get my car stuck in the snow the day of the class .... I'll be interested to read more insights on the book.

Due to some eye problems, my reading has slowed considerably.

However, I've finished listening to:



155. The Spy Who Came in From the Cold - John Lecarre UK- 1963
- Number of books by this author in 1001 combined list: 3. Number left to read: 2

Very sixties cold war spy vs spy plots within plots. Kicked me right back to 60's TV shows like The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

It's an iconic book, so I'm glad I've read it, but probably won't rush to pick up others in the series.

156. Love Medicine - Louise Erdrich - US - 1984;
- Number of books by this author in 1001 Combined list: 1. Number left to read: 0

Review to come.

Hmm, I would have sworn there were two by Erdrich on the 1001 .....

(Reread) Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston - US - 1937

157. Bleak House - Charles Dickens - UK - 1853
- Number of books by this author in combined 1001 list: 10. Number left to read: 6

158. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden - US -1997 (07/2017)
- Number of books by this author in combined 1001 list: 1. Number left to read: 0
- US author, Japan primary location

159. Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami - Japan - 2002 08/2017
- Number of books by this author in combined 1001 list: 5. Number left to read: 4
Japanese author, Japanese location. Original language Japanese.

Read as part of the group read in the 75'ers.

(Reread) - Little Women -Louisa May Alcott - 1868 - US author - only book on list

This 1868 classic is a familiar storyline, that needs little introduction. It's the coming of age of four girls, whose father is a chaplain in the Civil War and who are living in rather impoverished conditions under the watchful eye of their mother, known as Marmee.

Marmee raises them with a strong dose of Biblical teachings, and encourages them to look to the classic Pilgrim's Progress for lessons on life and perseverance.

Even with the moralizing, I found something sweetly charming about the book.

I was happy to read this afterword by Nina Auerbach in my edition of Little Women:

“Home under Marmee's guidance cherishes the adult understanding while sheltering the girls from the pressure to sell themselves in a 'good match': ' better to be happy old maids than unhappy wives, or unmaidenly girls, running about to find husbands.' With these words, Mrs. March bestows upon her girls a rare dowry in any century, the freedom to remain in a sanctuary that nourishes self-possession in the face of the compromising demands of official adulthood.”

“The underlying faith in the spiritual self-sufficiency of women may explain why the March family has been cherished for decades by women readers. …”

Edgar Allan Poe Audio Collection - Edgar Allan Poe - Read by Vincent Price and Basil Rathbone - 2000

It includes all three Poe creations that are on the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list.
160. The Fall of the House of Usher - 1839
(Reread) The Purloined Letter - 1845
(Reread) The Pit and the Pendulum - 1842

Twenty two stories and poems by Edgar Allen Poe including many of his most famous works.

I can't think of any more perfect reader/performers than Vincent Prince and Basil Rathbone.
This is a keeper that I'll listen to again next year.

161. On Beauty - Zadie Smith - 2005
UK author
listened to audiobook December 2017

162. The Museum of Unconditional Surrender - Dubravka Ugrešić - 1996
Croatian author
2/2018

From 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die: “The novel attempts to capture the slow and constant sense of loss and displacement caused by exile, and the disappearance of anything one could call home. Its scattered, Postmoderm method of narration moves between magic realism, diary entries, essaysitic prose, and even a recipe for Caraway soup. This allows the author to recognize herself as a kind of museum exhibit, as are all those who have left behind a home that no longer exists. She refers many times to the two different types of exile, those with photographs (ties to the past) and those without...”

“Rilke once said that the story of a shattered life can only be told in bits and pieces …” p107

The novel begins with a description of the contents of a stomach of a walrus which died in the Berlin zoo; unimaginable bits of random, plastic modern life, which, no matter how one may try to fit together, stay a random collection, but still describe the walrus's life and ultimately his death.

So it is with Ugrešić's novel. There are random bits and pieces which one is in despair of fitting together, and yet describe the refugee's life.

Beautifully written, but a tough book for me to get through; less because of the subject matter than the episodic, patchwork style. Perhaps this only reflects my lack of experience with postmodernism.

By the end I had a little clearer understanding of living with a life ripped away.

Ugrešić herself fled war torn Yugoslavia as it disintegrated into five separate nations. Her birthplace became part of Croatia and she writes in Croatian.

Since this is the first book I have read from Croatia, I thought a map might be fitting:

Wikipedia map of Croatia:

163. Enduring Love - Ian McEwan - 1997;
- UK author
3/2018

Joe Rose and his girlfriend are enjoying a lovely picnic in the park, when a elderly balloonist attempts to land his hot air balloon near them. The older man falls while getting out, leaving his grandchild alone in the balloon.

Immediately a group of onlookers, including Joe, rush to secure the balloon. But they are unable to meet the task and the balloon with the child inside and one lone rescuer who was able to hang on, suddenly goes airbound in a fierce wind gust.

Tragedy follows. While each of the rescuers question their role in the death, it's obvious from the beginning that one man, Jed Parry, whose mental health is already questionable, is completely undone by it.

Jed becomes obsessed with Joe, follows him, lurks outside his home, sends passionate letters and phone messages and believes that Joe is not only in love with him, but that Joe is the one that initiated the affair.

The police say they can't help Joe and Joe's girlfriend isn't even sure that Jed exists.

It's an interesting look at obsession. According to 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, it also involves “rooting out meaning from chaos. Trust and doubt are also central”. p. 875

I found this entertaining, but not groundbreaking and am rather puzzled why it is on the 1001 list.

164. The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler - 1939 - US

165. The Hour of the Star - Clarice Lispector - 1977 - Brazil (1 other book on 1001 list)

Clarice Lispector is one of Brazil's iconic writers. Born in 1920 in the Ukraine, she moved at an early age with her family to Brazil. She was only the third women to go to law school in Brazil and the first Jew. This book is the last published before her death in 1977.

Lispector often uses nonconventional syntax and grammar. This can make it quite hard to translate; previous translators have often given in to the urge to 'clean' up her writing.

This is an unusually styled book. The first character is an unnamed male narrator who is writing the story of a young impoverished woman in Rio de Janero; a woman not only living in physical poverty, but in spiritual and emotional poverty. She ekes out a daily living, living almost anonymously in the huge city and so beset by each day that she cannot imagine a future.

The male narrator steps out of his character several times to chide himself that he must not become sentimental and 'write like a woman'. There's a bit of humor, a large measure of pathos and a story line that will stick with me.

166. Solaris – Stanislaw Lem -1962
- (translated from French by Joanna Kilmartin and Steve Cox; Previously translated from Polish to French)

This is a science fiction classic written in 1962.

Solaris is a small planet orbiting a double star system. Physics predict that its orbit should be unstable, but it’s not. Something prevents it from plunging into one star or the other. The only thing to be observed on the planet, however, is an ocean with highly unusual properties. Despite decades of research comprising thousands of volumes, it still begs the question of sentience.

Until an ethically questionable experiment using high powered x-ray begins to change events. Then the astronauts inhabiting a small space station above Solaris, start seeing humanoid figures from the deepest part of their subconscious.

What happens when humans encounter a life form so different that there is no way to communicate, even with mathematical equations or energy beams? And how would such an entity feel about the presence of humans?

167. The Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka - 1915 - Czechoslavakia



The Metamorphosis: And Other Short Stories (Unabridged Classics in Audio) - Franz Kafka - Guy De Maupassant - 1915/ late 1800's /1992
- Reading Globally: Translated SF;
Global Reading: Czeck;
1001; audiobook
- library


I read this for the second quarter ReadingGlobally theme of translated speculative fiction. I have come to a crawl on the 1001 book list, and so The Metamorphosis became only my second 1001 of the year; it also became my first read with an author from Czechoslovakia for my Global Reading challenge.

I don’t need to say much about the plot of The Metamorphosis: a man wakes to find himself changed into a huge repulsive bug (sometimes translated as cockroach). His life is deeply changed; as an object of horror, he is confined to his bedroom except for the odd expedition within his house. His family react with deep loathing to his appearance; they seem most deeply affected by the inconvenience it causes to their lives.

The other stories in this audiobook volume are by Guy De Maupassant. They are labeled ‘horror’ but as they were written in the late 1800’s, to me they seemed fairly mild noir. They include:

The Englishman
The Piece of String
The Necklace
A Crisis
The Will
Love the Inn
Was it a Dream

A good introduction to these two authors.

If you decide to read this, be sure to check out the thread where lyzard is tutoring Squeaky Chu https://www.librarything.com/topic/142666#3622178



168. The Monk: A Romance - Matthew Lewis - 1796
- library -

“remember that a moment past in your arms in this world, o’er pays an age of punishment in the next”.

In the forward written by Stephen King, King describes this novel, written in 1796 as one of the forerunners of a new genre – novels written for pleasure reading, not merely (moral) instruction. It was one of the first of the gothic novels using dark themes of sex and violence and so was exceptionally shocking to its 18th century readership.

And although not written to instruct, it is a scree against the Roman Catholic church, with monasteries and convents given particular criticism.

The young monk, Ambrosio, is the epitome of manhood and monkhood. Handsome, charismatic, well spoken, and pious; his sermons draw throngs. But he falls into sin – pride in his accomplishments, idolatry of a painting, and then lust for a beautiful young woman, Rosario, who had disguised herself as a fellow monk in order to be near him.

Rosario literally sells her soul to the devil for Ambrosio to be furthered in his evil plans to ensnare a beautiful, chaste young girl. In the end, Ambrosio himself must decide whether to sell his own soul, too.

Scattered within are delightful folktales – robbers and murderers in the forest, and an escape by dressing up as a famous ghost only to find … well I won’t say. Not to mention handsome young cavaliers deeply in love with the objects of their affections and humorous byplays to lighten the mood.

It’s not shocking to my 21st century sensibilities. Two hundred years down the line, we’ve seen these plots and evil plot devices before.

Overall, I enjoyed it: partially for the period piece it is and its place in literature, but also for its storytelling.

4 stars

I have been neglecting the 1001 books to read before you die list this year. So when the Reading Globally group did a quarter of translated speculative fiction, I chose books from the 1001. This is the third book I chose for that challenge.



169. Labyrinths – Jorge Luis Borges - 1962
- Reading Globally: translated speculative fiction - library
- Global Reading - Argentina
- Short stories, essays and parables


From Amazon: “Multi-layered, self-referential, elusive, and allusive writing”

1001 Books : “ .. a collection of his major works, comprising some of his most important short stories and challenging essays. Here the reader can see the impact of vast ideas on tiny spots of history and individuals;” … “Magical realism, intertextuality, and postmodernistic trickery are all here, fresh and absorbing, before the burden of such descriptions.” p 562

In a labyrinth you set out on a journey and may end up somewhere entirely different; perhaps back at the beginning, or in these works, perhaps in an entirely different plane. Borges explores time, place and philosophical ideas while stretching you into the unexpected.

The first story, "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" was to be thrown headlong into Borges with what to me was one of the most challenging stories. The real is combined with the fantastic as Borges describes a people without nouns; who believe nothing is concrete.

I found these short works to be original, absorbing and challenging. I read them all at least twice, letting them sink in and soak.

This is a book I could return to multiple times, gleaning something a bit different with each visit.