Read the "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die"

Just finished Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden…LOVED IT!!

I don’t know why, but before I picked up this book I had convinced myself that it would be a tough read for me. That there would be some sort of politics and extensive details that would bore me to no end. This absolutely was not the case. The poetic language is amazing in this book. I was enchanted by it within the first few pages. I spent a few nights reading for 3 or more hours, which I suffered for the next day from lack of sleep, but it was worth it.

I’ll admit I seen the movie a couple years ago. I really liked it, but I didn’t pay close enough attention to the details so I found myself lost a few times. The book explained what needed to be explained when it needed to be explained.

I find this book to be an inspiration to my own novel writing…if I can call it that :) I recommend this book to any one and everyone!

Never Let Me Go is finished! I really liked this book, for some reason it surprised me. Maybe it was because I didn’t care much for the cover picture, but as they say…

This book had me wanting to continue reading more because it always hinted at something, but didn’t fill you in until later, then another new hint would be dropped. I don’t want to give any spoilers, because part of the fun of this book was not knowing and trying to figure it out yourself (I had pegged some of the main points before they were revealed). But this book also challenged some modern issues we have going on in this world; I found myself wondering how I would react if I were in different positions, if I had to decide how the main point were to be determined. I fell in love with the characters, the author really developed them well. I felt myself rolling my eyes, laughing or tearing up as I read about different situations.

I recommend this book, and although I don’t think there are any more of his books on the list, I will probably go back and check out some more.

Kudos on this book…now off to Memoirs of a Geisha (did I spell that right?)

This book by Kazuo Ishiguro was one I’d never heard of (I’ve been out of the book loop for the past 10 years…which is bad since I’m the daughter of a Library Director…oops.

Anyway, this is the book I’m currently reading and I love it. There is a sense of mystery as I try to piece together exactly what’s going on. I want to bring up a quote, from fairly early on, that is regarding the title phrase:

“What was so special about this song? Well, the thing was, I didn’t used to listen properly to the words; I just waited for that bit that went: ‘Baby, baby, never let me go…’ And what I’d imagine was a woman who’d been told she couldn’t have babies… Even at the time, I realized this couldn’t be right, that this interpretation didn’t fit with the rest of the lyrics. But that wasn’t an issue with me. The song was about what I said, and I used to listen to it again and again, on my own, whenever I got the chance.”

How many of you have listened to a song and thought it was written for you, or the words spoke to you for some personal reason unrelated to the real reason for the song (mine is “Suddenly I See by JT Tunstall).

It’s great when an artist “paints” us a picture, with whatever medium, and we can see what the artist wanted us to see. However it’s just as magical when that art inspires us to see something that is only meant for “me.” It’s like a great mystery religion of old, where each member had to discover the religion by their own experiences, making it personal and extremely meaningful.

I just liked the way this passage was brought out. Ishiguro is a great writer, and brings out some great concepts, with just some simple words.

Another thing I liked about this passage was that the “character” admits that this isn’t the intended meaning of the words she is listening to, however the meaning she has is right for her. Too many people forget that it’s okay to have your own separate meaning for something and acknowledge that there is probably another meaning out there for someone else. We’re too trapped in a world where everyone fights to be right on things where maybe no one is right, or everyone is right. Just an interesting thought that grabbed me when reading this :)

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

This by far will be the shortest book on the list, as I think it is the only children’s book. This book made me smile and think. There were several life lessons I picked up, and I hope to remember.

Never stop thinking like a kid…no matter how much of an adult you have become (this doesn’t mean to stop taking care of your responsibilities…even the Little Prince takes care of his responsibilities!)

I finally finished Don Quixote de la Mancha. I did a little research, and from what I can tell I think I only read the first book. Guess I’ll read the 2nd book someday if I run across it, but for now I’ll call this one complete.

Off to my next book. I think I’ll read the Little Prince, it’s a short easy one to give me a break :)

Found some more titles to add to the 10 that I’ve already listed as read!! I’m currently half way through Don Quixiote, but here’s some more of what I’ve already read on the list:

Interview With the Vampire – Anne Rice
The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien
Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There – Lewis Carroll
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll

This makes 14…still a long way off :)

I think I found the correct list, I copied it off and saved it to my computer. I’ll keep track from there. Here I’m listing the books I’ve already read, assuming my bad eyes didn’t miss a title in the list :)

The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath
A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
Animal Farm – George Orwell
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life Among the Lonely – Harriet Beecher
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Pit and the Pendulum – Edgar Allan Poe
A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
The Hunchback of Notre Dame – Victor Hugo

This is a pretty small list compared to the 1001 on there!! Guess I better get reading. Several on the list I started then never finished. And I have quite a few of them sitting on the shelf in this room…oddly, the one on the list sitting closest to me is Gargantua and Pantagruel – Françoise Rabelais (just seems like an out of the blue title to be there). Earlier this year I started reading Don Quioxte out loud to my daughter, and just got too busy to finish.

It’s a lazy night, guess I should grab a book and get started!!