Reading the Classics

Several years ago, I set a goal for myself to work my way through “the classics,” a bunch of books I should read, for one reason or another.

Last year, I read 5 and abandoned 1. Here’s what I thought of them.

1. Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (abandoned)– This book is supposed to be a love story with beautiful writing. But it’s SO BORING. Nothing happens, as is the way with many classics. I didn’t intend to put it down; I was going to keep attempting to get through it, but I could never bring myself to start reading again. I might try again later. Sometimes I like books better in different moods.
2. Animal Farm, by George Orwell– I have no idea why this took me so long to read. It’s a short book, but also educational, entertaining, and a bit frightening. It perfectly illustrates how power corrupts.
3. Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier– Again, why did this take me so long to get to? It’s a classic gothic horror story but with one amazing twist at the end. I love that the narrator remains largely unnamed. I liked this one enough that I’ll probably reread it at some point.
4. Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens– I expected this to be dry and difficult to read, but it was great. It was a surprisingly easy read, with interesting characters. References to this book are everywhere, now that I know what they’re talking about. It’s helpful to know who Fagin, the Artful Dodger, and Nancy are.
5. Lord of the Flies, by William Golding– Okay, technically I did read this in high school, but that was a long time ago, and I didn’t remember much about it. I wanted a refresher, so I read it. I liked it and can see why it’s a classic, but I didn’t love it. Definitely worth reading, and I’m glad I re-read it, but it wasn’t enjoyable.
6. His Dark Materials, by Phillip Pullman (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass)- These get better as the series goes on. I know some people have a problem with his stance on religion, but I was reading them as books, not as educational texts, so it doesn’t make much difference to me. They were highly entertaining, and I loved the last one.

In the upcoming year, I plan to read 5 more. My tentative list is as follows, but I’m always open to suggestions.

1. Catch-22, by Joseph Heller– I’ve wanted to read this for years. All I know about it is that the catch-22 has something to do with being crazy/ sane and flying combat planes, and that it’s supposed to be funny.
2. The Stand, by Stephen King– This is supposed to be the post-apocalyptic horror story that set the standard. I’m sure I’ll love it, but it’s so long that it’s a bit daunting to start. Still, I write horror and I love post-apocalyptic stuff so I really need to read it.
3. Dune, by Frank Herbert– Another classic of the genre, but really long. This one has been on my list for awhile.
4. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut– This is another book I know very little about, but it’s been on my list for awhile. Interestingly, some friends were talking about it recently, and that solidified it; it has to go on the list.
5. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald– I’m a bit tentative with this one. I didn’t like Tender is the Night, but just because I didn’t like one of his books doesn’t mean I won’t like any. Gatsby is his most recognizable title, so maybe there’s a reason for it? I have no qualms about abandoning it if I hate it.
6. Alternate- Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy– It sounds like a fascinating book, and I’ve never read any Tolstoy. I’m guessing I’ll either love it or hate it.

What do you think of my lists? What do you think of the ones I read in 2017? My 2018 list isn’t set in stone (no reading list ever is), so what do you think of my picks?

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Book Shopping at Goodwill

My local Goodwill has these old metal shelves holding the books. They’re jumbled, in no particular order. I can tell that someone has tried to put them in order (the cookbooks are separated from the fiction), but it’s probably a losing battle.

One time, as I stood there, looking over the shelves, a man came up to me and asked if he could help me find anything. I politely declined, but asked me again what I was looking for. I said, “I don’t know. Just whatever I feel like buying.” He then asked if I was looking for fiction or nonfiction, any particular authors. I admit, I was getting a bit annoyed by this point. (My default setting is to be antisocial… I’m working on it. Sort of.) Finally, I said that I was looking for classics, and other books I don’t have.

The man’s eyes lit up, and he said, “I pick the books that get put out, and no one ever wants the classics! If I know that’s what you’re looking for, I can start to put them out.” And then he showed me where a few of them were.

I firmly believe that sometimes people come to me to teach me lessons. This man reminded me to slow down, and instead of being annoyed when people ask me seemingly random questions, to figure out what they’re really asking, then answer.

Often I forget that most people like to be helpful, and I was really doing this man a kindness by letting him help me. He was genuinely enthusiastic about books, and excited to help me find what I wanted.

In a world full of bad news, it’s nice to make a genuine human connection, even if only for a minute. Thanks, Random Goodwill Book Guy.

Judging Matters of Opinion

Bet you never thought you’d see these two books pictured together!

I like the Walking Dead, Longmire, and Man in the High Castle.  I couldn’t care less about Game of Thrones.

I liked Twilight and 50 Shades of Gray, but I liked The Girl With All the Gifts by MR Carey and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury better.

I see judgmental articles online all the time about what it means if someone likes “trashy” books like Twilight and 50 Shades.  I also see tons of response articles with people saying they won’t apologize for their taste.

Why is this so common?  Why is it such a thing for people to pass judgement on other people’s choice of entertainment?  What in particular does it say about me as a person that I can enjoy the entire spectrum of novels, all the way from the widely criticized to the highly revered?

In my opinion, the answer is not much.

What it says about me is that I have broad tastes and that I enjoy many things.  I enjoy things, not because I’m supposed to or they’re popular (or unpopular), but simply because they entertain me.  I’m all about relishing what entertains me, unapologetically.  I don’t feel the need to hide fondness for romance, or to brag about it when I’m reading classics.  Because while one might expand my knowledge and thinking, the other is something I like.  I don’t need reasons to enjoy something, just like I don’t need to explain why, for me, mint chocolate chip will always win over vanilla.

If you see me sitting at the coffee shop, and I’m reading a book that you consider awful, think about this: yesterday, I may have been reading a classic or difficult book.  And if I am reading that “difficult book” while I’m standing in line at the grocery store, don’t assume that says anything about me.  I’m likely to also have something by Nora Roberts in my purse.

I read a lot, and I don’t judge other people for any reading habits, other than when they say, “I like to read, but I don’t have time for it.”  If you don’t like to read and don’t do it, that’s cool.  But if you claim you don’t have time, I call shenanigans.  There’s always time for what you like.

Anyway, the point is that judging people based on their taste in entertainment is silly.  And if you weren’t sneaking peeks at what I’m reading, maybe you’d have time to finish that book that’s been sitting on your bedside table for the last six months.

Not that I’m judging.  😉

 

To Buy or Not to Buy… That is the Question…

Actually, even though the title of the post is to buy or not, that’s not really the question.  The question is whether to keep them once bought.

I’m a little bit of a hoarder.  I know people who change out their wardrobes seasonally, and have no trouble getting rid of old clothes, but I figure that if I buy it, I should keep it.

That’s why I have thousands of books.  Literally, thousands.

I try not to buy books.  I really try.  I use my local library for both ebooks and paper books.  But when I buy a book, I prefer to have the physical copy.

When I was attempting to shelve my huge collection, I started giving a lot of thought to clutter, and how much I hate it.  I started to really think about why I own so many books.  I haven’t read all of them.  Some of them were given to me by people who know I like books.  Some of them are well-loved books I’ve read a million times or might read again.  So, how do I decide which stay and which ones go?  I’ve made up a few rules.

If it has sentimental value.  My grandfather didn’t read many books, but he read and loved Marley and Me.  I enjoyed that book too, but even if I didn’t, I’d still own a copy.  It always makes me think of him.  And fairy tales make me think of my grandma.

If I’m going to re-read it.  I’ve read Watership Down more times than I can count.  So much so that I recently had to buy a new copy, as my old one was falling apart.  I love books that bear those kinds of marks of how well-loved they are.  My copy of Pride and Prejudice has post-it flags stuck in my favorite parts, so if I’m having a bad day, I can visit my favorite parts of the story and get a quick mood boost.

If it’s a classic.  I’m working my way through many of the classics, and even the ones I didn’t like, I’m keeping on my shelf.  I figure that it it’s stood up that much over the years, I may want to revisit it at a different point in my life.  I tried reading 1984 for the first time a few years ago, and though I recognized that it was a good book and I should like it, I just couldn’t stay interested.  Two years later, I picked it up and sped through it.  What’s going on in my life absolutely affects what I read and how I perceive it.

If it’s a “reference” book.  This is kind of a tricky one.  I write speculative fiction, so having books full of ghost stories, myths and legends, on my shelves is good practice.  I never know where I might find inspiration.

I haven’t read it yet, but I plan to.  I’m a sucker for used bookstores.  Sometimes I just have to pick something up because it looks good, but then I don’t get to it for awhile.  I’m okay with that.  But there are some books that I’ll probably never get to, and I need to learn to let them go.

These rules are flexible and subject to change.  But I’ve already taken two boxes of books to my local Half-Price books, and it feels good to know I’m reducing some of the clutter.

Do you buy books or get them from the library?  How do you decide which to keep and which to get rid of?

So Many Books, So Little Time

A couple of years ago, my reading tastes started to shift.  I’ve always loved to read, and I’m a firm proponent of the novel, but I started to notice that many novels were kind of the same.  Once you’ve read one Harlequin romance novel, you’ve kinda read them all.  I started craving variety in my reading life.

Some of my favorite books have snippets of poetry or quotations to introduce chapters, or peppered in the text.  I enjoyed those morsels without thinking much of them.  Then, one day, it hit me.  The authors I most enjoy are well-read, and are not just reading whatever entertains them.

Two years ago, I looked around for a list of classics, wanting to be more well-read, hoping that would help me be a better writer.  I wasn’t thinking there’d be some sort of magical transformation or anything, but just that I could learn some things from the masters.

I’d read some of the books on the list, and some of them were books I’ve loved.  But of the ones I hadn’t read, I had to force my way through the first few books on my list.  Reading novels, I was accustomed to reading fast, zipping my way through the pages without having to pay particular attention to anything.  With many of these new books that I was choosing to exercise my mind rather than just for fun, it was actually work.  I had to slow down, read closely, figure out some of the meaning.

At first, it wasn’t fun.  It was hard, not something I’m used to associating with reading.  But the more I’ve done, the more I want to do.  I’m getting to the point where I want to read harder books.  Not primarily because I want to be a better author or because I somehow think I should, but because the ideas contained in many of these books enflame me.  Ideas and concepts are timeless.

In reading  these books, I’ve started highlighting sentences and passages, wanting to get more out of them.  The act of highlighting seems magical, as if that yellow line will somehow imprint the wonderfulness of the sentence into my brain.

I’ve always been a big re-reader, visiting with old friends.  I find I’m doing less of it, for several reasons.  First, who has time for that?  Without exaggerating, I can say I have at least 100 books on my TBR list.  I read 100 books last year, but I can’t just read all difficult books.  Plus, I add new books my list all the time.

Second, some of the books I’ve read in the past don’t stand up on re-reading.  I had that experience recently, when I read a beloved book.  I hadn’t read it in a few years, and when I read it this time around, it wasn’t as good as I remembered.  I found myself critiquing the writing, finding places where the author hit me over the head with philosophy, when it would have been much better to let me draw my own conclusions.  I didn’t like that experience, and may think twice about re-reading books I’m nostalgic about.

I’m certainly not saying that I’m going to stop reading genre fiction.  Not at all.  It’s what I write and what I love.  I’m just saying that there are so many good books out there, and that my goal is to read as many of them as I can in my lifetime.

Have anyone else’s reading tastes changed over time?

 

 

Books I Read In 2014

On Spontaneous Saturdays, I post something on whatever topic comes to mind.

Berry Springs Park and Preserve
Photo Credit: Doree Weller

In 2013, I started keeping track of the books I read.  I did this partly because I was curious, and partly because I do read a lot of books.  It got to the point that I couldn’t remember what books I’ve read and which I haven’t, so I thought that keeping a list was a good way to figure out if I’ve read a book before or not.  It’s not terribly sophisticated; I just keep a Google docs list so that I can update it anywhere, and I also like to keep track of the amount of time it takes me to read something.  Because I’m almost never without a book, people always asked me how much I read, and I used to tell them it was on average, 5 books a month.  I can see now that I was very much underestimating that.

I started reading 87 books this year, and only didn’t finish two.  One, I stopped reading, and the other, I’m still working on.

Forty of the books were rereads, and 6 of them were from the 100 Classic Books I’m working my way through.

My favorite new books from this year were The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, On Little Wings by Regina Sirois, Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl,  The Unfortunate Fairy Tale Books by Chanda Hahn, and Every Ugly Word, Aimee L. Salter.  Interestingly, I didn’t find any new books to go into my all time favorites list, but these are all good, and worth reading.

I tried to read more “smarter” books this year, in addition to the classics.  I learned that while “smart” books might be good for my brain, I hate them.  I’ll stick with the classics, which at least make me feel like I’m accomplishing something, and if nothing else, help me get some references made by other authors.

What was the best book you’ve read this year?

* This is a book I’ve read before.

+ This is a book I didn’t finish

# From my classics list

X This was a book recommended by my book club.

1.  #1984, George Orwell (12/23/13- 1/4/14)
2.  The Book Thief, Markus Zusak (1/5- 1/7)
3.  Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict (1/12)
4.  *Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (1/12- 1/18)
5.  +The MELT Method (1/20-
6.  *Mr. Darcy’s Diary, Amanda Grange (1/20)
7.  *Christy, Maud Johnson (1/23-1/24)
8.  *Starting from Square Two, by Karen Lissner (1/27- 1/30)
9.  X Boy’s Life, by Robert McCammon  (1/30- 2/22)
10.  On Little Wings, by Regina Sirois (2/2- 2/3)
11.  *Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire (2/16-2/17)
12.  Orange is the New Black, Piper Kerman (2/22- 2/28)
13.  Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (2/28- 3/3)
14.  *Black Dawn, LJ Smith (3/11)
15.  *Witchlight, LJ Smith (3/11)
16.  The Dogs of Christmas, W. Bruce Cameron (3/13- 3/14)
17.  *The Chosen, LJ Smith (3/16)
18.  Hollow City, Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs (3/18- 3/25)
19.  Doomed, Chuck Palahniuk (3/26- 4/5)
20.  *Carolina Moon, Nora Roberts  (4/3-4/4)
21.  *Genuine Lies, Nora Roberts (4/5-4/10)
22.  *Red Dragon, Thomas Harris (4/11- 4/15)
23.  Island of Fire (The Unwanteds 3), Lisa McCann (4/16-4/17)
24.  *The Host, Stephanie Meyer, (4/18- 4/20)
25. #*The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, CS Lewis (4/21-4/22)
26.  *Hannibal, Thomas Harris (4/24-4/28)
27.  *The Fault in Our Stars, John Green (4/30-5/2)
28.  The Heartbreak Pill, Anjanette Delgado (5/4-5/12)
29.  *Baby Island, Carol Ryrie Brink  (5/16)
30.  X The Glimmer Palace, Beatrice Colin (5/18- 5/26)- boring, read like historical fiction
31.  #The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman (5/28- 5/31)
32.  *Anne of Green Gables, LM Montgomery (6/1-6/2)
33.  *Anne of Avonlea, LM Montgomery (6/3-6/4)
34.  A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (6/5- 6/15)
35.  The Cold Dish, Craig Johnson (6/6- 6/10)
36.  The Broom of the System, David Foster Wallace (6/17- 7/6)
37.  *Blue Dahlia, Nora Roberts (6/24-6/25)
38.  *Black Rose, Nora Roberts (6/25-6/26)
39.  *Red Lily, Nora Roberts (6/26- 6/30)
40.  *Jewels of the Sun, Nora Roberts (7/6- 7/7)
41.  *Tears of the Moon, Nora Roberts (7/7- 7/8)
42.  *Heart of the Sea, Nora Roberts (7/8- 7/10)
43.  House of Leaves, Mark Danlewski (7/11- 8/ something)
44.  *Beautiful Disaster, Jamie McGuire (7/17- 7/19)
45.  *Born in Ice, Nora Roberts (7/27-7/28)
46.  *Born in Shame, Nora Roberts (7/28-7/29)
47.  *Born in Fire, Nora Roberts (7/29-7/31)
48.  *Sea Swept, Nora Roberts (8/1- 8/2)
49.  *Rising Tides (8/2- 8/3)
50.  *Inner Harbor, Nora Roberts (8/4)
51.  Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl (8/5- 8/18)
52.  Timebound, Rysa Walker (8/18- 8/22)
53.  *Pride and Predjudice, Jane Austen (8/22- 8/28)
54.  Four, Veronica Roth (8/28)
55.  Unenchanted (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 1), Chanda Hahn (8/28- 8/29)
56.  X While I Was Gone, Sue Miller (8/29- 9/2)
57.  Fairest (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 2), Chanda Hahn (9/2-9/3)
58.  Fable (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 3), Chanda Hahn (9/3)
59. X  The Promise: A Tragic Accident, a Paralyzed Bride, and the Power of Love, Loyalty, and Friendship, Rachelle Friedman (9/4- 9/7)
60.  *Walking Disaster, Jamie McGuire (9/8- 9/11)
61.  Notes to Self, Avery Sawyer (9/11)- A girl with a head injury has to learn about herself and remember what happened the night of the fall.
62. Broken Promises, Dawn Pendleton (9/13- 9/15), meh… poorly written, no conflict
63. It Started With Dracula: The Count, My Mother, and I, Jane Congdon (9/15-  9/21)
64. Broken Dreams, Dawn Pendleton (9/22)
65. Broken Pieces, Dawn Pendleton (9/23- 9/24)
66. Broken Valentine, Dawn Pendleton (9/24- 9/25)
67. Every Ugly Word, Aimee L. Salter (9/25- 9/26) Young girl being bullied, Older Self, excellent.
68. Kiss a Girl in the Rain, Nancy Warren (9/29-9/30)
69. Iris in Bloom, Nancy Warren (9/30- 10/1)
70. The Mad Tinker’s Daughter, JS Morin (10/2- 10/10)
71. *Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte (10/14- 10/15)
72. Loving Lauren, Jill Sanders (10/24- 10/25)
73. X The Light Between Oceans, ML Steadman (10/25- 10/29)
74. Ghost in the Bedroom, MA Harper (10/30- 11/3)
75. #Dracula, Bram Stoker (11/4- 11/11)
76. Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Fannie Flagg (11/12)
77. Reign, (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale Book 4), Chanda Hahn (11/13)
78. #The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath (11/14 -11/15)
79. X #A Farewell To Arms, Ernest Hemingway (11/16- 11/25)
80. The Crying Lot of 49, Thomas Pynchon (11/28- 12/18)
81. *Divergent, Veronica Roth (12/4)
82. *Insurgent, Veronica Roth (12/5- 12/6)
83. *Allegiant, Veronica Roth (12/6- 12/7)
84. *Blood Brothers, Nora Roberts (12/10- 12/12)
85. *The Hollow, Nora Roberts (12/12-12/14)
86. *The Pagan Stone, Nora Roberts (12/14- 12/15)
87. X +The Night Circus, Erin Morganstern (12/30- present)

“A good book on your shelf is a friend that turns its back on you and remains a friend.”

~Author Unknown

The Postman Always Rings Twice- book review

My high school education, as far as reading goes, was not the best.  We didn’t read Of Mice and Men, 1984, or Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.  For whatever reason, we were assigned books other than the classics.

As an adult, I’ve tried to make up for that by adding the classics into my reading.  In between romance, murder mysteries, and other things, I try to add in classics.  I don’t want to read boring classics, but many of these books are classic for a reason, and as a writer, I think it’s important that I read as many of them as I can.

That being said, I recently read something mentioning The Postman Always Rings Twice, by James M. Cain.  This 1934 novel is not on most high school reading lists, but it is one of those books I’ve often heard about.  It was made into four movies, the most recent one done in 1981 with Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange.

I got it from the library, and it’s a really fast read.  Full of sexual tension, intrigue, and murder, it’s not what I was expecting for a book written almost 100 years ago.  If you’ve never read it, and you like murder, I’d recommend putting it on your reading list.  It’s a great book for a lazy afternoon.

And just in case you’re curious, here’s a link to a high school reading list.  I’m kind of ashamed to say that I’ve only read 11 of the books on the list.  I need to work on that!