So... I have decided to write a very important list. I list of 30 Books to read before I am 30. Yikes! That's 15 books each year (and I'm starting now at 27 so I have about a month head start :P), roughly a book a month with an extra 3 thrown in.
I wanted to make sure that I had everything from YA to Existentialist dribble. I want to push beyond my own inclinations and read things that I wouldn't normally be into. I also am hoping to increase my desolate and minute vocabulary, simultaneously, building a foundation of great writing but more importantly great story-telling.
Decidedly missing are the "great" American novelists, not that I don't think that they are great or that I don't to some degree see the appeal, I just simply prefer British authors. But I threw a couple in there just for good measure.
Without further ado, these are the books I have decided on:
1. The Stand by Stephen King - Technically, I've already started and am half way through. But, it's a classic and I'm in love and 30 books is a lot.
2. Paper Towns by John Green - Starting it out light ;) but also I'm reading it before I go see the movie and I'm in a little book club and it's the book of the week
3. Middlemarch by George Elliot - I started it, then moved and never picked it back up. It is on almost every top-novel-of-all-time lists and I have it, so there you go. I mean really, English √ Hopelessly Romantic √ Victorian Era √ Long, drawn-out drama √√ I'm already in love.
4. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck - Because you know, it's American lit at its finest... rah rah rah... blah
5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - After Steinbeck you need something a little less heavy (pshhh). And Surprise! It's American lit! At the very least I'm trying :)
6. Persuasion by Jane Austen - I know, I know! The shame! I love Austen and I have never read my mom's favorite novel of hers. Yet another 1800s English novelist, what can I say, they're my fave.
7. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell - Loved the movie, will more than likely love the epic novel.
8. Night by Elie Wiesel - If my best friend says it's her favorite novel, it's going to be good if not great.
9. Ender's Game by Orsen Scott Card - I have heard so much about this series, can't wait to read it.
10. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Here's a big un, I LOVED Notes from the Underground, so I am preparing myself for philosophical awesomeness, bring it on Russian prose.
11. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - Marry me Charles Dickens! Can't wait for this one :)
12. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier - I feel like I've read this book but alas I've only seen the movie. And we all know, the books is ALWAYS better than the movie
13. Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - With a last name like "Niffenegger" it has to be good.
14. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov - Infamous and disturbing, but a classic and quite good I'm told.
15. The Poisonwood Bible by Karen Kingsolver - I'm not really sure why other than it's on Goodreads "100 Books to Read in a Lifetime"
------------- Half way there! Whoop Whoop!---------------
16. The Bell Jar by Slyvia Plath - Another American one, I'm trying!!!
17. A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell - NON-FICTION! There you go and I've desperately been wanting to read this. And it's going to happen... before I'm 30.
18. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - Another one? Absofreakinlutely!
19. The Color Purple by Alice Walker - Another tragic and disturbing novel? I think so. Great movie, great novel? Yes, I DEFINTELY think so.
20. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy - There's those pesky Russian authors again! What have I got to lose!
21. A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket - seems fun and engaging and a complete welcome after The Color Purple and Russian lit ;)
22. Dune by Frank Herbert - Didn't have many science fiction novels and I figured this would be a great one.
23. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris - Because what the hell, it's [Sardonic] Sedaris... see what I did there? ;)
24. Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan - After all this, I want FLUFF! Okay? Just give me entertainment! No thinking... just pure, unaltered enjoyment. Thank you.
25. The Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - Better than 50 Shades of Grey? Dear God, I hope so because that was some terrible, idiotic tripe. AMIRITE?!
26. City of Thieves by David Benioff - Will this be on a list of the greatest novels of all time? I should think not; however, I crave Russian WWII drama! Gimme, gimme.
27. The Green Mile by Stephen King - Love the movie, cannot wait to read the book.
29. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - Looks fascinating and was a recommendation from a librarian... enough said.
*DRUM ROLL PLEASE - LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEST*
30. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky - Another Russin Lit? I'm picking up on a pattern or maybe it's just that them Russians can WRITE!
Okay, let's see if I can make it through this list in one piece! I will let you know how my progress is going.
