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Thursday, November 12, 2009

My Kingdom for a Kindle

When our little bundle of joy was born this past May, B Daddy and I decided to get each other gifts to commemorate the occasion. His gift? A classy watch to pass on to the Squirt one day. My gift? A Kindle!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Kindle.


I have loved to read for as long as I can remember. When we used to go on vacation I would take at least three books: one for the trip there, one to read while there and one for the way back. If the trip is any longer than a few days - 3 books simply wouldn't do and my carry-on resembled a mini-library.

My sweet husband's gift has put an end to all of this ridiculousness. Now I can carry on as many books as I want more easily than I used take one. Plus I have a dictionary at my fingertips and I can access Amazon.com anytime I run out of books to read!

So the point of this post - - I have had aspirations since high school to read all the "classics." The trouble with the classics is that they usually require quite a bit of perseverance and at least $1.25 in late fees at our local library. (That's like 3 weeks overdue for you non-bibliophiles)

With my Kindle, I can download most "classics" for free now that they are in the public domain and read them as slowly as I need to. I'm currently slogging through Anna Karenina. So far a decent story...but a classic? Not sure I understand yet.

My friend Ryan over at The Swans are Nesting recently decided to take this challenge upon herself and for the sake of camaraderie and an excuse to fill up the menu of my Kindle with some high-brow selections I am joining her!

Granted I have 2 1/2 years before I hit the big 3-0, but as soon as I finish Anna Karenina I'm jumping on board to see how many of these great works I can have under my belt before Ryan's big day.

I have read a few of the books on Ryan's list, so here's my list:

1. Guns, Germs and Steel – Jared Diamond
2. Crime and Punishment – Dostoyevsky
3. Gone With The Wind – Margaret Mitchell
4. The Sound and the Fury – William Faulkner This one will take some slogging...
5. The Maltese Faclon – Dashiell Hammett
6. The Giver – Lois Lowry
7. Perks of Being a Wall Flower – Stephen Chbosky
8. The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint Exupéry
9. Watership Down – Richard Adams
10. The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
11. Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
12. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
13. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
14. Catch-22 – Heller Ugh - not excited about this one. I've started and put it down twice.
15. Gulliver’s Travels – Jonathon Swift
16. Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
17. Great Expectations – Charles Dickens Read this in middle school, but I think it's worth a second read.
18. Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
19. Seven Habits of Highly Effective People - Stephen R. Covey
20. Lord of the Flies - How did I get out of high school without reading this???
21. The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
22. Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe
23. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
24. Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
25. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
26. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
27. My Antonia - Willa Cather
28. Tales - Edgar Allen Poe

Ha! I turn 28 next year, so my list is shorter by 2....28 before 28 for me! Anyone interested in joining the club?

Now back to Vronsky and Anna...

6 comments:

  1. The nesting swan here! I've been bad about updating my blog on the books I've read, but thought I'd give you an update :) So far I've read To Kill a Mockingbird (LOVED IT) and 1984 (not so much loved, but very thought provoking and kind of scary to see some of the parallels in today's world). I'm currently 2 chapters in to Wuthering Heights and honestly, I'm not liking it. I'm going to attempt to keep with it because I'm hoping there is a turning point, but for now, I'm just not excited to pick it up and keep reading. Let me know what you're going to start with on your list!

    Oh and Todd is trying to get through The Sound and the Fury and not doing so good...I'm not sure how I'll make it through that one!

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  2. loved your list...i started on this same project when "sporty Neil" from London was engaged in the same. I realized, I too, somehow graduated without reading many of the "classics". Hence, out of your list I have read most. Comments: LOVED Crime&Punishment, GWTW (so much better than the movie!),agree about Catch 22 but did manage to finish, Jekyll & Hyde-velly intellesting, Wind in the Willows was one I picked up and put down numerous times as a kid...I will join y'alls challenge and commit to read The 3 Musketeers before Christmas. BTW, we have many of these books here if you want to read the old fashioned way!

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  3. I just got a Kindle a month ago....I don't know if I can read the list in its entirity but I am in!!

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  4. For every one of these you read I will watch the movie (if there is one) with you afterwards. :)

    B Daddy

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  5. I actually go to the library...not reading the Classics (I haven't cared for many of the ones I had to read in school) but picking ones that have been on NY Times Bestsellers list. Reading "The Secret Life of Bees", "Love's Long Journey" (Little House on the Prairie author), just finished "The Lost Boy" by Dave Peltzer and 3 novels by Jodi Piccoult- she wrote "My Sister's Keeper" the movie with Cameron Diaz that just came out this year. That's what I've read this month. I just don't know many good current authors...suggestions??

    ps- like that comment b daddy

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  6. I think you will love Gone with the Wind! It's my favourite book of all time and I generally read fantasy novels!!!

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