This is my new project. Thanks, Brooke!
As an English teacher, my goal is to give my students literature that they can relate to, books that make them excited about life and about reading. I try my best to plan my lessons in a way that best suits the needs of high school seniors who could care less about school, let alone The Secret Life of Bees or a short story about a Greek grocer. Because my goal is to give them an education that will hopefully change them in some great way (I'm an idealist, I know), I'm putting my money where my mouth is and looking for books that will hopefully do something good in my life, too. Yes, students, Ms. Beck now has reading homework each night. So stop your complaining!
As an avid reader, I love coming across books that grab my attention, make me question the world, redefine my life; books that make me weep with joy or sadness, books that make me want to call up the author for a conversation, books that, when finished, sit on my lap closed, my hands resting on the cover, my mind at ease with a sense of completion and fulfillment.
I'm looking for 50 books that I feel I MUST read. I'm going through lists of classics, I'm going through suggestions from friends and family, I'm going on Amazon for the top reads. Contemporary, Children's or Classic, I'm picking 52 to read over the course of one year (that's one book a week; bear with me, I work full time and take graduate classes!).
This is where I'll be recording what happens. Not just book reviews, but self-reflections and life-reports along the way. The project starts October 1st, 2010.
The final list with appear the last week of September, but join me as I create the list. And send me suggestions. :)
Hi Leah!
ReplyDelete:) In a totally non-religious-political way, I think it might be cool to read the Bible, or some section of the Bible/Torah/Koran.
...As well as the Pali Canon which is the Buddhism sacred guide book if you will. The Pali Cannon is divided into 3 Pitaka (aka Tripitaka): Vinaya Pitaka, Sutta-Pitaka, and the Abhidhamma Pitaka.
Idk if that's too technical or not the type of reading you want to do, but I bet it's really fascinating stuff regardless. I'll try to think of more standardized stuff for soon though.
Hitler's autobiography Mein Kampf is also supposed to be a crazy insight into human psyche.
Cheers Love!
The Color Purple
ReplyDeleteWaiting for Godot by Sam Beckett
ReplyDeleteTrue West by Sam Shepard
I love both "Out of Africa" by Isak Dinesen and "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood - or anything by Atwood for that matter! Good luck!
ReplyDelete"Caucasia" by danzy senna, anything by Junot Diaz, blue boy by rakesh satyal
ReplyDeleteThe Alchemist and Enrique's Journey. 2 of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteyou remembered going after cacciato, so i need to come up with something else. I strongly second Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett. If you want another drama go with The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O'Neill. If not, i think you should read Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee. Seriously.
ReplyDelete-chris w
I highly recommend "House of Leaves" by Mark Z. Danielewski. I found it to be suspenseful, enjoyable, well-written, and smart. The entire novel breaks down and becomes sort of it's own puzzle.
ReplyDeleteBe prepared to devote time to it if you undertake it. I've been meaning to re-read it; we could always compare notes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Leaves for more information.
I'm about halfway into Jonathan Franzen's new one, "Freedom", which reminded me how much I liked "The Corrections", so if you're still looking I recommend "The Corrections". It reminded me of your Aunt Peggy for some reason (although I seem to recall her saying at the time that she'd read the book, and did not appreciate the comparison).
ReplyDeleteYou also mentioned you're looking for more non-fiction. I go through phases, and I'm sure you wouldn't enjoy my current phase (which I've taken to referring to as "business /career self-help"), but I did read some good stuff in my biography phase: "Hughes" by Richard Hack being one of the most fascinating and memorable.
Also great non-fiction: "A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn (I read this after hearing it mentioned in "Good Will Hunting") and "The Children" by David Halberstam.
I'm anxiously awaiting the final cut, and might challenge myself to read the books on your list I haven't yet read. I read A LOT, but I tend to avoid anything that finds a home in the "Literature" section of my local Barnes & Noble...much preferring anything you might find on the best-sellers shelf or in the check-out line of the grocery store :)
At the very least, I'll make sure I keep up with you when we go to Alaska next year. That way we can engage in exclusive, pretentious "literary critiques" at sea (preferably held over several rounds of adult beverages, of course).
Jenn