Debbie's comments

Debbie's comments from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die group.

Note: Debbie is no longer a member of this group.

Bizarre isn't the right word, but it's the first word that comes to mind.

I wasn't at all impressed with the beginning, but after a few chapters, I couldn't put the book down. I was quickly caught up in Victor's journey of self-discovery. No more airplane bathrooms for me, though...ugh.

Definitely not a selection for immature or easily offended readers. Gross, funny, and thought-provoking.

I'll second Kurt Vonnegut. And so it goes...

I just finished this book and I really enjoyed it. I loved the way Jacob remembered his experiences in a series of flashbacks and dreams from his room in a nursing home. I've always been fascinated by family stories and I have fond memories of my grandfather's stories. I felt a strong connection with Jacob and also with Rosie the elephant.

Maybe not a MUST-read, but definitely an enjoyable one.

I just finished Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. It has been sitting on my desk for months and I did not expect to like it. It grabbed me from the first sentence and I could not put it down. I love to be surprised that way!

I haven't read it yet, but I will be starting it this weekend, as it is my book club's choice for this month.

I read and loved The Hours so much that I was inspired to go back and reread Mrs. Dalloway. Unfortunately, I was so irritated by the tragic abuse of semicolons in Mrs. Dalloway that I barely made it to the end. UGH...

I didn't like Jim much, either. He was so spoiled. In some ways, that "spoiledness" and me first mentality helped him survive.

There were many scenes that got to me, but overall, this is not one I would ever pick up on my own. I've never been a big fan of war stories. The unrelenting brutality just gets me down...

A few more...

The Charlie Bone series is similar to Harry Potter.

The Spiderwick Chronicles are wonderful. Fun fantasy.

I just reread Watership Down and remembered how much I loved it as a teenager. 400 pages about rabbits? Way better than it sounds.

Another creative take on fairy tales is Michael Buckley's Sister's Grimm detective series. They discover that the Grimm's fairy tales are actually their great uncles' case files.

I just finished Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard.

Well-written, but I am not really a fan of war novels.

Lots of great stuff posted here...

If you like your fantasy with a dash of humor, be sure to try Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest series.

If you like Harry Potter, you might also like Charlie Bone.

Mythology fans will enjoy Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series.

For fairy tale retellings, check out Donna Jo Napoli. My personal favorites are Crazy Jack (Jack in the Beanstalk) and Spinners (Rumpelstiltskin). Shannon Hale also wrote a marvelous reimagining of a Grimm's fairy tale called The Goose Girl. It is a trilogy, starting with, you guessed it, The Goose Girl.

I am treating the list as a way to expose myself to books I might not pick up on my own. I am reading about one book per month from the list, more or less, in addition to my books clubs, professional reading, and YA lit. In fact, the bulk of my reading is YA lit, so I can recommend books to my students.

I think that the 1001 books list should be fun--a way to get people READING, thinking, and talking about important books. I'm not stressing about how many books I have read from the list or competing with others. I have enough stress in my life already and reading is my escape!

The number of books we read is not nearly as important as the joy and knowledge we gain from them.

I'm at 5.49% right now. I decided not to count books that I have read, but don't remember. This includes loads of Hemingway, Steinbeck, and Dickens that I was not interested in when it was assigned reading in high school, but that I might enjoy more now. There are also books like Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Fountainhead, and Gulliver's Travels. I remember loving them as a young adult, but couldn't give any plot specifics now.

I am already a rereader, so I doubt I'll ever "finish" any of my lists. Maybe I just have to live forever so I can keep at it!

Judith--There are several books on the list that I know I read in either high school or college, but that made little impression on me at the time (lots of dead white guys). I'm still debating on whether to reread them or just focus on stuff I haven't read.

I'm about to start Middlesex and Empire of the Sun.

I just finished Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice. I am rereading the whole series. I love the lush, sensuous storytelling.

I needed something a bit easier after The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie. Though I loved the ideas and the references to everything under the sun, that was a tough read.

I finally finished the book this morning. It took me almost three weeks to read, which is unusual for me. I enjoyed it, but it was a challenging read, especially the first 300 pages. Up until then, I found that I could only read about 10-15 pages before I felt an overwhelming urge to take a nap.

I had a similar reaction to Kim's. There were parts that were so profound and insightful that I was absolutely enthralled and other parts that I skimmed just so they'd be over.

Overall, I liked it, but I didn't really identify with either Ormus or Vina. Rai was interesting, as were several of the minor characters. I wanted to know more about Vina's parents and Ormus' brothers.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a quick one.

I just started The Ground Beneath Her Feet a few days ago. I am only 150 pages in and I have to admit that it is not grabbing me. Though there are some marvelous ideas, it is not a book that is encouraging me to stay up reading past my bedtime.

Judith:

You have some excellent ones on your list. The Little Prince is such a lovely little book, but it made me a bit sad. As a teacher, I am very aware of some of the ways that adults suck the fun and creativity out of the children in our care, all in the name of standardization and compliance. Well, anyway...I could scream from THAT soapbox all day.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Hound of the Baskervilles are also in my favorites. I have seen the movie of A Room with a View and loved it, but I haven't read the book.

Oh, I forgot. The God of Small Things is on my list of favorites. The language is so beautiful and poetic that I just got lost in it.

It's so interesting to see the same books cropping up in both the favorites and the least favorites. I liked The Scarlet Letter, though I wouldn't call it a favorite. Dickens, though...blech! A Christmas Carol is the only one I like. The rest? Ugh.

Favorites:
Life of Pi
Memoirs of a Geisha
Cat's Eye
The Handmaid's Tale
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
The Color Purple
The World According to Garp
Breakfast of Champions
Slaughterhouse-Five
Cat's Cradle
A Clockwork Orange (the one with the extra chapter)
Stranger in a Strange Land
Catch-22
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Hobbit
The Lord of the Rings
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Yellow Wallpaper
Little Women
Les Miserables
Wuthering Heights
A Christmas Carol
Sense & Sensibility
Pride & Prejudice
Emma
Robinson Crusoe

Least Favorites:
American Psycho
In Cold Blood
Lord of the Flies
The Catcher in the Rye
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations