27. A book from the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list

[Adam]

That sounds like an excellent idea. It would be great to work through the book with others. I’m currently working through it at 2.5x/3x speed and it’s still going to take me twenty or more trips to get through it all.

I haven’t even got up to his exile yet. I actually thought it started in media res (like all the plot adaptations do), so the long build up was unexpected.

[dalex]

Just an FYI...the goodreds list of the new books added in 2018 has been totally massacred with a lot of stuff added that shouldn't be there. This is the official list

[Karen]

I read Things Fall Apart for this prompt. I've had a copy sitting around forever, so this seemed like a good excuse to read it. I thought it was just okay.

I haven't read that many books off the list, so it looks like I have some catching up to do!

[Mel]

I'm honestly not sure what I'm reading for this yet! In narrowing, I've still got about six books I'm interested in, so I might wind up sliding the extras into other categories for this challenge or the Popsugar challenge (which I'm also doing.)

My main contenders:
The House of Mirth
Fingersmith
The Color Purple
Vanity Fair
The Count of Monte Cristo
The History of Love

[L Y N N]

Mel wrote: "I'm honestly not sure what I'm reading for this yet! In narrowing, I've still got about six books I'm interested in, so I might wind up sliding the extras into other categories for this challenge o..."

I can heartily recommend The Color Purple. The History of Love has always looked as if it would be a good read, also.

[Celia]

- What are you reading for this category?
Of Mice and Men
- Have you read many books from this list?
I have read 44 of the top 100 and 10 more are on my TBR. Maybe some day, I'll count how many on the whole list!!

[Nadine in NY]

Celia wrote: "- What are you reading for this category?
Of Mice and Men
- Have you read many books from this list?
I have read 44 of the top 100 and 10 more are on my TBR. Maybe some day, I'll count ..."


What are the top 100?

[Celia]

Nadine wrote: "Celia wrote: "- What are you reading for this category?
Of Mice and Men
- Have you read many books from this list?
I have read 44 of the top 100 and 10 more are on my TBR. Maybe some da..."
Here is the link
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...

[Nadine in NY]

Celia wrote: "Nadine wrote: "Celia wrote: "- What are you reading for this category?
Of Mice and Men
- Have you read many books from this list?
I have read 44 of the top 100 and 10 more are on my TBR..."


Thanks! I'm right behind you, I've read 43 of that top 100!

[Celia]

Nadine wrote: "Celia wrote: "Nadine wrote: "Celia wrote: "- What are you reading for this category?
Of Mice and Men
- Have you read many books from this list?
I have read 44 of the top 100 and 10 more..."
☺

[Jody]

I'm hoping my jar spits this topic out for me, because I'm slowly working through this list and it's almost a free choice (well, as long as the book is over 500 pages!). I just clicked on that link, and I've read 72 from the top 100 - yay!

[Jill]

What are you reading for this category?
I read Candide by Voltaire

Have you read many books from this list?
Having read this, I have read 56 so far and quite a few I have marked to read

[Elizabeth]

for this one I'm going to be reading Kim by Rudyard Kipling
i grew up watching the movie but never read the book so now is a good time to do so

[Jen]

I did Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. I am so glad I don't live in a world without animals or where emotions have to be regulated by a box.

I have read 29 of the top 100 since joining GR in 2012 but quite a few others pre 2012 I just don't add any of my pre 2012 reading on here.

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

What are you reading for this category? Mansfield Park
- Have you read many books from this list? Quite a few. Really, the ones I have left to read are long ones. But this was my book group book this month and I haven't read it since college, so it was due a reread

[Kim]

I've read many books from this list, so I wasn't sure I'd find another one that I wanted to take on without having to look through page after page of suggestions. Ultimately I decided on Amsterdam by Ian McEwan

[Rachel]

I read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon for ATY's 2019 prompt #27 "a book off of the 1001 books to read before you die list."



I have been wanting to read from this list for a long time and even own the hardcover book of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. I had fun pulling it off the shelf and flipping through until I found my selection.

[Rose]

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

[Perri]

This was the 4th book I attempted on this list. I hated the first 3 so was so glad to adored my 4th!

Optional Questions:
- What are you reading for this category?
A Prayer for Owen Meany
- Have you read many books from this list?
Quite a few , but it's nice to see I've missed something so good

[Karissa]

What are you reading for this category? The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Have you read many books from this list? I really don't want to count haha. More than 20?

[MN]

I read Anne Bronte, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall for this prompt. I'd read a fair number of books on the list and restricted my choice from books I already own. I'm so pleased I chose the Bronte: it's an astonishing read; and, for me, the descripions of violence and cruelty are made more heartrending by the knowledge that Bronte drew on her brother Branwell's profligate life.

[Debra]

I read Dracula4/24/19

[Samantha]

- What are you reading for this category? The Girls of Slender Means
- Have you read many books from this list?
I don't know, I hate this list so I am not going to revisit to see what I have read. It is far too long and filled with too many books that I am just not interested in. So much historical fiction and if not historical fiction then books that are historical. In any case seemed to be filled with a lot of stuff that is not my taste.

[dalex]

I read A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride, which was added to the list in 2018. I really enjoyed it - the way it was written was unique and clever (stream-of-consciousness, sort of) and the story was just heartbreaking.

[Anastasia]

I was so happy to find a Canadian author on this list. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry is not a light novel by any stretch. It is really good and worth the time.

I usually do not look at these types of lists for books, expect to fill prompts for this group. I find them more organically.

[Marie]

I read Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

I went through the List Challenge for this and I've only read 45 - most of my least favourite books are included in that 45, and almost all my DNF books are also on the list. I don't know who decided everyone "must" read those books, but we have very different taste and I would probably use this as a list to avoid, rather than read!

Half of a Yellow Sun was an exception to that though, because I thought it was excellent.

[Jody]

Anastasia wrote: "I was so happy to find a Canadian author on this list. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry is not a light novel by any stretch. It is really good and worth the time."

Oh this is one of my absolute favourites. It's devastating, but incredible. I cared so much about even the minor characters.

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

I read The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison for this prompt. I have had it on my bookshelf, and I'm really glad I finally picked it up, although the last 25% of the book could have been a bit less... intense. and descriptive.

I've read 28 books off of the entire list, and 26 of those are on the top 100 lol. I'm just not a classics reader. But most of my 40 Before 40 list are on this 1001 list, so that's cool. I know I'll have over 40 books read on the list before I die, which is fine with me lol.

[GailW]

What are you reading for this category?
I read Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières
Have you read many books from this list?
I have read 119 books on the 2018 List 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die.

[Sara]

- What are you reading for this category?
Decline and Fall
- Have you read many books from this list?
I think I have a pretty good showing.

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

- What are you reading for this category? The Unbearable Lightness of Being
- Have you read many books from this list? I have, although a number of longer ones not yet!

[Angie]

- What are you reading for this category?
Foundation

- Have you read many books from this list?
A lot of them, yes. It's a good list.

[Ashley]

- What are you reading for this category? All Quiet on the Western Front
- Have you read many books from this list? I have read more on the list than I thought. I stopped counting at 25, so there could be more, but I still have that I want to read.

[Shelley]

I was going through a slump when this book came up, so I pushed aside all 10 books from my TBR that worked and went with The Hound of the Baskervilles. 0 regrets. Would read again.

[Stacey]

What are you reading for this category? I picked it awhile ago. Please Lord, don't let me have made a mistake. Hope it's better than I think it's going to be. It's At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien. It's said to be funny. But we all know how that can go sometimes :((

Have you read many books from this list? This one will make 213 (if I can get through it).

[Emily]

I read The Age of Innocence for this prompt, #157 on the Goodreads 1001 list. Goodreads tells me I have read 41 of the first 100 books on their list, so yeah, I'd say I've read a lot of them.

[Andrea]

I just finished To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf for this prompt. It was a beautifully written work that focused on family dynamics during the early twentieth century and how they changed over time. Younger folks may find it unrelatable.

[SadieReadsAgain]

What are you reading for this category? The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy
Have you read many books from this list? Just scrolling through it, I think 79.

I can't believe it has taken me so long to read this book. Its beautiful cover caught my eye about 20 years ago, I stole it from my mum's bookshelves about five years ago, and it still took me until now to read it. Talk about delayed gratification...but gratification it certainly was. This book is so beautiful, I don't even know how to put my feelings into words. There is pain, the deep scars of caste and family damage, the loss of innocence and the shattering of lives. And yet Roy casts a spell over the reader - you can see the foreshadowing, you know the hurt that is coming, but you're drawn to the flame like one of Pappachi's moths. She is truly gifted in crafting a story, winding it around you so slowly and gently that you realise only too late that you're trapped in it. Time shifts, phrases come back to haunt you, and the true poison of the story is drip fed in the guise of sweet, clear morning dew. Childhood exposes the nonsensical prejudices of the adult world, and is completely shattered in return. But still, it is beautiful. I can't explain it. This book broke my heart, but I love it all the same.

[Stephanie]

I read All the Pretty Horses for this. I have read a lot of the books near the front of the list - haven't even heard of many of them near the back!

[Wendy]

Coming off reading (and now obsessing over) Moby Dick for the 500+ page challenge, I decided to read a new addition to the 2018 version of the 1001 list: The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach ... mainly because it's loaded with (somewhat pointless?) Moby Dick references. It wasn't a bad read, but it leans a bit too far into that literary-bookcluby vibe that I'm not usually taken with. Still, I'm up for some baseball action and this book delivered that extremely well.

According to my stats, this was book #248 from the combined list. I got a copy of the original 1001 book when it came out in 2006 and have been chipping away it for a good 13 years now. I have the spreadsheet and the app, too :)

[Anne]

I will be reading 'To the Lighthouse' by Virginia Woolf