Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion
Popular Topics
>
How many of the 1001 books have you read?
message 1151:
by
Diana
(new)
Aug 05, 2014 08:38PM

reply
|
flag


I know college definitely helped because I studied Literature. Just one semester in literary modernism knocked out about 10-12 books, including "Ulysses" and "The Good Soldier".

I had read ~39 when I started this list at the end of 2013, and about 10 of those I read in school - Frankenstein, A Christmas Carol, Huck Finn, Great Gatsby, Brave New World, Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies, To Kill A Mockingbird, Scarlet Letter, Their Eyes Were Watching God. I wish I had read more classics in school, though. What I did read doesn't seem like very many. I had started reading through the Austen, Brontes, Eliot, Tolstoy, Dickens a few years ago - books I thought I should have already read. Now I'm at 46 read and am almost done with 47 and 48. I've tackled some of the big books recently - Les Mis, Don Quixote, Anna Karenina, Middlemarch, Daniel Deronda.
Our house is filled with books, and we built a bookcase in the hallway between the kids' rooms that is specifically for kids books. Books for my 3 year old at her height and the older books for my 8 year old a bit higher up. They love that they have their own bookcase and like to pick and choose and rearrange. :) It also helps that our kids see mom and dad reading all the time.

When I was in school the only classics we really covered were To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, and War and Peace for some reason... I didn't have issues with it, but not a book many teenagers are apt to pay attention to. Other then that I only really remember Shakespeare and Simon & Garfunkel lyrics... Lord of the Flies and the other books I've crossed off the list were all read after, and although I enjoyed them, I think they would have had a very different impact on me if I read them while I was younger; which I'm sure will have different meaning to me when I'm older as well. That's the joy of books though, I can reread them whenever I want.
I also can't wait for my bookshelves, I've moved about 7 times in the last 4.5 years so all my books are scattered between about 15 boxes. My husband promises to build me shelves one day out of pure necessity since I keep coming home with more and more books! :D
Jonpaul wrote: "I just finished number 304 of the combined list. Only 1001 to go! Woo hoo!"
Oh, wow, I am at 304, too. I didn't realize that now makes 1001 books left. It's like we never started...
Oh, wow, I am at 304, too. I didn't realize that now makes 1001 books left. It's like we never started...

Oh, wow, I am at 304, too. I didn't realize that now makes 1001 books left. It's like we never started..."
Hah!

I think it hindered mine as we only read two books (one classic, one contemporary) plus anthology work for GCSE in the UK, and your GCSEs were the only time you were required to study English language and literature. We read these two books for two years. From the age of 16 you're allowed to pick what you want to study and this is typically only three subjects! I can't remember really doing anything seriously book based before that, we tended to stick to extracts I think. Although this was 8 years ago now, so it may be different now!
University was a bit better for my reading habits, but I was reading in a foreign language so I read a lot slower.
I started the new list in May last year and have read about 34 list books in that time, hooray! Not bad for a dyslexically slow reader :).







I'm reading some of the Dutch books for my regular literature classes at school, so I got those in the pocket :D

I would say my schooling definitely did not help in reading the classics. In high school, the only list books I read were To Kill a Mockingbird and Animal Farm.
I college I read One Hundred Years of Solitude, Mrs. Dalloway and Nervous Conditions (one of the most underrated books on the list, I'd say).
So with the except of those 5 books, every other list read I've read has come since I've been out of school.

Most recent list reads: The Virgin Suicides
The White Tiger
Steppenwolf
Their Eyes Were Watching God

That's what I'm doing :-) 127 so far...

Awesome, Nicola! It's a strategy that seems feasible to me. I'm working on #127 and it's a big one (Don Quixote) so I probably won't be catching up with you. :)

Happy reading, everyone :)


"Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
"One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
"Breakfast at Tiffany's" by Truman Capote
"Animal Farm" by George Orwell


That's twice as many as me! I don't like to think of how many more I have to go, but how much progress I've made in the past year since I've started the list.

Not planning to read all 1305, since there are some I would never want to read, it'll probably end up at around 1001 of the complete list. I'm not doing this as a challenge, but merely to learn about new books as well as getting motivated to read the classics of different countries :)
We hadn't read ANY of these in school, except for The Collector, which I didn't read because it creeped me out. When I started the list a few months ago, I had read about 30 or so, so I'm pleased about the progress I've been making.
Calyre wrote: "Just reached 300 ^_^"
Great milestone to hit! How long have you been working on the list for?
Great milestone to hit! How long have you been working on the list for?
Just finished getting the list set up and going into the challenge (officially starting tonight), I've already read 39 books. That seems like a really tiny number, in comparison to the list eek!

Good luck, Sara! I was right around the upper 30s when I started the challenge last year. I'm up to 52 now. Slow going, but chugging along!
Linda wrote: "Sara wrote: "Just finished getting the list set up and going into the challenge (officially starting tonight), I've already read 39 books. That seems like a really tiny number, in comparison to the..."
Thanks, I'm really excited to start this adventure!
Thanks, I'm really excited to start this adventure!

Great milestone to hit! How long have you been working on the list for?"
Thanks Sara and welcome !
I discovered the list in 2010, so I started that year.
Um.............only 7...........but HEY im just starting haha


This is such an amazing accomplishment! Do you feel like the effort and time involved was worth it looking back? Do you have any advice for people who are much closer to the start of the list? Congrats!
I just finished 66th book. Going to start on the 67th a little later this evening.

Keep reading! ;-)
I have completed 111 off the list. I own the book so am following it. I also printed off the pages of the 2006/2008/2010/2012 listings. I highlight the books read and put checkmarks of books owned, kindle or print. My goal is to read 15 this coming year, 2015.

So I'm definitely trying to get 100 books read in the end of year 2015. It's like 22 books. I'm very surprised if I can't do it. Maybe this up coming milestone makes me read more..

I officially started the List last month, and between the books I had already read from the List before I knew it existed, plus books I read in December, I'm at 50 books read right now, going into the new year. My goal is to read at least 35 List books this year, and since they'll be the focus of my reading in 2015 I'm pretty confident I can make that goal (I hope) :)

Books mentioned in this topic
Kidnapped (other topics)Ragtime (other topics)
Lives of Girls and Women (other topics)
Lives of Girls and Women (other topics)
Lives of Girls and Women (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Robert Louis Stevenson (other topics)E.L. Doctorow (other topics)
E.L. Doctorow (other topics)
Thomas Hardy (other topics)
Emily Brontë (other topics)
More...