Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion

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message 1451: by Gemma (new)

Gemma | 55 comments I am on 62, really trying to get out my 4 (gulp) year reading slump and dig into it properly again!


message 1452: by Sarah (new)

Sarah (sarahbethie) | 438 comments A hearty round of congratulations for you all! You're doing well.

Luis, we're at the same place. Keep going! :-)

Tim, I started last year and read a heap (101). You'll find your groove so don't worry. I'm tackling chunksters now and have finished 29 titles thus far and expect to add 30 more by the end of the year. The milestones will come and the ride towards them is sweet. Enjoy it!


message 1453: by Kirsten (new)

Kirsten (kirsten48) | 35 comments I'm currently at 268. That feels like an accomplishment until I look at the statistics on my app and see that after 36 more I will still have 1001 to go!


message 1454: by Sarah (new)

Sarah (sarahbethie) | 438 comments Kirsten wrote: "I'm currently at 268. That feels like an accomplishment until I look at the statistics on my app and see that after 36 more I will still have 1001 to go!"

LOL. I think milestones can be more encouraging. Especially at the beginning. I've wrapped up several authors and I'm aiming to add Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and Proust to this year's list.

While the completion number may not be great, if you've gotten rid of writers with numerous titles or chunksters you'll feel a great sense of accomplishment.

And 268 isn't anything to sneeze at. Congrats! :-)


message 1455: by Ed (new)

Ed Lehman | 122 comments Since my last check-in in April when I thought I was at 200.... I have read the following 15 books.... but I also discovered 7 other books I had read and not added to my list....which puts me at 222.

List Books read since April:
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
Jealousy by Alain Robbe-Grillet
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
On The Black Hill by Bruce Chatwin
The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum by Heinrich Böll
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy
Surfacing by Margaret Atwood
Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy
The Poor Mouth: A Bad Story about the Hard Life by Flann O'Brien
Passing by Nella Larsen
Bonjour tristesse by Françoise Sagan
The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark

Has anyone else read Blood Meridien...I thought it was one of the worse books I have ever read and can't understand how it is on the list....and has such high ratings? Also not much of a fan of The Black Dahlia.
My favorite from this batch was Bonjour Tristesse.


message 1456: by Nina (new)

Nina My New Year's Resolution this year was to hit this list hard. As of, September 4, I've read 178 and 14 have been read in this year so far.


message 1457: by Shaun (new)

Shaun (jeanvaljean) | 2 comments 180 and counting as of last week. At this rate, I will be done with the current list of "1,001" on June 4, 2271. Hmmmm . . . probably not going to make it that far.


message 1458: by Gemma (new)

Gemma | 55 comments Shaun wrote: "180 and counting as of last week. At this rate, I will be done with the current list of "1,001" on June 4, 2271. Hmmmm . . . probably not going to make it that far."

Your comment made me laugh Shaun, I never considered what year it would be when I finished!


message 1459: by George P. (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
Ed wrote: "Has anyone else read Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West...I thought it was one of the worse books I have ever read and can't understand how it is on the list....."

I read this recently, and had a tough time getting through it- so violent and bleak. Evidently all his books are like that. Great power of description though.


message 1460: by George P. (last edited Oct 19, 2017 05:25AM) (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
I'm now at 230 (219 from the original edition and 11 from later editions). Ed, you've probably passed me by now.
I've nearly reached my reading goal number for the year, so taking on some of the longer ones: The Woman in White, Auto-da-Fe, and The Godfather.


message 1461: by Jodie (new)

Jodie Where can the actual list be located?


Bryan--The Bee’s Knees (theindefatigablebertmcguinn) | 629 comments Jodie wrote: "Where can the actual list be located?"


Here's one source:

http://www.listchallenges.com/1001-bo...

I like this one because you can set up a profile and save the ones you've checked off. It has all the editions combined, so there ends up being around 1300+ books in this list. I'm not sure where the best place to find the updated list is at.

The only thing I don't like about the interactive list is that it can sometimes be hard to track down a title. Most of them are listed by publishing date, but the revisions were tacked on at the end, so something like Eugene Onegin, which was published in the 1830s, isn't listed until page 26, because it's one of the added titles, whereas novels from that same time period that were in the first edition are on page 2 and 3.


message 1463: by Sarah (new)

Sarah (sarahbethie) | 438 comments For the ListChallenges website, click on the printer symbol to see the full list. You can use the find feature to locate the title.

A better option for iOS users is the 1001 app. Titles that are included in the 1001 Movies book are noted along with the option to follow specific editions or the complete version instead.


message 1464: by George P. (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
I like the 1001 Google sheet as a quick reference from my desktop pc: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
It's alphabetized by author, you can use "control-F" to search for a title.


message 1465: by George P. (last edited Nov 04, 2017 08:17PM) (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
Bryan wrote: ...something like Eugene Onegin, which was published in the 1830s, isn't listed until page 26, because it's one of the added titles..."

Eugene Onegin is on page 3 now in the List Challenges site, so they seem to have updated it.


Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... So I just joined you all, but I read mostly Classics this year so I have added those in as read. I am at 48, but plan to finish at least 5 more before the year ends. Favorites so far: Far From the Madding Crowd and The Mayor of Casterbridge by Hardy, A Prayer for Owen Meany by Irving, The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck.


message 1467: by Karen (new)

Karen Hoehne | 1714 comments Mod
Kelly wrote: "So I just joined you all, but I read mostly Classics this year so I have added those in as read. I am at 48, but plan to finish at least 5 more before the year ends. Favorites so far: Far From the ..."

Welcome to the group! A Prayer for Owen Meany is one of my all-time favorites!! And definitely add in any classics you have already read -- I did.


message 1468: by Tyler (new)

Tyler | 207 comments It looks like I'm finishing the year at 180. Looking to get to 200 by the end of next year!


message 1469: by J_BlueFlower (new)

J_BlueFlower (j_from_denmark) | 387 comments 141 here.


message 1470: by Cara (new)

Cara  (shortpenguin) | 8 comments I'm at 33. I keep getting distracted by non-list books.


message 1471: by Rory (new)

Rory (oldcolt) | 26 comments Cara wrote: "I'm at 33. I keep getting distracted by non-list books."

Easy to do, there's so much great stuff :)!


message 1472: by Susana (new)

Susana Cunha | 1 comments 52, so far...


message 1473: by Kirsten (new)

Kirsten (kirsten48) | 35 comments It looks like I'm ending off the year at 275. Maybe this means I will be at 1001 on the combined lists in 2018!!


message 1474: by Sammy (new)

Sammy (sammystarbuck) | 15 comments I'm currently reading number 57. Most of which I'd read before I discovered the list a few months ago, but I've been consciously adding books from the list to my to-read pile ever since...


message 1475: by Kirsten (new)

Kirsten  (kmcripn) Only up to 63.


message 1476: by Brendan (new)

Brendan | 8 comments Hello! I've just joined the group and surprised myself by counting 65 books on the list that I've already read, including the December read. At least it's a head start! Several more were on my tbr already.


message 1477: by Julie (new)

Julie Managed to get to 92. Currently reading Moby Dick. Desperately trying to finish Gone with the Wind and just started The History of Love!


message 1478: by George P. (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
Kirsten wrote: "It looks like I'm ending off the year at 275. Maybe this means I will be at 1001 on the combined lists in 2018!!"

Ha, I doubt it but you're making great progress!
PS: I have family in Surrey and visited there a year ago.

I completed 35 list books this year (plus one book of a trilogy listing) which brings my total to 238. All but 11 of those were in the 2006 edition.
My favorite list books this year were Beloved and Broken April.


message 1479: by George P. (last edited Dec 31, 2017 08:26AM) (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
(the other) Kirsten wrote: "Only up to 63."
You're ahead of some people!


message 1480: by Brendan (new)

Brendan | 8 comments Okay, I found more when I actually started putting them on a shelf. I've read 85 and have 27 on my tbr.


message 1481: by Dree (new)

Dree | 160 comments I only managed to read 19 this year, and am finishing the year at 190.


message 1482: by Rory (new)

Rory (oldcolt) | 26 comments Julie wrote: "Managed to get to 92. Currently reading Moby Dick. Desperately trying to finish Gone with the Wind and just started The History of Love!"

Taking on some big fish, good for you.


message 1483: by Rory (last edited Jan 01, 2018 12:25AM) (new)

Rory (oldcolt) | 26 comments I've made it through 240. A couple of my favorites from this past year are The Brothers Karamazov and The Colour


message 1484: by Laura Hailstone (new)

Laura Hailstone | 15 comments I have finally seriously started reading books from the list, I am not counting books I read before as I would like to reread them. In 2016 I managed to check a couple off, but in 2017 this has increased to 42, 1001 seems a million years away never mind the 1305 from all lists however, I’m hoping now that I’ve joined this group it will motivate me to keep going.


message 1485: by Dan (last edited Jan 01, 2018 10:33AM) (new)

Dan Edwards (sped) | 15 comments I knocked off 21 in 2017, bringing my total to 437:
- "Fingersmith" by Sarah Waters: 3 Stars
- "The Kindly Ones" by Jonathan Littell: 4 Stars
- "Home" by Marilynne Robinson: 5 Stars
- "The Gathering" by Anne Enright: 3 Stars
- "The Accidental" by Ali Smith: 4 Stars
- "Family Matters" by Rohinton Mistry: 4 Stars
- "Thursbitch" by Alan Garner: 4 Stars
- "Giovanni's Room" by James Baldwin: 4 Stars
- "Lord Jim" by Joseph Conrad: 4 Stars
- "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" by Muriel Spark: 3 Stars
- "Tender Is the Night" by F. Scott Fitzgerald: 3 Stars
- "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift: 3 Stars
- "Northanger Abbey" by Jane Austen: 4 Stars
- "Daniel Deronda" by George Eliot: 4 Stars
- "Antic Hay" by Aldous Huxley: 4 Stars
- "The Maltese Falcon" by Dashiell Hammett: 3 Stars
- "Red Harvest" by Dashiell Hammett: 3 Stars
- "Our Mutual Friend" by Charles Dickens: 2 Stars
- "Silas Marner" by George Eliot: 4 Stars
- "Troubling Love" by Elena Ferrante: 3 Stars
- "Agnes Grey" by Anne Bronte: 3 Stars


message 1486: by Kirsten (new)

Kirsten  (kmcripn) Good job!


message 1487: by George P. (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
Dan wrote: "I knocked off 21 in 2017, bringing my total to 437: .....
- "Silas Marner" by George Eliot: 4 Stars
- "Troubling Love" by Elena Ferrante: 3 Stars
- "Agnes Grey" by Anne Bronte: 3 Stars
.....


I hadn't realized Ferrante has a book in the list. I see it was added in '08. I read and liked her My Brilliant Friend, so I'll consider "Troubling Love", though I see you weren't crazy about it, nor are most Goodreaders (avg rating 3.37).


message 1488: by Ellen (new)

Ellen | 6 comments I started this list in August having read 33 books.
I read 16 books since August and one so far this year. So my total is a teeny tiny 50 books....a long way to go!


message 1489: by Rosemary (new)

Rosemary | 106 comments I ended 2017 at 536. I think I was around 502 at the end of 2016, so that's around 34 this year.

Goal for 2018: another 30.


message 1490: by George P. (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
Rory wrote: "Julie wrote: "Managed to get to 92. Currently reading Moby Dick. Desperately trying to finish Gone with the Wind and just started The History of Love!"

Taking on some big fish, good for you."


Was that a pun intended Rory? :) (good one) Moby is a good one to have on your resume as a serious reader Julie!


message 1491: by Julie (new)

Julie Yes! It's one of those books I should have read many years ago but never did because it filled me with dread! However, I am really enjoying it and also exploring all the biblical references too!


message 1492: by Rory (new)

Rory (oldcolt) | 26 comments George wrote: "Rory wrote: "Julie wrote: "Managed to get to 92. Currently reading Moby Dick. Desperately trying to finish Gone with the Wind and just started The History of Love!"

Taking on some big fish, good f..."


I know it was a bit of an obvious pun but I was also saying 'Gone with the Wind' is a big one too. I still both on my to-ready list.


message 1493: by Aileen (new)

Aileen | 154 comments I read 24 off the list last year, bringing my end of year total to 125.


message 1494: by Nicole (new)

Nicole | 6 comments So far only 33 :(. My goal is 45 more this year. Just started working on this list last year.


message 1495: by George P. (last edited Jan 11, 2018 08:59PM) (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
Rory wrote: "I know it was a bit of an obvious pun but I was also saying 'Gone with the Wind' is a big one too. I still both on my to-read list...."

Millions of people [but probably 90% women] have read Gone with the Wind and liked it, I know, but it seems so melodramatic I'm just not interested. However, I seem to like books in which people die, or nearly do, and it seems to have that ;)


message 1496: by Terri (new)

Terri | 1 comments I have read 39 and counting!


message 1498: by George P. (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
That's a lot of good books Ed! You're about a dozen ahead of me now. I've read some of the books you listed- Cold Comfort Farm was the most amusing of those, Beloved I thought a bit overwrought but very good, To Have and Have Not probably the coolest of those on your list I've read. Your favorites?


message 1499: by Ed (new)

Ed Lehman | 122 comments George wrote: "That's a lot of good books Ed! You're about a dozen ahead of me now. I've read some of the books you listed- Cold Comfort Farm was the most amusing of those, Beloved I thought a bit overwrought but..."

I agree Cold Comfort Farm was a fun one.
I was glad to finally read War and Peace...and I was surprised that it wasn't as difficult as I expected it to be. I did like it...but not as much as Anna Karenina.
As for To Have and Have Not.... I hated it. I'm not a Hemingway fan...and I'm not happy that so many of his works are on the list...although I recently read The Snows of Kilimanjaro (not on the list) which wasn't so bad.
I agree with you about Beloved too...but I watched the move immediately after I read the book...and it filled in the gaps for me in my appreciation of the novel.


message 1500: by Ana MG (new)

Ana MG | 2 comments I’m on my 48th now!


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