Saturday, January 3, 2009

Books to read. . .

Antique Bookcase I, by G. Piana. Image from www.Art.com

Several of my blogging friends have compiled lists of all the books they want to read in the year ahead. I thought it looked like fun, so now I am doing likewise!

I probably won't get through half of the books on list. And I will no doubt end up reading many, many books that aren't on my list.

Well - here goes. . . [no particular order, of course. . . ]

1. Ben Hur - Lew Wallace
2. The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
3. Wives and Daughters - Elizabeth Gaskell
4. Lady Susan - Jane Austen
5. The Watsons - Jane Austen
6. Sanditon - Jane Austen
7. Belinda - Maria Edgeworth
8. Evelina - Fanny Burney
9. Middlemarch - George Eliot
10. At the Back of the North Wind - George MacDonald
11. The Princess and the Goblin - George MacDonald
12. The Princess and the Curdie - George MacDonald
13. Um - as much Shakespeare as I can manage
14. Freckles - Gene Stratton Porter
15. The Inheritance - Louisa May Alcott
16. Daniel Deronda - George Eliot
17. Educating Rita - Willy Russell
18. Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller
19. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
20. Charles Dickens. . . thus far I haven't read much Dickens at all.

+Plus I want to re-read all of Austen and The Lord of the Rings. (I know, I'm being a bit ambitious, but there's no harm in setting a few goals for myself. . . I want to read Northanger Abbey one more time while I am still sixteen - the same age as the heroine!)

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So, yeah. . . that's a start. Do any of you have any suggestions or book recommendations for me? Are there any books on my list that you have read and wouldn't recommend?

Bearing in mind my enthusiasm for 19th century classics, and the fact that I have loving parents who are fairly picky about what I read, what books would you recommend that I read over the coming year? I'm open to suggestions! :-) 



Current Mood: Happy

10 comments:

Robert said...

The Inheritance novel is very different from the movie.It was one of the few books that I read before I saw the film version.

One good novel is Mother(1911) by Kathleen Norris.It's about a young woman who leaves her family home to get a career and independence.This is a restored version put out by Vision Forum.Also by Vision Forum is Home-Making(1882) by J R Miller.It's about the different parts that each person has in a Christian household.

There's also The Sarah,Plain and Tall series of books.They are children's books about a mail-order bride who moves to a kansas farm in the early 1900's.There was also three movies made from the books.

The Editrix said...

Yes, I've heard that the Inheritance book is very different from the movie - but I would still like to read it. I have read [and enjoyed!] many of Alcott's books, and I think it would be fascinating to read one of her earliest known works.

I'll have a look at Mother and Home-making - hopefully they're available to buy somewhere other than the Vision Forum shop. Whilst I love Vision Forum's products, the shipping rates charged by VR to Australia are ridiculously expensive - $20 USD per order [ends up being more like $30 AUD], no matter how small your order is! I was going to buy some things during VR's recent sale, but the exorbitant international shipping rates put me off.

I have read the first book in the Sarah Plain and Tall series - haven't seen the tv movies yet, though I would love to! Looks like I'll have to track down some of the other books in the series! :-)

Thanks for the suggestions! :D

Mrs. E said...

What a great and ambitious list of books!
One of my favorite books is" The Basket of Flowers."
I also agree with Robert that "Mother" is a delightful book, having just read it 2 months ago!

Many Blessings to you, Editrix and happy reading!;)

Love Always,
Miss Jen

P.S.
I know the feeling of wanting to read something before you turn a year older. I applied this theory and read Romeo and Juliet at age 14! ;)

Robert said...

I first saw the Little Women(1995) movie about three years ago.I wasn't until eight months ago that I read the book when a blogger suggested that I read it if I get the chance.I REALLY enjoyed the book and later read An Old Fashioned Girl and The Inheritance.

Those books should be available through other bookstores-I bought mine from Amazon.ca.That is expensive for shipping!

I've read the first two books and I believe there is four in the series.I was able to copy them from tv.I enjoy movies from the frontier period.

Your welcome!

Mimi said...

It sounds like you're going to do some wonderful reading over the next year! I'm glad you're digging into Dickens. I truly love Dickens, though it is unfortunate that he got paid by the word and also wrote in serial installments! He could have used a good Editrix. :) Nonetheless, I have a great fondness for his plots and his characters. David Copperfield is a great introduction to Dickens if you haven't already picked out something.

The Editrix said...

Miss Jen - I looked up A Basket of Flowers, and I think - I am almost 100% certain - it is a book that I read many years ago! I think it was a bit beyond my depth at the time; I don't think I ended up finishing it. However, I would like to read it again - I might see if any of my homeschooling book-loving friends nearby own a copy. ;-)

Re Romeo and Juliet - LOL! Good for you! Yep, I'll have to apply that principle, too! ;-)

Robert, Miss Jen - I've just looked up Mother by Kathleen Norris on Amazon, and there are dozens of different editions available. . . I presume you guys are talking about the one edited by Jennie Chancey. . . (?)

Elizabeth - thankyou! Yes, I must get stuck into Dickens - I read A Christmas Carol a couple of years and LOVED it. I'll see how I go!

Mrs. E said...

Yes, I was thinking of the one with Jennie Chancey as editor! ;)

The Editrix said...

Right. . . thankyou! :-)

Anonymous said...

My reading recommendation for you, given what I glean from your list, would be anything by Gene Stratton Porter. Freckles, Laddie, Girl of the Limberlost, etc.

The Editrix said...

Hi Charlotte!

I recently read A Girl of The Limberlost, and enjoyed it very much. I wrote a review of it here on my blog. A friend has also lent me Freckles, so I'll have to read that one sometime soon, too!

~Elise