One day, I want to write fiction. I’ve attempted a few times and I have plenty of ideas, but I find that the actual writing process is perplexing. I realized recently that while I love reading fiction, there are lots of great books out there that I haven’t read. Lots. So I’m going to read as many as I can and hopefully absorb enough great fiction to create my own. My goal is to read so much that I’ll absorb what naturally fits into my writing style so the process becomes more natural.
That may be a load of crap, but the good news is I love reading fiction so I basically can’t lose. If I’m not better at writing after reading a ton, well… who cares? I’ll get to enjoy tons of great books.
But I need help. Recently I emailed a bunch of my friends/family to get some recommendations on what to read to fill in the gaps. I want to get to 100 books. I’ve got about 40. More were submitted to me, but I really want to get as broad as I can with as many different authors as possible. So this is your chance to show me how much smarter you are than me. Tell me what should be on this list, what you can’t believe I haven’t read, but temper it with a nice compliment about how pretty I am or something.
Once I have the final list, I’ll submit it to you guys to help me determine the order in which to read them. Then the basic goal is to read all 100 books in the next three or four years. To me that sounds like a really long time, but I calculated it up (I are smart) and to read 100 books in four years means I’ll have to read one every two weeks. I tend to read pretty fast, but that is still gonna take some doin.
Also, I want to blog about these books as I read them, so I’d like feedback throughout the whole process. It’d be great if we had some really cool dialogue about these characters, their stories, and the meaning of it all.
Here’s what I have so far:
Watchmen – Alan Moore
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
The Number One Ladies Detective Agency – Alexander McCall Smith
The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
Beowulf – Anonymous
Dracula – Bram Stoker
Starship – Brian Aldiss
Star Risk Ltd. – Chris Bunch
The Old Man and the Sea – Earnest Hemingway
The Dark Knight Returns – Frank Miller
Lilith – George MacDonald
Animal Farm – George Orwell
She – H. Rider Haggard
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
Moby Dick – Herman Melville
The Odyssey – Homer
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck
Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
Lord Jim – Joseph Conrad
The Tale of Desperaux – Kate DiCamillo
Peace Like a River – Lief Enger
Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
World War Z – Max Brooks
Metamorphoses – Ovid
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Blade Runner) – Philip K. Dick
Dandelion Wine – Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury
Percy Jackson and the Olympians – Rick Riordan
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress – Robert A. Heinlein
“Conan” Short Stories – Robert E. Howard
Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson
Shawshank Redemption – Stephen King
The Green Mile – Stephen King
The Once and Future King – T.H. White
Thief of Time – Terry Prachett
Look Homeward Angel – Thomas Wolfe
The Aenid – Virgil
Neuromancer – William Gibson
Hamlet – William Shakespeare
The Tale of Genji – Murasaki Shikibu
So… fire away.
21 Responses to “One Hundred Books”
Have you read The Stand, by Stephen King? One of my favorites. You should also check out Life of Pi by Yann Martel.
As you know I had a similar idea a few weeks ago, but I didn’t know you were creating your own list. I was going to read through Modern Library’s list of 100 Best Novels, but found them all bland and boring when I started. I bet you’ll have much more success than I!
Good luck, if I remember any other books I’ll post them when I do.
Also next year (or whenever you feel up to it) you should think about doing Nanowrimo if you’re interested in writing. (Nanowrimo.org). Check it out, we can be each other’s support group! :)
Nagy, you’re right on about reading so much that you will absorb the ability to write. No joke. So I recommend Brave New World, The Count of MC, The Dark Knight Returns (love Frank Miller…btw, did you know there is a Bible that he illustrated?! Awesome), Animal Farm, Hamlet (although, I really like Macbeth), and though I have not read it, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep sounds awesome (oh, Blade Runner, huh?).
I guess your decision really depends on what genre you’d like to read. Personally, I love dystopian novels. Have great fun in your reading adventure!
Crime and Punishment
Little Women :-)
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV-TR (just kidding, but its a great read)
That’s all I got for now I am sure I can come up with more though..
Oh and the Peace like a river is a GREAT book he has another one too that you should read.
I’ve got an author for you Kelley Armstrong she has a 10 book series of women of the Underworld, good fiction that I think you’d enjoy. First book in the series is “Bitten”.
Also I have some Mercedes Lackey and Melanie Rawn books, let me know if you would like to borrow what I have in my library. :)
Citizen of The Galaxy by Robert A. Heinlein
The Seventh Tower (series) by Garth Nix
“Bitten” is lame.
Terry… your mom is lame! Now I’m going to read it for sure. :P
Are you making fun of her gimpy leg? How could you stoop to that level? Oh great! Now you have me creating puns about how she can’t help but stoop from having to work in the rice patties her entire childhood. You hurt me…hurt me bad.
Cut you deep? Almost like you got… bitten? HEYO!
Rorschach’s Ribs, by Marcus Eder
For some variety, try….
House of Leaves, by Mark Z. Danielewski : perhaps difficult/really depressing, but really interesting typography and idea.
His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman : interesting young adult scifi/fantasy with riffs on Paradise Lost
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood : really dark dystopian future, cleverly written.
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller : the ultimate sarcastic wartime social commentary
Life of Pi by Yann Martel : Total page turner. Boy tries to survive on a lifeboat with a tiger.
100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez : the lives of a family over 100 years as surroundings change. Magical realism.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera : super philosophical, poetic writing about love and attachment.
For good measure, I’d also suggest The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. I think she was pretty much a crazy lady but there are some themes worth reading about in the Fountainhead, about championing greatness over mediocrity.
The twilight series! DO ITTTT!!!
This is the wifey. I’ve been wanting to read Life of Pi so I officially add that to the list. And you forgot Eye of the Dragon by Stephen King you loser. :P Mar Bear (if that’s your real name, sounds suspicious to me) I knew someone was going to suggest Twilight rofl! I think we should all read it and have a community discussion on why it is so darn popular with the ladies. Its psychological interaction with this culture is interesting and somewhat amusing. Anyway, I also suggest XXX-holic (manga) put out by CLAMP. And no, people, it is not porn. XXX = _ _ _ in Japanese.
NAGY! You are pretty!
Home- Marilynne Robinson
Gilead- Marilynne Robinson
The Fountainhead- Ayn Rand
The Book of the Dun Cow- Walter Wangerin Junior
A Confederacy of Dunces-John Kennedy Toole
The Emperor of Ocean Park- Stephen L Carter
The Road- Cormac McCarthy
The Razor’s Edge- W Somerset Maugham
In Search of Lost Time- Marcel Proust
His Dark Materials (Trilogy)- Phillip Pullman
There’s a few.
Man it seems that you have bitten – oops, I mean beaten me on wit.
I will say though, replace the women of the underworld silliness with Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. Truly excellent.
One more comment after reading others…I think you can and will appreciate the magical realism of Marquez and the poster above is right about Enders Game…one of the best. :)
Also Ender’s Shadow. Fantabulous.
The Trial- Franz Kafka
A Separate Peace- Knowles
The Wings of a Falcon- Cynthia Voight
Leepike Ridge- Nathan Wilson
The Napoleon of Notting Hill – Chesterton
The Man Who Was Thursday-Chesterton
Picasso at the Lapin Agile- Steve Martin
Orson Scott Card–Ender’s Game
Asimov–Nighftall or Foundation
Scott–Ivanhoe
hosseini–the kite runner
tennyson-idylls of the king
chaucer-choose some tales from the canterbury tales
and may we recommend just one book by any author, since you have so much reading to do. and not too much scifi/fantasy. (you’ll read that anyway once this experiment is over. i mean, i have TONS of scifi/fantasy i could recommend, but i don’t think that’s really the point, is it. because if it is, let me know and we’ll let loose!)
2 very creative contemporary fiction works:
markus zusak–the book thief
david mitchell–cloud atlas (make sure you get the right author)
some others:
madeline l’engle–wrinkle lin time
cs lewis–that hideous strength or great divorce
umberto eco–the name of the rose
john le carre–anything, but Sara recommends the constant gardener, this guy gets published a lot and his books become movies
david ives–all in the timing (it’s a play, but…)
Leslie Marmon Silko–ceremony or almanac of the dead
we’re done for now, but let us stew some more…
To name a few off of my list:
les miserable- Victor Hugo (if you are going for long books, this one is great)
Something by Terry Pratchett (totally your sense of humor)
Moonstone- Wilkie Collins (best mystery I ever read)
Space Triology- SC Lewis (can’t remember if you read them in college or not)
Grimms Brothers Fairy Tales
Wuthering Heights- Bronte
Sherlock Holmes (the complete collection)