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December 24, 2007
I read many books.
At the start of this year, I made a New Year's resolution to read two classic novels from each decade of the 20th century, not repeating any author. Once I got into the '80s and '90s, I realized that there's not much consensus on which books are "classics," so I just went for well-regarded or influential.
It was a great experience. I discovered a few new favorite books, and maybe learned a few tricks that will help me with my writing. To track my progress, I kept a book log, where I've been writing thoughts and impressions of each novel as I finish it. This week, I started transcribing some of my reviews to Goodreads, an online community of the book. I also added a link to my Goodreads reviews to the right hand side of this site.
Here are the books that I read for my resolution:
1900s
Hound of the Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle
The Ambassadors, Henry James
1910s
My Antonia, Willa Cather
Winesburg, Ohio, Sherwood Anderson
1920s
Leave it to Psmith, P.G. Wodehouse
A Passage to India, E.M.Forster
1930s
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neal Hurston
Absalom, Absalom! William Faulkner
1940s
Razor's Edge, Sommerset Maughm
All the King's Men, Robert Penn Warren
1950s
The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway
The Long Goodbye, Raymond Chandler
1960
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Miriam Spark
Herzog, Saul Bellow
1970s
August 1914, Solzhenitzen
The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston
1980s
Neuromancer, William Gibson
The Satanic Verses, Salman Rusdie
1990s
Motherless Brooklyn, Jonathan Lethem
White Teeth, Zadie Smith
I also read some books not related to the resolution. From a King Arthur-themes series by Jack Whyte: "The Saxon Shore," "The Fort at Rivers Bend," "The Sorcerer: Metamorphosis," "Uther" and "Lancelot." Also, the finale to another series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." And I'm still reading. Who knows what more I'll get through before the year is out.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at December 24, 2007 07:10 AM