Book Nook Cafe discussion

Nancy had a terrific idea for a new thread where we could discuss classics books to read before you die.

Here is GoodReads list to get us started.

http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/1...

Take it away, Nancy !

Here is another list from the book 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die

http://www.1morechapter.com/projects/...

A few classics that are on my TBR list are:


The Age of Innocence~Edith Wharton

An American Tragedy~Theodore Dreiser

The Children~~Edith Wharton

The House of Mirth~~Edith Wharton

My Mortal Enemy~~Willa Cather

One of Ours~Willa Cather

Atlas Shrugged~Ayn Rand

Of Mice and Men~John Steinbeck

Ragtime~~E.L. Doctorow

It Can't Happen Here~~Sinclair Lewis

Last fall, when I was just doing light consulting, I put together a spreadsheet that has the 3 versions of the 1001 books list and then added five other lists. My goal was to see which books came up on multiple lists and focus on those. I did this to help organize the 1001 list!

Many of the books on my reading list this year are pulled from the spreadsheet. I'm happy to share the list template if anyone is interested.

Wow ! That is a lot of work. Is that something you can post here? If not, maybe just share a few.

The year that I did my best with my challenge list was the year I selected short, under 300 page classics.

Here are some "classics" I would like to get off my TBR list.

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (which my son has begged me to read.)

Uncle Tom's Cabin by H Beecher Stowe

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

Sybil, or the Two Nations by Benjamin Disraeli

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

Patrice, I've also read The Fountainhead. My personal beliefs are totally different than Rands. Therefore the book made me nuts ! I can't tell you how I ranted in the margins with multiple exclamation points. :)

Still, it was a book that made me think and clarify my own beliefs, so on that score it was good.

I want to read Atlas Shrugged for two reasons. One, I own it. :) Second, it seems to be her book that people talk about most.

That's an interesting way to approach classics, Patrice.
I've read Crime and Punishment and thought it was very thought provoking. I read it with online notes to help me with the various philosophies. It would be a good book to read with a serious GR group like Classics and the Western Canon. However, it seems to just miss in the voting.

I've also read Don Quixote. I started with the unabridged version and quickly had to go to the abridged version. It just wasn't my cup of tea. It felt very repetitive.

Anna Karenina when Oprah selected it. It was fun to read it with a group.

My approach to classics is to get either online notes or Ciffs notes. I try to read a few chapters on my own, then read the notes. If available, I also like to choose the Norton Critical editions. The footnotes and commentary are terrific. They books are a few dollars more, but so worth it, imo.
http://books.wwnorton.com/books/subje...

Alias Reader wrote: "Nancy had a terrific idea for a new thread where we could discuss classics books to read before you die.

Here is GoodReads list to get us started.

http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/1......"

Thanks for opening the folder. Now I will spend time making one of my infamous lists and then posting it here.

Nancy wrote: Thanks for opening the folder. Now I will spend time making one of my infamous lists and then posting it here
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Thank you, for the idea ! It really is terrific to see people take the lead with ideas for the group.

I'm glad you posted as I just tried to email you to tell you about the thread, but it said you aren't receiving GR email. :(

I look forward to discussing classics here. Maybe at some point we can do a group read/buddy read of a few classics. You also mentioned short stories and plays. We have folders for that. However, of late not too much interest. I would love to start that up again. I enjoy reading and discussing plays, short stories and essays.

I have a slight quibble with the idea that we should focus on "classics" for a list of books-to-read-before-we-die. I'm thinking that a) the definition of "classic" can be argued to be in the eye of the beholder; and b) I'm sure we all have books on our own personal bucket lists that we want to read that would not be considered "classics" by anyone else. I mean, probably every educated reader around thinks he/she SHOULD read "War and Peace" before they die. Which I do. But I also have the goal of reading every book written by John Irving, because I have loved everything I've read by him thus far. Therefore, my list of "Books To Read Before I Die" would include those Irving books I have not yet tackled: Last Night in Twisted River, In One Person, The Water-Method Man, Trying to Save Piggy Sneed and Until I Find You. I'm sure that these books would not appear on anyone else's list but mine. Which makes it a more interesting list, in my opinion. Instead of hearing which "literature classics" people would like to tackle before dying, I'd love to hear about the quirkier, more personal items on each person's list. And why they picked those specific books/authors to include on their lists.

Amy wrote: 'd love to hear about the quirkier, more personal items on each person's list. And why they picked those specific books/authors to include on their lists.
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I don't think we have any rules for this thread. So please feel free to include the quirkier and more personal items on your list.

We all love books and love discussing them. :)

By the way, The Cider House Rules~John Irving is in my TBR notebook. And A Prayer for Owen Meany is one of my all time favorites.

I think I agree with Amy on the 'eye of the beholder' reference. Some of the books on the list I have read and really enjoyed . Some I read and A- Did not do a thing for me or B- Really did not like. 'Brideshead revisited ' for one, I really must be missing something with that one. Had to read it for class and to be honest it was painful, could not get into the book at all. Yes, I do admit I may be a tad unrefined, but still : ) Something to look at, maybe pick and choose something that would interest one.

I agree with Patrice. When I'm reading biographies, I am also reading the author's work (fiction, poetry, etc) and their personal letters/ diaries. In Wharton's autobiography she chose not to discuss her divorce or her sexual relationship. By reading books based on personal letters like Henry James and Edith Wharton: Letters, 1900-1915 and The Letters of Edith Wharton, it gives the reader a more accurate picture of their life as well as how their personal life was reflected in their work (Tolstoy).

In Read for Your Life: 11 Ways to Better Yourself Through Books~Pat Williams He suggested that generally you need to read at least 5 books on a topic/person to know it well.

Of course it depends on the topic. It can't be so broad like WWII. But if you want to learn about one aspect or person in WWII 5 books should do it.

I enjoyed Read for your life. It has a lot of terrific quotes. It's a simple book but inspiring.

Alias Reader wrote: "In Read for Your Life: 11 Ways to Better Yourself Through Books~Pat Williams He suggested that generally you need to re..."

Looks like a goodread but none of the libraries in my state have that book.

I have a lifetime goal to read at least one book on each president.

I think I am going to try the approach mentioned here and get at the subject not only with a bio, but some other angle. Thanks for the idea ! It may make some of the less interesting presidents more interesting.

So I've made a note in my TBR book to read this book when I get around to John Adams.

Of course, I will first read, John Adams~~David McCullough

However, I will also read-

Abigail and John: Portrait of a Marriage~~Edith B. Gelles

John Adams by David McCullough -- excellent read!

Patrice, my problem is I have my favorites and just want to keep reading about them. So I've read many books on FDR & Lincoln. I know it would benefit me more to do them in order, but I've been skipping around. My current interest is Teddy Roosevelt.

The only presidential house I've been to is FDR's in Hyde Park. I've also been to Teddy Roosevelt house in Manhattan. Though it's really a reproduction, if I recall correctly.

I would love to see Monticello.

Patrice wrote:
I read the Fountainhead in my early 20's and thought it was brilliant. It's a great book for the narcissistic 20's. Then I grew up...I still believe she has good points, she's just immoral.


I thought of you when I read this interview with author Ann Patchett.

She says in the interview, "If you’ve met anybody over the age of 19 who likes Ayn Rand, step slowly away from them."

Lol - Link to full interview at end of post. It's interesting.

Here is her view on the book industry.

There’s lots of handwringing about the future of books that I’m not at all sure is justified. What’s your feeling?

I think we’ll be just fine. I think a lot of things in publishing happen on slow news days. I really pin a lot of it on the media. The reason I say that is how much media attention I got from opening a bookstore. There had been stories saying ‘Ebooks forever, nobody reads,’ and it became a trumped-up story. I open up a bookstore and it’s ‘Books are alive, everybody’s fine.’ I was named as one of Time’s 100 influential people for opening a bookstore. People don’t have anything else to talk about.

Yeah, more people will read digitally, but there will be plenty of people who want paper too. If I’ve got a message to take to the streets, it’s that we as consumers control the marketplace. The marketplace does not control us. If you care about books and bookstores, read books and support bookstores. You can’t go into a bookstore, talk to smart staff, go home and order off Amazon. Civilized people don’t do that. If you want a bookstore and want your kids to go to story hour, you have to go and buy your books there. Wal-Mart did not kill small town America. We did; we decided we wanted to spend less on Q-tips. And we can undo that.


Link for full interview
http://www.pbpulse.com/news/entertain...

Alias Reader wrote: "I have a lifetime goal to read at least one book on each president.
..."

Now this is what I was talking about! I love it. An interesting and personal goal.

Earlier I mentioned my spreadsheet, so I thought I would share a list of the books that were on multiple lists. My goal is to read all the books on at least 2 lists - there are 301. Some I have read, either as a kid or recently, but I want to read or reread all 301.

There were 7 lists: 1001 (combined the 2006, 2008, 2010 lists as 1 list), NY Times, Penguin 100, Cloud (found this online), Modern Library, BBC, and the Lifelong Learner lists that I found in various places. Here are the books on 4-7 lists.

Those who have seen my Determination List or read my reviews from last year will see some familiar titles!

7 lists
Animal Farm – George Orwell
The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

6 lists
The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
On the Road – Jack Kerouac
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Ken Kesey
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee
Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
Nineteen Eighty-Four – George Orwell
Midnight’s Children – Salman Rushdie
Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck

5 lists
The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood
The Master and Margarita – Mikhail Bulgakov
A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad
Lord of the Flies – William Golding
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
A Prayer for Owen Meany – John Irving
Gone With the Wind – Margaret Mitchell
Beloved – Toni Morrison
The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger
The Lord of the Rings – J.R.R. Tolkien
Slaughterhouse-five – Kurt Vonnegut
The Color Purple – Alice Walker

4 lists
Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
Emma – Jane Austen
Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll
A Tale of Two Cities – Charles Dickens
David Copperfield – Charles Dickens
Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoevsky
Rebecca – Daphne du Maurier
Middlemarch – George Eliot
Invisible Man – Ralph Ellison
The Sound and the Fury – William Faulkner
A Room With a View – E.M. Forster
Cold Comfort Farm – Stella Gibbons
Catch-22 – Joseph Heller
The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
The Sun Also Rises – Ernest Hemingway
Les Misérables – Victor Hugo
Ulysses – James Joyce
The Unbearable Lightness of Being – Milan Kundera
One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel García Márquez
Blood Meridian – Cormac McCarthy
Atonement – Ian McEwan
Wide Sargasso Sea – Jean Rhys
Frankenstein – Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
Dracula – Bram Stoker
Vanity Fair – William Makepeace Thackeray
Anna Karenina – Leo Tolstoy
War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy
Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde
Native Son – Richard Wright

Alias I'm not sure why you weren't able to send me a personal message. I haven't blocked anybody and I do receive messages from other good read members. Perhaps you can try again. Better yet my e mail address is nrk18@aol.com.

In addition to whatever books appear on my spreadsheet, I also want to make sure that I read a variety of books. I love politics, history, physics and biology, so I also want to make sure that I have those in the mix.

I also love mysteries, so I want to make sure that I read those as well to add a little levity to the mix!

Continued - books on 3 lists. There are too many in the 2 lists group!

3 lists
Watership Down – Richard Adams
Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
Lucky Jim – Kingsley Amis
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
Go Tell It on the Mountain – James Baldwin
The Adventures of Augie March – Saul Bellow
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë
The Thirty-Nine Steps – John Buchan
Naked Lunch – William Burroughs
Possession – A.S. Byatt
In Cold Blood – Truman Capote
The Big Sleep – Raymond Chandler
The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho
The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins
The Secret Agent – Joseph Conrad
The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
White Noise – Don DeLillo
Great Expectations – Charles Dickens
Ragtime – EL Doctorow
The Brothers Karamazov – Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Count of Monte-Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco
Middlesex – Jeffrey Eugenides
Madame Bovary – Gustav Flaubert
A Passage to India – EM Forster
Howards End – EM Forster
The French Lieutenant’s Woman – John Fowles
The Magus – John Fowles
The Recognitions – William Gaddis
Memoirs of a Geisha – Arthur Golden
The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Graham
I, Claudius – Robert Graves
Loving – Henry Green
The Heart of the Matter – Graham Greene
Tess of the D’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy
Jude the Obscure – Thomas Hardy
The Scarlet Letter – Nathaniel Hawthorne
Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert Heinlein
A Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway
For Whom the Bell Tolls – Ernest Hemingway
Dune – Frank Herbert
Siddhartha – Herman Hesse
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston
The World According to Garp – John Irving
The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver
Kim – Rudyard Kipling
Lady Chatterley’s Lover – DH Lawrence
Sons and Lovers – DH Lawrence
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – CS Lewis
The Call of the Wild by Jack London
Under the Volcano – Malcolm Lowry
Love in the Time of Cholera – Gabriel García Márquez
Life of Pi – Yann Martel
Of Human Bondage - William Somerset Maugham
The Heart is A Lonely Hunter – Carson McCullers
Moby-Dick – Herman Melville
Tropic of Cancer – Henry Miller
Winnie the Pooh – AA Milne
Under the Net – Iris Murdoch
Pale Fire – Vladimir Nabakov
At Swim-Two-Birds – Flann O'Brien
A Dance to the Music of Time – Anthony Powell
Gravity’s Rainbow – Thomas Pynchon
All Quiet on the Western Front - Erich Maria Remarque
Portnoy’s Complaint – Philip Roth
A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute
The Jungle – Upton Sinclair
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie – Muriel Spark
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas - Gertrude Stein
Treasure Island – Robert Louis Stevenson
The Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien
Rabbit, Run – John Updike
Scoop – Evelyn Waugh
A Handful of Dust – Evelyn Waugh
The War of the Worlds – HG Wells
The Age of Innocence – Edith Wharton
Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf
To The Lighthouse – Virginia Woolf
Day of the Triffids – John Wyndham

Alias Reader wrote: " Abigail and John: Portrait of a Marriage by Edith B. Gelles"

Would you want to read this as a buddy read for April?
I would really like to read this work by Gelles writing but this month is too busy for me.

I have read 49 books in http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/95...

Me too!

I know I somehwat suggested the idea of this folder but haven't been around ehre since sooooooooooo

One can stop the presses and do not write my obituary just yet. I have looked through the 1,000 books list that Alias sent us to and the others and I have wayyyyyyyyyyy too many books to read before I go anywhere.

Does anybody else here picture heaven as a big library with lovely chaise longues and wait staff for meals.

I recently read The Wide Sargasso Sea after reading rave reviews about this book for many years. But maybe I read a different book since didn't get what mnade it so special.

Nancy wrote: "I recently read The Wide Sargasso Sea after reading rave reviews about this book for many years. But maybe I read a different book since didn't get what mnade it so special."

People are reading it as a prequel to Jane Eyre. It's the ideas of Jean Rhys about what made the first wife go mad so she was isolated in the attic.

Jean Rhys has a totally different style from Charlotte Brontë, and the book is full of magical realism, and superstitions from the West Indies. But it does make for an interesting discussion. Mr Rochester may look like a better or worse person, depending on how you look at things.

Nancy wrote: "Alias I'm not sure why you weren't able to send me a personal message. I haven't blocked anybody and I do receive messages from other good read members. Perhaps you can try again. Better yet my e..."

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Maybe because I wasn't on your friends list. I just sent a friend request. Thanks !

Carol wrote: "Alias Reader wrote: " Abigail and John: Portrait of a Marriage by Edith B. Gelles"

Would you want to read this as a buddy read for April..."
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Okay. :)

Patrice wrote: "Nancy, I've been re-reading "Teacher Man" for a book discussion in class. Just now I read about his time as a substitute teacher. I think he referred to. I won't print your last name but I think..."

Several people have asked me about this but while this is my last name I am not that teacher.

BTW - last night I attended a book group about I Am Forbidden and Orthodox and again a discussion ensued about the life of a member of the Satmar or Hasidic community.

Connie wrote: "Nancy wrote: "I recently read The Wide Sargasso Sea after reading rave reviews about this book for many years. But maybe I read a different book since didn't get what mnade it so special."

People..."

I did read Wide Sargasso Sea and am all too familiar with the story but I still don't see what all of the fuss is all about.

Alias Reader wrote: "Okay. :) "

Great!

Nancy wrote: BTW - last night I attended a book group about I Am Forbidden and Orthodox and again a discussion ensued about the life of a member of the Satmar or Hasidic community.
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Did you enjoy the book and the discussion, Nancy?

Sorry the above title was Unorthodox. Yes, I saw merit in both books although Unorthodox was a memoir while I Am Forbidden is a thinly veiled fiction book. I was also fortuntae to hear both of these authors speak which made the books more meaningful.

For the Philip Roth readers among us, there will be a documentary about his life on March 29th on PBS, I think.

I am sure many of you have read or heard that Roth is turning 80 and says he won't be writing anymore. I would think to an author writing would be like breathing but what do I know. LOL

Nancy wrote: "For the Philip Roth readers among us, there will be a documentary about his life on March 29th on PBS, I think."

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Thanks for the info.

Nancy wrote: "Sorry the above title was Unorthodox. Yes, I saw merit in both books although Unorthodox was a memoir while I Am Forbidden is a thinly veiled fiction book. I was also fortuntae to hear both of the..."
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I've read
I am Forbidden

I own but have not yet read Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots

Patrice wrote: ""

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I am not really into celebrity bios. What is so special about this one that you would put it on the 1001 books to read before you die ?

Patrice wrote: "Oh my! I didn't think of it as a book to read before you die! I was so proud of myself, I could finally add a book! First time! lol

No, it's gossipy trash. I love gossipy trash. I added it be..."
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LOL :) That's a relief !

As to adding a book, it is really easy once you get the hang of it. I appreciate you trying. Many people hate to learn/try new things.

Yes, this is so true about Bloom's take on Roth.

As many of you know Roth grew up in Newark and many of the women I live with or their siblings claim to have known him. And many of them claim to be the model for Brenda Patimkin which IMO isn't saying much. I can still remember reading Goodbye Columbus during college and wincing years later when I was asked to join a local country club. Not for me unless they had a great library.

Some here may imagine my thrill at seeing this thread, as i enjoy classic lit more than contemporary novels. I don't have a list, really, of what i want to read, which may be a good idea. I've usually just used "best" lists.

Susan wrote: "Last fall, when I was just doing light consulting, I put together a spreadsheet that has the 3 versions of the 1001 books list and then added five other lists. My goal was to see which books came u..."

Susan, i liked your spreadsheet idea & thank you for sharing. The ones i haven't read are those i don't know that i care to tackle (or, in some cases, tackle again), such as Ayn Rand. I've tried both the books mentioned here & abandoned both after good-faith attempts at over 100 pages. The 5s list is the one which holds the fewest books i've read.

I also appreciate what others shared about reading bios & such as they read classics. For another point of view, i refrain from such until i've read an author's better known works. This is because i am one who wants no "spoilers" when she reads and too often the auxiliary books share that, which makes sense. The down side of my method is that after i finally read a bio (or auto-b), i sometimes want to reread the novel!

One final comment & i'll skedaddle. Amy's point about literary classics is a good one. I wouldn't mind sharing some of my less-classic titles, although, to be honest, some of them are on the list Susan supplied. (For instance, Henry Green, Douglas Adams or even the aforementioned Jean Rhys.) How about a list of nonfiction books we treasure or hope to read (or re-read)? Shall we put those in this thread or begin another?

deborah

Deb, glad you liked my spreadsheet. It works pretty well for me! I must admit that there are some books that I'm not eager to read, but I want to give them a shot at least. The good thing about it is that many of the books on multiple lists are appealing.

I found that each list I came across had certain biases - the list-maker's favorites came through. So this way hopefully the "better" books made it on to more than one list.

I'd love to do a nonfiction version!

I read a lot of nonfiction, so I'd be on board with that as well!

Madrano wrote:How about a list of nonfiction books we treasure or hope to read (or re-read)? Shall we put those in this thread or begin another?

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I think we can keep it all to this thread. Thanks!

I love non-fiction so I'll start by saying probably one of my all time favorites is The Autobiography of Malcolm X

My list of favorite nonfiction books would include (in no specific order):

1. The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan
2. Cosmos by Carl Sagan
3. My Own Country: A Doctor's Story by Abraham Verghese
4. Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
5. Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History by Erik Larson
6. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
7. John Adams by David McCullough
8. Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity by Andrew Solomon
9. All the President's Men by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward
10. Eleni by Nicholas Gage
11. The Long Gray Line: The American Journey of West Point's Class of 1966 by Rick Atkinson
12. Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity by Katherine Boo
13. 1920: The Year of the Six Presidents by David Pietrusza
14. The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge by David McCullough
15. The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History by John M. Barry
16. Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann
17. The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin
18. One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School by Scott Turow
19. A Civil Action by Jonathan Harr
20. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
21. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
22. Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell
23. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
24. Polio: An American Story by David M. Oshinsky
25. The Circus Fire: A True Story of an American Tragedy by Stewart O'Nan
26. The Children's Blizzard by David Laskin
27. The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough
28. 102 Minutes: The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers by Jim Dwyer
29. Columbine by Dave Cullen
30. Strength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness by Tracy Kidder

There are more--that's just a quick pull off my Goodreads list, which only goes back to Dec. 2011. I'll have to look at my bookshelves at home for other.

LOL, Amy. You were prepared. I've read many of the ones you mentioned & have a couple of others on my list.

Alias, i'm with you on the Malcolm X autobiography but always feel i must hasten to add that Alex Haley wrote the book, and, of course, the ending. I do that because without the concluding chapter, the book, while very good, wouldn't have been as powerful. I doubt that Haley protested, though. :-)

That written, my first autobio love was Shirley Maclaine's Don't Fall Off the Mountain. I read it not long after it was published, in the mid '70s & was thrilled by her adventures. I've read several other books by her but none topped that one.

Frankly, i was surprised to see from my list that i've read over 90 autobs. Looking at that list, i'll quickly add the following:

Cross Creek, which was mentioned on another thread recently, by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, the woman who wrote The Yearling.

A Window Over the Sink: A Mainly Affectionate Memoir by Peg Bracken, the same woman who brought us The I Hate to Cook Book. Window was more about her ancestors but included her enough to qualify. Not a great book but one i treasure today.

Anthropology of Everyday Life written by anthropologist Edward T. Hall, who lived and worked with the Hopi & Navaho. His writing about his youth was so clear i felt as though i was exploring with him.

FOR BIOGRAPHY--

I read Madame Sarah, about French actress Sarah Bernhardt, when i was in high school. I liked her histrionic life & kooky ways. Cornelia Otis Skinner, an actress herself, wrote a good biography and for years it was my favorite. Even today i like it.

It would be tough to top David McCullough's John Adams for a great biography. My only complaint, which i've seen in many, many writers, is that he seemed to lean over backwards trying to excuse JA's involvement for the XYZ Affair & the Alien & Sedition Acts.

In Jane Austen: A LifeClaire Tomalin worked with the few facts known to write a good biography. What i learned about life in those times was worth the paucity of Austen facts.

Daniel Boone: The Life and Legend of an American Pioneer by John Mack Faragher is one the list because i attained a real sense of the frontier. And it was a roving life, which fascinates me.

I've read many "small" bios & autos about people who were known in the neck of the woods where i found myself. They are often regional personalities, whose lives and work rarely extended beyond the area. Still, i enjoyed them. For instance, Homesteading in the South Dakota Badlands - 1912 "The Last Best West" by Ernest G. Bormann was good for what it was. Same with I'll Gather My Geese about pioneer ranching in Texas by a woman who lived it, Hallie Crawford Stillwell.

And on. SERIOUSLY, i've been distracted for over an hour on this & am barely started! I am stopping for now.

deb, who "will be back"