Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

The now famous 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list comes from a literary reference book published by Peter Boxall. Chip away at this list with this week's topic. There are a number of versions of the list; choose a book from any of the versions.

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Suggestions:
1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die Group
The 1001 Book List

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Optional Questions:
- What are you reading for this category?
- Have you read many books from this list?

I found this prompt more difficult than I thought since it felt like I'd already read the titles that appealed. I'm pretty sure that's an over-exaggeration though. I settled on Isabel Allende's Of Love And Shadows. I've seen it on a list of books set in Chile and I'm trying to read more widely geographically, so that's a plus. On the minus side I know Allende often uses magical realism, and I'm not normally a fan.

I wasn't excited about this prompt but the the new books added in 2018 gives me options that I'm actually really interested in. I've tentatively decided on A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride.

I'm reading from my 40 Before 40 fiction list for this prompt. There are quite a few on my list that overlap with this list, so I have a wide variety to choose from!

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Lady Chatterly's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
Catch-22 by Joesph Heller
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

This category makes my head spin. There are SO MANY books I want to read.

I couldn't get excited for this one this year, even though its on my infinity list and Ive been slowly working on it. I just feel like I need fluff.

Gonna go with Never Let Me Go

I'll probably read Independent People - Halldor Laxness since I recently bought a copy.

Or maybe:
The Sea, the Sea - Iris Murdoch
The Lonely Girl - Edna O’Brien

Here's my long-short list:

Absalom, Absalom!
An Artist of the Floating World
Foundation
Go Down, Moses
The House of the Seven Gables
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
Kafka on the Shore
Oliver Twist
The Secret History
Treasure Island
The Unconsoled
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

What? I didn't know there were new books added in 2018! So it's technically not 1001 anymore?

Milena wrote: "What? I didn't know there were new books added in 2018! So it's technically not 1001 anymore?"

They usually remove some books when they add new ones, so that the number stays at 1001.

dalex, is that list official for 2018 additions? I don't always trust Goodreads lists..

Emily wrote: "dalex, is that list official for 2018 additions?"

This is the official list (I think) and it matches the gr list.

Thanks!

Emily wrote: "I'm reading from my 40 Before 40 fiction list for this prompt. There are quite a few on my list that overlap with this list, so I have a wide variety to choose from!

The Bluest Eye by..."

I've read all of your choices except for one (Caged Bird, which is on my 60 songs list for next year) and most of them are excellent. Mrs. Dalloway is pretty difficult because of Woolf's stream of conscious technique. Good luck and happy reading!

I'm choosing from the 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die to fill as many prompts as I can so I was excited for this one and the "Something Borrowed." I borrow nearly all of my books from the library and this prompt gave me a sort of "freebie" to choose whichever I liked. I selected Blonde for this prompt.

every year I try to read a few books from this list (I use the complete list that includes all books ever added) so I was happy when this prompt won!! There are still so many books on the list I haven't read so there are plenty to choose from (even after I eliminate the books I'm NEVER going to read).

I think this is the year I will read Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto

I'll read either The Murder of Roger Ackroyd or A Prayer for Owen Meany since I wanted to get to them soon anyway.

If I were to narrow things down to options on my physical TBR:
To Kill a Mockingbird (reread)
Les Misérables
Rebecca
The Name of the Rose
Kafka on the Shore
Native Son
Cold Comfort Farm

I remember when this list first came out. I found a printable version and brought it with me to school. My entire English class got completely sidetracked by looking at the list and comparing how many we had read. We spent almost the entire period arguing about which books did or didn't belong and how elitist, eurocentric, misogynist, rascist, etc, the list was to our very enlightened minds. It was probably one of the best class discussions we ever had, but our substitute teacher spent her time desperately and unsuccessfully trying to get us to write essays.

Jackie wrote: "I remember when this list first came out. I found a printable version and brought it with me to school. My entire English class got completely sidetracked by looking at the list and comparing how m..."

Jackie, I love that story. As a teacher, it's nice to be reminded that the lessons that students remember aren't always the ones in our lesson plans haha!

Jackie wrote: "I remember when this list first came out. I found a printable version and brought it with me to school. My entire English class got completely sidetracked by looking at the list and comparing how m..."


hahaha that sounds like a good time!

Liz wrote: "If I were to narrow things down to options on my physical TBR:
To Kill a Mockingbird (reread)
Les Misérables
Rebecca
The Name of the Rose
[boo..."

Thats what I did too, but I still have a few of them sitting on my shelf.

[book:Les Misérables|24280]
The Handmaid's Tale
Emma
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Great Expectations
Native Son
Half of a Yellow Sun
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
Nana
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
The Inheritance of Loss
Arrow of God

Too many options....

I'm going to read Girl with Green Eyes. I have no idea why I chose this. More than likely it was because I wanted to complete a row! I have planned, like Lindsey, to pull most of my books for my challenges from this list. Sometimes the books require a little bit more work, but most of the ones I have read have been pretty good.

well I ploughed through the over 1300 books in the goodreads list (tad more that 1001) and other than the ones I have already read none of them are inspiring me.

I might put this at the bottom of the list and come back to it in December 2019 if I have time.

I don't re-read and anything that is classified at literally worthy is a huge turn off for me.

Emily wrote: "Jackie wrote: "I remember when this list first came out. I found a printable version and brought it with me to school. My entire English class got completely sidetracked by looking at the list and ..."

I'm not entirely sure there was a lesson plan that day. If I remember right, our teacher had to unexpectedly take a day off and left the poor sub with the instructions to "just have them work on their essays". I wonder now if the sub told her we went rogue...

So this book has modern books in it too? I got a copy of it from my sister for my birthday and didn't really recognize any of the books, however this year I think I am going to read as many classics as possible along with some current literary choices and light kids reading in between the heavy classics that are over 450 pages or more...

Christine wrote: "So this book has modern books in it too? I got a copy of it from my sister for my birthday and didn't really recognize any of the books..."

They re-do the list every few years and remove some titles and add others so I don't think it's possible to get a list of every possible title from one of the 1001 books but there are some different resources online.

The list has a lot of old classics but also some more modern classics, like from the 90s, such as The Poisonwood Bible, Kafka on the Shore, and A Prayer for Owen Meeny.

And the 2018 changes are mostly newer titles - Americanah, The Goldfinch, The Flamethrowers, etc.

Christine wrote: "So this book has modern books in it too? I got a copy of it from my sister for my birthday and didn't really recognize any of the books, however this year I think I am going to read as many classic..."

Yes. There are about 130 books on the list from the 21st century. (I am counting the complete list, which is about 1400 1300 books, I'm not tracking which books have been deleted from the list as others are added.) And there are quite a few from the latter half of the 20th century (more than I can quickly count.)

I have a spreadsheet that has all 1315 (??) books on the lists, plus which particular lists they are on, or not on. I think it’s 2006, 08, 10, 12 & now 18. It’s still not quite where I’d like it to be, but I’m happy to share it if anyone wants it.

If you're interested, I have my spreadsheet divided by 2000s, 1900s, 1800s, and 1700s (and earlier). I don't have mine divided by list, so every book that was once on the list is mixed up in mine.

If the link doesn't take you to the right tab, you can just scroll towards the end to the 1001 tab.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

I'm planning on reading The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

Haruki Murakami isn't my favourite author by a long shot, I find their stuff a bit too surreal, but i figured I'd give this one a go.

I've read a few books on the list, but those I remember reading I also remember finding something of a drag. Maybe I'm just a bit of a picky reader...

Emily I "stole" your entire spreadsheet, thanks for sharing

I wish there was a function with listopia lists to order them by status (ie read, want to read etc). I was surprised by how many on the two pages of the 1001 list I went through at how many I have actually read, and I'd like to know them all. I'm reading a few off it this year for other prompts, but for this prompt I'm using The God of Small Things

Emily wrote: "If you're interested, I have my spreadsheet divided by 2000s, 1900s, 1800s, and 1700s (and earlier). I don't have mine divided by list, so every book that was once on the list is mixed up in mine.
..."

That spreadsheet is everything. I've copied it, thanks for sharing!

Sarah wrote: "I wish there was a function with listopia lists to order them by status (ie read, want to read etc) ..."

Yes, this!

Haha no problem! I can't help myself... I just keep adding lists to it!

choosing another 50/50 book. Called Animal Farm by George Orwell. Not sure I"m going to like it because I didn't like his other book.

Mom2triplets04 wrote: "choosing another 50/50 book. Called Animal Farm by George Orwell. Not sure I"m going to like it because I didn't like his other book.

"

I liked Animal Farm more than I liked 1984... but I didn't really like either of them. Animal Farm moves much quicker (and is much shorter) than 1984.

What are you reading for this category?
Steppenwolf, by Hermann Hesse


Have you read many books from this list?
Nowhere near enough. Sigh.

What are you reading for this category?
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Have you read many books from this list?
a few

The BIO option says read from the original list - am i being stupid how do i know if it was on original list

I have read The Sea but i am also reading Les Misérables which i think should fit BIO option

To Kill a Mockingbird
I read this when I was 13 years old. I have watched the movie many times through the years! It will be very interesting to me to see how it works some 50 years later!

Lynn wrote: "To Kill a Mockingbird
I read this when I was 13 years old. I have watched the movie many times through the years! It will be very interesting to me to see how it works some 50 years later!"

have you seen it at the theatre - we saw an absolutely brilliant open air production In regents park a couple of years ago

Marie (UK) wrote: "Lynn wrote: "To Kill a Mockingbird
I read this when I was 13 years old. I have watched the movie many times through the years! It will be very interesting to me to see how it works some..."

There is a production currently on Broadway written by Aaron Sorkin and starring Jeff Daniels. I am really looking forward to seeing it.

Marie (UK) wrote: "The BIO option says read from the original list - am i being stupid how do i know if it was on original list"

Most of the books on the list are original. The updates haven't been drastic.

On the third link that Katie posted, the blog post author has which ones were later additions to the list denoted.

For this week, I'll be reading The Count of Monte Cristo.

This is a BIG book. 57hrs on Audiobook. It was so big I had to delete a bunch of things off my phone just to download it.

I've been working through a bunch of the classics, so I have read a number of the 1,001 books, but I don't think I've even made a dent.

I know what you mean Adam. I had a fleeting notion to read through the list a couple of years ago, but then I realised the sheer amount of it, add to it that there are different versions, among them the Danish version that of course has a lot of common books, but also a lot from the Nordic countries that are also huge classics, and I want to read those too. And then what you have is probably more like 1500 books and I thought oh well... I'll use it as tips for reading classics.

Adam wrote: "For this week, I'll be reading The Count of Monte Cristo.

This is a BIG book. 57hrs on Audiobook. It was so big I had to delete a bunch of things off my phone just to download it.

I'v..."


I'm going to read that someday. But I'm intimidated by the size!!

My phone has like zero memory so what I do is download just a few audiofiles at a time, as I finish each file I delete it and then download another. I use Overdrive and "Files" is in the dropdown menu. I've got unlimited data on my phone plan so I can download them whenever, but back when I had a monthly data limit this required some planning to make sure I didn't get caught out without wifi and out of audiofiles!

I really want to read The Count of Monte Cristo also. I've read part of it before and then had to take a break, and never went back. We should have a support group and all read it at the same time. The longest audiobook I ever listened to was It at 45 hours. I was so sick of it all by about hour 15.

You should definitely do it as a buddy read here! I’ve done that with both War and Peace and Ulysses, and it was excellent. Even though we didn’t read at the same pace it was comforting to know others were out there supporting each other.

I wasn’t the hugest fan of Count when I read it last year, it started out really well but my own personal feeling is that it needed an editor. I think he got paid by the word - it certainly feels like it!