Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion
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Hi, I'm Angie. I've been a member of this group for some time, mostly lurking in the background somewhere. Sometimes I join in with the monthly group reads, but more often I don't. The other day I took a hard look at the list, and counted all the books I have read so far - 46. I have to admit, I had expected the number to be a little higher and felt kind of disappointed. Clearly, I had misjudged how many books you're able to tick off by just reading from the list casually. And when I saw other people's calculations on how many books you'd have to read in a year in order to actually finish all the 1001 books before you die, it dawned on me that I'd have to commit to reading from the list more seriously.
Yet at the same time, I'd like to keep my catching-up process fun and stress-free.
So, if you feel like you're in a similar situation, get in touch and we could share strategies on how to best tackle the list, or plan how to increase the number of list-books we read.... or we could simply cheer each other on.
Mod
I will share something else I have done to make it more fun.
Two years in a row now I have joined this group: 2020 Reading Challenge. Similar to this group they do group reads, but I only join them if they are reading a LIST book. What I use the group for is for their themes. I take their themes and I attempt to complete their challenges with only LIST books. For example, this year the theme was Myths, Legends, and Fairy Tales. I participated in the A-Z challenge and here's how I completed it:
A - Androids, the futuristic, mythical, artificially intelligent beings, are the antagonists in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. (2/8/2020)
B - Buddha, the enlightened one who has achieved nirvana in Buddhist mythology, is mentioned in the text and title of Buddha's Little Finger (4/12/20)
C - Cassiopeia, Greek mythology's vain queen and mother of Andromeda, is discussed along with her constellation in Walden (5/10/20)
D - The Devil, Christianity's progenitor of evil, is the antagonist in The Master and Margarita. (1/17/20)
E - Garden of Eden, the biblical "garden of God," shares a name with the title character of Martin Eden. (1/9/20)
F - Foundation, the mythical world created by Isaac Asimov, is the setting and the title of Foundation. (2/7/2020)
G - Godzilla, Tokyo's mythical menace/protector, shares its name with a boat in The Crying of Lot 49 (4/27/20)
H - Hell, Christianity's fiery repository for the unsaved, is mentioned in A Clockwork Orange (3/13/20)
I - Ishtar, the ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, is discussed in Joseph the Provider (1/24/20)
J - Jernau Gurgeh is a legendary game player from the mythical, interstellar community known as The Culture in The Player of Games (1/27/20)
K - Krishna, a major diety in Hinduism, is mentioned in The Quiet American (1/7/20)
L - Labyrinth, Greek mythology's prison of the Minotaur, is in the tile and text of Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings (1/30/20)
M - Magic, the ubiquitous element found in almost any myth or fable, is mentioned in the text of Native Son (2/28/20)
N - Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris is the setting for the legendary The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (4/24/20)
O - The Odyssey, Homer's epic poem on Greek Mythology, is alluded to several times in The Return of the Native (5/30/20)
P - Ptah, the ancient Egyptian god of Wisodm and Creation, is mentioned in Joseph in Egypt (1/6/20)
Q - Don Quixote, the knight and protector of chivalry, is used as a literary device in The Untouchable (3/3/20)
R - Rumpelstiltskin, the popular Grimm fairytale, is told in Middlemarch (5/16/20)
S - Seriphim, heavenly beings originating in Judaism and present in Christian and Islamic beliefs, are mentioned in Journey to the End of the Night (3/22/20)
T - Lamed Vav Tzadikim, the 36 rightous people who can talk directly to God in mystical Hasidic Judaism, are discussed in The History of Love (2/11/20)
U - Undead, one who was once dead but comes back, plays an important part in Beloved (4/6/20)
V - Porthos, baron du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds, is one of the legendary trio in The Three Musketeers (3/26/20)
W - Watchmen, the legendary costumed heroes, are the title characters in Watchmen (2/8/20)
X - Xerxes, the Persian king depicted as a giant god/human in the film 300 (2006), shares a name with a character in A Fine Balance (3/10/20)
Y - The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is one of Scrooge's 4 spectral visitors in A Christmas Carol (4/14/20)
Z - Zion, the promised land in Rastafarian and Jewish mythology, is mentioned in Ulysses (4/12/20)
It's just a really fun way to decide which book to read next. I've decided to do this every year. Next year they will have a whole new theme and I will do the A-Z challenge to try to complete it again.
Sean wrote: "Hi Angie. I am a list guy. Must be why I like the LIST so much. So I have made lists of the LIST and how I want to read it. I will share something else I have done to make it more fun.
Two year..."
Hi Sean, thanks for recommending the A-Z challenge. Never heard about it before. This kind of scavanger hunt really does sound like fun and the prompts are the right amount of non-specific to make them adaptable to any kind of book you want. I'll probably check it out in the new year and start fresh from the beginning with a new theme.
I'm doing a decades challenge for another group at the moment, where you have to read 12 books (one for each month of the year), published in each decade between the 1850s and the 1960s. So I'm able to tick off a good number of the classics on the list.
Other than that, I plan to read at least the next two monthly group reads, and I have dug out all the list books that I own but simply haven't read yet. I came up with 21 books, so that should keep me busy until the end of the year.
What are you going to read next?
Mod
oohhhh you just asked me for a list....
On my Soon-To-Read list I have:
The Story of the Lost Child - I still need to read book 3 of the prerequisite non-list books in the series. This is Book 4
A Ballad for Georg Henig - Just because I want to and my library has it.
Cost - August Group Read here
The Plague - August Book read in another group
Summer - September Group Read here
Bleak House - September Group Read in another group
Trainspotting - The book I will be making my neighborhood book club read in a few months
and
Half of a Yellow Sun Another one I spotted at the library.
Looks like your summer is all "booked up", Sean. ;-)Happy reading!
Mod
The other day I..."
Hi, Angie. Like Sean, I love completing lists so motivation isn't a problem for me. I do recommend finding the list of Boxall books under 200 pages on one of these threads (its under General -- Short books on the list?). I read several books at a time -- one long book (currently reading Proust) and a couple of shorter ones. I usually have books on my Kindle for waiting rooms (doctors and vets) which are easier to read (nothing experimental or stream-of-consciousness)! And I like to read in bed but have to be careful to read something that won't keep me awake.
I usually do the BookRiot Read Harder Challenge and try to do it only with Boxall books. Some of this years items were
Read a book about a natural disaster -- Ballard, The Drowned World
Read an audiobook of poetry -- Pushkin, Eugene Onegin
Read a debut novel by a queer author -- Winterson, Oranges are not the Only Fruit
Read a sci-fi/fantasy novella (under 120 pages) -- Dostoyevsky, The Nose
Just enjoy the journey!!
Karen wrote: "Angie wrote: "Hi, I'm Angie. I've been a member of this group for some time, mostly lurking in the background somewhere. Sometimes I join in with the monthly group reads, but more often I don't. T..."
Hi Karen, lovely to hear from you!
Thank you for recommending the Book Riot Challenge, I definitely will have a look at their Goodreads Group.
I, too, often read two books at a time. Usually one in bed and one on the bus/tram, while I'm on my way to work. (Although now, with working from home, I only read in the evening...) Balancing a "slow read" with something a bit less complex, works well for me too, that way I don't feel like I'm stuck on one book for weeks and weeks.
My newest approach to the list is to order books from the library that I have never heard about before. Because of the pandemic my library offers a home delivery service by post, and I made use of that by ordering a couple of Boxall-books that are completely unknown to me (didn't even read a synopsis). I now just have to finish a few group reads first, before I get stuck in with my "mystery" books. ;-)
Are you going to read the whole series by Proust?
If you read one volume plan on reading them all. In Search of Lost Time is not a “series” but one very long novel published in multiple volumes. Certainly the longest book on the List.
Mod
Angie wrote: "Karen wrote: "Angie wrote: "Hi, I'm Angie. I've been a member of this group for some time, mostly lurking in the background somewhere. Sometimes I join in with the monthly group reads, but more oft..."
Yes, I'm reading the whole 7 volumes of In Search of Lost Time. I started last year and read Vol. 1 -- Swann's Way to fulfill the BookRiot Read Harder Challenge for a self-published book. I've just finished Vol. 5 -- The Captive.
I need to get back to that--I read Du Coté de Chez Swann last year, but I haven't followed up with any of the others.
Mod
Second to a list, I love a good mystery. Would love to hear what "mystery" books you ordered.
James wrote: "If you read one volume plan on reading them all. In Search of Lost Time is not a “series” but one very long novel published in multiple volumes. Certainly the longest book on the List."Apologies! Have you read all volumes of In Search of Lost Time , James?
Karen wrote: "James wrote: "If you read one volume plan on reading them all. In Search of Lost Time is not a “series” but one very long novel published in multiple volumes. Certainly the longest book on the List..."Well done, Karen! I keep putting it off... do you like it so far?
Sorry Sean, I didn't mean "mystery" as a genre, but books that are unknown to me... maybe that should that have been "surprise" instead? (Not a native speaker of English).If you're looking for crime/mystery books on the list, I'd recommend you go to "bookshelf" on the Boxall 1001 Books... group page, on the left, there's an option to filter by "mystery-thrillers". Of those, I thought The Nine Tailors and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd were quite good.
Mod
If you're looking for cri..."
Oh I knew what you meant. You said it just fine. I meant, "what are these unknown books you are getting?"
Sean wrote: "Angie wrote: "Sorry Sean, I didn't mean "mystery" as a genre, but books that are unknown to me... maybe that should that have been "surprise" instead? (Not a native speaker of English).If you're l..."
They are:
- Richard Brautigan In Watermelon Sugar
- Carol Shields The Stone Diaries
- Pär Lagerqvist Barabbas (this one is from the 2008 ed. of the list)
and
- Selma Lagerlöf Gösta Berling's Saga (I didn't know she wrote books for adults as well...)
I'm very excited to get started on them, except for the Brautigan which has a very off-putting cover... ;-)
Mod
In Watermelon Sugar is the only title on your list I've read. It's a bit weird but it's short at least.
Ellinor wrote: "Angie wrote: "Sean wrote: "Angie wrote: "Sorry Sean, I didn't mean "mystery" as a genre, but books that are unknown to me... maybe that should that have been "surprise" instead? (Not a native speak..."Yes, I have a feeling that this might turn out to be a weird one. I glimpsed the words "postmodern post-apocalyptic novel" somewhere, and that does not sound like my cup of tea at all. But, who knows...maybe I will like it after all.
In part, the idea behind picking out books blindly, is to trick myself into reading those books, I would typically avoid. There are always certain themes or topics, genres, authors... that I don't pick up because they don't seem very appealing to me, so I came up with this "experiment" as a way to read something I don't have any preconceived ideas about. Even if that means having to read a postmodern post-apocalyptic novel... ;-)
Mod
- Richard Brautigan In Watermelon Sugar
- Carol Shields The Stone Diaries
- Pär Lagerqvist Barabbas (this one is from the 2008 ed. of the list)
and
- Selma Lagerlöf Gösta Berling's Saga (I didn't know she wrote books for adults as well...)..."
I have not read any of those. Looks like a fun little time. Enjoy!
Mod
It's a series to read slow. Each book moves at a snail's pace with the narrator reflecting and reflecting and reflecting on everything that happens to him. Dinner parties last 300 to 400 pages! His descriptions are beautiful, but sentences can go on for pages. I believe, as Socrates supposedly said, that the unexamined life is not worth living, but sometimes Proust overdoes it! I like it so far; it is very calming. And then in the last 10 pages of each volume major events happen, revelations are made, and Proust just ends the book -- definitely a precursor of the cliffhanger!
In Watermelon Sugar is one of those weird 1960s books probably written while the author was on drugs. Just go with it and don't spend too much time trying to understand it. I laughed through his other book -- Willard and His Bowling Trophies -- just a fun read, but weird!
I enjoyed both The Stone Diaries and Barabbas.
Mod
What seems to be what helps me the most to read more list books: I'm in this group and another that just talk about the list books and have monthly group books and am also in another group that sometimes has a list book for a monthly read. So I read those group-read ones unless I'm not interested in them or already read them. I also read other list books that I want to read and nonlist books.
I've only read 35 books off the list. Despite the fact that I look at the list, browse it, sort it different ways, look at Listopias based on the list, etc., very frequently, I'm pretty sure I'll never actually read them all! But I'm ok with that. For me it's just one more source of book recommendations. I just have too many other things I also want to read. But I do like the *idea* of reading them all, lol. Perhaps one day!Out of curiosity, I did the math, and the list could be read in 50 years with about 2 books a month. That's not so bad! Hahaha. Of course by then there will be 50 more years' worth of great books to catch up on...
Mod
There is a very helpful topic in the folder Helpful Stuff -- Short Books on the List. Lots of suggestions, but if you go to the very end, there is the complete list of short books (under 200 pages) in order by page count. Though some of the books have differing page counts, its a good start, and I think there are over 200 books on the list.
Karen wrote: "Lianne (The Towering Pile) wrote: "I've only read 35 books off the list. Despite the fact that I look at the list, browse it, sort it different ways, look at Listopias based on the list, etc., very..."That's a good suggestion! And here I am reading the longest ones, lol! I'm currently on volume 1 of 16 of the Thousand and One Nights, and I'm about to start Les Mis for the group year-long read.
Mostly I've just picked based on what I'm interested in. I like Jane Austen, so I read all of her novels, which are all on the combined list. There are a few other authors I want to do that with. I have the complete works of Edgar Allan Poe, so when I get to that it'll knock another three off the list.
There was a very good Audiobook thread but I just can't find it so I'll dump my recent experiences here. I have done a good number of reads this year. Something like 18. This is largely thanks to Audible. I have been looking into what I can get for free with my membership and this led me to somewhat random choices, meaning those I was otherwise not planning to read.
* Middlemarch - Read by Juliet Stevenson - A true gem and 100 times worth paying for. Would listen to it again.
* Fathers and Sons - Read by David Horovitch - a good read, I am not the biggest fan of the story but would totally recommend it
* Seize the Day - Read by Grover Gardner - Good read but easy to skip imo.
* A Hero of Our time - Clive Chafer - Clear read, interesting stories, could be read as easily.
* Breakfast at Tiffany's - Michael C Hall - Clear read, again probably easy on the eye also
* Cry, the beloved country - Michael York - Another amazing amazing, highly recommended audiobook. It's almost like radio theater, and provides a deeper feeling, and reality to the story.
* A room with a view - Rebecca Hall - Another clear read but I found the story quite boring.
* Hitchhiker's Guide - Stephen Fry - I think I would follow the sorry better reading myself. Love SF but this one didn't click with me.
All in all excellent method for catching up with the list, while doing cleaning or folding clothes or taking long walks.
Mod
I have done a good number of reads this year. Something like 18. This is largely thanks to ..."
I've listened to two of Virginia Woolf's books read by Juliet Stevenson. She is an excellent reader!
Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
Books mentioned in this topic
Willard and His Bowling Trophies (other topics)Gösta Berling's Saga (other topics)
The Stone Diaries (other topics)
Barabbas (other topics)
In Watermelon Sugar (other topics)
More...
Do you feel like you need to catch up, because everybody else has read so much more?