Monday, October 20, 2008

My TBR Pile

One thing that unpacking our mountain of boxes showed me was that Hubby might have had a point about my reading problem. The problem, of course, being that I read a wee bit too much. In my opinion, I don’t own that many books. That said, despite having worked in a circulation library for numerous years, I’m not into “borrowing” books.

Most people who have known me for a long time, are used to seeing me pull a book out of my purse at a moment's notice. Truth be told (although please don’t tell my mother or teachers), I was somewhat famous in high school for never reading the assigned books and yet always having a book open inside my desk during class. I have always enjoyed reading, but I don’t like being told what to read.

I am trying to get over the latter issue by joining (and in the case of Cairo “finding”) book clubs. The ladies I read with in Nairobi were lovely and always filled with ideas and opinions so different from my own that you’d think we were several generations and continents apart. (Which we were, but that’s hardly the point.)

I am always keen to see the latest bestsellers lists from the New York Times or Amazon to see if I’m reading the “right” things. But even more than the “right thing” of the moment are those lists that can tell us if we’re reading the “long-term” right thing. The key to finding one of these lists is to find one where you can check off at least 10 books. If you haven’t read at least 10 of the “best 100 books ever written” find another source – I guarantee that their list will be different.

Last week I started my blogging day by checking out Blogger's “Blogs of Note” and found Reading Adventures. (Aside: Is it just me or would it not be beyond awesome to be the Blog of the Day. Not that I'm looking for validation from complete strangers - that's not what this blog is about. Oh wait...) While there, I noticed that the author had blogged about Angus & Robertson’s Top 100 Book List. After perusing the list for a moment or two, I was pleased to see that I had actually read a few of the books that the Australian company had deemed worthy.

I copied the list here to help me keep track of my own reading. I have highlighted the ones I have definitely read (there were a few I wasn’t sure about) and italicized the books that are physically sitting in my To Be Read (TBR) pile (Amazon wish lists don’t count).

So how did you fare on A&R’s top 100 list? How do you think I did? More importantly, what books do you think are missing?

1. Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling
2. Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
3. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
4. The Obernewtyn Chronicles - Isobelle Carmody
5. My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult
6. To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee
7. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
8. Breath - Tim Winton
9. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
10. Break No Bones - Kathy Reichs
11. The Power Of One - Bryce Courtenay
12. Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
13. Magician - Raymond E. Feist
14. The Bronze Horseman - Paullina Simons
15. Mao's Last Dancer - Li Cunxin
16. Memoirs Of A Geisha - Arthur Golden
17. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
18. Cross - James Patterson
19. Persuasion - Jane Austen
20. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
21. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
22. The Secret - Rhonda Byrne
23. Marley and Me - John Grogan
24. Antony and Cleopatra - Colleen McCullough
25. April Fools Day - Bryce Courtney
26. North & South - Elizabeth Gaskell
27. In My Skin - Kate Holden
28. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
29. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
30. The Other Boleyn Girl - Phillipa Gregory
31. Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult
32. Atonement - Ian McEwan
33. Shantaram Gregory - David Roberts
34. Pillars Of The Earth - Ken Follett
35. The Pact - Jodi Picoult
36. Ice Station - Matthew Reilly
37. Cloudstreet - Tim Winton
38. Jessica - Bryce Courtenay
39. A New Earth - Eckhart Tolle
40. The Princess Bride - William Goldman
41. Running With Scissors - Augusten Burroughs
42. Anybody Out There? - Marian Keyes
43. Life Of Pi - Yann Martel
44. Seven Ancient Wonders - Matthew Reilly
45. People Of The Book - Geraldine Brooks
46. Six Sacred Stones - Matthew Reilly
47. Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards
48. Brother Odd - Dean Koontz
49. Tully - Paullina Simons
50. Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom
51. The Catcher in the Rye - J.D Salinger
52. Eragon - Christopher Paolini
53. Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
54. It's Not About The Bike - Lance Armstrong
55. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
56. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
57. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
58. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
59 A Fortunate Life - A.B. Facey
60. The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley
61. The Notebook -Nicholas Sparks
62. Water For Elephants - Sara Gruen
63. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
64. The Host - Stephenie Meyer
65. Dirt Music - Tim Winton
66. Eldest - Christopher Paolini
67. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
68. It - Stephen King
69. World Without End - Ken Follett
70. Emma - Jane Austen
71. Temple - Matthew Reilly
72. Little Women - Alcott Louisa May
73. Lean Mean Thirteen - Janet Evanovich
74. Scarecrow - Matthew Reilly
75. American Gods - Neil Gaiman
76. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
77. P.S, I Love You - Cecelia Ahern
78. All That Remains - Patricia Cornwell
79. The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch
80. Past Secrets - Cathy Kelly
81. The Persimmon Tree - Bryce Courtenay
82. Husband - Dean Koontz
83. Plain Truth - Jodi Picoult
84. Wicked - Gregory Maguire
85. Spot Of Bother - Mark Haddon
86. Always And Forever - Cathy Kelly
87. The Road - Cormac McCarthy
88. Cents & Sensibility - Maggie Alderson
89. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris
90. The Shifting Fog - Kate Morton
91. We Need To Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver
92. Everyone Worth Knowing - Lauren Weisberger
93. Hour Game - David Baldacci
94. Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay
95. The Woods - Harlan Coben
96. Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
97. Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
98. Scar Tissue - Anthony Kiedis
99. Infidel - Ayaan Hirsi Ali
100. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, you made the list of top 45 women bloggers in Africa!
http://blog.afrigator.com/2008/10/20/top-45-female-african-bloggers/

(Actually, it's top African women bloggers, but that's not exactly right, is it?)

Congratulations!

Anonymous said...

I read the original Kathy Reich book 'Deja Dead' on the train along with 'Water for Elephants' (Sara Gruen).
You haven't read 'A Tale of Two Cities'? Good book. I have read 'The Shadow of the Wind': now that is a good book to put on your list.
And of course all (well...most of) the mystery series books as long as they are in the cheap versions!
merthyrmum

Lynda said...

That list is compiled in Australia - so a little bias... I have read many of those - would recommend Dirt Music by Tim Winton (I wanted to weep when it was finished and didn't talk to anyone for days) - haven't been able to get my hands on Breathe yet.

Desperate to read the sequel to Pillars of the Earth - just too bloody big to carry as hand luggage - might read it over Xmas if I can get an English copy in Germany.

You can never have too many books - I am highly suspicious of people who say they never read or whom have no books in their homes...scary

The Stewart Report said...

You can never have to many books!! Moving all over the world as a kid books were the one "have to have" that my parents always crated. I can still remember what book I was reading when we had to evacute Togo when I was 12.

I've read a bunch of those but now my goal is to knock them all out. Power of One I can definitly recommend. It's my favorite and as much as I read that's saying a lot!

Anonymous said...

Oooh, booklists, enough to get me to stop lurking! I've read roughly the same as you, but not The Road (couldn't get into it) and I've definitely read Life of Pi.

I also have about 10 boxes of books sitting in my mother's attic in Scotland that I haven't read in the past 10 years, but I absolutely cannot throw out..which means, as she's selling the house, shipping them here...

MsTypo said...

Four - Thanks!! *blush* How did you hear?!

Lynda - i have "Pillars." Next time i see you, remind me to brining it and you're welcome to borrow my copy. :)

Grouse - I don't really get why "Road" is getting so much love. It's good but it isn't the best book i've ever read by far!

Stewart - I love, love, loved the movie "Power of One" so i'll defintely have to pick up the book. :)

Mum- What did you think of "Elephants?"

Anonymous said...

Found your blog through Lulu's. Congrats on your Afrigator billing btw!

I too have my book obsession, and have had to turn to borrowing from the Library because books are getting so expensive to buy!!

Im pleased to say that I've read 20 out of the 100 on your A&R list. And there are lots there that I've wanted to read but never gotten around too.

Have a great Tuesday.

Justine

Anonymous said...

I too have read 'Life of Pi" and a few of the Jane Austens, of course. I am in the middle of another Patricia Cornwell although she isn't my favorite--I prefer Sue Grafton or even Anne Perry.
'Elephants' was a good book for the train. I enjoyed it as a change from my usual mysteries.
merthyrmum

Aurenna said...

1. Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling
2. Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
3. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
4. The Obernewtyn Chronicles - Isobelle Carmody
5. My Sister's Keeper - Jodi Picoult
6. To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee
7. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
8. Breath - Tim Winton
9. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
10. Break No Bones - Kathy Reichs
11. The Power Of One - Bryce Courtenay
12. Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk
13. Magician - Raymond E. Feist
14. The Bronze Horseman - Paullina Simons
15. Mao's Last Dancer - Li Cunxin
16. Memoirs Of A Geisha - Arthur Golden
17. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
18. Cross - James Patterson
19. Persuasion - Jane Austen
20. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
21. The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

22. The Secret - Rhonda Byrne
23. Marley and Me - John Grogan
24. Antony and Cleopatra - Colleen McCullough
25. April Fools Day - Bryce Courtney
26. North & South - Elizabeth Gaskell
27. In My Skin - Kate Holden
28. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
29. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
30. The Other Boleyn Girl - Phillipa Gregory
31. Nineteen Minutes - Jodi Picoult
32. Atonement - Ian McEwan (I think)
33. Shantaram Gregory - David Roberts
34. Pillars Of The Earth - Ken Follett
35. The Pact - Jodi Picoult
36. Ice Station - Matthew Reilly
37. Cloudstreet - Tim Winton
38. Jessica - Bryce Courtenay
39. A New Earth - Eckhart Tolle
40. The Princess Bride - William Goldman
41. Running With Scissors - Augusten Burroughs
42. Anybody Out There? - Marian Keyes
43. Life Of Pi - Yann Martel
44. Seven Ancient Wonders - Matthew Reilly
45. People Of The Book - Geraldine Brooks
46. Six Sacred Stones - Matthew Reilly
47. Memory Keeper's Daughter - Kim Edwards
48. Brother Odd - Dean Koontz
49. Tully - Paullina Simons
50. Tuesdays with Morrie - Mitch Albom
51. The Catcher in the Rye - J.D Salinger
52. Eragon - Christopher Paolini
53. Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
54. It's Not About The Bike - Lance Armstrong
55. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
56. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
57. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
58. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell (want to! Very much so. I just have too much still to read!)
59 A Fortunate Life - A.B. Facey
60. The Mists of Avalon - Marion Zimmer Bradley (Again, want to)
61. The Notebook -Nicholas Sparks
62. Water For Elephants - Sara Gruen
63. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
64. The Host - Stephenie Meyer
65. Dirt Music - Tim Winton
66. Eldest - Christopher Paolini
67. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
68. It - Stephen King
69. World Without End - Ken Follett
70. Emma - Jane Austen
71. Temple - Matthew Reilly

72. Little Women - Alcott Louisa May
73. Lean Mean Thirteen - Janet Evanovich
74. Scarecrow - Matthew Reilly
75. American Gods - Neil Gaiman
76. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
77. P.S, I Love You - Cecelia Ahern
78. All That Remains - Patricia Cornwell
79. The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch
80. Past Secrets - Cathy Kelly
81. The Persimmon Tree - Bryce Courtenay
82. Husband - Dean Koontz
83. Plain Truth - Jodi Picoult
84. Wicked - Gregory Maguire
85. Spot Of Bother - Mark Haddon
86. Always And Forever - Cathy Kelly
87. The Road - Cormac McCarthy
88. Cents & Sensibility - Maggie Alderson
89. Me Talk Pretty One Day - David Sedaris
90. The Shifting Fog - Kate Morton
91. We Need To Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver
92. Everyone Worth Knowing - Lauren Weisberger (Shittest book EVER)
93. Hour Game - David Baldacci
94. Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay (All the Dexters are great!)
95. The Woods - Harlan Coben
96. Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
97. Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides
98. Scar Tissue - Anthony Kiedis
99. Infidel - Ayaan Hirsi Ali
100. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

Colour me unsurprised that Matthew Reilly made it into this Australian list so much despite only being an average author!

Connie said...

Yay! Bookaholics Unite! :-) Thanks for the list, although I have too many books sitting unread in my house right now (no time... sigh) so I shouldn't be shopping for more. Our dream home will have built-in bookcases in every room. But in the meantime, we make do with what we have, and have branched out with eBook readers and massive memory cards for all those eBooks out there.

Marg said...

It was totally awesome, and totally unexpected to get Blog of Note, and one of the big bonuses has been finding a lot more blogs to read, including yours!

It is an interesting list of Top 100 books, but I do think that there are some books missing!

Bramblemoon Farm said...

Great list-- but yes, I think some are missing too. The Terry Goodkind Sword of Truth books are awesome, so is Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy by Tad Williams...but I read SO much I could add another 100. BAHAHAHA I did see some new ones though, and I'm adding them to my "to read" list.

Keys to the Magic Travel said...

Is it a good thing to have someone find your blog and then go back and read all the posts? Well...this seals the deal...a fellow book lover. This has got to be the most eclectic book list I have ever seeen. I am not sure what to think about a list that has James Patterson on it :-)

Two that are not there...that should be:

Donna Tartt's "The Secret History"
and
"The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova.