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Wednesday 4 April 2012

List of Books to read before DEATH (capitals are to add a sense of drama and impending doom)


So while pondering my existence recently I realised that if I were to shuffle off this mortal coil tomorrrow (killed in a freak hot air balloon accident would be an intriguing way to go), there remains stacks of books I have yet to read.
Most of them are in my living room, hanging out with my dog-eared all time favourites: Jane Eyre, 1984, Atonement, The Catcher in the Rye, The Bell Jar, Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, Middlesex, Rebecca, The Reader, Last Exit to Brooklyn, To Kill a Mockingbird, Wuthering Heights.. I could go on.
The list of books I have to read before I die is much longer and is kept in my iPhone (so you know its important).
These are:

Gone With the Wind (One of my all time favourite films, I’m embarrassed that I’ve never actually read the book…scuttles away in shame).

The Last Bloody Girl with the Dragon Tattoo book (Otherwise known as the Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest. I’ve read the first two and am half way through the third but keep putting it down in favour of other (dare I say, better books). Having said that I hate not finishing a book so it will be done…)

Anna Karenina (I actually really want to read this, nothing like a ridiculously long Russian romance novel, I always say).

Catch 22 (I have a copy of it somewhere underneath my bed in my mothers house..now to gather the interest to go searching for it)

Ullyses (I lent my copy of this to someone I no longer see about 10 years ago and that’s pretty much been my excuse for not reading it since then. I’m a disaster).
And theres more...


Breakfast at Tiffanys
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Chocolat
The Great Gatsby
Dangerous Liaisons
Vanity Fair
The Scarlet Letter
Moby Dick (never gonna happen)
Madame Bovary
The Woman in White
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Freedom-Jonathan Franzen
Far from the Madding Crowd
A Room with a View
Lord of the Flies
Howards End
The Colour Purple
Cold Comfort Farm
The Strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
The Master- Colm Toibin
Of Mice and Men
War and Peace
Beloved

And potentially.. The Harry Potter books and/or the Lord of the Rings books.
Have to say, neither of the prospects really fills me with joy but I kind of feel like I should have read them..stop pressuring me society!!!

3 comments:

  1. Ah, book guilt - my old friend. I worked in O'Mahony's for a year back in 2001 and STILL have a pile from those days to get through. Along with work books (though the amount of literature I trawl through for work does assuage some of the other book guilt). And blog books. And present books. And recommended books. And 'I read a really interesting article on this book' books. What I've noticed is that the guilt actually gets in the way of the reading sometimes. Good luck with the list.
    Maeve
    p.s. loving the blog

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  2. Oh yay, hello! I love your blog too, really into the YA reads after The Hunger Games and I really want to read "A monster Calls" after your review, which was brilliant.
    Yeah I'm a disgrace with regards to the "list". A case in point- yesterday, instead of starting one of said books to read before I die, I decided to buy a book on the Kindle called "The Mistresses Revenge"..mostly cause I thought the title was hilarious and will make for a great blog review but still...Anna Karenina has been pushed aside yet again..
    Also, I'm beyond jealous that you used to work in O' Mahony's, that just sounds like heaven!xx

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  3. Glad you like Chloe. And yes, A Monster Calls is amazing. Brilliantly written and the illustrations are incredible. So sad too, I was in bits by the end (think Dave thought I was nuts crying into my kid's book). Good luck with the list!

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