Progress report

So I'm 100 pages into The Grapes of Wrath. I'm enjoying it, as I do most Steinbeck. I just forgot how damn depressing he can be. I mean, it's like: "Chapter 1: It was dusty. Really, really dusty. Chapter 2: Capitalism sucks." And there was one sentence that is freaking me right out, when one character mentions to another how a pig ate this baby. Could that happen? Would a pig eat a baby? That's gross. I didn't know there was going to be any pig-eating in this book.

Many thanks to all that have sent emails and left comments. I am amazed at the tens of people that read both pudgetummies and this.

One more

88. THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY by Oscar Wilde.
Another recommendation from Ann Marie.

Thanks for reminding me, ANN MARIE

87. THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE, Thomas Hardy. 11th grade American Civ again.

One more

86. LONESOME DOVE by Larry McMurtry, or however you spell it.
John, my husband, made me watch the miniseries when I was sick. It was really good. This book better not suck.

Adding to the List

79. 100 Years of Solitude by GABRIEL GARCIA MARQUEZ
80. MOBY DICK by HERMAN MELVILLE
THREE TIMES I've been assigned this. I WILL read it.
81. THE LIFE OF PI by YANN MARTEL
I've started it three times and NEARLY got through half of it once. Is that cheating? I still haven't READ it, really
82. THE ILIAD by Homer
83. THE ODYSSEY by Homer
Assigned both in 9th grade World Civ. Never read either of them. Hi, Mrs. Levey!
84. LAST OF THE MOHICANS by James Fenimore Cooper
Daniel Day Lewis--HOT. Early American lit--BORING.
85. The HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES by Arthur Canon Doyle
Both John and AMC are shocked that I've never read any Holmes. Guess it's time to start

Added to the list

74. REBECCA by Daphne Du Marier
I think I misspelled her last name. Anyway, was supposed to read it in 7th grade.
75. OUR MAN IN HAVANA by Graham Greene
Love him. Love him SO MUCH. Can't wait
76.LIFE WITH JEEVES by P.G. Wodehouse.
Apparently this is three novels in one, so I may just read one.
77. MADAME BOVARY by Gustave Flaubert
I think I fell asleep typing the title
78. EMPIRE FALLS by Richard Russon
It won the Pulitzer. That's usually, THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND KLAY excepted, the kiss of death for me.

The List

I read a lot. Like, a LOT. Anyone who knows me knows this—I read nearly everything, and then, if I like it, I read it again.
But, in my various literary travels, there are a bunch of stops that I’ve missed. Some of them embarrassing—I have a degree in English, I TAUGHT English, and I’ve never read The Grapes of Wrath? What’s with that? I also am notorious for not reading books that have been assigned to me. Case in point: I’ve been assigned Moby Dick three times. I’ve made it to page 18 and then it gets all into baleen and shit and zzzzzzzzzz. I skipped The Red Badge of Courage in seventh grade because, I don’t know, I was too busy reading SE Hinton.
Recently, a lot of blogs I read have been doing these “101 Things in 1001 Days” things, where people make a list of…OK, well, I’m sure you can figure it out from the title. I’m doing something similar. 101 books—great books, books I was supposed to read, books I’m embarrassed to admit I haven’t read. The first 73 books are, in alphabetical order, which is not the way I’m going to read them:
1. A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess
I had students read this in my class. I’ve never read it. Bad Kristen!
2. A FAREWELL TO ARMS by Ernest Hemingway
I read Old Man and the Sea—what more do you want?
3. A HANDFUL OF DUST by Evelyn Waugh
Totally thought Waugh was a guy until, like, three years ago. My grandma’s name is Evelyn. It’s understandable.
4. A ROOM WITH A VIEW by E.M. Forster
I liked Howard’s End; I’m kind of looking forward to this one.
5. ABSALOM, ABSALOM! by William Faulkner
Fuck. Faulkner. Kill me.
6. ALL THE KING'S MEN by Robert Penn Warren
Isn’t this about Watergate? No? Crap.
7. ANNA KARENENIA by Leo Tolstoy
If Oprah can do it, I can do it.
8. ANIMAL FARM by George Orwell
Well, I love 1984.
9. BELOVED by Toni Morrison
10. BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley
11. BRIDESHEAD REVISITED by Evelyn Waugh
12. DARKNESS AT NOON by Arthur Koestler
13. DEATH COMES FOR THE ARCHBISHOP by Willa Cather
Boredom comes for Kristen.
14. DUNE by Frank Herbert
I’ve never read a lot of sci-fi. Might as well start here.
15. FARENHEIT 451 by Ray Bradbury
I might have read this, but I might have been drunk at the time.
16. FINNEGANS WAKE by James Joyce
I probably SHOULD be drunk to try more Joyce
17. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY by James Jones
18. HEART OF DARKNESS by Joseph Conrad
Hi, Mrs. Madison! 12th grade English? Remember me? Sorry ‘bout that.
19. I, CLAUDIUS by Robert Graves
Really only chosen because Mike Henrickson and I used to see the movie in Blockbuster and call it “I, Clavdivs”
20. INVISIBLE MAN by Ralph Ellison
21. KIM by Rudyard Kipling
22. LORD JIM by Joseph Conrad
Making up for not reading Heart of Darkness
23. LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Actually looking forward to this one.
24. MAIN STREET by Sinclair Lewis
25. MOONHEART by Charles de Lint
26. MY ANTONIA by Willa Cather
27. NAKED LUNCH by William S. Burroughs
28. NATIVE SON by Richard Wright
29. OF HUMAN BONDAGE by W. Somerset Maugham
30. ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST by Ken Kesey
31. PALE FIRE by Vladimir Nabokov
On my original list, it says “Something by Nabakov that’s not Lolita.”
32. PARADISE REGAINED by John Milton
I know it’s a poem. It still counts.
33. RAGTIME by E.L. Doctorow
34. SHANE by Jack Schaefer
Cue Jamie: “COME BACK, SHANE!” Seriously, though, is this movie based on this?
35. SISTER CARRIE by Theodore Dreiser
Hi, Mrs. Martin and Mrs. McDiarmid! 11th grade American Civ? Sorry about that, too.
36. SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE by Kurt Vonnegut
I did a book report on this one
37. SOMEPLACE TO BE FLYING by Charles de Lint
38. SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES by Ray Bradbury
39. SONS AND LOVERS by D.H. Lawrence
40. SOUTH PACIFIC by James Michner
Does this one have music in it?
41. TENDER IS THE NIGHT by F. Scott Fitzgerald
42. THE AGE OF INNOCENCE by Edith Wharton
43. THE AMBASSADORS by Henry James
Bite me, Henry James
44. THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY by Thornton Wilder
45. THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Ex-boyfriend’s favorite book. Assigned twice in college. Never read. My bad.
46. THE CALL OF THE WILD by Jack London
47. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE by J.D. Salinger
My dad’s favorite book.
48. THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN by John Fowles
I hear this is dirty. Hee.
49. THE GOLDEN BOWL by Henry James
50. THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck
Husband’s favorite book.
51. THE GREAT GATSBY by F. Scott Fitzgerald
My greatest shame, but I paid attention in 11th grade! There’s a light at the end! A green one.
52. THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers
53. THE HOUSE OF MIRTH by Edith Wharton
54. THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS by Booth Tarkington
I saw the movie—does that count?
55. THE MAGUS by John Fowles
56. THE MALTESE FALCON by Dashiell Hammett
LOVE Hammet. Can’t wait for this one.
57. THE MOVIEGOER by Walker Percy
Another favorite of an ex-boyrfriend. I’m beginning to understand why he was so fucked up.
58. THE RED BADGE OF COURAGE by Stephen Crane
This is the first book I ever skipped for a class. 7th grade. At least it’s short.
59. THE SATANIC VERSES by Salman Rushdie
60. THE SECRET AGENT by Joseph Conrad
61. THE SOUND AND THE FURY by William Faulkner
62. THE STAND by Stephen King
63. THE SUN ALSO RISES by Ernest Hemingway
64. THE WINGS OF THE DOVE by Henry James
65. THE WOOD WIFE by Terri Windling
66. TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf
67. TROPIC OF CANCER by Henry Miller
I know I heard this one is dirty.
68, 69, 70. U.S.A. (trilogy) by John Dos Passos
71. UNDER THE NET by Iris Murdoch
72. WATERSHIP DOWN by Richard Adams
Bunnies! I like bunnies!
73. WOMEN IN LOVE by D.H. Lawrence

“Wait,” you say, “73?” Yeah, because I know I forgot some. E-mail me your favorites and I’ll try to work them onto the list. As of today, Thursday, April 28, 2005; I have 1001 days to go until January 24, 2008. First up: The Grapes of Wrath.

Welcome!

Will start up soon. Be patient.