Books, books, books…

The more books I want to read, the slower it goes. It so hard to find time for reading these days – in the evenings I feel so tired that I can manage just a few sentences and in the mornings the dog puts her head next to me as soon as she can hear that I’m awake. So the list and an actual pile of books keep growing!

I feel helpless as finishing one book I can already name a few more that would be an interesting sequence to the previous one… What’s on the list? Anything you can think of: Biography of Charles Dickens, "Girl in a Blue Dress" by Gaynor Arnold (that's based on C.Dickens' life), "House Rules" by Jodi Piccoult (been sitting on my desk since last December, although I love J.Piccout's books), "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald (need to fill in the holes in my education), "Vanity Fair" by William Makepeace Thackeray (one more hole I guess), "The Child Called It" by Dave Pelzer (another glimpse at a story I read a month ago) and so on... And as if all of these weren’t putting enough pressure I sometimes stumble upon books that look like worth giving a try.

One of such “accidental” ones was “Stealing Athena” by Karen Essex. I knew nothing about the author and I guess if I had seen something like this “Essex’s articles, essays and profiles have been published in Vogue, Playboy, The L. A. Weekly, L. A. Style, and many other periodicals“, I wouldn‘t have „wasted“ my time.

In reality it turned out that Karen Essex is "an award-winning novelist and journalist and a screenwriter. She is the author of the national and international best-selling novel, "Leonardo’s Swans", about the rivalries among the powerful women painted by the great master when he was employed by the Duke of Milan." (This book has also been added to the growing list.) Well, she is definately capable of writing interesting books that reveal historical facts that I have never heard before. And what’s even more exciting - in some cases this depicted history can still be witnessed these days!

“Stealing Athena” chronicles the story of the controversial Elgin Marbles.

"Elgin or Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1799–1803, had obtained a controversial permission from the Ottoman authorities to remove pieces from the Acropolis.

From 1801 to 1812 Elgin's agents removed about half of the surviving sculptures of the Parthenon, as well as architectural members and sculpture from the Propylaea and Erechtheum The Marbles were transported by sea to Britain. In Britain, the acquisition of the collection was supported by some, while other critics compared Elgin's actions to vandalism or looting.

Following a public debate in Parliament and subsequent exoneration of Elgin's actions, the marbles were purchased by the British government in 1816 and placed on display in the British Museum, where they stand now on view in the purpose-built Duveen Gallery. The debate continues as to whether the Marbles should remain in the British Museum or be returned to Athens."


The book is actually told from the points of view of two fascinating women, Mary Nisbet, Countess of Elgin (image above), and Aspasia, mistress to Pericles. You get too see two periods - when the temple was being built and when its treasures were being removed and shipped to England. Periods when women had no rights, when men ruled the world. And once you know more about Mary's and Aspasia's lifes, you begin to realise the real price that had to be paid for the fame, which blinded Pericles and Elgin.
------------------------------------------------------

I've never been to the British Museum in London, although it was always on my "need to see" list (I must be mad about lists). I'm sure that next time I'm there, I will make a special efford and hopefully this will happen some time soon, before the Elgin Marbles are decided to be returned to Athens.

By the way, what would be your answer: "If there were a referendum on whether or not the Elgin Marbles should be returned to Greece, how would you vote?"

In 1998 the results were as follows:
40% in favour of returning the marbles to Greece
15% in favour of keeping them at the British Museum
18% would not vote
27% had no opinion
In 2002 the results were very similar.

Worth Reading

As the two previous posts started with the word “before”, this one is going to be about “after”.

AFTER I read Lionel Shriver’s book “We Need to Talk about Kevin” I decided that she’s an author that has to be added to my “looking forward to reading more” list.

I knew “We Need to Talk about Kevin” was going to be about school shooting (or a columbine monster - a new term for me) and as I’ve already read the famous Jodi Picoult’s “Nineteen Minutes” I expected it to be somehow similar. I wasn’t prepared for a thorough analyses of such a long chain of events that might have led a boy to committing dreadful crimes (the whole thing starts with his mother being not sure about having a child in the first place).

As the story is told by Kevin’s mum, in a series of letters written for her husband, there’s not a lot of direct speech and it made the reading a bit difficult. But all I can say – Lionel Shriver is a very intelligent woman, who succeeded in portraying how things can go wrong, no matter how badly you want to make everything right.

Nature versus Nurture

I’ve been always of the opinion that no one can be born evil. Is that possible? No doubt I would have always shouted: No! And thinking about it, even now I’d say that any dysfunctional behavior has it roots somewhere in the course of the upbringing. (This goes with Jean Jacque Rousseau’s theory that everyone at birth is like an empty sheet of paper.) That’s why it’s a bit peculiar that, without noticing how, reading this book I became sure that the main character - Kevin - was bad from the very first days of his life. I jumped on his mum’s side and was getting angry that no one else noticed the boys will to harm people. So if Lionel’s plan was to shake some strong believes, she’s done it.

To Have or not to Have

The other important subject in the book is fears concerning motherhood. In this day and age couples more often decide to postpone having children and the fears, that arise before the desicion to have a child is made, are really multiple: what if the child has some terminal disease, what if he/she is killed in an accident, what if the parents won't manage to provide for the child etc. But I've never thought of the one the author suggests - what if the child turns into a monster and causes so much grief for the others?

Well, if you decide to read this book, there'll be plenty to think about afterwards. And after you've read it, have a look at this inteview with Lionel Shriver, where she "discusses her chilling novel "We Need to Talk About Kevin," her fears about motherhood and how Columbine monsters are made":

http://www.salon.com/books/int/2003/05/08/kevin/index.html

Oh, and it seems that in 2011 there should be a film based on this book!

Icons of England

As expected my long summer evenings have been devoted to reading. At 10 pm. my body starts craving for a soft bed, but it’s still light outside, so while the mind is alert, a good book keeps me company.

At the moment it’s “Icons of England” – a compilation of short stories written by “high profile and well respected commentators” portraying their feelings towards the English countryside. And I’d recommend it to anyone who’s been to the country and fell in love with it.

The English might seem a bit strange to the rest of the world (just think about the separate taps for cold and hot water, their habit to put milk into their tea, endless conversations about the weather), but I admire them for sticking to their way of doing things without worrying if it looks funny or weird. So if anyone can preserve the best things from the past it will be the English. Although it seems that even they might have to club together in order to achieve the goal.

This book was where I first heard about the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) - http://www.cpre.org.uk/ strangely enough led by a famous American writer Bill Bryson. (Even HRH The Prince of Wales starts his foreword with “There is perhaps a rich irony in the fact that it takes an American … to recognize, celebrate and fight to preserve so much of what is precious about our country.”) An initiative that I would welcome in any country, that wants to conserve what is unique and so dare to its nation.

So what’s so magical about England? What do we have to save that we wouldn’t ruin the spell? If you are intrigued, read about the icons of England – red post boxes, country churchyards, hares, estuaries, rural branch lines, ancient trees and many more.
--------------------------------------------------------------

I’ve been to England many times, but now I’m dead set to see Land’s End. “…Land’s End is magnificent. Even with the vast ocean on three sides, it still manages to make it’s mark – rather than engulfing it, the giant Atlantic has taken it in its lap. … When the summer sunshine beams down on the water and the mild wind blows inland from the ocean, there’s nowhere I’d rather be.” – Muhammad Abdul Bari

I’d also love to buy some fossils from Mary Anning’s shop in Lyme Regis. “Around ninety-nine per cent of all the species that ever lived are now extinct and only a very small fraction are preserved as fossils; and even smaller fraction are ever actually found. And at Mary Anning’s shop, you can get all this for just £2.50.” – Rosie Boycott

Oh, and plant an apple tree that would produce those special apples. “Old pearmain, recorded in the thirteenth century, is probably the only one of our contemporary English apples that Shakespeare would have recognized.” – Raymond Blanc

Best Novels

I think it is exciting how looking for one thing you might find something else that might interest you. I guess it’s not that hard when you’re surfing on the net, otherwise I don’t think time would just disappear while I’m on my computer…

This time I was looking up Vladimir Nabokov – multilingual Russian-American novelist. I have read one of his books recently (I‘m ashamed to admit I haven‘t read his famous "Lolita") and stumbled upon something called Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels list.

As this is a list of the best English-language novels of the 20th century, selected and compiled by the Modern Library (publishing company) in 1998, I decided to have a look how many I’ve read or at least heard of (by the way, V.Nabokov's "Lolita" is number 4 on this list).

Oh, my… I’m a keen reader, but obviously not keen enough. I will have to make up for this as soon as possible; just after I finish my Virtual Trip around Europe… Well, long summer evenings and light nights are perfect for reading!

If you’d like to test yourself, you can find this list just here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Library_100_Best_Novels

Don’t get upset if you haven’t read many of these books - the list did not include enough novels by women, and not enough novels from outside North America and Europe. In addition, some contend it was a "sales gimmick", since most of the titles in the list are also sold by Modern Library.

Denmark And Austria - More Books

I haven’t posted anything on my Virtual Tour for a long time, but it’s not because I haven’t been reading… it’s just that I didn’t have enough time to write thorough reports. So I guess it will be best if I just give a quick update on several books at a time and provide some links where, if need be, more information can be found.

Denmark – Peter Hoeg “The Quiet Girl”

This book appeared in 2006 and in Denmark ‘was generally disregarded as being either too complex or too post-modern’. I must admit it was quite complicated – reading it I could feel that it’s been written by a very intelligent person whose knowledge in most subjects is far greater than of a standard European (no doubt mine as well…). At the same time it was a book which made me laugh out loud – the author’s sense of humour is simply brilliant – I wish I could have such a healing attitude towards life!

You might already be familiar with Peter Hoeg if you’ve read his “Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow”. For more information on this book please have a look here:

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/fiction/article2645069.ece

Austria – Susanna Kubelka “Ophelia Learns to Swim”

Susanna Kubelka was born in Austria, but now is presented as a German speaking writer who lives in France. Although “Ophelia Learns to Swim” was written in 1987 it can be easily confused for a very modern book, which encourages women to live their life with no regrets, taking every chance (hence all the 40 lovers that Ophelia has counted…). Such attitude isn’t for me, but I know that nowadays it’s quite popular. Well, the book wasn’t too bad and I guess in some ways it was even inspiring – advertising the thought that you shouldn’t stop and should always continue to follow your dreams.

For more information on this book please have a look here:

http://www.shvoong.com/books/novel/255074-ophelia-learns-swim/

Ireland (The Virtual Tour)

Finally a book that you can read just for pleasure... like eating a chocolate bar - it lasts till the last bite! But on the other hand it's easily forgettable - admit it, time passes and then you realise that once again you are craving for something sweet...

'Sushi for Beginners' is easy to read, entertaining and has an uplifting ending. I'd classify it as a book for women though. (Well, one can also wonder - do men read? Remembering my dad‘s joke "What if I buy you a book for your birthday? Oh, no, I already have one book!" - probably they don’t… at least not as much as women do.) I don’t think I know a man who’d be willing to analyze feelings or emotions and to soak up all the details of an everyday life of young women, who try to find their happiness (i.e. the other half), to be good mothers to their children or strive to become fashion divas.

Although some people (women?) who’ve read her books say that Marian Keyes creates novels that ‘…are an unusual blend of comedy and darkness‘ (cover subjects like depression, addiction and illness) I‘d still put them as an easy reading for your summer holidays. I guess it‘s just because you know that everything‘s going to be fine in the end.

- (For those who'd be interested to find out more about depression I'd recommend 'Prozac' by Elizabeth Wurtzel and 'The Bell Jar' by SylviaPlath)

Synopsis

Hard-nosed, bitch-goddess London fashion editor Lisa Edwards was certain her "fabulous" promotion would mean more A-list parties, society page photos, and jet-setting jaunts to the fall collections.

Instead, she's being deported, Prada wardrobe and all, to supremely un-chic Dublin to launch Colleen magazine. Her assistant editor, over-organized world-class worrier Ashling Kennedy, however, is thrilled with her new job . . .until she discovers it comes with a very high price tag: Lisa Edwards. And then there's Ashling's oldest, dearest chum, Clodagh "Princess" Kelly, who seems to have achieved true happily-ever-after suburban fairy tale bliss -- but lately has this irresistible urge to kiss a frog. The chances of three such diverse, equally unsatisfied women bonding would be remote anywhere except in staid Dublin town, "the magazine version of Siberia." And once they do, they're going to start shaking things up -- in print and out of it -- especially when Colleen's rumpled, moody, wickedly attractive head honcho Jack Devine is tossed into the mix.

Lithuania

I thought that it would be very hard to choose a Lithuanian book for my ‘Virtual Tour’ as so many authors deserve to be here! How can I write just about one book and then hope that it would represent my country and Lithuanian literature as the whole? But I knew everything would be fine when in a shop I picked up a book by Kristina Sabaliauskaite.

To tell the truth I didn’t know much about the author – we share the same name, she has a PhD in history of art, has lived in London and used to write for a Lithuanian newspaper – and I didn’t know how good the book would be. The back cover promised to reveal so many secrets that I decided not to wait and to find out if this girl is worth all the praises.

I was nicely surprised. I’d say she scores 10 out of 10. No doubt Kristina Sabaliauskaite can tell gripping stories and make you travel in time!

‘Silva Rerum’ – Latin phrase that stands for ‘forest of things’, but in the 16-18th century it used to be the title for a family chronicle, a book where Lithuanian and Polish noblemen would register important events: weddings, birth and death dates, also poems or quotes, and then pass it to the other generations. Kristina’s silva tells the story of Narwoysz family and lifts the veil that has been casted other the previous centuries. The narration is so vivid and complete that after reading the book you‘ll know what it was really like back then – you’ll know the taste, the smell, you’ll be able to imagine every single detail and to finally realise what unseen currents were governing peoples lives.

2009 is the year when we mark the millennium of Lithuania. It’s an important date that has evoked lots of discussions how we should celebrate it. ‘Silva Rerum’ is the book of the millennium as its author has put all of her talent and knowledge into producing an opus teaching us our own history – can there be a better way to celebrate such a date?

Other opinions about the book:

"...If they only knew about this book, Dan Brown and John Irwing would be terribly jealous. And Adam Mickiewicz would applaud. The book of the year - no, rather of the decade!" Emilija Visockaitė, Pravda.lt

"... The characters and the atmosphere are drawn tastefully and with the art historian's emphasis on aesthetic details, the storyline is solidly built, the intrigue is maintained, and one can hardly stop oneself reading..." Giedrė Kazlauskaitė, "Verslo žinios", 2009 02 20

"...I would like "Silva Rerum" to become a film...", theatre director Gintaras Varnas, Kultūra, Alfa.lt, 2009 02 14

For more information please have a look here: http://www.sabaliauskaite.com/index.php

Russia

(Virtual Tour 2009 - Around Europe without Leaving Your House)Russian literature is so vast, but this time my choice was made simply because of visual stimulation (by the way doing IQ tests I get the highest scores for visual abilities). Quite small green, red, blue, brown and yellow books stashed on my grandma’s shelves attracted my attention. These happened to be compediums of short stories written by Anton Chekhov.

I’ve heard that name before, I knew he was a writer, I knew one of his plays (“The Cherry Orchard”) nether the less there wasn’t anything else I could have told you about him. But now my knowledge has increased. So hopefully I won’t ever forget that Anton Chekhov is considered to be one of the greatest short-story writers in world literature.

He was a doctor (I could have guessed it after reading his story “Ward Number 6”), who used to say “medicine is my lawful wife and literature is my mistress”. It is thought that he started writing his stories for money, but later on Chekhov’s artistic ambition grew and he developed his original style - used something that is called “stream-of-consciousness” – portrayed inner monologues of his characters.

From the stories that I read the one that made the biggest impact on me is called “Rothschild’s Fiddle” (later on I found out that Russian composer Veniamin Fleishman even composed a one-act opera that was called “Rothschild’s Violin” – must be a very sad one).

The main character of the story Yakov Ivanov - a poor old coffin-maker is so engrossed in counting his losses that he never notices anything that’s around him: scolds his wife and tries to save on everything. He can’t work on a Sunday – it’s a loss, someone from his village is sent to a hospital in town and later on dies there – it’s a loss. When Yakov’s wife gets ill he makes a coffin for her and after she dies he writes out an invoice: Marfa Ivanova – 2r. 40kp. And of course it’s a loss… Yakov managed to realize what his mistakes were, but I guess it’s really sad that he did so just before his death. (I’m not going to mention the fiddle and who Rothschild is – I need to leave some secrets.)

Reading this story I thought of myself and how I like to count my time... Sometimes I believe that I haven’t got time even for a hug or a few friendly phrases – that would be a loss of precious minutes! But then am I not just like Yakov? Am I not robbing my loved ones of something that could make them happier?

The United Kingdom

(Virtual Tour 2009 - Around Europe without Leaving Your House)
From Sweden I’m hopping to… England! That beautiful island inhabited by people who have a very distinct sense of humor and tend to stick to their old traditions no matter what the rest of the world thinks.

At first I was going to choose a book written by a contemporary writer whose work would reflect the latest British style of living. In most likelihood this would have been something by Alexander McCall Smith – a very productive author, who is capable of telling his endless stories in a very attractive manner. But in the end I decided that it wouldn’t be fair – Alexander McCall Smith was born in Zimbabwe and at the moment lives in Scotland - from what I’ve heard Scottish people would like to be independent, so probably they haven’t got anything to do with the rest of the UK?

Anyway, in one of the local bookshops I found a book that was written in 1900 and to my mind it was ideal. It is called ‘Three Men on the Bummel’ (aka Three Men on Wheels) and actually is the sequel to the famous Jerome K. Jerome's book called ‘Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)’. I’ve never read the latter, but after enjoying the humor I’ll certainly give it a go.

It’s really amazing how following three Englishmen on bikes in the German Black Forest you can find out so many interesting facts or opinions about both nations. For example I never knew why English people don’t speak any other languages (well, if you ask them if they do, they’ll say they speak a bit of French, but from my own experience it’s just some ‘catchy’ phrase that they can remember from school times – one can say ‘can you check my tires please’, another ‘what’s the time’). Jerome K. Jerome seems to agree with me – in his opinion a young Englishmen, who has just left school, could talk to a Frenchmen slowly and hardly, about gardeners or aunts. A brighter child might even be able to say something about the time or the weather; of course they could repeat several numbers or irregular verbs that they’ve learnt by heart, but we must admit that not many people would like to listen to their own irregular verbs repeated by a young Englishmen. I never thought I’d find so much support for my own theory in a 1900s book! I won’t tell you why the situation with languages is like that – if you’re really interested, read the book.

One more thing that slightly shocked me – this book was used for a long time as a school book in Germany. Why would they want to? Jerome K. Jerome’s story is full of commentary on German culture from the point of view of a British tourist – as you might imagine it’s not flattering! Here’s a short abstract that should give you an idea:

'In Germany one breathes in love of order with the air, in Germany the babies beat time with their rattles, and the German bird has come to prefer the box, and to regard with contempt the few uncivilised outcasts who continue to build their nests in trees and hedges. In course of time every German bird, one is confident, will have his proper place in a full chorus. This promiscuous and desultory warbling of his must, one feels, be irritating to the precise German mind; there is no method in it. The music-loving German will organise him.'

I laughed out loud. Trust me this book can help you overcome your winter depression!

SWEDEN

(Virtual Tour 2009 - Around Europe without Leaving Your House)
To choose a book written by a Swedish writer was really easy, I have my favourite contemporary Swedish author – Karin Alvtegen.

Several years ago I accidentally got a book called ‘Missing’. I thought it would be just another detective story that you read and later on forget, but it wasn’t. ‘Missing’ was a book that grabs you in the very beginning of the story and at the end of it you are really disappointed it’s over. I liked it so much I searched for the other books written by this author.

Karin Alvtegen’s books contain lots of feelings and emotions, usually not the one’s you’d gladly talk about. You would probably agree with me if you heard such book titles as ‘Guilt’, ‘Betrayal’ and ‘Shame’. By the way, the later is the one that kept me on the edge – some of the things described there are truly horrible, none the less I’m sure they exist: parents making their children suffer, lonely people in the busy 21st century World and accidents that can change our lives forever. It’s a book that might be read in one go, but I’m sure that in your mind you will keep coming back to it for a long time… Trained as a psychologist I keep making a list of books that should be read by my school fellows and ‘Shame’ is at the top of it!

Review (for the impatient)
Monica, is a successful, well regarded surgeon and physician who is ashamed of something in her past. She can't develop any meaningful relationships with anyone and pushes anyone who gets close, quickly away.
Maj-Britt, hiding from the world behind an endless supply of food requires help just to live, she is so obese. Locked in her apartment away from the world, Maj-Britt is deeply ashamed of something in her past.
Monica and Maj-Britt don't know each other, yet somehow, because of a conference, a car-accident and a care-worker, they briefly collide. The results of that collision, catastrophic for one in the short term, force both of them to confront the past and deal with their personal shame.
SHAME is not a novel for readers who like a murder right up there are the front of the book, with an investigation to resolve the crime. There really is no murder in SHAME, but there is death, sadness, despair, personal angst and profound tragedy and sorrow.
SHAME takes you carefully through the lives of Monica and Maj-Britt, revealing the events that lead to the shame that they each feel, and what has happened to each of them since. As those events are revealed, a connection between the two women slowly eventuates. The connection could save them, or it could destroy them both.
With elements of fear, oppressive religion, obsession, betrayal, sexuality, guilt, family dysfunction and emotional blackmail, SHAME is challenging and sometimes harrowing. It is also compelling, taut, intriguing and, ultimately, uplifting.

Karen Chisholm, Australia

For more information about Karin Alvtegen please visit her official website - http://www.karinalvtegen.com/
----------------------------------------------------------
So I can cross out one country in my long list… Not too bad, but this one was easy, I wonder how I’m going to get on with the others…

(I guess one more reason why I started with Sweden is that I got acquainted with their literature in my childhood. Then as my favourite author I would have named Astrid Lindgren. Later in my life I got really interested in Selma Lagerliof’s creations. So if you decide to take the virtual tour and can’t get hold of any Karin Alvtegen’s books I would recommend you to find something by Selma Lagerliof – ‘The emperor of Portugallia’, ‘The story of Gösta Berling’ or ‘The ring of the Löwenskölds’.)

Around Europe Without Leaving Your House

Inspired by one famous blogger's ideas* I decided to add one more thing to my 2009 resolutions. Well, it will actually combine two resolutions - reading more and travelling more.

This year I'm going to take a virtual trip around Europe and it will be done reading at least one book written by a writer of each European country. I think that it will be exciting to find out more about these countries in such an unusual way.


You are welcome to participate either by advising me on what to read or joining in and travelling along. Just copy the list of countries given below and start researching. I hope you will enjoy it and share your expierence with me.

I'm not sure that I will even manage to find books from all of these countries that would be translated into Lithuanian or English (these are the languages that I read in), but I guess it's worth a try. I'm ashamed, but I have to admit that I don't remember reading anything that would be written by our closest neighbours -Latvians or Estonians, I haven't got a clue what they would write about... So I think that it's high time to enlarge my knowledge in literature and geography.

Anyway, I'm off to read...

Albania
Andora
Austria
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Kazakhstan
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malta
Moldova
Monaco
Montenegro
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
San Marino
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukrain
United Kingdom
Vatican City

* The blog that inspired me can be found here: http://www.ihanna.nu/blog/?p=946 (In 2008 Hanna participated in her Daily Art Card project, for 2009 she has arranged a Daily Poetry challenge.)

More than 6 - Can You do Better than that?

I came accross this list of books on SussexYorkie’s blog (http://sussexyorkie.wordpress.com/). I think originally it came from somewhere else, so it must be popular and must be doing a bit of travelling.

Anyway, as it really goes well with what I plan to do next year (keep a diary of books I read, so that by the end of 2009 I can tell how many I‘ve completed) I decided to join in and publish it here. According to SussexYorkie’s blog most people will have only read only 6 of the 100 books in the list. Well, just test yourself – can you do better than that?

I bet it looks like a stupid illustration especially for such a serious book list, but it’s also a book and I absolutely love the pictures! Believe it or not I bought this book for myself, couldn’t resist it! It’s called ‘Animals without Zoo” and is written by a famous Italian children books’ writer Gianni Rodari. All of the short and simple stories have hidden meaning, they are great. Oh, and the brilliant pictures are by Anna Laura Cantone.

Instructions:
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Underline those you intend to read.
3) Italicise the books you LOVE.
4) Post your list so we can try and track down these people who’ve only read 6 and force books upon them.

1.Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Alborn
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

As you can see it’s more than 6. I’m really happy about that, although I’ve marked in blue (couldn't get these underlined) quite a lot of books that I’d like to read, just never get round to it… I find it frightening that people don’t read books these days; they are really missing out on this!

Well, even if your list has less than 6 book titles in bold don’t forget it’s never too late to start reading, there’s plenty of books for you to start with.