My Book List

I love books: I love to read, I love their smell, the way they sit so nicely in your hand. I'm not usually picky about what I read. Granted, I have my favorite authors and subjects, but I'll give almost everything a chance.

Lately I've been in a reading rut. I'm reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen for a second time, and am loving it more this time than when I read it last year. Part of that is because I'm addicted to The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, a modern day adaptation of the book done in a video blog style. It's fantastic, and even though they've changed things a bit, it's helping me understand what's happening in the book better. If you're interested in becoming addicted like me watching them, start with the first vlog here. Other than P&P, I'm kind of stuck as what to read next. I've read all the books I own and most that are at our library that my author's have written or are in the genres I like, and don't know where to go from here.

Along the same lines, I'm thinking about what I want to do in 2013...almost like I'm making a bucket list for next year. Then it hit me:

Why don't I figure out a list of books to read for next year?

And so my Book List was born!

My goal is to read 100 books next year that I've never read before. I'll read other books as well, because there are some I just have to read over and over again. I'm not going to write out a full 100 book list, because I want to leave room for my favorite author's putting out new books, new finds at the library, or my mom sending me books (cause she's awesome like that). The list I'm working on now is just to help me get started, and actually find time to read some that I've been meaning to read but have never gotten a chance to.

Here's what I have so far:

1. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien - I promised Pete that this would be the first book I read next year. He and his brother nag (in a loving way!) me all the time that I haven't read the series...I'm finally giving in! 
2. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien - Okay, so I was going to count this as three books, but then got lectured by my dear husband that it is actually one book in six parts. I learn something new every day :) 
3. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
4.  The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - I won't forget my towel. Why, you ask? 42 :)
5. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
6. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - It's the next one in my Sherlock Holmes collection to read, and I think this will be the first thing to read after Tolkien!
7. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - I read Dracula, so on to the next monster! And apparently there's a rumor that I'm actually related to Shelley...
8. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne - Only because it's a prequel to #9 on my list....
9. The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne - "A must read!" says my hubby
10. Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
11. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
12. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
13. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde - I first heard about Dorian in a movie, and am fascinated by his story!
14. The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells - Same thing with Dorian Gray, I find the idea fascinating!
15. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson - Nate has a copy of this. Maybe we can read it together :)
16. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
17. Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
18. Emma by Jane Austen
19. Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
20. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine - Paigey will be getting this for her birthday, and she likes it when we can discuss the books she's reading/has read
21. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - Another one Paige will get for her birthday. How have I not read this one???


Do you have any recommendations for what I should read? It doesn't have to be the classics!