My Life in Books: Finale – Books I Have Not Read (But Should Have)

I consider myself fairly well read. Fairly. I have read 26 for sure, and probably several more, of the New York Times Best Novels. I have read at least 35 of Time’s list of great novels written from 1923 to 2005. And I have read at least 33 of The Guardian‘s 100 Books to Read Before You Die. Most of the books on these lists overlap all the lists.  In the top 50 books from the Guardian I have read

• The Great Gatsby
• Catch-22
• On the Road
• The Lord of the Rings
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Lolita
• Catcher in the Rye
• Lord of the Flies
• The Grapes of Wrath
• 1984
• Jane Eyre
• Moby Dick (I was forced)
• Brave New World
• Pride and Prejudice
• Animal Farm
• Invisible Man
• The Stranger
• Wuthering Heights
• Little Women

But that leaves a lot of books on those lists that I haven’t read, mostly the “heavy-duty” classics like Ulysses (which I probably read and have wiped from my mind). Being an English major in college, having a master’s degree in Humanities, teaching English for eleven years, and being an author myself leaves me feeling as if I should have read more of these great books. I am quite sure many of you have read some of the ones I have started and couldn’t finish or was just uninterested in starting at all!

Here are some books I started. In some of them, I got through a page or two. In others,  I got a few pages in. Others I wasted even more time on:

• One Hundred Years of Solitude – Some people’s favorite book. I couldn’t read it. 
• Things Fall Apart – I think it just had too much description. I am impatient.
• War and Peace – I got to page 110. I don’t know why I stopped there. Maybe it was due at the library. I read these 110 pages a very long time ago.
• The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay – Recommended to me, but nope.
• Life of Pi – I know people who loved it, and it was just recommended to me again. Maybe someday.
• The Call of the Wild – I lived right in Jack London’s backyard there in Northern California. Couldn’t read it.
• A Prayer for Owen Meany – I think I started this one more than once. Lots of people love it. 
• Angle of Repose – A favorite of the literary group. It was the favorite book of my mentor teacher when I student taught high school English.
• The Omnivore’s Dilemma – Nonfiction. I thought I would like this one. Boring.
• Kitchen Confidential – My son-in-law’s favorite book. But he cooks. I don’t. I couldn’t get through it, but I might try again.

Here are some pretty famous books I never even tried to read (unless I have forgotten, which is also possible).

• The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn AND Tom Sawyer – Shame on me. A 7th grade English teacher!
• A Tale of Two Cities or most anything by Dickens. (I read a third of David Copperfield in 7th grade, and I think I might actually have read The Pickwick Papers.)
• Silas Marner – I remember some of my junior high classmates reading it. I think I might have lucked out.
• The Satanic Verses and most everything else by Rushdie. 
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance – How did I not read this? I think I might have owned it. It was such a popular book in “my day.”
• The Color Purple – Nor did I see the movie, as far as I can remember. 
• The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – Another one I missed somehow. I think.
• The God of Small Things
• The Shining or anything else bloody or scary by Stephen King. I read two King books, which I liked, but neither was his usual style: 11/22/63 and a book about a carnival, so it must have been Joyland.
• Waiting for Godot – It seemed everyone was reading it for a class in college.

And here are some kids books I don’t remember reading:

• The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
• Where the Wild Things Are
• The Phantom Toll Booth
• Winnie the Pooh
• Anne of Green Gables (maybe???)
• The Little Prince (??)

And finally, a book that I should have owned and read, but didn’t: The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. This is the most famous grammar/style guide ever. Everyone owned a copy — I think — but I never did. The first style guides I remember having were The Chicago Manual of Style and Words Into Type, when I was a freshman in college studying journalism. But The Elements of Style, commonly referred to as just Strunk and White? I managed to get through college without this book. I managed to get a teaching credential without this book. I managed to teach English without this book. I even managed to write my own grammar book without this book. Then, shortly after I wrote my grammar book, I was at the library book sale and spotted a copy of The Elements of Style, so I bought it. It was very inexpensive. I figured it was time to read it. 

I read it, and I didn’t like it. My first grammar book, which shares most of the content with The Elements of Style, is much friendlier and easier to read. There you go.

And yes, this is the last post about My Life in Books…