MEME: Top 100 Books of All Time!
Stolen from here (I’m only using the top 100 because 778 is way too big). I’m going to mix up the rules a bit this time. Rules: Bold the titles you’ve read. Italicize the titles you really want to read. Put ** by titles you hated or couldn’t finish reading or won’t read again. If you’ve read the book more than once, put the number of times you’ve read it in ( )s somewhere. Tag people. I’m tagging SQT, Tia, and Carraka. Anyone else who wants to do this is more than welcome. Here goes: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (2) Hamlet by William Shakespeare 1984 by George Orwell (5) The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien (3) Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien (3) Catch-22 by Joseph Heller The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card (2) Night by Elie Wiesel The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien The Bible The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving Brave New World by Aldous Huxley The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez I, Robot by Isaac Asimov The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck Dune by Frank Herbert Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse The Stand by Stephen King** Ulysses by James Joyce Paradise Lost by John Milton** (2) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig Watership Down byRichard Adams The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell Roots by Alex Haley The Giver by Lois Lowry The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien (3) Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton Animal Farm by George Orwell Macbeth by William Shakespeare Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle The World According to Garp by John Irving Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden King Lear by William Shakespeare A Theory of Justice by John Rawls Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Moby Dick by Herman Melville Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer** (3) Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury Inherit the Wind by Jerome Lawrence & Robert E. Lee The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey The Inferno by Dante Alighieri (2) Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison The Red Tent by Anita Diamant Death in Venice and Other Stories by Thomas Mann Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling** Les Miserables by Victor Hugo The Trial by Franz Kafka Ada by Vladimir Nabokov Middlemarch by George Elliot Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein Godel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter Hocus Pocus by Kurt Vonnegut The Way Things Work by David Macauly Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson Confessions by St. Augustine of Hippo Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berndt David Copperfield by Charles Dickens A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess My Name is Asher by Lev Chaim Potok The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O’Brien The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon The Princess Bride by William Goldman Neuromancer by William Gibson The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein Prufrock and Other Observations by T.S. Eliot Run with the Horsemen by Ferrol Sams All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman Exodus by Leon Uris The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More by Roald Dahl Anarchy, State and Utopia by Robert Nozick And there you go. So I’ve read a pathetic 29 of the 100 on this list. Very sad indeed. What about you?
Watchmen + Peanuts = Awesome
Need I say more?Tis cool! (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)
Ten Reasons Star Wars is Better Than Star Trek?
Just found this list and boy is that a kick in the butt for Trek fans. Number 10 is especially painful. I think I’d like to add to the list the following: Star Trek doesn’t have Wookies. Nobody in Star Wars has contracted every STD known to man for sleeping with every green, blue, purple, and tentacled alien woman… Yeah, I’m not that funny… (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)
The Cat Gets Owned
Yes, I think it has finally happened. A challenge to the “I can haz cheezburger” cat thing. You know, the funniest thing about the whole cat/quote thing is how utterly ridiculous it is. It’s not funny because it’s incredibly clever, but because it’s so pathetically stupid you can’t help but giggle. At least, that’s how I feel about it. Who wouldn’t find cats begging for cheeseburgers slightly humorous? After all, I have a talking ninja/pirate teddy bear in one of my stories… (Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)
Violent Games + Angry Children = Calm Children
This is too true of an image:(Don’t click the read more, there isn’t any more after this!)
My Thoughts On the 30 Books Everyone Should Read Before You Die
I’ve had this link sitting in my bookmarks for a while, mostly because I was thinking about it and how I don’t necessarily agree with the list. Having let it fester for a bit in the back of my mind, I figure it’s a good time to have a short discussion of the list, and maybe some suggestions for good replacements. So, here goes: Siddhartha by Hermann HesseHuh? I don’t even know what this is. How could it be essential to read before I die if I don’t even know what it is? 1984 by George OrwellYes, I wholeheartedly agree. Fortunately, most Americans who graduated from High School got to read this, or at least I hope so. It’s one of the best books ever written in my opinion. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper LeeI think this is a fantastic book, but I don’t know if I would consider it a must read before death. I’m just iffy on this entry. I think there are other books of equal interest that could be put here and the list would remain the same. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony BurgessYes and no. I think this might be a difficult one for a lot of people to read or handle and I wonder if it’s an appropriate choice for all people to read before death. I’ve already read it, though. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest HemingwayI’ll just agree for the heck of it, even though I have never read this book. War and Peace by Leo TolstoyI’ve not read it, but I would agree only because I understand the depth and importance of this book. The Rights of Man by Thomas PaineRead part of it. I don’t think this one matters that much. I think the problem with some of the books on this list is it is trying to be too snobbish, giving us lots of books of high literary quality that most people today wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole, no matter how good. How many people have read 1984 more than once? I have, but I’m weird. The Social Contract by Jean-Jacques RousseauTry again. This is not for everyone. This list isn’t turning out very great thus far. Try getting stuff that might entertain people, and I mean “ALL” people, or a vast majority. Most people have no idea what this book even is and probably wouldn’t make it past the first page. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García MárquezNo. I know it’s a good book, a classic and all, but this is, again, not for everyone. This book, as I’ve heard, can be exceedingly confusing for someone who isn’t much of a reader, and considering that most of us aren’t literature professors who read such books for a living, this isn’t a book for everyone. The Origin of Species by Charles DarwinI would suggest having a familiarity with the concepts in this book, but not reading the book itself. It’s a boring read, even for me (and I’m a huge evolution supporter). There are books that put this into simpler terms and sentence structures and those books would be better for people, in my opinion. The Wisdom of the Desert by Thomas MertonDon’t know what this is, but it sounds like a book you should read when you’re young, which would be acceptable for an entirely different sort of list. If you’re 80 years old and you realize you haven’t read enough books and you saw this list, this book would probably tick you off. Why the hell do you need to learn about living life simply and purely? You’re 80! You don’t have time for this. The Tipping Point by Malcolm GladwellI’ve never even heard about this one, so it makes me question why it’s even here. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth GrahamWhile I agree this is a great book, I don’t agree that it should be on this list. I love this book, and the cartoon, but it’s not a book that you absolutely must read. The Art of War by Sun TzuYes and no. I think you should have familiarity with Sun Tzu’s concepts rather than the book itself. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. TolkienThis depends entirely on who you are. For me, it’s a yes, for someone else, it might be a big no. This book, however, has succeeded in crossing many boundaries that face other books of fantasy, so perhaps it belongs here. David Copperfield by Charles DickensI haven’t read it, so I would replace this with A Tale of Two Cities instead, just so I can be relevant. Four Quartets by T.S. EliotEh, I don’t know. I think if you’re going to include poetry on this list you should put some sort of poetry collection here, like a Norton Anthology. That way you are covering all bases. Norton is really good at putting together a lot of interesting and varied works of literature. Catch-22 by Joseph HellerI’ll say yes, only because I know this book was so popular that it’s title actually created a phrase. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldNo. Again, this is a book that doesn’t apply to everyone. Sorry, I don’t think that everyone should read this book. Every American should, but not everyone in general. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. SalingerYes and no. Historically speaking this is an important book, but I don’t know if it would be suited for everyone. Some people might find it dull, others might find it horribly offensive, and others might love it. I liked it, but not enough to read it again. It’s not a bad book, but I think it’s more popular for it’s serial killer “connections” and it’s history as a banned book than anything else. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor DostoyevskyI suppose this would be a good one to read. I haven’t read it, but it’s famous for a reason, plus I like Dostoyevsky. The Prince