Tess and her 1001

Hi all! I'm going to use the combined list as well as the BBC list of 100 Best Books of All Time. There are many cross overs so I don't think I'll be adding an additional 100. I will just list the ones I have read up to now with no discussion.

Welcome to the group!

Welcome! I am working my way through both lists as well.

1001 Books (combined lists) read:

1. Aesop's Fables
2. Don Quixote
3. Robinson Crusoe
4. Gulliver's Travels
5. Castle Rackrent
6. Sense and Sensibility
7. Pride and Prejudice
8. Mansfield Park
9. Frankenstein
10. The Last of the Mohicans
11. The Hunchback of Notre Dame
12. Oliver Twist
13. The Fall of the House of Usher
14. Martin Chuzzlewit
15. The Pit and the Pendulum
16. A Christmas Carol
17. The Purloined Letter
18. Jane Eyre
19. Wuthering Heights
20. The Scarlet Letter
21. The House of Seven Gables
22. Moby Dick
23. Uncle Tom's Cabin
24. Cranford
25. Bleak House
26. Hard Times
27. North and South
28. Adam Bede
29. A Tales of Two Cities
30. The Mill on the Floss
31. Great Expectations
32. Silas Marner
33. Les Miserables
34. Therese Raquin
35. Little Women
36. War and Peace
37. He Knew He was Right
38. Around the World in 80 Days
38. Far From the Madding Crowd
39. Daniel Deronda
40. Anna Karenina
41. Ben Hur
42. Treasure Island
43. Huckleberry Finn
44. The Mayor of Castorbridge
45. Dr. Jeykll and Mr. Hyde
46. Tess of the D'urbervilles
47. The Island of Dr. Moreau
48. Dracula
49. War of the Worlds
50. Lord Jim
51. The Hound of the Baskervilles
52. Heart of Darkness
53. The Jungle
54. Ethan Frome
55. The Age of Innocence
56. The Great Gatsby
57. The Sun Also Rises
58. All Quiet on the Western Front
59. Gone with the Wind
60. Rebecca
61. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
62. The Grapes of Wrath
63. Animal Farm
64. Hamlet
65. 1984
66. The 13 Clocks
67. Lord of the Flies
68. Dr. Zhivago
69. The Midwich Cuckoos
70. A Town Like Alice
71. Breakfast at Tiffany's
72. To Kill a Mockingbird
73. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
74. In Cold Blood
75. The Graduate
76. The Godfather
77. The French Lieutenant's Woman
78. Slaughterhouse 5
79. The Shining
80. The Name of the Rose
81. Sherlock Holmes
81. Schindler's Ark (List
82. The Things They Carried
82. Birdsong
83. Memoirs of a Geisha
84. The Call of the Wild
85. Pippi Longstocking
86. Silence
87. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen 216 pages 3.5 stars
88. Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels 306 pages 4 stars
89. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte 542 pages 3.5 stars
90. The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy 736 pages 3.5 stars
91. Embers by Sandor Marai 214 pages 3 stars
92. Then Handmaid's Tale 325 pages 2 1/2 stars
93. The Master and the Margarita DNF read 16/32 chapters just awful!
94. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert I've got a string of bad reads! 2 1/2 stars
95. Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy not Hardy's most interesting
96. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
97. Blackwater by Joyce Carol Oates (a take off of the Chappaquiddick fiasco.)
98. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
99. The Reader byBernard Schlink
100. The Goldfinch by Donna Tart
101. Dangerous Liaisons by Pierre Choderlos de Lacios
102. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James Cain
103. The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami 600 pages 2 1/2 stars
104. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway 480 pages 2 1/2 stars
105. Emma by Jane Austen 3 stars
106. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 272 pages 3 1/2 stars
107. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas 1312 pages 4 stars
108. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky 612 pages 5 stars
109. The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole 194 pages 3 1/2 stars
110. Atonement by Ian McEwan 351 pages 3 1/2 stars
111. Cannery Row John Steinbeck 3 stars
112. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells 88 pages 4 stars
113. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins 1005 pages 5 stars
114. The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith 246 pages 3 stars
115. Burger's Daughter read 90/362 pages 1 star DNF
116. Summer by Edith Wharton 144 pages 3 stars
117. The Inhertiance of Loss 386 pages 2 stars DNF (read 6/32 chapters, 56 pages)
118. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding 642 pages 3 stars
119. Clarissa bt Samuel Richardson 1534 pages 3 stars
120. The History of Rasselas by Samuel Johnson 96 pages 2 1/2 stars
121, Vathek by William Beckford 152 pages 2 stars
122. The Nose by Nicolai Gogol. 45 pages 2 1/2 stars
123. The Color Purple by Alice Walker 295 pages 5 stars
124. the Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg 250 pages 2 stars

BBC's Top 100 To Read:

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7.Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18.Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40.Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91.
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie

Guardian Top 100 Books
1984 by George Orwell, England, (1903-1950)

A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen, Norway (1828-1906)

A Sentimental Education by Gustave Flaubert, France, (1821-1880)

Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner, United States, (1897-1962)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, United States, (1835-1910)

The Aeneid by Virgil, Italy, (70-19 BC)

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, Russia, (1828-1910)

Beloved by Toni Morrison, United States, (b. 1931)

Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Doblin, Germany, (1878-1957)

Blindness by Jose Saramago, Portugal, (1922-2010)

The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa, Portugal, (1888-1935)

The Book of Job, Israel. (600-400 BC)

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor M Dostoyevsky, Russia, (1821-1881)

Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann, Germany, (1875-1955)

Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, England, (1340-1400)

The Castle by Franz Kafka, Bohemia, (1883-1924)

Children of Gebelawi by Naguib Mahfouz, Egypt, (b. 1911)

Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges, Argentina, (1899-1986)

Complete Poems by Giacomo Leopardi, Italy, (1798-1837)

The Complete Stories by Franz Kafka, Bohemia, (1883-1924)

The Complete Tales by Edgar Allan Poe, United States, (1809-1849)

Confessions of Zeno by Italo Svevo, Italy, (1861-1928)

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor M Dostoyevsky, Russia, (1821-1881)

Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol, Russia, (1809-1852)

The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy, Russia, (1828-1910)

Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, Italy, (1313-1375)

The Devil to Pay in the Backlands by Joao Guimaraes Rosa, Brazil, (1880-1967)

Diary of a Madman and Other Stories by Lu Xun, China, (1881-1936)

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, Italy, (1265-1321)

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Spain, (1547-1616)

Essays by Michel de Montaigne, France, (1533-1592)

Fairy Tales and Stories by Hans Christian Andersen, Denmark, (1805-1875)

Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany, (1749-1832)

Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais, France, (1495-1553)

Gilgamesh Mesopotamia, (c 1800 BC)

The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing, England, (b.1919)

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, England, (1812-1870)

Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, Ireland, (1667-1745)

Gypsy Ballads by Federico Garcia Lorca, Spain, (1898-1936)

Hamlet by William Shakespeare, England, (1564-1616)

History by Elsa Morante, Italy, (1918-1985)

Hunger by Knut Hamsun, Norway, (1859-1952)

The Idiot by Fyodor M Dostoyevsky, Russia, (1821-1881)

The Iliad by Homer, Greece, (c 700 BC)

Independent People by Halldor K Laxness, Iceland, (1902-1998)

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, United States, (1914-1994)

Jacques the Fatalist and His Master by Denis Diderot, France, (1713-1784)

Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Celine, France, (1894-1961)

King Lear by William Shakespeare, England, (1564-1616)

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, United States, (1819-1892)

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne, Ireland, (1713-1768)

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, Russia/United States, (1899-1977)

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Colombia, (b. 1928)

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, France, (1821-1880)

The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, Germany, (1875-1955)

Mahabharata, India, (c 500 BC)

The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil, Austria, (1880-1942)

The Mathnawi by Jalal ad-din Rumi, Afghanistan, (1207-1273)

Medea by Euripides, Greece, (c 480-406 BC)

Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar, France, (1903-1987)

Metamorphoses by Ovid, Italy, (c 43 BC)

Middlemarch by George Eliot, England, (1819-1880)

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie, India/Britain, (b. 1947)

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, United States, (1819-1891)

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf, England, (1882-1941)

Njaals Saga, Iceland, (c 1300)

Nostromo by Joseph Conrad, England,(1857-1924)

The Odyssey by Homer, Greece, (c 700 BC)

Oedipus the King Sophocles, Greece, (496-406 BC)

Old Goriot by Honore de Balzac, France, (1799-1850)

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway, United States, (1899-1961)

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Colombia, (b. 1928)

The Orchard by Sheikh Musharrif ud-din Sadi, Iran, (c 1200-1292)

Othello by William Shakespeare, England, (1564-1616)

Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo Juan Rulfo, Mexico, (1918-1986)

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren, Sweden, (1907-2002)

Poems by Paul Celan, Romania/France, (1920-1970)

The Possessed by Fyodor M Dostoyevsky, Russia, (1821-1881)

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, England, (1775-1817)

The Ramayana by Valmiki, India, (c 300 BC)

The Recognition of Sakuntala by Kalidasa, India, (c. 400)

The Red and the Black by Stendhal, France, (1783-1842)

Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust, France, (1871-1922)

Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih, Sudan, (b. 1929)

Selected Stories by Anton P Chekhov, Russia, (1860-1904)

Sons and Lovers by DH Lawrence, England, (1885-1930)

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, United States, (1897-1962)

The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata, Japan, (1899-1972)

The Stranger by Albert Camus, France, (1913-1960)

The Tale of Genji by Shikibu Murasaki, Japan, (c 1000)

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Nigeria, (b. 1930)

Thousand and One Nights, India/Iran/Iraq/Egypt, (700-1500)

The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass, Germany, (b.1927)

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, England, (1882-1941)

The Trial by Franz Kafka, Bohemia, (1883-1924)

Trilogy: Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable by Samuel Beckett, Ireland, (1906-1989)

Ulysses by James Joyce, Ireland, (1882-1941)

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, Russia, (1828-1910)

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, England, (1818-1848)

Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis, Greece, (1883-1957)

Welcome to the group :)

>2 paruline:
>3 Yells:
>7 BekkaJo:


Thank you!

#87 Northanger Abbey I am not an Austen fan having read Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility previously. That being said, I found this Austen read a bit better than the aforementioned ones. Firstly, it was shorter and secondly I found it more humorous. The novel is a satire on Gothic novels (which I love). Catherine, the heroine of the book is a voracious reader with a good imagination. As in all the Austen novels I've read, class and money play a big part in the story. 217 pages 3/12 stars (almost a 4!)

Looking forward, then! If I loved Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, then I stand to go over the moon for this one!

Dipping in and out of my Shakespeare anthology and really surprised the Bard is not on this list even once!

>11 Tess_W: Agreed. The list is focused on the development of the novel, which leaves a lot of great litterature in other genres out in the cold. In the Danish edition both Greek and Elizabethean drama has been added and I think it makes perfect sense.

>12 Henrik_Madsen: I'm in agreement with you, Henrik!

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte. I have mixed emotions about this book. This is really my favorite time period and genre of book, but there is just something missing here, or perhaps too much moralizing and sermonizing. The story is told in epistolary form by Gilbert Markham, the love struck, unlucky suitor of Helen Graham, who when the story begins has run away from her abusive husband and is in "hiding" with her 5 year son. The town gives her a hard time because she is not one of their own and has a mysterious past. She returns to her husband to nurse him unto his death. In the end Gilbert and Helen reconcile. A good portion of the book centers around the debate of what is moral and righteous; which isn't bad, but ad nauseum makes the book a bit droll. 542 pages, 3 1/2 stars

Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels The main character, Jakob, was a child in Poland when the Nazi's took his parents and sister while he hid in a closet. He was later rescued by a Greek writer and raised as his son in Greece. Jakob's entire life is influenced by what he had seen as a child; every minute of every day, his dreams and even his relationships. Writing seemed to be a catharsis for Jakob, albeit a temporary one. This reader wanted to get to know Jakob better, but was prevented from doing so and the reason is unknown. It was if the reader were only permitted to "see" the entire story through a fog. This was a better than average read, although not a great one and the reason for that is unclear to me. 304 pages 4 stars

The Forsyte Saga by John Galsworthy. This is certainly a classic. It is the story of specifically a country, a class, and an era, which if they are not clear at the beginning of the novel they will be by the end. The characters in the book are very well developed and dissected. This novel was probably on the cutting edge when written, because one major theme of the novel is that women are not the property of men. Another theme of the novel is that you can't take it with you and love should be the most important thing in this life. If you want a book that is action packed, don't read this one! It is more a development of personalities rather than action. The story is great. My one BIG complaint is the copious number of characters that I just couldn't keep straight and had to keep looking back at a chart that I downloaded from the net to make sense of things. 736 pages 3 1/2 stars

Embers by Sandor Marai This is the story of 2 childhood friends who had not seen each other for 41 years. This book has some eloquent truths: Facts are not truth; and friends can kill each other but death does not end a friendship. The main character, the General, philosophizes for most of the book making this an overlong rambling soliloquy. This would have been much better as a short story. 214 pages 3 stars

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I guess. I read Embers last year and it was one of my best reads from the list. I thought the ramblings of the general was a great study in a man's ability to fool himself into believing his actions are justified.

>18 Henrik_Madsen: I'm glad you enjoyed it---I see that public opinion is about 50/50!

I know I'm in the minority...........

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

First, let’s get to the form. Atwood doesn’t use quotation marks so makes it irritating to read the book trying to figure who is speaking, the protagonist or the narrator (which sometimes is the same person). Also, Atwood has a clear and annoying pattern of using “triplets” thus: the theatre was cold, dark, sitting in silence. Three adjectives separated by commas and never using the word “and” before the third one. It seemed that when I wasn’t trying to figure out who was speaking, I was counting “triplets.”

Secondly, the story. It was your typical dystopian. Because the U.S. economy was top heavy with rich, a group of fundamentalist Christians overthrew the government and destroyed the constitution. You really do have to get into heavy fiction to even believe that one. This small group of rebels closes the U.S. borders and institutes a theocracy where women have no rights except to reproduce; which is difficult because the soil, food, and water have been poisoned.

Anything good I would have to say about the book was ruined by the last three chapters: 1) a question and answer period 2) an afterward by Atwood 3) an afterward by Valerie Martin (?) analyzing the main character and faintly singing Atwood’s praises.

I was hoping for so much more from this book and more specifically from my first Atwood. 325 pages 2 1/2 stars

I haven't read The Handmaid's Tale yet, so I won't comment on your review - but good to see you back!

>21 Henrik_Madsen: been so busy...have been reading but teaching 2 extra courses, no time to post!

As to the dislike of # 20, well, I'm not into magic realism at all.....never read one that I have cared about!

98. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro was a subtle, gentle slow read. Although starting out slow, I was compelled to read on; although not fully engaged. This tale is told by Stevens, a post war butler in England; a terse man with little humor. His partial redemption comes at the very end of the book. 258 pages, 3 1/2 stars. 1001 BYMRBYD

99. The Reader by Bernard Schlink

This was written as a work of fiction, but those in the “know” claim it was based off the female Nazi guard with the nickname “The Bitch of Buchenwald.” This book is disturbing on so many levels, even how it made me feel! Michael is 15 when he meets (by accident) 36 year old Hannah Schmitz who works for the transit company. They spend a blissful summer, mostly in bed. Hannah likes to be read to and Michael reads the classics to her. Michael has developed strong feelings for Hannah. Hannah leaves town and after a time of grieving we next see Michael in law school in Berlin sometime in the late 40's or early 50's. . His law class has been assigned to attend and watch a particular war crimes trial. Hannah Schmitz is a defendant and is sentenced to life imprisonment. Michael spends years taping books for Hannah and sending the cassettes to prison. I won’t go any further so as not to spoil. Hannah is not a likeable woman, nor should she be. I was heartbroken for Michael, but in all reality he was much better off without her. This book brings up all kind of moral dilemmas. This book will have me thinking about it about for a longggggggggg time. 204 pages 5 stars

100. The Goldfinch by Donna Tart. I read this earlier in the year and saw it was added to the 2018 updated list. My bookclub read this as a selection. I was the only one who wasn't a fan! Long book, less about art theft than about the ramifications of the drug culture.

101. Dangerous Liasons by Pierre Choderlos de Lacios. It is difficult to know where to begin with this review. A convoluted story, told in epistolary form, of sex and revenge in 18th century France. It is the story of two people's malicious games that they play and it how it affects the innocent. The Vicomte de Valmont and the Marquise de Merteuil make a bet: if the Vicomte can seduce the married Madame de Tourvel, then the Marquise will sleep with him. Along the way each sleep with numerous others by design and for the purpose of hurt. There is even the rape of a 15 year old girl; although French society doesn’t see it as such at the time. The just (?) desserts at the end, where they turn on each other, is the best part! This book is 448 pages long, about 200 pages too long! 2 ½ stars

Congratulations on your first 100!

>27 puckers: Thanks!

I just noticed your thread and I am looking forward to watching your progress. :)

>29 DeltaQueen50: I'm afraid what with the other groups to which I belong that this one really doesn't get the attention it may deserve. And I say that because probably 30% of the books on this list are terrible reads for me!

102. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James Cain. From what I understand, it was one of the first noir crime novels. It would be mild by today's standards, but caused an obscenity trial in Boston when it first came out. It is the story of the love triangle: older man--drinks too much, younger woman--bored, new hired hand--trouble! (who is the narrator). 188 pages 3 stars

103. The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. Firstly, to read this book you must suspend everything you know about reality. Secondly, if you like lots of characters like blips on a screen (not fully developed), then this book is for you! Much of the locale are wells, both dry and with water. All of the women in this book are helpless and need saved. Many of the same character's actions are repetitive. The title? The wind up bird is an invisible bird sitting in a tree that "springs" the world. There is everything but the kitchen sink in this book: skinning of people alive, mind sex with physical ramifications, and baseball bats with human skin and hair on them. Not my cup of tea! No more Murakami for me; magic realism is not my thing. 623 pages 2 1/2 stars.

I have The Wind Up Bird Chronicle on my shelves but everyone has advised that it is not the best of his books to choose for my first read of this author. I 'm not sure if I will be up for the strangeness of it either!

>32 Tess_W: I’m reading this at the moment so will read your review once I’ve finished. Will be interesting to compare notes.

104. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway snooze fest of 480 pages 2 1/2 stars

>35 Tess_W: I think most people are either a Hemingway fan or not. As for me, I loved For Whom the Bell Tolls but I also consider myself a fan of Hemingway.

>36 DeltaQueen50: I've tried........read 3 and nope, not a fan!

105. Emma by Jane Austen Never have been an Austen fan; still am not, the saving grace is 168 pages. 3 stars

>38 Tess_W: nope, me neither. I read P&P in a tutored read by Lyzard in the 75 goup which made me realise there was more to it than I had found previously found, but she's still not a favourite.

>38 Tess_W: Is it an abridged version? 168 pages seems very little for Emma.

>40 Henrik_Madsen: Gee, Henrik, never thought of that! I've looked everywhere on the book (Kindle) and nowhere does it say that it is an abridged version. However, I did read one review on Amazon that mentioned that it was not the entire book. All other Kindle versions are 250-270 pages. Therefore, I guess I did read an abridged version. Drats! To be honest, I did not like it enough to re-read it; although I should. I never knowingly read abridged versions!

106. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I both love and hate this book. There are many unanswered questions, such as why? I also find the passiveness of the characters not realistic; but some have said Ishiguro writes just short of the magical realism realm. There is also no plot resolution. That being said, the provocative language is the plus of this book. It was at times a boring, at times an emotional read. 272 pages 3 1/2 stars

107. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas Translated by Robin Buss. This book of 1312 pages took me 6 months to read. I read the first 512 pages rather quickly, but then it took off on secondary plots that I wasn't interested in and I put it down for several months. I picked it back up and had to go back about 50 pages to remember where I was and what had happened. The story takes place in 1815 after the Napoleon is defeated in the Battle of Waterloo and is exiled to the island of Elba. It is the story of Edmond Dantes who is double-crossed and sent to Chateau D'If; a remote island prison. He was a guest at this fortress prison for 14 years while he plotted his revenge on the 3 people he believed were responsible for his incarceration. This is one of the best swashbucklers I've read. 4 stars

108. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky Read and pieced together 3 different versions totaling about 621 pages (see wikipedia for explanations of why so many versions) Russian writing at its best. Written after Dostoevsky returned from Siberian gulag; although this is not what the book is about. The book attempts to both solidify and crumble notions that one has about philosophy and the nature of sin. Great read! 621 pages 5 stars

> 44 I am looking forward to re-reading this as most of the classics I have read were a long time ago. From memory, it is not for the faint-hearted!

>44 Tess_W: This is on my list to reread soon. Hoping I like it as much the second time around.

109. The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, is a Gothic novel-supposedly the first ever written. It has all the requisite components: castle, a villain, a helpless female, and a "ghost". I really do like my gothic less fantastical (such as Wuthering Heights). I read this because it was on the 1001 Books list. It was written much like Shakespeare so it was not an easy read. The preface states that it is much like A Midsummer Night's Dream. All in all I'm glad to have read this "very first" gothic novel. 3 1/2 stars

110. Atonement by Ian McEwan is a bit of a dichotomy to me. On the one hand, it was over-written; meaning too much profuse and flowery language for the subject matter. On the other hand, it feels as if you have been punched in the stomach by the end of the book. I don't want to discuss it more so as not to give away the plot, but a Scripture verse comes to memory: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." 351 pages 3 1/2 stars

>48 Tess_W: I'm looking forward to this one as I think the construction sounds very interesting. I have seen the movie already, which will take a bit away from the shock of the ending but good to compare those as well.

>42 Tess_W: We have been reading some similar books recently! I just finished and loved The Count of Monte Cristo and enjoyed Castle of Otranto (just listened to a Great Books podcast on this one as well). Have you seen the movie of Never Let Me Go? I was bothered by the passiveness as well but the movie tackles this and tries to explain it a bit. I thought it was well done.

>48 Tess_W: I didn't mind Atonement but I think McEwen is so overrated. I've read most of the ones on the list but it's a struggle at times.

>50 Yells: I'm not a TV or movie watcher, for the most part. However, I do watch about 5-6 movies per year when recommended by friends. I will look this one up.

111. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. This is my third (and final) book by Steinbeck. I really wanted to like this one better than The Grapes of Wrath or Mice and Men; but I couldn't. Underwhelming series of character studies with lots of profanity, and thin on the plot. (if there even was one). The story of bums, prostitutes, and n'er do wells living on the coast of Monterrey during the Great Depression. I listened to this on Audible and the narration was good; the story just average-low average. barely 3 stars

112. The Time Machine H.G. Wells. This is a novella about a time-traveller who firstly embarks to about 8270 AD (?) to the world of flesh eating Morlocks and peace-loving Eloi. I liked this book much better than The War of the Worlds as I think it has withstood the test of time a little better. I loved the vocabulary of Wells, much larger than today's writers and I even had to look up a few words to add to my word journal. Sci-fi is really not my genre at all (I usually despise it), but due to the writing and the short length of this book, it kept by rapt attention and I read it in one sitting. 88 pages 4 stars

113. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins 1005 pages 5 stars. A great Victorian mystery told from the perspective of multiple narrators.

114. The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldmsith This is the story of a humble, gullible Vicar who lived the life of Job. I listened to this on an audio book as well as reading along. I felt the reader had a very false voice that was in excess. The story was very slow moving and almost unbelievable, but had a few amusing spots. I persisted! The novel is billed as a satire; but evidently I didn't "get it." 246 pages 3 stars

115. Burger's Daughter by Nadine Gordimer. A real stinker! It could have been a great story set in South Africa during apartheid. However, the author's style made it more than a struggle to read. She jumped from 1st to 3rd person frequently, she didn't use quotation marks so sometimes I could not figure out if this was a thought or an actual conversation. She also moved from the past to the present and in between within the same page. I was lost! I didn't know if the main character was remembering a person or actually right there talking to them. I love it when an author writes a great story. I don't like it when the author tries to make a story great by using unconventional grammar. I read 90/363 pages and I quit! DNF 1 star I assume this was a Nobel book because of the topic?

116. Summer by Edith Wharton This is my 3rd Wharton and it is in the middle with Ethan Frome being at the top and The Age of Innocence being at the bottom. This is classic Wharton, high society versus lower social classes; high society courts low society, leaves her in a lurch to marry his own kind. 144 pages, 3 stars.

117. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai. This one will have to rest at DNF. I tried both the audio and the book but I found it plotless. The story changed narrators frequently and I had no idea who was narrating when. I also found the characters flat. In two words: boring, mundane. I read 6/32 chapters (56 pages) and I just could not waste my time going on. the story of India post-colonialism and the troubles that ensued. 2 stars 386 pages

The Illiad by Homer At long last! The Illiad by Homer DIfficult to rate a literary epic. However, the entire book takes place in the 10th and last year of the Trojan War. Achilles’ wrath at Agamemnon for taking his war prize, the maiden Briseis, forms the main subject of this book. It seemed as if there were a lot of introductions to characters we never hear from again. The word refulgent was used dozen of times. All in all I'm glad I slogged my way through this. The novelized from of Song of Achilles was more satisfactory to me than the Illiad. I read the translation by Caroline Alexander because that's the one the library had. 3 1/2 stars 604 pages

>60 Tess_W: One of the great books of the classical period, but inexplicably NOT on Boxalls 1001 list.

Thanks, I'll take it off. LT has it listed as on the 1001 Books!

>It is on some of the translated lists. Both the Iliad and the Odyssey are in the Danish edition.

118. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding This book took me months to read because I could only stomach it in small doses. It wasn't that the story or the writing was bad, it just wasn't my cup of tea. The book reminded me a lot of slap-stick comedy; which I abhor and don't find comedic at all. This is the story of Tom Jones, a bastard, raised by a good and decent man. Tom's adopted father doted on him and that made everybody else jealous. Most of the book is about those plotting against Tom, who for all his foibles is a kind-hearted person and will help anybody from the dregs of society to Lords and Ladies. 642 pages 3 stars (barely--enjoyment factor)

119. Clarissa by Samuel Richardson) was an 18th century story of Clarissa Harlowe, a young girl who rather than be forced by her family to marry a man she despises, is aided in running away by a real scoundrel. This book is written in epistolary form with Clarissa and her best friend, Miss Howe, being the primary letter writers. Miss Howe is a true friend to Clarissa throughout the very sad story. This was a very long book and began to drag in the middle when Clarissa and her friend constantly moralize on their fates; it's very repetitive. There are some parts that are unbelievable; such as when Clarissa is moved to a lodging, which in reality is a brothel (twice) and she has no idea. Maybe naivety is supposed to be part of the story line; but from the beginning one would not assume Clarissa to be naive. 1534 pages 3 stars

120. The History of Rasselas by Samuel Johnson A short, 95 page book that pondered the meaning of life. This was published in 1761 and it is dated with a lot of scientific mumbo-jumbo. Of course, the ending concluded one was unable to ponder the meaning of life. Had this been much longer than 95 pages, I would not have finished it. 2 1/2 stars There are various editions (mostly edited by) that run anywhere from 74 pages-294 pages. My book, published in 1961, makes no mention at all of being abridged. I will say my book had font size about 7!

121. Vathek by William Beckford Vathek is an Arabian Caliph whose kingdom is marked by violence, even though Vathek has lived for many years in his 5 palaces; one for each of the senses. Of course, Vathek can not be happy for what he has, and he goes in search of the "dark" treasure; which is knowledge. One of the things he has to do to obtain this is to sacrifice 50 children. He does this and his people turn against him. Vathek finds out that he can not outrun his eternal damnation. This really is one of the most boring books I have read! Why did I read it? It was short and on the 1001 books list. Not recommended. 141 pages

Addendum: I will not longer be searching for books on the 1001 list. This list reading has brought me no pleasure. This reading list is by far the lowest rating of any category I have ever read; with enjoyment or education being the primary focus of my reading. If I happen to read one on the list--yeah! But all in all most of them have been rather disappointing reads when compared to my other reads. One man's trash is another's treasure! Life is too short to read books you don't care for!

>68 Tess_W: Life is definitely too short! And there are already too many books for us to get to all the ones we want to read in our lifetime, let alone forcing ourselves to read ones we don't!
Look forward to seeing what you are reading over at the Category Challenge!

>68 Tess_W: Thanks for your contributions to the group discussion over the last year or so - hopefully you accidentally read another 1001 list book soon!

>68 Tess_W: I've felt like that with this list at times too! I'm still reading from it, but I keep a TBR list of books that get great reviews from this group and I'm focusing on those. I have no intention of reading every book on the list.

I'll follow you in the category challenge - happy reading!

122. The Nose by Nikolai Gogol A satire on the silly things people say and do. Meh 2 1/2 stars 45 pages.

123. The Color Purple by Alice Walker This is an epistolary novel with letters written by Celie, to God, asking about her condition. The story takes place in rural Georgia from about 1900-1936. African-Americans weren't officially slaves anymore, but times were tough and things for women really hadn't changed too much. The book focuses on growth, change, redemption and forgiveness. Very graphic as to both physical and sexual abuse. A very moving book. The title of the book comes from a line near the end of the book, "God gets pissed when you walk by a flower and don't notice it's beauty." (It was a field of purple flowers) 295 pages 5 stars

124. Babbit by Sinclair Lewis was a DNF for me. I just couldn't......I read 104/464 pages.

125. A Room with a View by E.M. Forster I tried to enjoy this book, but was challenged. The characters were not engaging and the storyline was overly dramatic. Perhaps I'm just tired of English Victorian manners literature? The longest 152 pages I have ever read!
2 1/2 stars

126. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg This is a very convoluted tale of two brothers and perhaps a demonic being. This is billed as a satire on Calvinism. The premise of the story is that Robert, the youngest "son" of the Laird (but perhaps the son of the Parson) is convinced by his best friend (perhaps the "demon") that since he is of the elect, that nothing he does will be cause for him to lose his place in heaven. Robert really isn't a bad guy and doesn't understand why he's being accused of all sort of things, including the murder of his brother and mother. This reader thinks it was the demon who committed these acts. Half of the time I had no idea who was telling the story, Robert, or his brother, or "the editor." Good thing this book was short or I would have put it down and not finished. Also the servant's dialogue was almost unintelligible to me; much like Cockney only Scottish. 2 stars Not recommended. 206 pages

Actually read 2 1001 books lately!

127. Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Underset I "read" this as an audio book only (which I normally don't do) and found it a bit confusing as to names and places and Kings. It seemed slow moving to me. I could not find a character to like. All that being said, it was at least a 3 star read. 45 hours=1168 pages.

128. Lolita vy Vladimir Nabokov was a re-read for me, having read it at least 20 years ago. I still think the writing is beautiful and while I find the subject matter reprehensible, something does draw me to the story. I can see why it is a classic. 3 1/2 stars.

129. Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky Nemirovsky was born a Ukrainian Jew. By the time of WWII she was already an accomplished writer. When the Germans invaded France she hid and began writing this book. It was not finished by the author as she was found and transported to Auschwitz, where she died. I think the author's story was more compelling than the actual book. The book is written in 3 parts, of which only 2 were actually written by the author. I did not really enjoy part one, as they were "short stories" about different people that revealed their character during a time of crisis. It picked up a little in parts two and three, but again, it wasn't compelling and I had to force myself to finish this book. I kept hoping that it would get uber interesting, but I didn't find it so. Definitely not riveting and no climax. However, given the circumstances under which most of this was written, perhaps my critique is too harsh. Perhaps this wasn't the final product that the author envisioned. 416 pages 3 stars

>78 Tess_W: I have read that it was not the book she had planned. She had planned five parts going up to the end of the war and after. I guess this explains why there is no climax. Who knows what she would also have edited and changed in the existing manuscript if she had the opportunity.
I still haven't read this despite owning it for a long while. I am also hoping to read some of her works published before the war when she was able to write 'properly', such as David Golder and Jezebel.

130. Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler The second book written by Chandler featuring PI Philip Marlowe. Fairly interesting with quite a few characters, the ending was not a total surprise, but unexpected. 292 pages 3 stars

131. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray A satire about "highborn" English life in the 19th century. I found Thackeray's writing witty, funny, and biting. Then, as now, it is meant to be read in serialized form, hence I read it via Serial Reader. I couldn't really take too much Thackeray in a day! That being said, I did enjoy the inhabitants of Vanity Fair, although I did not care a whit for any of them. 822 pages 4 stars

132. The Plot Against America by Philip Roth An alternate history of the U.S. with the election of Charles Lindbergh in 1942 unseating FDR with a pledge to keep the U.S. out of WWII. The story was plausible and mildly entertaining until the last 50 pages and then it was just a bit bazaar; but then it is alternate history! 448 pages 3 1/2 stars

133. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold was a spy/espionage thriller, by John le Carre. This book was recommended to me by Vivienne. It was my first le Carre. I'm not a fan of the genre, but thought I should at least try one! It was standard fare, I guess, for a spy read. The ending was a complete surprise and for that I'm bumping up by rating by half a star. Although I did enjoy this book somewhat (I like stories about the Cold War), I probably won't read another. 292 pages 3 1/2 stars

>82 Tess_W: I'm enjoying HBO's interpretation of this novel!! It's the Roth novel I've most enjoyed thus far.

>84 amaryann21: I see ads for the series, but we don't have cable!

134. The Moon and the Bonfires by Cesare Pavese A miserable book of gloom and despair. The narrator, Anguilla, tells the story on three levels 1) his village before WWII, 2) his stay of 20 years in America, 3) his return to his village. Anguilla finds almost nobody left that he knows and sees the villagers still struggling to cope with the devastation of WWII. I found nothing to like in this book; it almost seemed as if it were stream of consciousness, but because of the three very defined locales in the story, I can't really define it as such; although, I would say the book has a dreamlike quality. This was the last book the author wrote before he committed suicide and I think his troubled soul shows through in his writing

135. Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham Unrequited love! 436 pages 4 stars

136. Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne A a classic that I should have read some time ago, but never have. I'm not a sci-fi fan. so I kept putting off this read. All in all, this was a good read. The characters, while no backstory, are well developed within the story line. The journey was alternately exciting and boring. Exciting when we see human-guarding mastodons, but incredibly boring when it takes 120 pages or so to describe the various genus of prehistoric mammals. The ending was a bit abrupt. Verne definitely has a way with words and vocabulary, even in the sci-fi genre. The words are beautiful, varied, and well-placed/used. 232 pages 3 stars

137; The Monk by Matthew Lewis A late 18th century Gothic "horror." To sum the book up in a word: sex! Monks and nuns having all kinds of illicit sex, even with demons. I can tell you that I read every single one of the 263 pages and I probably only made connections about 50% of the time. This book is character heavy and plot thin. It was difficult for me to relate the characters to each other. Lewis does make for a tidy ending though as the evil monk Ambrosio and his hench-lady, the Prioress, are executed. I guess there is nothing new under the sun because this book had "date" rape drugs. 263 pages 2 1/2 stars I see editions from 228-456 pages. However, I got my version from Amazon and nowhere does it say abridged.

>133 I read that one first too, and thought it was kind of meh. Then I read Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and it was one of my favorite books this year. So don't give up on Le Carre!

>89 annamorphic: I will put that one on my wish list!

138. Queen Margot by Alexandre Dumas. 533 pages I've read better about Margot (Mann). This was an audio and probably took away from the story.

>91 Tess_W: I'm just about to start this. Curious what the book my Mann about her is called.

>92 japaul22: It's not about her per say, but it's about Henry, and his marriage to her and the first few years of their marriage, so she plays a large part in the story. Mann has 2 books: 1) Young Henry of Navarre and 2)Henry King of France. They are both about 600 pages in length. Since I had to teach about the first Protestant King of France one year and the Huguenots, I starting doing my homework and found these two tomes. Even though long, I really liked them and found them to be fairly accurate. Never had to teach that content more than one quarter!

139. Villette by Charlotte Bronte

This book was a DNF for me in 2016 and at that time I complained that there were so much French that I felt I was unable to grasp the story. I decided to try again and this time I did make it through, just ignoring the French, which in some cases was an entire page in length. I'm not talking about the occasional "mon dieu!", but entire passages where I felt that pivotal relationships were explored and explained that totally went over my head. The book was depressing most of the time; really depressing and very long. I also did not enjoy the long explanation of the pamphlet and the attempt to get Lucie to covert to Catholicism. I'm sure this was an issue of the day. I know this book was the pinnacle of Charlotte's work; but I much preferred Jane Eyre. I think all these "little" things were just more aggravated by the fact that many parts of the book I could not read. This book was a lot of work to read. 668 pages 3 stars

140. Fantomas by Marcel Allain was yet another "loser" on the 1001 list! Fantomas was supposed to be a farcical book in the vein of James Bond featuring Fantomas, a sinister master criminal. I didn't find anything amusing or interesting. I didn't even see the point of the book! I did not finish, reading only reading 48/254 pages. Life is too short to read lousy books! 1 1/2 stars (a waste of ink and paper!) This is considered a classic by many, it is free on Kindle. It was very popular in England/France in the early 1900's with 11 novels in the series. There were also several films made (2 silent) featuring Fantomas. Not for me!

> 95 Wasn't he awful? How on earth was this man a master anything?

>96 Yells: That too!

>139 I love Jane Eyre and was so disappointed by both Villette and Shirley. They were both so boring to me.

>98 japaul22: I also loved Jane Eyre. Villette was certainly a struggle to read for me. Have not yet read Shirley.

141. The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells This book is what one thinks it would be! The story of the invisible man who resorts to crime to live. The book was interesting for the first 50%, but it waned after that. 184 pages

142. Nightwood by Djuna Barnes This book is a tour de farce which depicts the night circus. The story centers on Baron Felix, who is not a baron at all, but wants to live the life of nobility. The other main character is Robin, who breaks hearts in her "free love" lifestyle. In the end, Robin is caught having sex with a dog. I think that is the author's pinnacle for self-degradation. It's an odd, weird, book! I don't think I am smart enough to understand this book. I would not have continued but the book was only 208 pages. The forward is by TS Eliot and he advised you need to read the book more than once----I think not! 2 stars Just awful!

143. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. This is the only Wilde I have ever been able to finish. I liked it! 180 pages 4 stars

144. American Pastoral This book was about Samuel Lavov, a blonde Jewish all-star athlete in a New Jersey high school. This is about the fall of the smug Lavov. Roth could have written this book in 50 pages instead of the 400+ page slog that it is. I don't really care what type of baseball shoes Sam had when he was 11 years old. I also really don't care what the piece of a glove that connects the thumb to the rest of the glove is called--but the author did--4 pages worth. After reading this, I will run screaming back into the arms of Dickens or Melville! I certainly will be reading nothing else from Roth! 2 stars 436 pages

145. Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie A great historical fiction about the secession of Biafra from Nigeria. 4.5 stars Orange Prize in 2007, now called The Prize for Women's Fiction

146. I'm Not Scared by Niccolo Ammaniti
Billed as a psychological thriller. However, I really didn't find this to be true. I found this book tedious and the plot, from the perspective of a 9 year old boy, quite unbelievable. The story got weaker as the book progressed. The ending was a big disappointment and I felt cheated. A book I would not recommend. 200 pages 2.5 stars

>105 Tess_W: This book is on our high school curriculum in Australia. Both my daughters hated it, so I have not hurried to read it. At least it is short!

147. The Radetsky March by Joseph Roth, an excellent time-period piece that covers the years 1860-1914. It chronicles 3 generations of the Trotta family (Austria) and also the Hapsburg Empire. Both are "old" and crumbling; neither can survive in the "new world." A very good piece of writing, but also very depressing. 355 pages 4.5 stars. I knocked 1/2 star off because the first chapter was very confusing! Of course, I had to go down the rabbit hole of the history of the Radetsky March and listen to it several times on Youtube. I had heard it before, but would not have been able to identify it

148. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark I read this because it was a "classic", although I'm unsure why. This was a story of an "unconventional" teacher of impressionable girls ages 10-14ish at a junior school in Scotland. To be honest, I did not like the character of Miss Brodie. If found her to be cruel and crude. She blatantly and unabashedly picked favorites and ridiculed others. As to the writing, the narrative was exceedingly choppy switching from reminiscences to daydreams to current dialogue to future scenes at lightning speed. So not a fan of the story or the writing. Good thing it was not a long book or I would have abandoned it. 144 pages 2.5 stars

149. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou was the author's coming of age story in the deep south in the 1920's. She certainly is a good writer. That being said, I think an inordinate amount of time was spent on vividly describing rape, sexual exploration, and how Maya becomes pregnant at age 17. I know that the rape of an 8 year old is traumatic and can color the rest of their life, however, that's not my complaint. My complaint is with the explicit descriptions. Some might argue they are necessary, but I would argue they are not. I listened to this book on Audible, read by the author. Ms. Angelou had a thick, slow, voice that exhibited little or no emotion. 10 hours 11 mins=321 pages

150. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Tradition vs change, British colonialism, anger management issues. 256 pages 3 stars

151. Kim by Rudyard Kipling Think he is a better poet than writer.

152. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Meh....

153. The Wide Sargasso Sea Excellent!

154. The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan. This was one of the first mystery/spy/thrillers published in 1915. I can almost see this as a prototype for James Bond as there were several unbelievable escapes and blasts. However, all in all, the story was not bad and I'm not even a thriller/spy reader. I like the protagonist's mantra: "A fool tries to look different: a clever man looks the same and is different." A quick read in one setting. 115 pages 3.5 stars Hitchcock made a movie (1935) with the same name.

>112 Tess_W: I felt pretty much the same when I read it. It feels like a “pilot” to the whole genre - it’s a bit raw but the ideas also came off as fresh.

155. The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West This is the story of a soldier during WWI who returns home shell-shocked. He can't remember the last 15 years of his life, including the marriage to his wife. He does remember a summer "love" and the two meet frequently in the garden, the wife begrudgingly agreeing that it might bring back Chris' memory. It doesn't and the wife grows more bitter. Not only is this about the horror of the Great War, it is the story of brutal class warfare. The author writes very lyrically. It was a very slow moving book. Favorite quote, "She isn't beautiful any longer. She's drearily married. She's seamed and scored and ravaged by squalid circumstances. You can't love her when you see her." 140 pages

156. 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez 468 pages, magical realism, meh.