I was enjoying some nighttime reading recently, and when I went to bed I must have been thinking about reading because I dreamed about all the books that are “must reads” to me but ones that I haven’t gotten to yet. We all have that list, right? I’ve been reading a lot of current fiction and it’s going really well for me but as the holidays approach, I may try to get a couple of those must reads in. Here are a few that pop into my head:
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
I Capture The Castle by Dodie Smith
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Of Human Bondage by Somerset Maugham
Walden by Henry David Thoreau (every year I say I am going to read it)
Anyone have any of these on their list?
Right Now:
Coffee and a little weekend news and then I am off to see the high schoolers.
This Week:
High school ministry is having their Halloween party this Wednesday. I need to work on my 80’s themed costume today which means a trip to the thrift store. It will be a lot of fun.
I also have Friday off since I had to use up more vacation days. No big plans but the used bookstore has a fiction sale on Fridays so I may hit that.
Reading:
I finished The Stowaway and should have the review up tomorrow. Hopefully. What a book!
Watching:
We have all these plans to watch stuff and then it doesn’t happen. Baseball has played a large role in that.
Grateful for:
- While holed up on the couch with this knee, I have been mindlessly playing Mahjong on my phone. It’s a great way to spend an evening.
- It’s silly but I am so happy that salad bars are open again. I love a good salad and it’s just not the same when I make one at home.
That’s all I have. I hope you have a wonderful Sunday and great week!
Book Chatter 
I loved A Secret History. I still remember reading on the beach in Aruba probably close to 15 years ago. I am growing tired of psych thrillers and will read fewer of those in 2022. I lthink I want more crime and mysteries as well as translated fiction inext year. Can’t wait to read your Stowaway thoughts – I understand why it wasn’t heavily promoted but it was so good.
I hope you can get some relief with your knee pain. Mine will be an ongoing issue I can tell and colder weather doesn’t help. Enjoy your week. Ca
I used to have a list like that. Lately, though I have fallen down the cozy mystery hole and am happy to exist with the amateur sleuths.
I hope you find the right thing to alleviate your knee pain. It is awful when our bodies start to let us down.
I hope you have some fun this week.
I’ve read all but The Secret History and Walden from your list. All of them are SO good. Your list makes me want to reread them again. One thing though – other than the Vonnegut, the novels are all true classics, meaning they are slow, big on exposition and description, and all about character development rather than action. Compared to current fiction, the stories can move at a glacial pace. Personally, I love that, but they all require patience in readers who are not as familiar with older novels. Still, they are all classics for a reason and WELL worth the time to read them.
My elbow is still in a lot of pain, which means I cannot do a lot of cleaning or cooking or even cross-stitch. I detest watching TV without doing anything with my hands, so I’ve been reading a lot during the day. Of course, my PT says one of the causes of my elbow is my posture while reading, on my phone, or even typing, so I probably shouldn’t be doing even that. But hell, it’s so frustrating.
Have fun getting all the pieces for your costume! Holly and her BFF went to a costume party last night. I think planning the costume was probably more fun for her than finally getting to wear it.
That’s what I am worried about… how slow they are. I am racing through books these days and don’t want to jinx it.
I loved both The Secret History and The Count of Monte Cristo! Crime and Punishment is still on my list, too, but I know I won’t get to it this year.
Crime and Punishment is one of my favorites. I highly recommend it…I have this Thursday off, similar to you, have time to use before end of the year. We’re having a Halloween movie night Wednesday night and I’m just planning some silly Halloween TV, favorite Halloween episodes.
Last year you pointed me to some fun Christmas TV episodes. I looked for similar Hubs on Hulu for Halloween but didn’t find any good ones.
Crime and Punishment is probably the best of that author. I can’t believe you haven’t read Walden yet!
I hope you’ll share a photo of your costume! How fun!
I know. I must get to Walden.
I will try to snap a pic of my 80s costume.
I don’t have a list like that, though it is a great idea. I have read all but The Secret History. I tried and tried and gave up.
You’ve read all of them but The Secret History? Wow. That is pretty impressive. I used to be so much better at classics and older books. These days only current fiction grabs me.
It helped that I was an English major in college, though I read Frankenstein just a few years ago.
That looks like a good list of classics. I need to read the Dumas novel & the Maugham novel sometime, though I have so much current fiction to read. Were you watching the Dodger games? Yikes somehow they ran out of steam at the end. For the World Series I’m not sure yet if I want Houston or Atlanta … but I guess I’m leaning towards Atlanta. Have a great week. & I hope you don’t get flooding there … the Northern Calif. rain was Unreal.
My husband is a huge Dodger fan but honestly, I feel that they play inconsistently and often cave to pressure. He and I do not agree on this. I am rooting for Atlanta now.
We had a good amount of rain but it was spread out so it wasn’t bad at all. Sunny today and only 47 right now.
I actually love to read the classics but this year in particular, current fiction is what is carrying me through but I will probably pick one of those classics up before Christmas.
Those are some pretty hefty books, Ti! I enjoyed I Capture the Castle many years ago and it’s a fairly quick read.
We are Dodger fans, so we’re disappointed that they won’t be in the World Series this year. We’ll probably still watch the last few games of the series, though.
Hope the rain isn’t too heavy where you are. Our wind gusts were pretty scary yesterday afternoon and evening. 65 mph gusts which is not fun when you live in a forest! Today, it’s just raining and raining and raining and raining. I haven’t been outside all day.
My husband was not happy about the Dodger loss. I don’t feel they played that great and they had so many injuries. They need to make some changes.
The rain was nice. A full day of steady rain. The winds got bad for about an hour but then passed us by. Today, blue skies and sun but only 45 right now.
I haven’t read any of the books you mention, but I almost bought a graphic novel of Slaughterhouse 5 the other day. The illustrations were excellent.
It’s funny you say that about salads because that’s how I feel about sandwiches. I love a deli-made sandwich much more than ones I make myself.
The last mini vacation we took we stopped at a Sonny’s to eat. I always get the AYCE salad bar. I was so upset because the didn’t have a salad bar at all. When we got home I checked our local Sonny’s and none of them have a salad bar either. BOO!
I haven’t read any of the books you listed.
I hope you have a great week!