Facing sixty-two more weeks of this, I’ve decided to streamline my listing process so these posts don’t take so much time. I’ve taken out a couple of categories—“Do I own it?” and “Why is it on my TBR?”—and changed the format a bit so it’s easier to copy and paste from Goodreads. For example, author names are now Last, First, and on the line below the title rather than on the same line.
Given my penchant for rearranging, I doubt this will be the last format change, but we’ll see how long it lasts.
Wondering what this is all about? Check out the Introductory Post.
Titles 121-130:
121
Title: Native Son
Author: Wright, Richard
Date Added: 03/25/11
Verdict: Keep. It’s been on my list (both my Goodreads TBR and my mental to-read list) for many years, and I think it’s an important novel to read.
Project List: Cavalcade of Classics
122
Title: The Call of the Wild
Author: London, Jack
Date Added: 03/25/11
Verdict: What’s this doing here? I read this with my kids last year. It was part of a book that included White Fang, and I guess that’s why it didn’t get marked off of my TBR. So, freebie this week!
Project List: n/a
123
Title: A Clockwork Orange
Author: Burgess, Anthony
Date Added: 03/25/11
Verdict: Keep, but with reservations. I’ve seen the movie, so I have an idea of what I’d be getting myself into, but people still really love the book, and I’d like to see what Burgess does with the slang.
Project List: Cavalcade of Classics
124
Title: Sophie’s Choice
Author: Styron, William
Date Added: 03/25/11
Verdict: Keep. I’ve never seen the movie, which is good because I’d like to read the book first. Of course, I haven’t been living under a rock, so I know what Sophie’s choice is, but I don’t know the whole story around it.
Project List: Cavalcade of Classics
125
Title: Sons and Lovers
Author: Lawrence, D.H.
Date Added: 03/25/11
Verdict: Keep. I’m not entirely sure I want to read this, but it’s supposed to be Lawrence’s “masterpiece” and I hear it’s got some allegory to it, so I’ll give it a go, see what it’s all about.
Project List: Cavalcade of Classics
126
Title: A Separate Peace
Author: Knowles, John
Date Added: 03/25/11
Verdict: Keep. New England boarding school, adolescent angst, a book I might be able to share with my 12yo…all sounds good to me. It seems like a lot of people read this in high school, so I guess I’ll be playing catch-up.
Project List: Cavalcade of Classics
127
Title: Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder
Author: Waugh, Evelyn
Date Added: 03/25/11
Verdict: Keep. I’ve not read anything by Waugh, and this seems like a good place to start. Some reviews compare it E.M. Forster, whose Howards End I loved.
Project List: Cavalcade of Classics
128
Title: Women in Love
Author: Lawrence, D.H.
Date Added: 03/25/11
Verdict: Go. With Sons and Lovers on the list already and having mixed feelings about the only other Lawrence I’ve read (Lady Chatterley’s Lover), I’ll forego this one for now. If I love Sons and Lovers, maybe I’ll give this one a try.
Project List: n/a
129
Title: Tropic of Cancer
Author: Miller, Henry
Date Added: 03/25/11
Verdict: Go. I have Tropic of Cancer on my TBR because it’s a classic and a (formerly) banned book, but reading excerpts, I really don’t think I want to read this novel. I’m no prude (at least not much of one), but the language…ugh.
Project List: n/a
130
Title: An American Tragedy
Author: Dreiser, Theodore
Date Added: 03/25/11
Verdict: Keep. Not only would it give me a chance to read Dreiser, but it sounds like a really good story (“…the dark side of the American Dream,”as the synopsis says).
Project List: Cavalcade of Classics
Three more books off the old TBR, putting us at 35 out of 130 removed from the list (4.7% of the original 750).
Are there any of these that I kept that you would have jettisoned? (Or any that I jettisoned that you recommend I keep, even though that wouldn’t help whittle my TBR list down?)
Imperfect Happiness 