Book Fun from Julia

Here are the current top 50 books from www.whatshouldireadnext.com. Bold the books you have read. Italicise the books you might read. Cross out the books you probably won't read. Pass it on.


The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown - I have a strange relationship with this book. I want to read it to see what all the fuss is about, but I'm mad at all the people who are embroiled in discussions of its controversy, as though it is advancing historical facts instead of telling an adventure story based in historical speculation. It's a NOVEL, people. It's not MEANT to be some advancement of a theory of fact. Jesus Christ and His fucking wife, let it alone already. ;)
The Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The Great Gatsby - F.Scott Fitzgerald
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter 6) - J.K. Rowling
Life of Pi - Yann Martel - Liz and Bekah told me I should, so I think I should.
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story - George Orwell
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien - I tried reading this when I was young, and I did not really get into it. But I suppose at some point I should. I'll discuss this more later.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
Lord of the Flies - William Golding - A lot of these are books I feel like I "should" read, but I don't know if I actually will. However, I would feel unintellectual or something not to italicize them.
Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
1984 - George Orwell - Sometimes I get these dystopia books mixed up... but no, I remember this one. Big Brother. And some weird furniture.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Book 3) - J.K. Rowling
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez - Yeah, I know, the modern classic of Spanish literature that I haven't read, in Spanish or English. Kind of like the ancient classic of Spanish literature that I haven't read all of in English or at all in Spanish. I guess I should get on that sometime.
Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini - I've heard a lot about this lately, but somehow it never includes what it's about.
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold - I started listening to this one as an audio book when Rachel sent me the CDs, but something went wrong with them and I never finished. I should just borrow it from Rachel.
Slaughterhouse 5 - Kurt Vonnegut - Aside from a short story I don't recall, I have read no Vonnegut at all.
Angels and Demons - Dan Brown - Another one I should read to sort of catch up with popular culture, or something, but will I?
Fight Club - Chuck Palahniuk - Ok, I don't really know if I'll read this one, but I'd be interested to see how it's presented.
Neuromancer - William Gibson - I was going to leave this one off because I haven't heard of it, but then I realized William Gibson is the playwright of Golda's Balcony, our next show. All roads lead to the Merriam.
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson - I think I took a book by him out of the freebox and never read it, so I'll leave this one out.
The Secret History - Donna Tartt - Don't know what this is.
A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess - Would I be interested in this or would it frustrate me? Only one way to find out.
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte - I had such a strange relationship with this book. I read it about three times over, never actually deciding if I liked it or not, but always sort of mysteriously called back to it.
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley - I remember some of the images really clearly.
American Gods - Neil Gaiman - Read once, thought, eh, it was pretty good. Read again in Spain and fell in love. Sometimes it's all in the timing.
Ender's Game (The Ender Saga) - Orson Scott Card - Many have recommended this one; Morgan, I think, most vehemently.
Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson - Here he is again.
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving - One of the few books I would call practically perfect. The kind I feel in my chest when I think about, like somebody I love.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis - Oh, only about 400 times. As any dedicated reader knows, this one shaped my whole cosmological outlook and vocabulary and, well, everything.
Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides - This one I have an active desire to read.
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell - ?
The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien- I always had a strange relationship with these, since everyone assumed that as an avid reader who liked fantasy, I must have read them, and was shocked when I hadn't. I still haven't, but since I've seen all the movies and, now, bought a $5 book with the whole trilogy in it, I guess one of these days I actually will.
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte - Reacted with more unambiguous pleasure than to her sister's book... even thinking about it now I get a very pleasant feeling, and a memory of excellent writing. But I don't think I've read it so many times as Wuthering Heights, nor that the characters are so present to me, for all that.
Good Omens - Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman - :)
Atonement - Ian McEwan - ?
The Shadow Of The Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon - ?
The Old Man and the Sea - Ernest Hemingway - People often have such virulent reactions to this book. I wonder if I'll like it.
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood - One of those famous authors I'm uncertain whether I want to dive into, but always feel that someday I should.
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath - Maybe.
Dune - Frank Herbert - Maybe? Apparently I have trouble saying I won't read things I know about, but this one... I've heard it's so odd.