Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Ten Titles for 2012

A Top Ten meme from The Broke and The Bookish

I haven't really made any reading plans or challenges for the new year except to keep working on my TBR shelf and continuing to tackle more classics. I'm especially interested in the Russians this year, and some of the early 20th Century Americans. There also has to be time for some current authors, light reads, and some assigned school books Son14 will have this year (1984!) which I would like to read alongside him.

So, in no particular order, here's my proposed reading list for 2012.

1. East of Eden by John Steinbeck (in progress and LOVING it)

2. The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (intimidating, but I'm going to give it a shot)

3. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (such an old reread I may as well be opening it for the first time)

4. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (banned book! so, of course.)

5. 1984 by George Orwell (never read this so it's about time)

6. The Sound and The Fury by William Faulkner (not sure about this one . . . )

7. As I lay Dying by William Faulkner (ditto)

8. Tender is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

9. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

10. Jazz by Toni Morrison

11. Sula by Toni Morrison

12. Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham

30 comments:

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

Good for you. You have wonderful books listed here. I'm trying to have a relaxed 2012, but I'm very tempted to add East of Eden to my list....

Here's my Top Ten list.

*ೃ༄ Jillian said...

I have read The Sound and the Fury and seriously loved it -- but it's not for the faint of heart! :-) I just happened to really pull to the Southern flavor and the artistry (I) admired in the stream of conscious writing. It's the only stream of conscious book I've read, to date...

I have read about half of Anna Karenina. I'm finishing it in 2012. Very, very good. :-)

Adam from Roof Beam Reader just gave me a copy of East of Eden, so it'll be a must-read pretty soon. :-)

Stephen said...

Good books here! I remember trying to read East of Eden a few years back; I was unsuccessful, but intend to return it at some point. 1984 is alas, still very much relevant today.

Anne said...

What a great list! East of Eden is one of my all time favorites, hope you enjoy it!

Peppermint Ph.D. said...

I'm hoping to tackle a few more classics this year as well...Jazz was not my favorite Toni Morrison, but Sula is one of the best I think. :)

Trish said...

Deb - I plan on incorporating some relaxed reads throughout my year also. East of Eden has a fabulous flow to it. I thought it would be a lot more challenging (of course I'm only half way through it, so who knows how it will end up?!)

Jillian - okay, thanks for the heads-up! Now I'm really intrigued . . .

Coffee - it was a difficult story to get into, I thought, but then it really picked up. It's worth another try.

Anne - yes! so far I'm really enjoying it.

Peppermint - that's good to know. I am not familiar with any of Toni Morrison's work so perhaps I should start with Sula and take it from there.

Epiphany Renee said...

That's a heady list of books. Good luck, looking toward to seeing if they make any of your Top Ten lists after reading.

Trish said...

Haha yeah, good point! I'm looking at this list thinking, Man! I wonder how far I'll get? But there's also the possibility that there are some favorites in there waiting to be discovered.

Two Bibliomaniacs said...

I really enjoyed East of Eden when I read it several years back. I'm also hoping to reread Anna Karenina this year, but still trying to work up the courage!

I really struggled with The Sound and the Fury.... Hope you like it!

Christine said...

Great list. Did you hear that Morrison has a new novel (Home) coming out in May?

Sam (Tiny Library) said...

So many good books here! I first read 1984 when I was the same age as your son and I think it's the perfect age for it - it had a very big impact on me and I've read it many times since. I hope you both enjoy it too :)

Kristi said...

Some great books on your list. I'll be reading Lolita in 2012 also. I hope you enjoy Anna Karenina. The first half was a little slow, I thought, but the second half was really great.

Trish said...

Bibliomaniac - yeah, courage. I know what you mean! It's size is a tad intimidating.

Christine - really? I'll have to look into that.

Sam - that's good to know. I'm looking forward to getting to it.

Kristi - yes I've heard there are some slow parts but I won't let that deter me this time :)

Jenna St. Hilaire said...

Ooh, a list full of classics. :D I just--as in the last month--read Anna Karenina, and to my surprise I think I like Tolstoy better than Dostoevsky, despite having loved Crime and Punishment.

Good luck with Lolita. I made it fifteen pages in and was too revolted to continue, but nearly everyone I know who finished it says it was great. :)

Thanks for coming by my blog!

Tracy said...

A wonderful list, Trish. I loved East of Eden, Anna Karenina is excellent, though you really do end up learning an awful lot about nineteenth century Russian agricultural practices too, 1984 is a novel everyone should read, Lolita is profoundly disturbing - beautifully-written, but what a story.

I need to read Dostoevsky sometime, either Crime and Punishment or The Idiot, but not this year. I've never read anything by either Toni Morrison or William Faulkner so interested to see what you make of them.

LBC said...

You have some of my favorites on this list. I'm happy that you are enjoying East of Eden. I also love Faulkner and The Sun Also Rises, which has an ending that I think is as good as Gatsby.

Shann said...

Wonderful list! I really want to read Tender is the night as well, and Zelda's Save me the Waltz (since I read there was some cross over between the books, Scott and Zelda using the same real life events in their books). I don't think I'll find the time this year though. Everyone's 2012 lists are causing me to build a list out to 2013 :)

Trish said...

Jenna - interesting to hear that about Tolstoy vs Dostoyevsky. I quite liked Crime and Punishment but have been reluctant to pick him up again. This will be the year for both!

Tracy - I'm quite excited to get to these! especially 1984 because it is referenced so much and I have no idea what it's all about except that it's dystopian.

LBC - great! I love to hear that books on my list have made favorites' lists. I can't wait to get to them.

Shann - I know what you mean! My list is growing and growing and there's no end in sight. I love when that happens ;)

Anonymous said...

One of my boyfriend's requests for Christmas was a nice edition of East of Eden. I've never read it, but get the feeling I should!

MJ Thomas said...

East of Eden was about the only Steinbeck book I truly enjoyed. 1984 I read because that's the year I graduated High School!

Thanks so much for visiting my blog.

Anonymous said...

I bought a copy of Anna Karenina several years ago and vowed I would read it, but most of the Russian stuff is just so depressing. Maybe your reading it will inspire me to do the same.

I read 1984 my freshman year of high school (for fun, can you imagine? We read Animal Farm for class and the teacher mentioned that Orwell had written this other novel...), and it scared the bejeezus out of me. Ruined any possible liking I may have had for dystopian. Hopefully you and your son like it better.

Sidne said...

I do hope you get to read all the books on this list. with so many novels and so little time,darn, a few may be added and a few may get read. I'm going to try to finish most of mine. Happy Reading!!

Trish said...

striving - it would be a great book to have a keepsake copy! It's a book for the ages. And I definitely think you should read it ;)

MJ - funny how these books have such staying power, isn't it? When I was in high school (80s) we were assigned to read one of either Brave New World or 1984. I chose Brave New World and never got around to reading 1984 any other time. And now they're still assigning these books for today's high schoolers! It's never too late to catch up, I say.

couchpotato - yeah, the Russians are a serious bunch, aren't they? But sometimes I'm in the mood for heavy and they are just the ones to do it for me. Along with heavy, I've also been in the mood for dystopian, which kind of goes along the same lines, I think. I don't know how my son will take it, though, so I thought what better time for me to read it too so we can discuss it.

Sidne - thanks! yes, I'm hoping to get through as many of these as I can while still leaving room for some new stuff. We'll see how it all goes.

Jessie Marie said...

What a great list. I haven't read anything hear but I do want to read Anna Karenina and the rest of the Russians. Faulkner - that's a daunting one!

Thanks for stopping by The Daily Bookmark!

Jessie Marie
*New Follower*
The Daily Bookmark

Trish said...

Jessie - thanks! I enjoyed looking around your blog and am now following you as well. Happy Reading!

laughingwolf said...

only read 4 on your list, so far... rest i'll get into before i croak! ;)

Kailana said...

I have read Faulkner before and I wasn't really sure what the big deal was... So I have never tried again. I really need to read more classics...

Trish said...

laughingwolf - I figure this is a lifetime kind of list. If I don't get to them this year then I'll get to them next year, and so on....

Kailana - classics are great! And, yeah, Faulkner is an author I'm curious about because he's such a *name.* We'll see.

Anonymous said...

Hi there,
Just read the Paris Wife, and LOVED it, you must find it.
At the same time I am reading The Sun Also Rises, and now I want to read all Hemingway's books.

I am reading my first Bryson...not sure yet...
?

A short history of the home or something, which are your favorites?

Thank you for a lovely dinner btw, it was delightful!
Hugs,

Nomad

Trish said...

I have a copy of Paris Wife but have not read it yet, same with Sun Also Rises. A Moveable Feast was fabulous - you must read this!

As for Bill Bryson, he can be a little much sometimes, but my favorite is Life and Times of The Thunderbolt Kid.

It was great to see you and the kids! I hope you all made it back home okay. Look forward to seeing you again in the summer :)