100 Classic Books

I love to read. For anyone who knows me this is in no way a surprising statement. I have been reading since I was 3 and like my movie and TV shows, my interests in books are varied. Yes, admitedly I tend to stick to romance novels, I do read all sorts of books. I am in the middle of two on my Kindle and I have another one on my nightstand. But I figured there were a ton of books out there I should read but never had, so I decided to add reading 10 books to my list. I have already written about one book I've read, but since then I have read five more on the list. One I mayhave written about already, so if I have I apologize. Here goes:

Lady Chatterly's Lover D.H. Lawrence I don't know where I first heard about this book but you always heard about it being "scandalous" so it was one that stuck in the back of my head that I should read. It's been a while since I read it so I don't remember it quite clearly. I remember I kind of disliked every character in the book. I kind of felt they were all selfish and I kind of didn't care what happened to them.I apologize if I offend someone who loves this book, but that's how I felt. I can certainly see why it would have been scandalous for its time, because the love scenes are graphic. Not Fifty Shades graphic mind you, but for the time it was written I understand why people would have been horrified. Like I said, it's been a while since I read it so I'm sure at the time I had more intelligent insights. Then again, probably not.

Emma Jane Austen I do enjoy Jane Austen. I love Pride & Prejudice. I had seen the movie Emma in college (starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Ewan McGregor) and of course Clueless. But I had never read the book. I think I need to re-read it because I kept getting some of the characters confused. But I like it. She's a meddler who can't see what's in front of her face. But everything she does is because she cares. Haven't we all felt like we screwed up despite our best intentions? Definitely one to read again and again!

Alice In Wonderland Lewis Carroll Thanks to Disney this is one of those stories that is suck in your consciousness whether you've read it or not. So it seemed time to read it. I know there are scores of people out there who are obsessed with these stories and utterly devoted to them. I am not one of them. I think I was put off because the person who put it in ebook form wrote a lot of commentary after each story, and of course I had to read it, and he used an awful lot of exclamation points. I didn't think it was all that exciting. Honestly, probably not one I will read again.

Animal Farm George Orwell I loved this book!!!  I thought it was clever and well written. And it makes you think about society and how much we really haven't changed. It's interesting to think about how the rebels and usurpers become the mainline and standard. This is one I will definitely reread.

Pickwick Papers Charles Dickens I hated Dickens as a teenager. I loathed Great Expectations, although I admit Christmas Carol was okay. Then in college I took a 19th Century Lit class and we had to read Great Expectations. I was not looking forward to it, but something my teacher said stuck with me. She asked who had read it and who had liked it and said it was crazy that they make you read Dickens in high school. He didn't write for 20th/21st century teenagers in America. So I read the story again and found I actually really liked it. So when I saw this on the list I remembered the March sisters in Little Women reading it and decided I should give it a whirl. Unfortunatley, Charlie disappointed me with this one. I thought it was really long and boring. I will read more of his stuff that I haven't and hopefully will enjoy it like I did Great Expectations.

Again, I apologize for the brief not very insightful descriptions of the books. All of these were read a while ago and I was trying to pull up my memories of them to write about. I will do better to write about the remaining books as soon as I read them so I can be much more intelligent with my thoughts on the books. And again, I apologize if I offended anyone who likes a book I didn't. That's why there are so many stories out there. If we all liked the same sort of books how boring and bland the world would be.