10.07.2009

Fifty Favorite Books and What's Next


The list is complete. That is, as complete as such a thing can be. I have a lot of books on my to-read list, any of which could knock things out of order; if I were redoing it now, I would already move the Lord of the Rings books higher in the list.

Looking back over it, I find some of my choices awfully shameless. After all, I've read and enjoyed Les Miserables and think it a highly worthwhile book. Why didn't that make the list? Primarily because the massive Les Mis contained so many novella-length essays on things in which I had next to no interest, like the French sewer system. Therefore, it got beat out by a lot of innocent, non-depressing, non-boring tales for the (forever) young.

I have left out great books that I have read. Sometimes I included a book that I loved and wanted to talk about, but wondered later if it really belonged. My numbering system is flawed and vague, based on personal enjoyment without much reference to intrinsic merit; it is also downright arbitrary at times. Hopefully that helps explain most of the inclusions, exclusions, and relative placements that seem unreasonable.

Fifty is a large number, and drawing from the reservoir of books I have read, re-read, and loved, which have made some sort of impact upon my thought processes, I did what I could. I have written this list in the spirit of a pleasant exercise, a joyous fit of listing instinct. Enjoy! You can read through the whole thing here.

* * *

Anyway, this blog is no longer slave to the Fifty Favorite Books feature, and I have plans: most of which involve conversation about reading and writing and other random life commentary. Stay tuned for the introduction of other regular features, interspersed as usual with whatever happens along.

No comments:

Post a Comment

All comments are currently moderated. Friendly comments are welcomed with fairy music, magic wishes, and possible unicorn sightings. Troll comments will be Transfigured into decent-looking rocks or Vanished. Spam comments will be shot down with blasters.