Classics Reading Challenge

There are many classics I want to read, but a list of all of them might get a bit overwhelming. So I'm starting with eleven. 

1. Sons and Lovers - D. H. Lawrence
2. North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell
3. Magnetism - F. Scott Fitzgerald
4. The Diary of a Nobody - George & Weeden Grossmith
5. Middlemarch - George Eliot
6. Tom Jones - Henry Fielding
7. The Secret Agent - Joseph Conrad
8. Carry on Jeeves - P. G. Wodehouse
9. To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf
10. Rob Roy - Sir Walter Scott
11. The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand

New Series - WR Recommends

Hi Folks, 

You know I love doing series on this blog. This one is different - there will be no guest posts in this series - at least not in this original version. I might modify and invite people bit later on. 

Summer's here, and while many of us read pretty much the same all year around, a lot of people have more reading time in the summer, so it's a perfect time to do this. In this series, I will recommend up to 10 books in various genres. These are in my opinion "MUST READ" in these genres. 

These lists will be based on simple rules:

1. I have personally read these books
2. I put these books in "totally amazing" category. I had to narrow it down, because otherwise my recommendations would be endless. 

Disclaimer: I'm sure there will be books I will miss out (pretty hard to remember them all), but that happens. 

I would of course love it if you guys join in, in the comments, with the books you recommend, and if you have read any on my lists, and what do you think of them! 

Books Read in May

This year is going pretty well in terms of reading. I've no doubt that I'm going to kick-ass of my 80 books target, since I've finished 49 books by end of May. But it's been fun, and since my reading list is endless....I still feel that I am not fast enough. But practice makes perfect :-)) 

1. Sixty-One Nails - Mike Shevdon - 01/05
   First book in the Courts of the Feyre series. I really enjoyed it. C. E. Murphy blurbed it as a Neverwhere for grown-ups, and I agree. It's different from a lot of my usual fantasy because the hero is a middle-aged, divorced, single parent - hence, your everyday man - who rises to his newly discovered Feyre heritage.
   
2. Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex - Eoin Colfer - 07/05
   The latest in Artemis Fowl series - and again, loved it. Artemis Fowl is my favourite young hero (yes, even more than Harry Potter - because while I love Harry Potter series more, I would much rather prefer Artemis' company than Harry's).
   
3. Dead in the Family - Charlaine Harris - 08/05
   The latest in Sookie Stackhouse. Another series I enjoy. But "Dead to the World" still remains my favourite book in the series so far.
   
4. Wicked Appetite - Janet Evanovich - 10/05
   I have enjoyed Stephanie Plum series by Evanovich, so I thought I would try something else by her. This is slightly fantasyish - in that it has magic, but not too much. I liked reading it, but didn't find it as laugh-out-loud funny as Stephanie Plum. So in terms of review, I would read more in this series, but not necessarily run out to buy when it comes out.
   
5. Matilda - Roald Dahl - 12/05
   I admit to a great shame here - until now I've never read any Roald Dahl. But then blame that to my foreign upbringing. There weren't Roald Dahl books around where I was growing up. So Matilda has been on my reading list, ever since I saw the movie Matilda (which I love). And I really enjoyed this book. Dahl's writing is FANTASTIC. I loved it so much, I had to read another book by him.
   
6. The Twits - Roald Dahl - 15/05
   Love the insults in this book. Hilarious. Though didn't like the story so much - certainly not as much as Matilda.
   
7. Dark Lover - J. R. Ward - 20/05
   Since a lot of people rave about Black Dagger Brotherhood books, I thought I would give this a go. So a mixed review about this - I liked the story, and I liked the characters - but not the writing. Especially not the dialogue. It was just too...well...wrong. Every guy speaks the same - and it doesn't match their history. But characters are compelling enough that I will read more books in this series, and hope that it improves over time, as it happens a lot since all new authors have stuff to learn after their first book.
   
8. First Five Pages - Noah Lukeman - 21/05
   Interesting book about first five pages, and the kind of things that might make an agent or an editor stop reading your book.
   
9. The Road to Bedlam - Mike Shevdon - 28/05
   May for me, began and ended with Mike Shevdon. This is the second book in Courts of the Feyre series, and again very good. Especially last third of this book was very good, in terms of plotting and pacing, and I kept turning the pages to find out what would happen next. 

Books Read in February

Compared to January, February wasn't as good in terms of reading but I am all right with that. After all, can't spend every month getting crazily addicted to reading or I wouldn't get anything else done. So here are my seven books of February.

1. Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox - Eoin Colfer - 01/02
   I love Artemis Fowl series. Colfer's writing may be aimed for teenagers, but this is a master at work. Every book only gets better. I can't wait for the next book.
   
   
2. LEPrecon - Eoin Colfer - 01/02
   
   
3. Nemi - Lise Myhre - 05/02
   This is the first proper comic book I read. I read Nemi comics in Metro on my commute, so I was pleasantly surprised to find a book in the library. And it was absolute delight.
   
   
4. The Six Sacred Stones - Matthew Reilly - 09/02
   This was one of those impulse buy. I had never heard of this author, nor knew anything about the book. But it was on bargain in a supermarket, and I liked the back blurb, so bought it. Writing - as it happens in a lot of thrillers - not masterwork, but the story is so good that kept me turning the pages. Even learning later on that this was a middle book in the series, and ended with a cliff hanger, didn't really spoil my pleasure, which doesn't happen often.
   
   
5. Anita Blake: The Laughing Corpse - Laurell K. Hamilton - 15/02
   Very very disappointing. I picked this up because I've heard so much about Anita Blake series. I could barely get through it. And only finished it just for the sake of finishing.
   
   
6. Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris - 16/02
   Fabulous of course. Another dose of Sookie and Eric. Oh I do hope Sookie ends up with Eric.
   
   
7. The Half-Made World - Felix Gilman - 19/02
   This was interesting, different. This book has reviews from the likes of Ursula K. LeGuin and Brandon Sanderson. Steampunk meets wild west. This is unusual, but wonderfully drawn. The world is richly and detailed, and characters like the story are very realistic and very human. I think the only reason I did't love this book is because it had an ending which is suitable to the story and very realistic, but not the kind of completely concluding ending that I mostly prefer. Vague endings just don't satisfy me. Oh well! Still glad to have read this though.

Reading List According to Readers of Writer Revealed

So here it is ...a fairy short, but very good reading list. 


If anyone wants to keep the list, and want it in Excel, email me and I will send it to you. I plan to include blog links for people who recommended the books in the spreadsheet as soon as I get a chance. 


The list is alphabetized by Author's names.In the brackets, people who recommended each book.


1. A Reaper's Tale: The Undecided by Adam Slade (Carol Ward)
2. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (Carol Ward / Karin Eider)
3. The Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop (Dolly Garland)
4. Anne Frank's Diary by Anne Frank (Dolly Garland)
5. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (Dolly Garland)
6. The Kadin by Beatrice Small (Carol Ward)
7. The Little Country by Charles De Lint (Carol Ward)
8. Ramses Series by Christian Jaqc (Karin Eider)
9. Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers (Erica Chapman)
10. Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers (Erica Chapman)
11. One Day by David Nicholls (Sue Martin)
12. Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber (Sue Martin)
13. Christmas in Seattle by Debbie Macomber (Sue Martin)
14. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (Sue Martin)
15. The Swarm by Frank Schaetzing (Karin Eider)
16. The Lacemakers of Glenmara by Heather Barbieri (Sue Martin)
17. Harry Potter Series by J. K. Rowling (Karin Eider / Dolly Garland)
18. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien (Adam Slade / Karin Eider / Dolly Garland)
19. Black Dagger Brotherhood by J. R. Ward (Karin Eider)
20. Teacher Teacher by Jack Sheffield (Sue Martin)
21. Persuasion by Jane Austen (Dolly Garland)
22. One for the Money by Janet Evanovich (Erica Chapman)
23. Storm Front by Jim Butcher (Adam Slade)
24. Next of Kin by Joanna Trollope (Sue Martin)
25. Proust was a Neuroscientist by Jonah Lehrer (Dolly Garland)
26. Ilfayne's Bane by Julia Knight (Adam Slade)
27. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (Karin Eider)
28. The Body Finder by Kimberly Dertin (Erica Chapman)
29. The Anita Blake Series by Laurell K. Hamilton (Kaitlyn Hall)
30. The Merry Gentry Series by Laurell K. Hamilton (Kaitlyn Hall)
31. Valerias Last Stand by March Fitten (Sue Martin)
32. The Day Job by Mark Wallington (Sue Martin)
33. The Book Thief by Markus Zusack (Dolly Garland)
34. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows (Sue Martin)
35. Tam Lin by Pamela Dean (Carol Ward)
36. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho (Karin Eider / Dolly Garland)
37. His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman (Adam Slade / Dolly Garland)
38. The Crystal Shard by R. A. Salvatore (Adam Slade)
39. Family Tree by Sheri S. Tepper (Carol Ward)
40. Twilight Saga by Stephanie Meyer (Karin Eider)
41. The Gunslinger by Stephen King (Adam Slade)
42. On Writing by Stephen King (Carol Ward)
43. The Stand by Stephen King (Karin Eider)
44. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Erica Chapman)
45. The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett (Adam Slade)
46. The Woodwife by Terry Windling (Carol Ward)
47. The Magician's Guild by Trudi Canavan (Adam Slade)