Top 10 Tuesday - Classic Books - Arianna

Top Ten Tuesday from "The Broke and the Bookish"

Yay, my first contribution to "Top Ten Tuesday" from The Broke and Bookish! Amber has gotten me all into them.  

I'll start with my Favorites.  The question is always, first, what IS a "classic"? I wasn't even sure when I was thinking of favorite books; I selected those which I thought were widely considered to have stood the test of time (to some extent, at least) and have been beloved by many.  (What I find most interesting is how there are always, always lovers AND haters of every book!)  I don't know whether these all count as "classic" - and I have many OTHER favorite books, too, of course.  So this is just the list I came up with first, in no particular order:

1. The Count of Monte Cristo
   Alexandre Dumas
   
2. A Confederacy of Dunces
   John Kennedy O'Toole
   
3. The Outsiders
   S.E. Hinton
   
4. Great Expectations
   Charles Dickens
   
5. The Merchant of Venice
   William Shakespeare
   
6. Candide
   Francois Voltaire
   
7. Atlas Shrugged & The Fountainhead
   Ayn Rand
   
8. Swann's Way
   Marcel Proust
   
9. Mildred Pierce
   James M. Cain
   
   (Wait wait...they made a series out of this?! When?)
   
10. The Brothers Karamazov
    Fyodor Dostoyevsky
    

I also love how books can be favorites based entirely on when you read them; the converse is also true, so a book I might love now or did love once might not be a favorite at another time.  That stuff absolutely fascinates me.

Now, though, on to my To-Reads!  I based this list off of this list, created by readers on GoodReads.  I figured that was a good place to be reminded of all the classics I hadn't yet read, and that a general concensus on "classic" would probably be my best bet.  I was shocked by how many I'd already read!  But here, again in no particular order, are a few I've yet to get to:

1. Anna Karenina / War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy)
   I think Tolstoy is one of the few Big Authors that I haven’t yet read anything from.  I’ve started Anna!  But I’ve yet to finish it, as promising as its beginning was.
2. Ulysses (James Joyce)
   I keep wanting to crack this one’s cover, but I just cannot bring myself to.  I’m too scared!  I will never stop wanting to try, though.
3. East of Eden (John Steinbeck) I still remember flying to Florida just before New Year's Eve, 2003-04, and meeting a guy on the place who was reading this. He loved it. I've had it in my to-read pile ever since....
4. The Diary of a Young Girl (Anne Frank)
   I know, I know.  I haven’t read this one?!  But we were never assigned it in high school, and then I just never read it afterwards, I guess because it was such a high school institution.  I’ve always wanted to, though, and even more so since The Fault in Our Stars.  I just didn’t want to admit I hadn’t.  Now that you all know, though, I can finally rid myself of the need to hide my shame, and read it!  I can’t wait.
5. Oliver Twist (Charles Dickens) I began reading this in the summer of 2001, when I was living in France. I still have my copy in French. I still have *every* intent of reading it in French. For no other reason than that I own that copy...and I'd like to think I can still read French that well!
6. Madame Bovary (Gustave Flaubert) / The Phantom of the Opera (Gaston Leroux) I grouped these two totally different classics together because I want to read them in French, too. After all, it's what they were written in.
7. The Color Purple (Alice Walker) Just one I've always wanted to read.
8. Rebecca (Daphne Du Maurier) Ditto, especially since we watched the movie in my arts summer camp back in 1998.
9. The Time Machine (HG Wells) A sci-fi classic, that I really should read since they filmed the beginning of the most recent remake at my college. I had friends who I can still spot in the opening scenes!
10. Mrs. Dalloway (Virginia Woolf) Not much to say about this one. Woolf is a strong female writer who I ought to read more of.

Others that almost made my list: Lonesome Dove (McMurtry), Walden (Thoreau), Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez), In Cold Blood (Capote), And Then There Were None (Christie), The Mill on the Floss (Eliot).

Happy reading! Whatever your favorites may be.
xo,
Arianna

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Top 10 Tuesday - Classic Books - AmberBug

Top Ten Tuesday from "The Broke and the Bookish"

This will be my third contribution to "Top Ten Tuesday" from The Broke and Bookish. The topic this week is all about the classics. The suggestion is to do 10 favorite classic books and/or 10 "want to read" classic books. I think I'll try and tackle both. I'll run them down side by side, one I've read and loved and the other one I'd love to read. This should be fun. 

This first grouping is ALL about Victor Hugo, an Author I've fallen in love with after reading the unabridged version of 'Les Miserables'.  

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by V. Hugo

Favorite: Les Miserables

To Read: The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

I've been telling myself I need to read "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas FOREVER now. I even started it, loved what I read to bits, but then got distracted by something shiny and told myself I'd come back when I had more time to commit. I tend to want to give really good books the attention they deserve but that means they end up on the back-burner until that magical moment comes along (and let me tell you... that moment doesn't happen nearly enough). I need to suck it up, dismiss some of my 'to-read' 2014 books and just do it. The book I've read, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain is that quintessential school read, but one that I really loved.

Favorite: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

To Read: The Count of Monte Cristo

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

One of my favorite all time classic books is "1984" by George Orwell. I've also been dying to snuggle up with "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. 

Favorite: 1984

1984 by George Orwell

To Read: One Hundred Years of Solitude

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

I just about love all Dickens I've read thus far and can't wait to read another. My favorite is "Great Expectations" and I really want to read "Bleak House".

Favorite: Great Expectations

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

To Read: Bleak House

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

I'm a huge fan of adventure tales, so I'm surprised I haven't picked up "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra yet. One of my favorite adventure books? Does "The Island of Dr. Moreau" by H.G. Wells count? I think it's adventurous enough. 

Favorite: The Island of Dr. Moreau

The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells

To Read: Don Quixote

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

Who doesn't want to try and tackle "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville (if you haven't already). To go along with that... how about another beast, "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelley. 

Favorite: Frankenstein

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

To Read: Moby Dick

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

I fell in love with Shirley Jackson from the story, "The Lottery", like many others have. I want to read something classic but with that gothic feel to it, and I think the perfect book might be, "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath.

Favorite: The Lottery

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

To Read: The Bell Jar

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

"The Brothers Karamazov" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky is one that came across my list because of Arianna. This might not relate well but one of my favorites is "The Catcher in the Rye" J.D. Salinger. 

Favorite: The Catcher in the Rye

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

To Read: The Brothers Karamazov

The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Second to last picks. Have you read this short story, "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman? If not, you should. I'd like to read, "Madame Bovary" by Gustave Flaubert.

Favorite: The Yellow Wallpaper

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

To Read: Madame Bovary

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

Last pick... (but definitely not the only grouping of classics I want to read) will have to be "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhaul Bulgakov. On the flip side, who doesn't love "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck. 

Favorite: Of Mice and Men

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

To Read: The Master and Margarita

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

So, that's my list. What about you? Which classic books have you wanting to read and which classics do you covet? 

 

Guest Blog: Desiree Zamorano

Guest Blog by Desiree Zamorano Author of "The Amado Women"

Shelf Notes was lucky to meet Desiree Zamorano at Book Expo America during her signing of "The Amado Women". We reviewed the book Sunday, here. We even got to interview her yesterday, here. Desiree also graciously has offered to send a free ebook (Modern Cons or Human Cargo), your pick. All you need to do is head on over to her website and add yourself to her e-mail list. http://www.desireezamorano.com/

As I puzzled over The Amado Women I knew I wanted to write about wildly divergent women committed to staying with each other, providing a vivid, conflict-driven story. Where could I find this? The answer is probably obvious to you, thoughtful reader, but it took me some time to arrive at. I was thinking too hard. I was immersed in it, and like the air we breathe it was invisible to me. Where could I find it? In a family, of course.

Years ago when I began working on my writing all the short stories I read, by very prominent names, had narrators whose parents in particular were absent, invisible, or irrelevant. I found that puzzling, and did not, at that time, have the skill to label my misgivings about that. The fact for me was that as an adult I had equal amounts of catering to and reacting against the people who loved me most in the world. My family, perhaps like yours, specializes in over-identifying with each other, with an expectation of taking on a family member’s issue as if it were our own. This can be gratifying or embarrassing, but a response to this enmeshment is also to hide parts of ourselves from each other, in a simple way to avoid further complications or conflicts or drama. Sometimes simply asking for the truth, or telling the truth can be as challenging as flinging down a gauntlet. Fun, right? But in any case, the rich and wonderful stuff for a great story.

All of us have multiple, conflicting identities, as Elizabeth Strout displays so beautifully in Olive Kitteridge with Olive’s complexity, longing and incompetence. Not all of these identities are family-friendly, and some of us are convinced we are in the wrong family. In one of her essays, Ann Patchett mentions Dorothy Allison, author of Bastard out of Carolina, (now there’s a sundering family drama for you) as being worried about having only one novel in her. From this Patchett realizes that it's really one story, and that Patchett's story for all of her novels is: a group of strangers meet and become a community. I thought about that, then looked into my own writing. 

What story do I tell, again and again? My stories are all about displacement: how we long to belong.

In our lives we may wonder are we in the right family? Will they accept the shameful parts of us? Can we survive with or without each other?

I hope, gentle reader, you will recognize yourself, your struggles, your successes, in at least one of these Amado Women.