100 Books - Part 2

Before we begin today's slacking off, I would like to make an announcement:

My Blogless Rachel H. is blogless no more! me7of11 (named after her birth order) can be found here. Go on over and say hi!

We continue our journey through my literary leanings with books I had to read and was happy to do so...


Required School Reading

22. To Kill a Mockingbird – One of the finest books in American Literature.

23. Wuthering Heights – Dark but beautiful.

24. Lord of the Flies – Dark but sinister. JK. It’s a fascinating read – how the boys develop their own culture and degenerate into near-animals.

25. The Color Purple – Alice Walker – I just recently mailed a copy of this out for a Banned Book Swap. It was banned when it came out and I was in high school. Near as I can tell, it was banned because of the love affair btw two women. I was in the Advanced English class and our teacher had us read it anyway. It’s still one of my all-time favorite books.

26. Candide – Voltaire – What a trip. A very good book and metaphor for how things are as compared to how they should be.

27. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou – Wow. She is an amazing writer. What beauty, what strength. I’ve read all of her stuff, too.

28. Go Ask Alice – Anonymous – OK, this wasn’t “required” reading. More like somebody read it, and we all sneaked around reading it after they told us what was in it. For me, this book confirmed my decision not to get into drugs (I’ve experimented but it was never my thing). What a fucked up life this girl got into!

29. Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury – One of those really scary books when you realize how easily that world could be our world. Like #72

30. Watership Down – Richard Adams – Talk about depth of character! This book is an amazing analogy of human relationships and life.

31. The Taming of the Shrew – Shakespeare – I read Shakespeare at least once a year. His comedies are funny and racy and he’s incredible. Someday, I’m going to get a nice leather bound set of his works.

32. Shakespeare’s Insults – OK, this wasn’t required school reading either, I went and found it on my own. Yea, I’m a geek, so what. This book is comprehensive but not very well organized. My favorite insult is, “You crusty botch of nature.”

33. Suddenly Last Summer – Tennessee Williams – Wow. Homosexuality, cannibalism, unhealthy mother-son relationship. Wow. I love Tennessee Wms; he goes to the edge and jumps off!

34. The Once and Future King – What a fantastic tale. It’s the story of King Arthur and it’s ripe with humor and adventure and poignancy.

35. The Importance of Being Earnest – Oscar Wilde – another favorite author. Damn he’s funny! A razor wit.

36. Memoirs of a Tall Girl – I read this in Jr. High School and liked it so much, I actually stole it from the library and still have it! (I should send that school a copy to replace it.)

37. The Bluest Eye – Toni Morrison – What a sad story. Beautiful, though.

More books tomorrow, Ruth!