Sunday, May 13, 2007

Book List: A List of Books

My friend K recently inspired me to return to my journal-writing tendencies, which I had lost a few years ago. I bought some composition books for about 89 cents apiece and labeled them: Books I've Read and Scripture Journal. I figure that between those two and this here blog, I should be trying to keep myself well-documented enough to qualify for adequate family history coverage. But as I wrote in my book journal (basically a paragraph blurb of each book I read as I go, so I will remember more about each one) I got to making a list of books I wanted to read. Then I realized that I got more excited about current and future books if I listed them. Something to look forward to makes the difference for me.

Plus if I list them here, I hope to generate any and all interest in more of you recommending even more books to read. I love the Friend Recommendation, so please feel free to suggest, coerce, and even threaten, depending on how much you like the book you're recommending. And without further ado...

...these are the books I want to read in the near future:
  • The Book of Mormon (seriously, I've been slacking, and now it's on my list)
  • The Doctrine and Covenants (see above)
  • The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
  • Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
  • Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
  • The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
  • A Gracious Plenty by Sheri Reynolds
  • Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert
  • A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
  • Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
  • Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
  • Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
  • Democracy In America by Alexis de Tocqueville
  • Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind by Ann B. Ross
  • Native Speaker by Chang-Rae Lee
  • In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez
  • The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint by Brady Udall
  • Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt
  • Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
  • How to Behave So Your Preschooler Will Too! by Sal Severe (yes you read the last name correctly)
  • How To Talk So Your Kids Will Listen and Listen So Your Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish
  • What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know: Preparing Your Child for a Lifetime of Learning by E. D. Jr. Hirsch
  • The Highly Sensitive Child: Helping Our Children Thrive When the World Overwhelms Them by Elaine Aron
  • The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking
So there you go. A strange list in some ways, but it's true, this is my list.

8 comments:

Travis Butterfield said...

ahhhh. booklists. I love them. That's a pretty good list you've got there. Many books I haven't heard of. I read about half of "Interpreter of Maladies." I liked what I read. I'm currently reading "Everything is Illuminated" by Jonathan Safran Foer. I like the movie. I am liking the book so far. I really want to read some Don DeLillo this summer, as well as some Thomas Pynchon books. They're difficult, but, that's the best kind, right?

HW said...

Great list, Kendahl! I'll have to get my pencil out. I've got several on the list if you'd like to borrow. You can have What Your Kindergartener Needs to Know if I can find it...

k said...

Travis, i liked the "Everything in Illuminated" movie as well; Ryan liked all the Russian in it. He said that wearing shiny sweatsuits and being into American pop music was pretty close to the truth for some Russians he met. Which I thought was pretty funny.

And Heather, that would be so nice to get a free book (if you locate it), not to mention that I'm probably on the right parent-book-reading path if you have a copy. I trust your opinion!

Also, the book I'm reading currently out of this list is "In the Time of the Butterflies", which is so interesting that I can't put it down. Highly recommended, especially those interested in political plights and history and inspiring struggles.

Anonymous said...

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

I have Fury of the Aquabats...but that's music, but it's close...it's sound and has the word fury in it.

k said...

nice brian. (i remember my "friend" Mark telling me that he went to aquabats concert once and was next to a guy who pronounced it "ackwa-bots" because he was British.)

i'm, right this minute, making a special request that when i visit in July you perform for me and Miles "lobster bucket". they can't. get. out. :)

Melissa Huff said...

Fabulous list. I love(d) In the Time of the Butterflies. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent(s) is another good one by Julia Alvarez. (But I think I like Butterflies better.)

Janie said...

Lots of good idea's for me, thanks! The only one i've read besides the Book of Mormon is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I really liked it, but it took about 9 months for me to finally finish. I started it right before I got pregnant and finished it just after Estee was born. In spite of how long it took me, it really makes you think about the world differently, I like the Fountainhead a lot too and it's a little shorter :)

k said...

Janie, I really liked The Fountainhead too. I'm looking forward to Atlas, although it'll have to wait until the end of the summer to get notice. I have a big stack of books (most of them here listed) on my end table right now :)