"Alice in Wonderland," by Lewis Carroll

"Alice in Wonderland," by Lewis Carroll
 I gave this book: 4 stars out of 5


General thoughts
I was surprised with how different the book is from the movie. I had never read "Alice in Wonderland," but I had seen the movie starring Johnny Depp. I found them to be very different stories. I thought the book was good, but I was a little disappointed by the lack of story ... compared to the movie. Not sure how different my viewpoint would be though if I had read the book first and then seen the movie.


Book synopsis
After chasing a rabbit down a rabbit hole, Alice finds herself in a different world, where she discovers a little about herself. It's a world of extreme imagination and the characters are very colorful.


3  2 things I liked about the book
• The chapter about the Mock Turtle. This was probably my favorite part of the story.
• The characters were very colorful and their attitudes weren't far off from the movie.

I'm really having a hard time finding more than two things I liked about this book. Mostly because it was only 164 pages and also because I am distracted by how much was different from the movie. I know, I know, I'm a horrible person ... I enjoyed the movie more than the book. (((le sigh)))


My favorite part
I enjoyed reading the chapter about the Mock Turtle. I found the singing and dancing to be interesting and I also liked how they showed distaste for Alice constantly interrupting.


My least favorite part
The description of the world she found herself in wasn't as in depth as I was expecting. I was hoping to hear much more about her surroundings.


My favorite character
I'm not sure if I can pick just one character because I enjoyed everyone, rather than Alice. I found her a bit annoying in the book.


Would I recommend this book?
I think I would recommend it to someone who hasn't seen the movie. Mainly because I'd like to hear a point of view from someone who experienced the book before the movie to see if the movie really overshadowed the book.


“I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.”
— Lewis Carroll, "Alice in Wonderland"



My next book from this challenge will be "An American Tragedy," however, since my husband is currently reading my copy of it, I'll be reading "Casino Royale," by Ian Fleming. I'm hoping to get back to the challenge in a couple weeks.

"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," by Mark Twain

"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," by Mark Twain
 I gave this book: 3 out of 5 stars


General thoughts
I found myself constantly having to force my way through this book. The story wasn't the problem, rather the writing style. Most middle school or high school students have read this book for a class. I read it in middle school and remember thinking it was good. Now that I've read it 15 years later, I find myself struggling. I can deal with a little southern speak, such as what's in "To Kill a Mockingbird," but the broken English in Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" I found was just too much for me.


Book synopsis
Huckleberry Finn finds himself floating down the Missouri River with a runaway slave, Jim. Along the way, they get into a few scrapes, but mainly make their trip an adventure. The book explores the difference between races before the Civil War, but also examines identity. There are a few times you can see Huck really struggling to find himself and who he will become.


3 things I liked about the book
• The adventures had to be my favorite part. I enjoyed hearing about what Huck would be getting himself into and wondering what would come along next.
• The relationship between Huck and Jim. Seeing as Jim was a runaway slave, there were many times Huck could have turned him in for a hefty reward, but he didn't out of respect for his friend and the friendship they were forming.
• The outrageous ideas of Tom Sawyer. He doesn't just go for the simple, rather for the ridiculous. Once again, this made me wonder what he could possibly come up with next.


My favorite part
Once again, my favorite part is the end. I liked the outcome for Jim. However, I would have liked to know if him being set free also included his family, because one without the other wouldn't be ideal.


My least favorite part
The Duke and King. I was not a fan of their storyline. I would have preferred more of a story about Huck and Jim's adventures. I didn't really think their storyline improved the book.


My favorite character
Tom Sawyer was my favorite character. I know he was only in maybe a third of the book, but I enjoy his antics; he keeps you on your toes.


Would I recommend this book?
I'm really not sure. I go back and forth on that. If you can stand to read broken English, then this book may be for you. I will probably encourage my kids to some day read it since it describes a different time in America's history, but other than that, I probably wouldn't go out talking non-stop about why the book should be read.


“After supper she got out her book and learned me about Moses and the Bulrushers and I was in a sweat to find out all about him; but by and by she let it out that Moses had been dead a considerable long time; so then I didn't care no more about him, because I don't take no stock in dead people.”
-Mark Twin, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn"



My next book will be "Alice in Wonderland."

"1984," by George Orwell

Yes, yes, yes ... it has taken me two years before I actually started my Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge. I'm a slacker. However, this year, I have changed my ways.
I don't normally do New Year resolutions, but this year, I decided it was the only way I would end up forcing myself to read. Don't get me wrong, I love to read, but as you may know by looking at your own life, everyday events get in the way.
So, this year, I started "No TV Mondays." This has helped tremendously with my reading and has actually made me look forward to Mondays. Sometimes I find myself not being able to wait until Monday to pick up my book and read more, so I end up picking it up a few times throughout the week.
Due to "No TV Mondays," I have read "The Historian," "The Book Thief," "The Hunger Games," "Catching Fire," "Mocking Jay," "To Kill a Mockingbird" and I just finished my first book in the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge, "1984," by George Orwell.
I've been averaging a book per month this year — I tend to be a slow reader.
For each book I read, I'll do a simple "review." As to keep it short and to not give away too many details (for those who have yet to read the book), it's more of a bullet-point review.
Okay, on to the reasons we all came here ...



"1984," by George Orwell
 I gave this book: 4 out of 5 stars


General thoughts
It took me awhile to get into this book. It just didn't seem to catch my attention right away. That doesn't always mean I think it's going to be a bad book, rather I need to push through what seems to be a slow start. Once I got past the first few chapters though, things started to peak my interest.


Book synopsis
This story follows a man, Winston, through a period in time when society is controlled by "Big Brother." Everything you do — eating, working, talking, thinking — are controlled by those in charge.
While most seem to be brainwashed, Winston fights to keep his beliefs, his past and his future. He thinks freely and at times he acts freely. Although Big Brother tries his best to take away everything Winston knows and understands, Winston holds on to what's true to him.
It gives a startling glance into what society could possibly become if we keep heading in the same direction we're going. One all powerful being and little minions there to do his/her work, while they're brainwashed and scared of Big Brother.


3 things I liked about the book
• I'm a big fan of people standing up for what they believe. That is the majority of what I see from Winston throughout this book. That doesn't mean he falters in those beliefs, but I felt in the end he kept hold of them — even if it was deep down inside him rather than at the surface.
• I'm also a big fan of those who stare fear straight in the face. There's a period in the book where Winston is pushed to his breaking point. However, right in the middle of that breaking point, he looked Big Brother straight in the face and pushed through.
• The writing. I've always liked the way George Orwell writes. Every reader likes a certain type of writing. Some don't like a lot of description (because they prefer to use more of their imagination than the author's), while some like a lot of description. I'm somewhere in the middle. I like the author to give me an outline of what people, places and things look like, however, I also like for the author to give me a little room to use my imagination. That's what Orwell does for me.


My favorite part
My favorite part is the end. We all saw it coming. It was an ending that was foretold many pages before, but in my mind (some may not agree), Winston held tight to what he believes — all the way to the end.


My least favorite part
Repetition. I felt there was so much repetition when it came to describing how parts of the "government" worked, along with the ins and outs of newspeak.


My favorite character
There's only a few characters in this book and really only one main character, Winston. I'm not sure though if I can put my finger on one character because there didn't seem to be much character development ... and I'm a big fan of character development.


Would I recommend this book?
Yes. First, although it's slow to start, it's a good book and I enjoy Orwell's writing. Secondly, it's a classic and I'm a BIG fan of the classics.


“He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.”
— George Orwell, "1984"


My next book will not be off this list. I know, I know ... Valeri, you just started the challenge! Well, I've been looking forward to Harper Lee's new book release, "Go Set a Watchman" and I plan to start it as soon as it's out (next Wednesday). However, after that I will be right back to this reading challenge with "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," by Mark Twain.

The Rory Gilmore Book Challenge

I've always loved reading and have read quite a few books, but this last year I've been slacking.:(
I kept buying books, but stopped taking the time to read. I've missed taking that quiet time and being a part of an entirely different world.
So, when my cousin posted a link on my Facebook leading to a list of every book referenced on the show Gilmore Girls, I had to join in on the fun.
As I read through the list, I will cross through books in the list below. I've already read some on the list, but I still plan on reading them again throughout this challenge.
I love how this list has every type of book. As a conversation went between the Gilmore Girls once:

Lorelai: That backpack is not too small.
Rory: It's minuscule.
Lorelai: Just take your school books and leave some of the other books.
Rory: I need all my other books.
Lorelai: You don't need all of these.
Rory: I think I do.
Lorelai: Edna St. Vincent Milay?
Rory: That's my bus book.
Lorelai: Uh huh. What's the Faulkner?
Rory: My other bus book.
Lorelai: So just take one bus book.
Rory: No, the Milay is a biography, and sometimes if I'm on the bus and I pull out a biography and I think to myself, "Well, I don't really feel like reading about a person's life right now" then I'll switch to the novel, and then sometimes if I'm not into the novel, then I'll switch back.
Lorelai: What is the Gore Vidal?
Rory: Oh, that's my lunch book.
Lorelai: Uh huh. So lose the Vidal or the Faulkner. You don't need two novels.
Rory: Vidal's essays.
Lorelai: Uh huh. But the Eudora Welty's not essays or a biography.
Rory: Right.
Lorelai: So it's another novel. Lose it!
Rory: It's short stories.
Lorelai: Ugh. This is a sickness.

Now that I have lost you...
I will explain that I have created this blog to write reviews on each of the books listed. (My travel blog is still in use, but if for travel adventures only.)
Throughout this process, I will take some breaks from this list to read a few books I come across.
For now though, I shall get started on the list below.
Let the games begin!

1. "1984," by George Orwell
2. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," by Mark Twain
3. "Alice in Wonderland," by Lewis Carroll
4. "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay," by Michael Chabon
5. "An American Tragedy," by Theodore Dreiser
6. "Angela’s Ashes," by Frank McCourt
7. "Anna Karenina," by Leo Tolstoy
8. "Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl," by Anne Frank9. "Archidamian War," by Donald Kagan
10. "The Art of Fiction," by Henry James
11. "The Art of War," by Sun Tzu
12. "As I Lay Dying," by William Faulkner
13. "Atlas Shrugged," by Ayn Rand

14. "Atonement," by Ian McEwan
15. "Autobiography of a Face," by Lucy Grealy
16. "The Awakening," by Kate Chopin
17. "Babe," by Dick King-Smith
18. "Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women," by Susan Faludi
19. "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress," by Dai Sijie
20. "Bel Canto," by Ann Patchett
21. "The Bell Jar," by Sylvia Plath
22. "Beloved," by Toni Morrison
23. "Beowulf: A New Verse Translation," by Seamus Heaney24. "The Bhagava Gita"
25. "The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the Nazis, Built a Village in the Forest, and Saved 1,200 Jews," by Peter Duffy
26. "A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays," by Mary McCarthy
27. "Brave New World," by Aldous Huxley
28. "Brick Lane," by Monica Ali

29. "Bridgadoon," by Alan Jay Lerner
30. "Candide," by Voltaire
31. "The Canterbury Tales," by Chaucer32. "Catch-22," by Joseph Heller
33. "The Catcher in the Rye," by J. D. Salinger
34. "Charlotte’s Web," by E. B. White35. "The Children’s Hour," by Lillian Hellman
36. "A Christmas Carol," by Charles Dickens

37. "A Clockwork Orange," by Anthony Burgess

38. "The Code of the Woosters," by P.G. Wodehouse

39. "The Collected Short Stories," by Eudora Welty
40. "The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty," by Eudora Welty
41. "A Comedy of Errors," by William Shakespeare
42. "Complete Novels," by Dawn Powell
43. "The Complete Poems," by Anne Sexton
44. "Complete Stories," by Dorothy Parker
45. "A Confederacy of Dunces," by John Kennedy Toole
46. "The Count of Monte Cristo," by Alexandre Dumas père

47. "Cousin Bette," by Honor’e de Balzac

48. "Crime and Punishment," by Fyodor Dostoevsky

49. "The Crimson Petal and the White," by Michel Faber
50. "The Crucible," by Arthur Miller51. "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time," by Mark Haddon
52. "Daughter of Fortune," by Isabel Allende
53. "David and Lisa," by Dr Theodore Issac Rubin M.D
54. "David Copperfield," by Charles Dickens55. "The Da Vinci -Code," by Dan Brown 

56. "Dead Souls," by Nikolai Gogol

57. "Demons," by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

58. "Death of a Salesman," by Arthur Miller

59. "Deenie," by Judy Blume
60. "The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America," by Erik Larson
61. "The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band," by Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx
62. "The Divine Comedy," by Dante
63. "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," by Rebecca Wells
64. "Don Quixote," by Cervantes65. "Driving Miss Daisy," by Alfred Uhrv 

66. "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde," by Robert Louis Stevenson
67. "Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales & Poems," by Edgar Allan Poe 

68. "Eleanor Roosevelt," by Blanche Wiesen Cook 

69. "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test," by Tom Wolfe
70. "Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters," by Mark Dunn
71. "Eloise," by Kay Thompson
72. "Emily the Strange," by Roger Reger
73. "Emma," by Jane Austen

74. "Empire Falls," by Richard Russo
75. "Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective," by Donald J. Sobol 

76. "Ethan Frome," by Edith Wharton

77. "Ethics," by Spinoza

78. "Europe through the Back Door, 2003," by Rick Steves

79. "Eva Luna," by Isabel Allende
80. "Everything Is Illuminated," by Jonathan Safran Foer
81. "Extravagance," by Gary Krist
82. "Fahrenheit 451," by Ray Bradbury
83. "Fahrenheit 9/11," by Michael Moore
84. "The Fall of the Athenian Empire," by Donald Kagan
85. "Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World," by Greg Critser

86. "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," by Hunter S. Thompson

87. "Fiddler on the Roof," by Joseph Stein

88. "The Five People You Meet in Heaven," by Mitch Albom
89. "Finnegan’s Wake," by James Joyce
90. "Fletch," by Gregory McDonald
91. "Flowers for Algernon," by Daniel Keyes
92. "The Fortress of Solitude," by Jonathan Lethem
93. "The Fountainhead," by Ayn Rand
94. "Frankenstein," by Mary Shelley 95. "Franny and Zooey," by J. D. Salinger 

96. "Freaky Friday," by Mary Rodgers

97. "Galapagos," by Kurt Vonnegut

98. "Gender Trouble," by Judith Butler

99. "George W. Bushism: The Slate Book of the Accidental Wit and Wisdom of our 43rd President," by Jacob Weisberg
100. "Gidget," by Fredrick Kohner
101. "Girl, Interrupted," by Susanna Kaysen
102. "The Gnostic Gospels," by Elaine Pagels
103. "The Godfather: Book 1," by Mario Puzo
104. "The God of Small Things," by Arundhati Roy
105. "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," by Alvin Granowsky
106. "Gone with the Wind," by Margaret Mitchell
107. "The Good Soldier," by Ford Maddox Ford
108. "The Gospel According to Judy Bloom"
109. "The Graduate," by Charles Webb
110. "The Grapes of Wrath," by John Steinbeck
111. "The Great Gatsby," by F. Scott Fitzgerald
112. "Great Expectations," by Charles Dickens113. "The Group," by Mary McCarthy
114. "Hamlet," by William Shakespeare
115. "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius," by Dave Eggers
116. "Heart of Darkness," by Joseph Conrad

117. "Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders," by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry

118. "Henry IV, part I," by William Shakespeare
119. "Henry IV, part II," by William Shakespeare
120. "Henry V," by William Shakespeare
121. "High Fidelity," by Nick Hornby
122. "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," by Edward Gibbon
123. "Holidays on Ice: Stories," by David Sedaris
124. "The Holy Barbarians," by Lawrence Lipton
125. "House of Sand and Fog," by Andre Dubus III (Lpr)
126. "The House of the Spirits," by Isabel Allende
127. "How to Breathe Underwater," by Julie Orringer
128. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," by Dr. Seuss129. "How the Light Gets in," by M. J. Hyland
130. "Howl," by Allen Gingsburg
131. "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," by Victor Hugo
132. "The Iliad," by Homer133. "I’m with the Band," by Pamela des Barres
134. "In Cold Blood," by Truman Capote
135. "Inferno," by Dante136. "Inherit the Wind," by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
137. "Iron Weed," by William J. Kennedy
138. "It Takes a Village," by Hillary Clinton
139. "Jane Eyre," by Charlotte Brontë140. "The Joy Luck Club," by Amy Tan
141. "Julius Caesar," by William Shakespeare142. "The Jumping Frog," by Mark Twain
143. "The Jungle," by Upton Sinclair
144. "Just a Couple of Days," by Tony Vigorito
145. "The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar," by Robert Alexander
146. "Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly," by Anthony Bourdain
147. "The Kite Runner," by Khaled Hosseini
148. "Lady Chatterleys’ Lover," by D. H. Lawrence
149. "The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000," by Gore Vidal
150. "Leaves of Grass," by Walt Whitman151. "The Legend of Bagger Vance," by Steven Pressfield
152. "Less Than Zero," by Bret Easton Ellis
153. "Letters to a Young Poet," by Rainer Maria Rilke
154. "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them," by Al Franken
155. "Life of Pi," by Yann Martel
156. "Little Dorrit," by Charles Dickens
157. "The Little Locksmith," by Katharine Butler Hathaway
158. "The Little Match Girl," by Hans Christian Andersen
159. "Little Women," by Louisa May Alcott
160. "Living History," by Hillary Rodham Clinton
161. "Lord of the Flies," by William Golding 162. "The Lottery: And Other Stories," by Shirley Jackson
163. "The Lovely Bones," by Alice Sebold
164. "The Love Story," by Erich Segal
165. "Macbeth," by William Shakespeare
166. "Madame Bovary," by Gustave Flaubert167. "The Manticore," by Robertson Davies
168. "Marathon Man," by William Goldman
169. "The Master and Margarita," by Mikhail Bulgakov
170. "Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter," by Simone de Beauvoir
171. "Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman," by William Tecumseh Sherman
172. "Me Talk Pretty One Day," by David Sedaris
173. "The Meaning of Consuelo," by Judith Ortiz Cofer
174. "Mencken’s Chrestomathy," by H. R. Mencken
175. "The Merry Wives of Windsor," by William Shakespeare
176. "The Metamorphosis," by Franz Kafka
177. "Middlesex," by Jeffrey Eugenides
178. "The Miracle Worker," by William Gibson
179. "Moby Dick," by Herman Melville180. "The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion," by Jim Irvin
181. "Moliere: A Biography," by Hobart Chatfield Taylor
182. "A Monetary History of the United States," by Milton Friedman
183. "Monsieur Proust," by Celeste Albaret
184. "A Month Of Sundays: Searching For The Spirit And My Sister," by Julie Mars
185. "A Moveable Feast," by Ernest Hemingway
186. "Mrs. Dalloway," by Virginia Woolf
187. "Mutiny on the Bounty," by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall
188. "My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and It’s Aftermath," by Seymour M. Hersh
189. "My Life as Author and Editor," by H. R. Mencken
190. "My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru," by Tim Guest
191. "Myra Waldo’s Travel and Motoring Guide to Europe, 1978," by Myra Waldo
192. "My Sister’s Keeper," by Jodi Picoult

193. "The Naked and the Dead," by Norman Mailer

194. "The Name of the Rose," by Umberto Eco

195. "The Namesake," by Jhumpa Lahiri 

196. "The Nanny Diaries," by Emma McLaughlin 

197. "Nervous System: Or, Losing My Mind in Literature," by Jan Lars Jensen

198. "New Poems of Emily Dickinson," by Emily Dickinson

199. "The New Way Things Work," by David Macaulay
200. "Nickel and Dimed," by Barbara Ehrenreich
201. "Night," by Elie Wiesel202. "Northanger Abbey," by Jane Austen
203. "The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism," by William E. Cain, Laurie A. Finke, Barbara E. Johnson, John P. McGowan
204. "Novels 1930-1942: Dance Night/Come Back to Sorrento, Turn, Magic Wheel/Angels on 212. Toast/A Time to be Born," by Dawn Powell
205. "Notes of a Dirty Old Man," by Charles Bukowski
206. "Of Mice and Men," by John Steinbeck207. "Old School," by Tobias Wolff
208. "On the Road," by Jack Kerouac

209. "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch," by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
210. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest," by Ken Kesey211. "One Hundred Years of Solitude," by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
212. "The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life," by Amy Tan
213. "Oracle Night," by Paul Auster
214. "Oryx and Crake," by Margaret Atwood
215. "Othello," by Shakespeare
216. "Our Mutual Friend," by Charles Dickens
217. "The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War," by Donald Kagan
218. "Out of Africa," by Isac Dineson
219. "The Outsiders," by S. E. Hinton220. "A Passage to India," by E.M. Forster
221. "The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition," by Donald Kagan
222. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," by Stephen Chbosky
223. "Peyton Place," by Grace Metalious
224. "The Picture of Dorian Gray," by Oscar Wilde
225. "Pigs at the Trough," by Arianna Huffington
226. "Pinocchio," by Carlo Collodi
227. "Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain"
228. "The Polysyllabic Spree," by Nick Hornby
229. "The Portable Dorothy Parker," by Dorothy Parker
230. "The Portable Nietzche," by Fredrich Nietzche
231. "The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O’Neill," by Ron Suskind
232. "Pride and Prejudice," by Jane Austen233. "Property," by Valerie Martin
234. "Pushkin: A Biography," by T. J. Binyon
235. "Pygmalion," by George Bernard Shaw
236. "Quattrocento," by James Mckean
237. "A Quiet Storm," by Rachel Howzell Hall
238. "Rapunzel," by Grimm Brothers
239. "The Raven," by Edgar Allan Poe240. "The Razor’s Edge," by W. Somerset Maugham
241. "Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books," by Azar Nafisi
242. "Rebecca," by Daphne du Maurier
243. "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm," by Kate Douglas Wiggin
244. "The Red Tent," by Anita Diamant
245. "Rescuing Patty Hearst: Memories From a Decade Gone Mad," by Virginia Holman
246. "R Is for Ricochet," by Sue Grafton
247. "Robert’s Rules of Order," by Henry Robert
246. "Roman Holiday," by Edith Wharton
247. "Romeo and Juliet," by William Shakespeare248. "A Room of One’s Own," by Virginia Woolf
249. "A Room with a View," by E. M. Forster
250. "Rosemary’s Baby," by Ira Levin
251. "The Rough Guide to Europe, 2003 Edition"
252. "Sacred Time," by Ursula Hegi
253. "Sanctuary," by William Faulkner
254. "Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay," by Nancy Milford
255. "Say Goodbye to Daisy Miller," by Henry James
256. "The Scarecrow of Oz," by Frank L. Baum
257. "The Scarlet Letter," by Nathaniel Hawthorne258. "Seabiscuit: An American Legend," by Laura Hillenbrand
259. "The Second Sex," by Simone de Beauvoir
260. "The Secret Life of Bees," by Sue Monk Kidd
261. "Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette," by Judith Thurman
262. "Selected Hotels of Europe"
263. "Selected Letters of Dawn Powell: 1913-1965," by Dawn Powell
264. "Sense and Sensibility," by Jane Austen265. "A Separate Peace," by John Knowles
266. "Several Biographies of Winston Churchill"
267. "The Shadow of the Wind," by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
268. "Shane," by Jack Shaefer
269. "Siddhartha," by Hermann Hesse
270. "S Is for Silence," by Sue Grafton
271. "Slaughter-house Five," by Kurt Vonnegut
272. "Small Island," by Andrea Levy
273. "Snows of Kilimanjaro," by Ernest Hemingway
274. "Snow White and Rose Red," by Grimm Brothers
275. "Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in the Making of the Modern World," by Barrington Moore
276. "The Song of Names," by Norman Lebrecht
277. "Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos," by Julia de Burgos
278. "The Song Reader," by Lisa Tucker
279. "Songbook," by Nick Hornby
280. "The Sonnets," by William Shakespeare
281. "Sonnets from the Portuegese," by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
282. "Sophie’s Choice," by William Styron
283. "The Sound and the Fury," by William Faulkner
284. "Speak, Memory," by Vladimir Nabokov
285. "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers," by Mary Roach 
286. "The Story of My Life," by Helen Keller
287. "A Streetcar Named Desiree," by Tennessee Williams 
288. "Stuart Little," by E. B. White
289. "Sun Also Rises," by Ernest Hemingway
290. "Swann’s Way," by Marcel Proust
291. "Swimming with Giants: My Encounters with Whales, Dolphins and Seals," by Anne Collett
292. "Sybil," by Flora Rheta Schreiber
293. "A Tale of Two Cities," by Charles Dickens 294. "Tender Is The Night," by F. Scott Fitzgerald
295. "Term of Endearment," by Larry McMurtry
296. "Time and Again," by Jack Finney
297. "The Time Traveler’s Wife," by Audrey Niffenegger
298. "To Have and Have Not," by Ernest Hemingway
299. "To Kill a Mockingbird," by Harper Lee 300. "The Tragedy of Richard III," by William Shakespeare
301. "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," by Betty Smith
302. "The Trial," by Franz Kafka
303. "The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters," by Elisabeth Robinson
304. "Truth & Beauty: A Friendship," by Ann Patchett
305. "Tuesdays with Morrie," by Mitch Albom
306. "Ulysses," by James Joyce
307. "The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath 1950-1962," by Sylvia Plath
308. "Uncle Tom’s Cabin," by Harriet Beecher Stowe
309. "Unless," by Carol Shields
310. "Valley of the Dolls," by Jacqueline Susann
311. "The Vanishing Newspaper," by Philip Meyers
312. "Vanity Fair," by William Makepeace Thackeray
313. "Velvet Underground’s The Velvet Underground and Nico (Thirty Three and a Third series)," by Joe Harvard
314. "The Virgin Suicides," by Jeffrey Eugenides
315. "Waiting for Godot," by Samuel Beckett
316. "Walden," by Henry David Thoreau
317. "Walt Disney’s Bambi," by Felix Salten
318. "War and Peace," by Leo Tolstoy319. "We Owe You Nothing – Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews," edited by Daniel Sinker
320. "What Colour is Your Parachute? 2005," by Richard Nelson Bolles
321. "What Happened to Baby Jane," by Henry Farrell
322. "When the Emperor Was Divine," by Julie Otsuka
323. "Who Moved My Cheese?," Spencer Johnson
339. "Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf," by Edward Albee
340. "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West," by Gregory Maguire
341. "The Wizard of Oz," by Frank L. Baum
342. "Wuthering Heights," by Emily Brontë343. "The Yearling," by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
344. "The Year of Magical Thinking," by Joan Didion

After looking through the list, I've counted 43 books I've read of the 344 ... Ha ... Ha ...

I know some of you are thinking I'm crazy for planning on reading 344 books, but I'm always up for a challenge. No time limit ... but at about one book a month, the list should last me well into my 50s.:)
Stay tuned!