I like to read, and I read a lot. But I wouldn’t exactly say that I am well read (well-read?). Mysteries are my favorites to read and I’ve pretty much stuck with that genre. I have stepped outside the it to read the Harry Potter books, though. :) A discussion of books on a message board I post on spurred me to try and broaden my literary horizons. On one of my trips to the library with Alison (for Story Time), I decided to check out the “reading lists” they have available in the grown-up section and see if they still had the list of classic literature. It took a little searching, not easy with a toddler in tow, but they still had it. I had tried to read off this list several years ago, but got bogged down in the trying to get through the works of Homer, Dante, Machiavelli, Plato and Sophocles. This time I decided to skip them and start with the more “modern” books. I will try and get back to the others at a later time, because I think I really should read them at some point.

There are 80 books on the part of the list I am working from. Sadly, the only ones I had already read before tackling the list were Gone With the Wind and The Grapes of Wrath. To that I can now add Pride and Prejudice, Pere Goriot, Jane Eyre, and part of Wuthering Heights (I didn’t have time to finish it and forgot about renewing it....it wasn’t there the last time I went to the library, so I’m still waiting to finish it). I’m reading Looking Backward right now and Way of All Flesh is next in the stack. For the most part, I’ve enjoyed the books I’ve read. Pere Goriot was a little awkward to read, due to it being translated from French, I think, but I enjoyed the overall story. I’ve been having a little trouble getting in to Looking Backward, but it’s getting better. My reading time is the 45 minutes between when I finish putting Alison to bed and when I go to bed myself, and I’ve been pooping out earlier than usual this last week, which is affecting my concentration when I read. I think that’s why I’m having trouble getting in to the book, because I really am finding the story interesting.

I can see some books further on down the list that I probably wouldn’t choose to read on my own, but I’m going to read them anyway, and there are some that I’m looking forward reading. I think this is going to be a good challenge for me.