Boo and I were sitting side-by-side while I drove to the grocery store today (and for all you car-seat-lovin', kid-in-the-front-seat-hatin' folks out there, she's 4'10" and 85 lbs.) when we passed by a church that had obviously just finished its service, and cars were streaming out of the parking lot.
"I guess it is that time," I remarked to Boo, and she gazed at the church for a moment. Then she asked, "It's Sunday?"
Yes, my dear, I told her. It's Sunday. This is why we didn't have school yesterday and why we slept till 10 a.m. and then went to a picnic to meet my brother-in-law's girlfriend (very nice) and then came home and oozed until I left to visit another friend for the sake of hanging out and chatting. It's why I made sure the grocery shopping was done and the lesson plans and worksheets are printed and the house is at least partially presentable, with the exception of the formal dining room where the refrigerator leaked under the wall and under the carpet and we've basically taken the room apart to dry things out and are just thankful that there doesn't seem to be any real damage. So yes… it's Sunday. Time is flying.
That said, I cannot wait until summer vacation gets here. We only have six more weeks of school left, and after that, they'll get the longest summer vacation they'll ever have in their lives. We'll be done May 16. Ordinarily we would go back in early July, thus giving the kids about two solid months of break. But since Boo (and probably Doodlebug) will be attending public school in the fall, they won't go back until the middle of August. They will actually have an entire three months of vacation.
I'm going to need all the heavenly help I can get, because the preadolescent masses are going to get bored.
Part of me wants to get these last few weeks over as quickly as possible. We'll wrap up Math-U-See Zeta and give Doodlebug a brief start on pre-algebra, make sure Boo has her division facts down, do a writing project or two (I'm going to see if the kids are interested in writing a play), finish studying the human body, do a study of ancient Rome, and polish off their grammar books… and that's about it.
The other part of me never wants this school year to end. Boo is still very excited about the idea of going to school next fall, even if she experiences occasional bouts of nerves about meeting new people and going to a new school with new routines and new teachers, but I think she'll be fine and really, if she's honest, so does she. I suspect she'll run into some girl drama sooner or later, but it's inevitable. She would run into that even if she hadn't been homeschooled. Doodlebug is still not particularly keen on the idea, but he's coming around. The other day he asked if he made some new friends if I'd let him play Minecraft with them, and of course I said yes. Just not on the computer and possibly not HERE. Not until he can demonstrate long-term responsibility. But he's working on it. I think his problems, if there are any, will be immediately obvious and he'll settle in better the longer he's there. It could just be wishful thinking on my part, of course. We'll see.
The point is, time is flying. Doodlebug is half-asleep on the couch because I suspect he's about to experience another growth spurt; Boo has changed her earrings four times this week (which is more than she's changed them in the last four years combined, I think) and painted her fingernails all by herself the other day. They weren't perfect, but they weren't bad, either. They're growing up, whether I like it or not, and I've had more discussions with more moms about bras and periods and crushes and funky boy-smell in the last month than I've ever had.
And so it isn't just that the weekend is over already. It's that this phase of life is almost over. It's just all going too quickly. I want to live in the present, seize each moment, but I'm not very good at that. Still, I'm going to do my best between now and May, and then between May and August, to seize what I can.
What do you do when you feel like an entire segment of your life is coming to an end? Do you mourn? Get nostalgic? Worry? Get excited? What do you do?
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Striving for Serenity
The main rule in our house always has been and always will be The Golden Rule. Every other rule we have branches from that. When the kids are being rude to one another, the first question I always ask is, "Are you treating him/her the way you want to be treated?" When someone is mean to me, I say, "Excuse me, but is there a reason you're being mean to me?" I'm all for letting kids feel anger, don't get me wrong. I just think that anger can be expressed in civil ways. I have one child who is emotionally deficient (I think he's somewhere around 7 emotionally. He still sees a lot of things in black/white that most 10.9-year-olds would see in various shades of gray and certainly can't handle emotions appropriately) and one child who is emotionally mature but who is still 8 and likes to pick on her brother now and then.
Naturally, this leads to name-calling and put-downs. Boo's favorite put-down is 'stupid.' If she doesn't like it/you, it/you will be 'stupid.' Doodlebug is more inventive, but his favorite word is 'butt.' As in, "Stop being a butt!" There are definitely worse terms they could use - I've heard them use them - but I don't like it when they make other people feel bad, especially when it's their sibling. SO... as of yesterday, we have implemented the Put-Up Plan. I, too, will be participating, though it means something slightly different for Mama. The idea is that if you put someone down or make them feel bad, you have to come back and say three nice things about them to make up for it. Will it work? Oh, I don't know. It's as good idea as any I've ever had. But they tried it. They were starting to fight and Boo called Doodlebug stupid, and then she realized that she had to put him UP instead of DOWN. After she got done telling him he was kind, creative, and funny, they both started giggling. Fight averted. Apparently Doodlebug then turned around and said three nice things about Boo just because he could. So it's a good start.
This is my other attempt at regaining some sort of control over the downward spiral. This is the Respect Jar. It's nothing fancy... Pinterest isn't going to go nuts over this one. But the idea is solid. When someone does something respectful, you catch them at it by putting a poker chip in the jar. Last night the first four poker chips went in - Boo stacked up Doodlebug's library books and took them to him rather than yelling at him to come get his books off the table; Doodlebug voluntarily wiped down the toilet seat AND FLUSHED; I didn't have to get up and separate the kids during shower time; and Doodlebug caught a wasp that was flying around Boo's room and took it outside for her. Little things. Poker chips. My hope is that this will help with anger management (just like the Put-Up Plan) as well as some of the respect issues.
Will these be life-changing activities? I doubt it. Will they help the kids return to a calmer frame of mind? I bloody hope so.
Naturally, this leads to name-calling and put-downs. Boo's favorite put-down is 'stupid.' If she doesn't like it/you, it/you will be 'stupid.' Doodlebug is more inventive, but his favorite word is 'butt.' As in, "Stop being a butt!" There are definitely worse terms they could use - I've heard them use them - but I don't like it when they make other people feel bad, especially when it's their sibling. SO... as of yesterday, we have implemented the Put-Up Plan. I, too, will be participating, though it means something slightly different for Mama. The idea is that if you put someone down or make them feel bad, you have to come back and say three nice things about them to make up for it. Will it work? Oh, I don't know. It's as good idea as any I've ever had. But they tried it. They were starting to fight and Boo called Doodlebug stupid, and then she realized that she had to put him UP instead of DOWN. After she got done telling him he was kind, creative, and funny, they both started giggling. Fight averted. Apparently Doodlebug then turned around and said three nice things about Boo just because he could. So it's a good start.
This is my other attempt at regaining some sort of control over the downward spiral. This is the Respect Jar. It's nothing fancy... Pinterest isn't going to go nuts over this one. But the idea is solid. When someone does something respectful, you catch them at it by putting a poker chip in the jar. Last night the first four poker chips went in - Boo stacked up Doodlebug's library books and took them to him rather than yelling at him to come get his books off the table; Doodlebug voluntarily wiped down the toilet seat AND FLUSHED; I didn't have to get up and separate the kids during shower time; and Doodlebug caught a wasp that was flying around Boo's room and took it outside for her. Little things. Poker chips. My hope is that this will help with anger management (just like the Put-Up Plan) as well as some of the respect issues.
Will these be life-changing activities? I doubt it. Will they help the kids return to a calmer frame of mind? I bloody hope so.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Opportunities
Sometimes opportunity appears at odd times. It's funny to me how just when I start to worry that things are at a standstill and that there's very little purpose or meaning to my life, things happen to show me that I am, in fact, worth something and that I should continue doing what I do.
Back in March, I applied for a job. I haven't worked in more than two years, and that job wasn't exactly skilled labor - I worked as a medical transcriptionist for a company based out of Massachusetts. I had quit because I could no longer keep set hours every evening, what with swim meets and everything else, and since quitting I'd reached the level of stagnation and boredom that I enter right before I find a new job/hobby that consumes my time, and I'm sure Oz was getting rather frustrated with how depressed I had become, because when I'm not busy, I get depressed, and then the poor man has to listen to me whine about how impotent and useless and horrible I am because here I am at 31 years old and have no purpose and nothing to show for my life, and that, in turn, causes me to create incredible run-on sentences that really have no great literary value. Not really, but that is one nasty-long sentence there. Feel free to parse it for grammar mistakes. I'm sure there are many.
Anyway, a couple of positions opened up or are being created (not sure which) at a company that teaches writing to homeschool students/families, and after much encouragement by Oz and some of my friends, I applied. I honestly never expected to hear a word.
I heard. I panicked, and then I answered some questions via e-mail and gave a critique for a small student writing sample... and I honestly never expected to hear a word.
I heard. Again. And again I panicked, because this time it meant the word interview, and I've never interviewed for a job in my life. My first jobs - mowing and handpainting pottery - were courtesy of my father. My journalism job fell into my lap while I interned as a high school student; when I graduated, I moved into the recently-vacated lifestyle reporter position. I did some temp work while I was pregnant with M1, which required me simply to show up, and when he and M2 were small, I ran a church nursery because I was willing to do it. After I quit that gig, I took up medical transcription, which did require some study, but when I applied for a job, everything was done online. None of this interview business. I did do one interview with a local company about a transcription position, but it was largely a skill test.
So for the first time in my life, I had to do an interview. It took every ounce of nerve I had to push the 'call' button on Skype yesterday. I'm glad I did, though, because now I am apparently on the list to receive an invitation to attend some training in July, and if I do well there, I will teach a writing class this fall. Teach. A writing class. When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a teacher and an author. And a secretary, because clearly I come from a home chock-full of women's lib principles. Now, I have the opportunity to teach others writing, and that absolutely terrifies and exhilarates me at the same time. I love to write; I like to think that I can pass that on. If anyone else who is going through the same process reads this (because I know, via the Internet, a couple of other women who applied for the same job), I hope to see you in training, because I think you also would make spectacular teachers, probably far better than I. Good luck.
This morning, one of my friends texted me. First she wanted to tell me what songs to play at her funeral because she seems to be under the impression I'll live longer than she will, which amuses me because while, yes, my grandmothers are still living, one of hers is, too! After I agreed to make sure that Eminem's song "Shake That" is on the playlist right after Sarah McLachlan and Sting, she said, "[My son] asked if you could tutor him in math this summer. I'll pay you."
Math? Oh, what the heck, why not? I don't mind math. Up to trigonometry and pre-calculus (except for geometry, which is of the devil), I even enjoy it. I really like playing with numbers. Plus, this is a good kid, and he's smart. He just gets stuck, and his teacher this year hasn't really helped him much. So... tutoring? Sure.
Opportunity. It's an opportunist. I just had to be patient, and I dislike being patient. However, it would seem that it is time to get busy with the next phase of my life. Things are about to get real here at Sunnyview, and I'm excited - let's roll!
--------
Back in March, I applied for a job. I haven't worked in more than two years, and that job wasn't exactly skilled labor - I worked as a medical transcriptionist for a company based out of Massachusetts. I had quit because I could no longer keep set hours every evening, what with swim meets and everything else, and since quitting I'd reached the level of stagnation and boredom that I enter right before I find a new job/hobby that consumes my time, and I'm sure Oz was getting rather frustrated with how depressed I had become, because when I'm not busy, I get depressed, and then the poor man has to listen to me whine about how impotent and useless and horrible I am because here I am at 31 years old and have no purpose and nothing to show for my life, and that, in turn, causes me to create incredible run-on sentences that really have no great literary value. Not really, but that is one nasty-long sentence there. Feel free to parse it for grammar mistakes. I'm sure there are many.
Anyway, a couple of positions opened up or are being created (not sure which) at a company that teaches writing to homeschool students/families, and after much encouragement by Oz and some of my friends, I applied. I honestly never expected to hear a word.
I heard. I panicked, and then I answered some questions via e-mail and gave a critique for a small student writing sample... and I honestly never expected to hear a word.
I heard. Again. And again I panicked, because this time it meant the word interview, and I've never interviewed for a job in my life. My first jobs - mowing and handpainting pottery - were courtesy of my father. My journalism job fell into my lap while I interned as a high school student; when I graduated, I moved into the recently-vacated lifestyle reporter position. I did some temp work while I was pregnant with M1, which required me simply to show up, and when he and M2 were small, I ran a church nursery because I was willing to do it. After I quit that gig, I took up medical transcription, which did require some study, but when I applied for a job, everything was done online. None of this interview business. I did do one interview with a local company about a transcription position, but it was largely a skill test.
So for the first time in my life, I had to do an interview. It took every ounce of nerve I had to push the 'call' button on Skype yesterday. I'm glad I did, though, because now I am apparently on the list to receive an invitation to attend some training in July, and if I do well there, I will teach a writing class this fall. Teach. A writing class. When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a teacher and an author. And a secretary, because clearly I come from a home chock-full of women's lib principles. Now, I have the opportunity to teach others writing, and that absolutely terrifies and exhilarates me at the same time. I love to write; I like to think that I can pass that on. If anyone else who is going through the same process reads this (because I know, via the Internet, a couple of other women who applied for the same job), I hope to see you in training, because I think you also would make spectacular teachers, probably far better than I. Good luck.
--------
This morning, one of my friends texted me. First she wanted to tell me what songs to play at her funeral because she seems to be under the impression I'll live longer than she will, which amuses me because while, yes, my grandmothers are still living, one of hers is, too! After I agreed to make sure that Eminem's song "Shake That" is on the playlist right after Sarah McLachlan and Sting, she said, "[My son] asked if you could tutor him in math this summer. I'll pay you."
Math? Oh, what the heck, why not? I don't mind math. Up to trigonometry and pre-calculus (except for geometry, which is of the devil), I even enjoy it. I really like playing with numbers. Plus, this is a good kid, and he's smart. He just gets stuck, and his teacher this year hasn't really helped him much. So... tutoring? Sure.
--------
Opportunity. It's an opportunist. I just had to be patient, and I dislike being patient. However, it would seem that it is time to get busy with the next phase of my life. Things are about to get real here at Sunnyview, and I'm excited - let's roll!
Friday, January 25, 2013
Writing
When I was a little girl, if you asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would have told you either a secretary (wow, I had high ambitions... the feminism movement never really arrived at my house) or an author. Sometimes I might have said teacher, but that was only when I had a teacher who actually liked me (Third Grade Teacher Whom I Still Loathe, I'm looking at you.)
Anyway, all through my childhood, I loved to write. I wrote short stories all the time. When I got to middle school, I was quite sure I was going to write for National Geographic as an adult, and I even wrote to one of their contributing authors for help on how to do what he was doing, and I actually got a response! It was gracious and kind and full of information that I took to heart. When I got to high school, I took a 'class' that found internships for students at various companies around town, and I managed to get myself on board at the local newspaper. From there, I was hired as the lifestyles reporter/editor (editor meaning I laid out pages and worked on special sections, not that I actually edited work from underlings... I WAS the underling.)
But... life has a funny way of changing your plans for you. Shortly before I got pregnant with M1, I quit the newspaper job. I was offered another one, but it involved a lot of traveling in the area as well as being primarily evening-based, and I wasn't particularly interested in never seeing my husband. A couple months after I discovered I was pregnant, I had to drop a journalism class because A) I was too sick to function and B) the teacher was highly regarded but fairly ignorant and didn't seem to comprehend how a newspaper really worked. (For example, an obituary contains all information that is submitted as long as it meets the guidelines, and you certainly don't edit out names!)
Since then, I haven't progressed one iota toward my goal of being a writer. Sure, I write this blog, and I even did NaNoWriMo a couple years ago, but as for having work published independently? Hasn't happened.
Lately, though, I've discovered my typing fingers still work, and my brain is still churning out ideas. A woman from a forum that I visit has recently begun a new inclusive homeschooling blog, and I've been accepted as a regular contributor (go leave a comment or two!). So that's positive. Then a couple days ago, my brain generated a couple of characters for a book, and they haven't shut up since. So I'm performing my own little NaNoWriMo in the wrong month. The kids asked me this morning what I'm writing this story for, and I had to tell them that I'm just writing it to get it out of my head.
It feels good to write. It feels good to let the words flow out the ends of my fingers to be shared. It feels good to have a writing groove and deadlines, even if they are just personal ones. It reminds me just how much I enjoy writing for others as well as myself.
And that, my friends, is a thing worth (re)discovering.
Have a great weekend, wherever you are!
Anyway, all through my childhood, I loved to write. I wrote short stories all the time. When I got to middle school, I was quite sure I was going to write for National Geographic as an adult, and I even wrote to one of their contributing authors for help on how to do what he was doing, and I actually got a response! It was gracious and kind and full of information that I took to heart. When I got to high school, I took a 'class' that found internships for students at various companies around town, and I managed to get myself on board at the local newspaper. From there, I was hired as the lifestyles reporter/editor (editor meaning I laid out pages and worked on special sections, not that I actually edited work from underlings... I WAS the underling.)
But... life has a funny way of changing your plans for you. Shortly before I got pregnant with M1, I quit the newspaper job. I was offered another one, but it involved a lot of traveling in the area as well as being primarily evening-based, and I wasn't particularly interested in never seeing my husband. A couple months after I discovered I was pregnant, I had to drop a journalism class because A) I was too sick to function and B) the teacher was highly regarded but fairly ignorant and didn't seem to comprehend how a newspaper really worked. (For example, an obituary contains all information that is submitted as long as it meets the guidelines, and you certainly don't edit out names!)
Since then, I haven't progressed one iota toward my goal of being a writer. Sure, I write this blog, and I even did NaNoWriMo a couple years ago, but as for having work published independently? Hasn't happened.
Lately, though, I've discovered my typing fingers still work, and my brain is still churning out ideas. A woman from a forum that I visit has recently begun a new inclusive homeschooling blog, and I've been accepted as a regular contributor (go leave a comment or two!). So that's positive. Then a couple days ago, my brain generated a couple of characters for a book, and they haven't shut up since. So I'm performing my own little NaNoWriMo in the wrong month. The kids asked me this morning what I'm writing this story for, and I had to tell them that I'm just writing it to get it out of my head.
It feels good to write. It feels good to let the words flow out the ends of my fingers to be shared. It feels good to have a writing groove and deadlines, even if they are just personal ones. It reminds me just how much I enjoy writing for others as well as myself.
And that, my friends, is a thing worth (re)discovering.
Have a great weekend, wherever you are!
Friday, January 11, 2013
100 Books
I checked "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath out from the library this week. I've never read it before. I feel like somehow I missed something by not reading it. And that made me think of all the other books I've heard of and know passing references to but haven't actually read myself.
It's an embarrassingly long list.
So I sat down yesterday and decided to make myself a Top 100 To-Read list of books I should have read by now but haven't. Do I think I'll get all these books read this year? Hardly. Are there tons of books not on this list that are classics that I have already read? You betcha. Was it a difficult list to compile? Heavens, yes. It's amazing how hard it is to find a good list of classics on the Internet. If you do a search for "top 100 books," oh, yes, you'll get a million links, but most of the lists are for women only, men only, the 20th century only, and I didn't want to limit myself!
There are a few on this list that I actually have read before but plan to read again. When reading something as an assignment in the 8th, 9th, 10th grades, one doesn't have context. There is no meaning. How was I supposed to understand Les Miserables when I had no knowledge of French history? I've noted those books where they're listed.
Obviously I don't expect you to do this. Your reading repertoire is yours. You may abhor the idea of reading classics altogether, or you may have read many of these but never touched Shakespeare, Jack London, Jules Verne, or Edgar Allen Poe (just a few of the authors who do not appear on this list because I've devoured their books with the ferocity of a rabid badger). I'm not a huge fan of philosophy, so there's no Kierkegaard, Rousseau, or Freud (though I do list Plato, Machiavelli, Thoreau and Sun Tzu). Regardless of your thoughts on the list itself, what would you put on yours? Leave me a comment and let me know!
----
Top 100 Books to Read
1. Anything by J.R.R. Tolkien - this is the only author listed as an author... I have to admit I've never read a single one of his works. I should probably remedy that.
2. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
3. (REREAD) To Kill a Mockingbird
4. 1984
5. Bhagavad Gita
6. Catch-22
7. Wuthering Heights
8. Rebecca
9. Catcher in the Rye
10. War & Peace
11. Gone with the Wind
12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles
13. Middlemarch
14. The Grapes of Wrath
15. David Copperfield
16. Watership Down
17. (REREAD) The Great Gatsby
18. (REREAD) Animal Farm
19. Anna Karenina - I'm actually about 2/3 of the way through this one but need to pull out the Kindle and just finish it off once and for all
20. Crime & Punishment
21. Memoirs of a Geisha
22. Lord of the Flies
23. Brave New World - I have a vague feeling I've read this and 1984 before, but I can't be sure, so I'm adding them to the list
24. On the Road
25. Vanity Fair
26. Madame Bovary
27. (REREAD) Les Miserables
28. All the King's Men
29. Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret
30. Atonement
31. The Qur'an
32. I, Claudius
33. Invisible Man
34. Midnight's Children
35. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
36. Rabbit, Run
37. Slaughterhouse Five
38. The Joy Luck Club
39. East of Eden
40. The Communist Manifesto
41. The English Patient
42. Portrait of a Lady
43. Don Quixote
44. War of the Worlds
45. Gulliver's Travels
46. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
47. Dr. Zhivago
48. All Quiet on the Western Front
49. Fahrenheit 451
50. Epic of Gilgamesh
51. Faust
52. The Sound and the Fury
53. John Milton's 'Paradise' books
54. The Phantom Tollbooth
55. The Art of War
56. Candide
57. Doctor Faustus
58. The Importance of Being Earnest
59. The Hunchback of Notre Dame - like the others, I have a vague feeling I've read it, but I don't recall for sure
60. Kim
61. The Man in the Iron Mask - given my Dumas obsession, this is surprising, but I haven't read this one
62. Lady Chatterley's Lover
63. Moll Flanders
64. Pilgrim's Progress
65. Plato's "Republic"
66. Tom Jones
67. Walden
68. A Streetcar Named Desire
69. The Witch of Blackbird Pond
70. The Color Purple
71. Cat's Cradle
72. In Cold Blood
73. The Jungle
74. Beloved
75. Schindler's List
76. Atlas Shrugged
77. Brideshead Revisited
78. For Whom the Bell Tolls
79. Machiavelli's "The Prince"
80. Into the Wild
81. The Maltese Falcon
82. Robin Hood
83. William Tell
84. Mutiny on the Bounty
85. Rob Roy
86. The Time Traveller's Wife
87. The Book Thief
88. The Call of Cthulhu
89. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
90. Night
91. Don Juan
92. Nostradamus' "Prophecies"
93. The Once and Future King
94. Die Nibelungenlied
95. The Origin of Species
96. A Wrinkle in Time
97. Death of a Salesman
98. Cold Sassy Tree
99. All Creatures Great and Small
100. Our Town
:)
It's an embarrassingly long list.
So I sat down yesterday and decided to make myself a Top 100 To-Read list of books I should have read by now but haven't. Do I think I'll get all these books read this year? Hardly. Are there tons of books not on this list that are classics that I have already read? You betcha. Was it a difficult list to compile? Heavens, yes. It's amazing how hard it is to find a good list of classics on the Internet. If you do a search for "top 100 books," oh, yes, you'll get a million links, but most of the lists are for women only, men only, the 20th century only, and I didn't want to limit myself!
There are a few on this list that I actually have read before but plan to read again. When reading something as an assignment in the 8th, 9th, 10th grades, one doesn't have context. There is no meaning. How was I supposed to understand Les Miserables when I had no knowledge of French history? I've noted those books where they're listed.
Obviously I don't expect you to do this. Your reading repertoire is yours. You may abhor the idea of reading classics altogether, or you may have read many of these but never touched Shakespeare, Jack London, Jules Verne, or Edgar Allen Poe (just a few of the authors who do not appear on this list because I've devoured their books with the ferocity of a rabid badger). I'm not a huge fan of philosophy, so there's no Kierkegaard, Rousseau, or Freud (though I do list Plato, Machiavelli, Thoreau and Sun Tzu). Regardless of your thoughts on the list itself, what would you put on yours? Leave me a comment and let me know!
----
Top 100 Books to Read
1. Anything by J.R.R. Tolkien - this is the only author listed as an author... I have to admit I've never read a single one of his works. I should probably remedy that.
2. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
3. (REREAD) To Kill a Mockingbird
4. 1984
5. Bhagavad Gita
6. Catch-22
7. Wuthering Heights
8. Rebecca
9. Catcher in the Rye
10. War & Peace
11. Gone with the Wind
12. Tess of the D'Urbervilles
13. Middlemarch
14. The Grapes of Wrath
15. David Copperfield
16. Watership Down
17. (REREAD) The Great Gatsby
18. (REREAD) Animal Farm
19. Anna Karenina - I'm actually about 2/3 of the way through this one but need to pull out the Kindle and just finish it off once and for all
20. Crime & Punishment
21. Memoirs of a Geisha
22. Lord of the Flies
23. Brave New World - I have a vague feeling I've read this and 1984 before, but I can't be sure, so I'm adding them to the list
24. On the Road
25. Vanity Fair
26. Madame Bovary
27. (REREAD) Les Miserables
28. All the King's Men
29. Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret
30. Atonement
31. The Qur'an
32. I, Claudius
33. Invisible Man
34. Midnight's Children
35. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
36. Rabbit, Run
37. Slaughterhouse Five
38. The Joy Luck Club
39. East of Eden
40. The Communist Manifesto
41. The English Patient
42. Portrait of a Lady
43. Don Quixote
44. War of the Worlds
45. Gulliver's Travels
46. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
47. Dr. Zhivago
48. All Quiet on the Western Front
49. Fahrenheit 451
50. Epic of Gilgamesh
51. Faust
52. The Sound and the Fury
53. John Milton's 'Paradise' books
54. The Phantom Tollbooth
55. The Art of War
56. Candide
57. Doctor Faustus
58. The Importance of Being Earnest
59. The Hunchback of Notre Dame - like the others, I have a vague feeling I've read it, but I don't recall for sure
60. Kim
61. The Man in the Iron Mask - given my Dumas obsession, this is surprising, but I haven't read this one
62. Lady Chatterley's Lover
63. Moll Flanders
64. Pilgrim's Progress
65. Plato's "Republic"
66. Tom Jones
67. Walden
68. A Streetcar Named Desire
69. The Witch of Blackbird Pond
70. The Color Purple
71. Cat's Cradle
72. In Cold Blood
73. The Jungle
74. Beloved
75. Schindler's List
76. Atlas Shrugged
77. Brideshead Revisited
78. For Whom the Bell Tolls
79. Machiavelli's "The Prince"
80. Into the Wild
81. The Maltese Falcon
82. Robin Hood
83. William Tell
84. Mutiny on the Bounty
85. Rob Roy
86. The Time Traveller's Wife
87. The Book Thief
88. The Call of Cthulhu
89. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
90. Night
91. Don Juan
92. Nostradamus' "Prophecies"
93. The Once and Future King
94. Die Nibelungenlied
95. The Origin of Species
96. A Wrinkle in Time
97. Death of a Salesman
98. Cold Sassy Tree
99. All Creatures Great and Small
100. Our Town
:)
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