BBC's List of 100 Must-Read Books

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
x The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
x Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
x To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
The Bible - Council of Nicea
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
x Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
Complete Works of Shakespeare
Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
x The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
Middlemarch - George Eliot
Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
x The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
Bleak House - Charles Dickens
War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
x The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
x Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
x The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
x Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
X Emma - Jane Austen
Persuasion - Jane Austen
x The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (Isn't this part of the Chronicles of Narnia?)
The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
x Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
x Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
x Animal Farm - George Orwell
x The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
x One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (OMG hated it)
A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
X The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
x Lord of the Flies - William Golding
Atonement - Ian McEwan
x Life of Pi - Yann Martel (fun!)
Dune - Frank Herbert
Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
x Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
The Secret History - Donna Tartt
The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas (I've read part of it)
On The Road - Jack Kerouac
Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
Moby Dick - Herman Melville
Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
x Dracula - Bram Stoker
The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
Ulysses - James Joyce
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
Germinal - Emile Zola
Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
Possession - AS Byatt
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
The Color Purple - Alice Walker
The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
x Charlotte’s Web - EB White
x The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
x Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (must read again)
The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
x Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (I have like, 5 pages left)
x The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
X Watership Down - Richard Adams
A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
x Hamlet - William Shakespeare (Why separate from the complete works?)
x Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
Les Miserables - Victor Hugo


Reminds me of books I want to read and intend to. I'd looked up some of the 'classics' before as I wanted to read them and they're usually in the public domain, so accessible for free online and on my phone. I just finished a paperback and started another, but now I can choose one for reading at work, yay! Maybe I'll try to find Heart of Darkness, as I never got to finish it when I was reading it.

How about you? Recommendations?


This post brought to you by 'avoidance of real life'. lol

Last night, after doing dishes and cleaning up (while 'watching' TV eps on the DVR with headphones, so I didn't disturb my hubby), and scrubbing the tub and sink, I had a lovely, luxurious bath. Used one of my bath thingers from Lush, and it felt wonderful. Finished reading The Old Capital while in the steamy hot water, then went to bed all warm and toasty. I just wish for either a. a deep western bathtub or b. a Japanese bath tub. This would allow the entire body to be covered in hot water. I'd also settle for a sento or onsen nearby. XD

Speaking of water, anyone recommend a good place to buy a swimsuit? I haven't bought one in years and years, and the last one I bought was just super plain and blue (one piece) from like, Sears or something.


Tonight's Plans: Book Launch!



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I went to bed earlier than Sunny but am still a little tired. Had coffee, but it's not keeping me peppy.

I have talented friends! A fellow JET Alum has published a book - Life after the B.O.E. (Board of Education), which is full of amusing comics about the life of an ALT (assistant language teacher)/CIR (coordinator of international relations) in Japan. I always looked forward to his comics in our newsletters at the time, so I'm really pleased to be able to purchase a book and support him (well, it's going on my Xmas list, and if I don't get one by Jan, I'll buy it then). I'm so proud - he's worked really long and hard for this!




If you're interested in teaching in Japan, or have fond memories yourself of your time there, or know someone who's on their way, this is a great little book for them (having seen his comics for years, I can say that without seeing the book itself yet).

Order from Amazon.com or via CreateSpace.

You can find David's website here: http://www.lifeaftertheboe.com/

Sooo.... I just renewed, for the second time, the book, "The Procrastinator's Guide to Getting Things Done". And I was only on Chapter 3.

I find this highly entertaining.

First:
For you coupon clippers, what do you use to store them? I saw a 'coupon organizer' at the Dollarama, but didn't want to invest in something if there's something at home I could use. Tips?

~~~~~

So, I read a book on organizing recently, and it was like a lightbulb went off and everything made sense (in one realm of my life, anyway, haha). The book was "Organizing Outside the Box" by Hellen Buttigieg and Sari Brandes; it's short and easy to get through. It starts with a survey to determine your learning style (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) and then gives you tips on how to organize based on your learning style. I knew my learning style (visual) but did the quiz anyway to confirm it. You can do the quiz online at their website, which has the same title as the book: http://organizingoutsidethebox.com/_/Home.html

It's not necessarily the tips that were "wow" for me, but just the explanation about how my learning style affects my organizing. For example, there's a little "anecdote" to see if it sounds like you, and these are the bits from the visual learning that's totally me:

"...watched TV instead of working on her projects because she was overwhelmed by the mess on her desk"

"sometimes puts tasks off until late at night and then has to work late to finish them"

"excited at the beginning of a project, she often loses interest along the way and abandons it"

And a few key points from the "characteristics of a visual learner":

likes to keep things out where you can see them

need to see things to remember them (out of sight = out of mind)

like to write things down

close your eyes or look up/down when thinking/concentrating

has an artistic side


We like to keep things out where we can see them, but if it's too cluttered, we have visual anxiety and stress which can lead to feeling overwhelmed. We may be afraid to put things away in drawers or boxes because we might forget where we put it. The whole out of sight out of mind thing is TOTALLY true for me, and it really explains why I don't put things away into boxes/drawers and leave them out instead. I'm also a 'piler' - things go in different paper piles, and then eventually they'll get put away. I have piles all over, and each pile has a 'theme', but I just can't seem to clean them up often. This is part of what it is for me as a visual learner - and I never thought before about WHY I piled stuff and liked it that way, but now I totally know and it makes sense. I'm going to have to invest in some of those inbox filers that are stackable to help clear space on my desk.


Tips for a visual learner:

find pictures of what you'd like your space to look like

do one space or room at a time to reduce stress and prevent being overwhelmed

use open storage systems (open shelves, open baskets, clear totes)

remove sliding doors on closets and replace them with a curtain (I did that years ago, and now I leave my doors open - I really don't like closet doors, for some reason)

stackable shelving units, hanging sweater organizers, over the door hooks/organizers (I adore over the door hooks and bought one at the dollar store and think I need more), pegboard and hook storage

turn off TV when you want to work

leave a pen and notebook handy in your purse/bag (as we always want to make notes)

list your current projects on individual cards and put them on a bulletin board in a number that is manageable for you, and follow the one out-one in rule (can't start a new project until one is finished and removed from the board)

scan whatever you can! (instructions, etc) as this makes finding things easier as you can search on the computer for a keyword or two (and clears up clutter, b/c you can remove the papers from your life)

If you're having trouble with your space and can't figure out why, I'd recommend borrowing this book from your local library like I did. It really helped put things in perspective for me and give me some ideas for organizing that should work well for me.

I figured that since I have to return it to the library soon, I'd review one of the books I took out for wedding planning: Vivah - design a perfect hindu wedding by Meenal Atul Pandya.

Sounds really promising, but is actually lacking much of the information I was looking for. It's geared for those who come from Indian backgrounds, not those who are marrying into it and looking for more advice/information, so as such, it doesn't go as in-depth as it could.

On the whole, it has good basic information, but not really more than you can find online. It does have the benefit of being a book that you can take elsewhere with you, as well as having all the general information in one place.

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I wouldn't buy it, but borrow it from a public library if possible.

This post is much delayed.

Last year, in late October or November, I went to see a play adaptation of "The Last Unicorn" here in Chicago put on by the Promethian Theatre. The night I went, Peter S. Beagle was there and gave a small interview, though most of the speaking was done by his 'agent' at Conlan Press. We got to meet him afterward, and have our books and other paraphernalia signed.



I had bought the last copy of The Last Unicorn from the Borders near me before the show, so I spoke with Mr. Beagle for a few minutes, had him sign it, and asked for a picture. I'd heard that he was getting kind of old and it was best to see him if possible, and I'm glad I went. He's quite quiet, but it was still great to meet him. I enjoy the book, but to be honest, I think I like the movie more (maybe because it was a bigger part of my childhood).



Watching the play was alright; it was interesting to see the adaptation. Though I must admit I prefer the film medium (and wish they'd actually work on the rumored "live action" they've been talking about for years; we heard a little about that, too, and I think the issue has to do with copyrights and stuff, but I can't remember). Oh, and Mr. Beagle wrote a sequel to "The Last Unicorn". It is a short story, but I think he's writing other stories set in the same "world". The sequel short story is called "Two Hearts", and you can read it on Peter Beagle's website here.

July
Books
18. The Alexandria Link by Steve Berry. It was a book along the lines of The Da Vinci Code, but the protagonist was more like Jack Ryan from Tom Clancy's books (not just an academic, but also some sort of spy-type guy). It relied heavily on the Bible as it's clues, which wasn't surprising, and didn't bother me any, but it made my mom stop reading. If you liked the Da Vinci Code, you might like this one.
19. Uncle John's Ultimate Bathroom Reader #8. Guess where I've been reading this one? :P Some of the facts were amusing, and I liked that the articles/tidbits were all short (as they should be, for a bathroom reader).
20. The Picture of Dorian Gray. by Oscar Wilde. I sort of had deja vu while reading it, but I am pretty sure I've never read it before; perhaps I've read something similar. Also, didn't know Wilde was gay, which was mentioned in the introduction. Apparently there's a version of the book with more of the innuendo or whatever in it that was taken out of later publications, but I haven't a clue which one it is.


Movies
17. I watched Transformers with mom.
17.5 I saw half of Flawless and the first 40mins of The Bucket List.
18. Waking Ned Divine (enjoyable!)
19. Duplicity Interesting; Julia Roberts looks younger than I expected. Her mouth is still huge, but she had gorgeous hair and nice eyes. And Clive Owen's just pretty hot.
20. The Rock (one of my favorite movies ever, and just today found out it was Michael Bay. No wonder; there's an explosion like, every 2 minutes.)

Accomplishments/Memorable Happenings
- Finished Dexter season 2
- rotation in CowTown over. T.T

Other Stuff



August
Books
21. Empire of the Eagle by Andre Norton and Susan Schwartz. Interesting enough; some history and fantasy. My biggest desire was a map to see where they'd gone, as the names of these places meant nothing to me, and for a bit more... I dunno. The ending seemed like it happened too fast based on the beginning of the book. And I would have liked them to make it all the way to China. It had potential, but not necessarily something I would recommend.

Movies
21. The Fall. I remember seeing images of costumes from this in Sarcasm_hime's journal. It reminded me a bit of The Baron of Munchausen or Big Fish, but was enjoyable enough. The little girl was adorable!
22. G.I.Joe Amusing. I like the 'sidekick' better than the main guy. And I want the leather outfits, haha.
23. Spread. Thank goodness it was free. Some parts were amusing, but not one I'd opt to see again.

September
Books
22. The Geographer's Library by Jon Fasman. Reminds me a little of Murakami in the slight whimsical aspect, but the ending wasn't quite what I expected it to be. It left me wanting a bit more; I was left waiting for things to get tied together, but they never seemed to.
23. The Flower and Willow World by A.C. Scott. Written in the late 1950s and published around 59/60, it was fairly interesting. Information on how things have changed, the history/origins of the 'entertainment'/'hostess', and a few stories of famous geisha back at the turn of the century/early 20th c. A great historical look, I think, and easy to read.
24. Hood by Stephen Lawhead. Highly recommended and great retelling of Robin Hood mythology.
25. Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman. Quite helpful and fairly informative, but also similar to "Now, Discover your Strengths". It's about being positive, having confidence, and attributing positives to permanent good things and negatives to temporary causes and not getting stuck in them. Helped me get past some remaining thoughts I couldn't let go of, so helpful in that respect. And it has a handy website to go back to.
26. Yoshiwara: City of the Senses by Stephen and Ethyl Longstreet. The style of writing was more bold than I expected, and more brazen at times. Still informative, though, and I hope it someday winds up on my shelf (along with Flower and Willow, above). They're both cheap used, so that's a plus.

Movies

Anime

Accomplishments/Memorable Happenings
Sept 12/13 - Celtic Fest (won tickets from Jack FM; missed Saturday, but Sunday was Gaelic Storm)

It's not that nice out, and I'm hungry and going to up and make breakfast. I think I'll have some eggs and toast and make a huge smoothie in the blender. And then watch some TV and shop ebay for another bullet base, and work on a few things.

EDIT: The good news is that I won the auction. The other good news is that after I bid, I went to make breakfast. And that's when my bullet started working again. So, basically, I've won a power base I don't need, and could have used that money for something else. *sigh* Trying to look on the bright side of it as having a backup for if this base goes again, but...guh.

But first, I really want cake, so I think I'm going to either make cake or cupcakes. Cake pans are easier to wash, so it'll probably be cake. It's from a box anyway, so it's not like that matters much.


TO DO

Travel Scholarship applications - brainstorming is complete, but the last question stumped me

Find a journal article for Journal Club

Mail a letter (need to buy stamps)

Patient letters (3? some of which are more complex)

Emails [Kal, Youko, Rebecca, Sensei, Kris]

Thesis lit review typed up

Laundry (it's in the wash right now, once it's in the dryer I'll go make foods)

Call Mom

Transcribe session for assignment

Make Cake

Figure out how to get a new signature on my visa to change the date if there's no drop-in clinic anymore on the downtown campus

Write a review on the Amazon product I bought (it's okay but it's tearing already. Ugh.)

Head to best buy and purchase a bluetooth mouse, as the computer guy at Staples said they don't exist and tried to sell me one with bluetrack or whatever, which isn't the same (wth? loser)


Finished my book this morning. The ending wasn't quite what I expected, but it works with the story. I think I need to read a Murakami novel in the near future; this kind of whetted my appetite for one. I'll have to see what the library has next.

Next Bus & Before Bed book is "Authentic Happiness". I gave up on Dragonfly (about MIR - it was booooring and not nearly as exciting as the book about making it to the moon; the author is so dry. I hardly ever give up on books and read them even if they suck, but this is like... 800 pages of torture).

I have another 40% off Border's coupon, so I'm tempted to stop and buy the next book in the trilogy I just bought and am looking forward to reading. By Stephen Lawhead, starting with Hood (book one of the King Raven Trilogy), followed by Scarlet and Tuck. Came highly recommended. Although the Amazon price is great; I doubt it's that cheap at Borders, even with 40% off (it's not). I'm just sad I can't use the 40% off coupons online.

I've done a lot of nothing yesterday and today, unfortunately. Though I did get a little off the to-do list, it wasn't nearly as much as I'd hoped. I just felt utterly exhausted. I got to watch some Hells Kitchen, though, so that was amusing.

Itty bitty feel-good for me story: I was walking home from the cafe with my bag that Sunny made for me that has the kuroneko yamato takyuubin logo on it (it's a mama cat carrying a kitten and instantly recognizable to Japanese), and I heard from one of the cars caught up in traffic (the Cubs game had gotten out recently), "Oh, ii ne!" I don't think they knew I heard them as I had my headphones in, but part of me was tempted to say something back (namely, "My fiancee made it! XD"). The story made him smile too.

So, since I have nothing of note to post, anyone interested in a recipe book? I'm pimping it out for my good friend mints4friends as part of her fundraising for the fight against breast cancer. It's the least I can do.




From her blog:

That's right: the best deal of the year is here!

"Breascipes!" is a collection of 156 favourite recipes from my coworkers and friends. There are soups, salads, snacks, mains, bbq, desserts, vegetarian, vegan, easy, and challenging recipes.

Cookbooks are available for a $10 donation. Literally all proceeds are going to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (that entire $10 gets donated). If you'd like one shipped to you, please add $1.50 for postage.

If you want a sneak peek at the titles of the recipes, you can download a pdf of the index pages here.

If you're interested, please go to the post mints4friends made about it, which is here and comment, and she'll handle the rest. You can also email her at mints4friends AT gmail.com.

They'd make great Christmas presents! *hint hint*
(but not for me cuz I'm already down for 2!)


/pimping


In LJ news, for some reason all my tags are now spaced out down the side of my page, instead of only a few spaces between them. It's now super long and really annoying. I guess it's a sign I have too many tags and ought to somehow condense them. I think it happened when I updated to the latest firefox. It also messed up my downloads; they used to all go to my desktop, and I could easily put them in the trash or open them right away. Now they all go to my downloads folder, which is a pain, cuz I have NO IDEA what file I just downloaded and have to do a look-up thing and then go find it. Ugh, need to find out how to change that setting.

The sparkly booby is the only somewhat related icon I have. BOOBIES.