Detours, Rabbit Trails, and Walking off the Path

I'm still determined to at some point, not a set date, but a general goal, get through all of the books that Rory was seen reading on the show. But after much wavering, I have decided to allow myself detours.

My original purpose was to open my eyes to new authors and the classics that I hadn't read yet, and get myself out of my little fantasy / past favorite authors rut. I was only reading things that I knew about already, so it was a good exercise for me to get out of my comfort zone and experience a whole new flavor of books.

It has been overall widely successful, and I now have a few authors who I enjoyed their books so much, it made me want to read more of them, but I kept denying myself, because they weren't on "the list." I added them to my to- read list, and decided I would read more of them far in the future, after my full list is complete. I reasoned with myself that I have so many books to get through to achieve my goal that reading books off the list is too much of a detriment to my goal.

I have changed my mind. Reading is for pleasure, my escape, my hobby. I set off on this journey to accomplish a weighty goal, but also to find new books, and more enjoyment in my reading than I was when I was randomly picking fantasy books and hoping for the best. Why wait years to read more of an author I enjoyed? I discovered a gem, an author whose writing filled my want for books that draw me in and envelope me completely in the story. She is a prolific author, and only two of her books made the list, so I have decided to take a detour.

Her name is Ann Patchett, and the first book of hers I read was Bel Canto (amazing book). Second I read Truth and Beauty, which I will write about later, and how it finished a trilogy of sorts with Autobiography of a Face, which was one of the first Gilmore book list books I read. Truth and Beauty, among other things, talks about her journey to become a writer, and her first book, and it made me want to read it, and as the book continued, it solidified my desire to break off my path, and take a Patchett detour.

With that decision, it opened the flood gates to me deciding to also read more books by other authors that I enjoyed on this journey so far. So it appears that my August/September reading will be a detour, rabbit trail, off the path kind of months, and I am looking forward to it.

Too Full of Passion

I have a theory about passionate poets. I think there is such a thing of too much passion, as I continue to learn of more and more authors who end up committing suicide, even while they have gained fame for their beautiful poetry.

There are two authors who I read in close proximity to each other on purpose, as they were friends, and one wrote a tribute to the other. The two authors were Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath. They both struggled with depression throughout their lives, were in and out of mental hospitals and ended up committing suicide successfully, after previously attempting and failing.

One of Anne Sexton's poems, which I read in The Complete Poems of Anne Sexton is written after Plath's suicide. You would have expected it to be focused on her sadness that her friend did this act, or something touching. Instead it was a poem of jealousy, that Plath had done it without her, and left her having to continue living while she had ended it all.
My goodreads review was

 Dark, many depressing poems, but beautifully written and there were some that really touched my heart.

Both Sexton's poems and The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath earned a 3 star rating in my opinion. They were hard to read, partially for their depressing nature, and partially for boredom at parts. Honestly, I had to force myself to get through Plath's journals (and I didn't read the appendix) and I didn't finish Sexton's poems (but gave myself a pass as far as the Gilmore Challenge was concerned after I looked it up, and found that Rory was not seen reading Anne Sexton, but mocked a silly pledge by asking if it was written by Sexton, so since I read some of her poems, I passed). But with that said, they were definitely quotable and there are portions that I will remember and savor.

My review for Plath

There were moments of brilliance in this book, quotes that were inspiring or powerful in their vulnerability, but to get to those moments I had a lot of less interesting sections to get through.

I did not read all of the appendixes, but there were some interesting parts there as well.

Would I recommend reading it? Not sure. Or perhaps yes, but give yourself permission to scan the parts that don't interest you.

I most enjoyed the first section, before her first attempt. At times, I felt almost like I was invading her privacy and throughout I admired her writing skill. 

They were clearly full of emotions, and lived lives full of passion, but in the end, they couldn't handle it. It reminds me of the people who remember everything, and don't really function well because our brains weren't designed to remember everything, we function better letting some of it go. I wonder if the same is true of the great writers who end up committing suicide, that they are such a fountain of passion that they can't handle experiencing life's emotions to such a powerful extent.

Do I recommend them? I don't know. There are such intense, powerful quotes and emotions throughout, more than I quote below, they might just be worth it. But it is so dark, depressing and hard to get through. Would you walk through a forest at night full of dangerous beasts if I told you that in the middle there was a beautiful clearing with the most amazing scenic view? If the darkness and the danger is worth it, then read them, if it isn't worth the journey, then skip it. 

Best Sylvia Plath Quotes:

From Sylvia Plath's mother, "If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter... For always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself." I really liked this reminder to try to be your personal best, not compared to anyone else.

""I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want... I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in my life."

Slyvia Plath about her husband, "he lives people, that's what he does. Very few people do this anymore. It's too risky...it is much easier to be somebody else or nobody at all."

"..."the present is forever, and forever is always shifting, flowing, melting. This second is life. " "Tonight I am ugly. I have lost all faith in my ability to attract males.""

The best explanation of her thoughts about suicide are found in her journal entry about the baby bird they eventually euthanized: "Suffering is tyrannous... Composed, perfect and beautiful in death. I wonder if she thought of herself as the baby bird when she decided to end her life..."

Most powerful Anne Sexton poems:

Courage It is in the small things we see it. The child's first step, as awesome as an earthquake. The first time you rode a bike, wallowing up the sidewalk. The first spanking when your heart went on a journey all alone. When they called you crybaby or poor or fatty or crazy and made you into an alien, you drank their acid and concealed it. Later, if you faced the death of bombs and bullets you did not do it with a banner, you did it with only a hat to comver your heart. You did not fondle the weakness inside you though it was there. Your courage was a small coal that you kept swallowing. If your buddy saved you and died himself in so doing, then his courage was not courage, it was love; love as simple as shaving soap. Later, if you have endured a great despair, then you did it alone, getting a transfusion from the fire, picking the scabs off your heart, then wringing it out like a sock. Next, my kinsman, you powdered your sorrow, you gave it a back rub and then you covered it with a blanket and after it had slept a while it woke to the wings of the roses and was transformed. Later, when you face old age and its natural conclusion your courage will still be shown in the little ways, each spring will be a sword you'll sharpen, those you love will live in a fever of love, and you'll bargain with the calendar and at the last moment when death opens the back door you'll put on your carpet slippers and stride out.

From my facebook post, "Disclaimer: I am going to share two other deeply moving Anne Sexton poems... but they aren't happy or uplifting, but sobering. They are beautiful and they are powerful. One is even highly controversial. I am not intending to be controversial, but share the poems that impact me, because I think others might appreciate them too. If you don't want to read the rest of this post. Don't. :-D I also post them as a contrast. An unwanted pregnancy typically goes one of the following two ways. I feel that Anne Sexton shows that both are tragic in their own ways. " The Abortion by Anne Sexton Somebody who should have been born is gone. Just as the earth puckered its mouth, each bud puffing out from its knot, I changed my shoes, and then drove south. Up past the Blue Mountains, where Pennsylvania humps on endlessly, wearing, like a crayoned cat, its green hair, its roads sunken in like a gray washboard; where, in truth, the ground cracks evilly, a dark socket from which the coal has poured, Somebody who should have been born is gone. the grass as bristly and stout as chives, and me wondering when the ground would break, and me wondering how anything fragile survives; up in Pennsylvania, I met a little man, not Rumpelstiltskin, at all, at all... he took the fullness that love began. Returning north, even the sky grew thin like a high window looking nowhere. The road was as flat as a sheet of tin. Somebody who should have been born is gone. Yes, woman, such logic will lead to loss without death. Or say what you meant, you coward...this baby that I bleed. (The following poem is about giving a baby up for adoption in the 60's where keeping it wasn't really an option) Unknown Girl in the Maternity Ward By Anne Sexton Child, the current of your breath is six days long. You lie, a small knuckle on my white bed; lie, fisted like a snail, so small and strong at my breast. Your lips are animals; you are fed with love. At first hunger is not wrong. The nurses nod their caps; you are shepherded down starch halls with the other unnested throng in wheeling baskets. You tip like a cup; your head moving to my touch. You sense the way we belong. But this is an institution bed. You will not know me very long. The doctors are enamel. They want to know the facts. They guess about the man who left me, some pendulum soul, going the way men go and leave you full of child. But our case history stays blank. All I did was let you grow. Now we are here for all the ward to see. They thought I was strange, although I never spoke a word. I burst empty of you, letting you learn how the air is so. The doctors chart the riddle they ask of me and I turn my head away. I do not know. Yours is the only face I recognize. Bone at my bone, you drink my answers in. Six times a day I prize your need, the animals of your lips, your skin growing warm and plump. I see your eyes lifting their tents. They are blue stones, they begin to outgrow their moss. You blink in surprise and I wonder what you can see, my funny kin, as you trouble my silence. I am a shelter of lies. Should I learn to speak again, or hopeless in such sanity will I touch some face I recognize? Down the hall the baskets start back. My arms fit you like a sleeve, they hold catkins of your willows, the wild bee farms of your nerves, each muscle and fold of your first days. Your old man’s face disarms the nurses. But the doctors return to scold me. I speak. It is you my silence harms. I should have known; I should have told them something to write down. My voice alarms my throat. “Name of father—none.” I hold you and name you bastard in my arms. And now that’s that. There is nothing more that I can say or lose. Others have traded life before and could not speak. I tighten to refuse your owling eyes, my fragile visitor. I touch your cheeks, like flowers. You bruise against me. We unlearn. I am a shore rocking you off. You break from me. I choose your only way, my small inheritor and hand you off, trembling the selves we lose. Go child, who is my sin and nothing more.

This next one is a tragedy. It is a tragedy that there are moms and sons who actually act this out, day after day, and my prayers are with the kids, and I hope the parents get caught, and stopped, but it was written so beautifully, I know it is one that will resound with me for a long time.

Tommy is three and when he's bad
his mother dances with him.
She puts on the record,
'Red Roses for a Blue Lady'
and throws him across the room.
Mind you,
she never laid a hand on him.
He gets red roses in different places,
the head, that time he was as sleepy as a river,
the back, that time he was a broken scarecrow,
the arm like a diamond had bitten it,
the leg, twisted like a licorice stick,
all the dance they did together,
Blue Lady and Tommy.
You fell, she said, just remember you fell.
I fell, is all he told the doctors
in the big hospital. A nice lady came
and asked him questions but because
he didn't want to be sent away he said, I fell.
He never said anything else although he could talk fine.
He never told about the music
or how she'd sing and shout
holding him up and throwing him.

He pretends he is her ball.
He tries to fold up and bounce
but he squashes like fruit.
For he loves Blue Lady and the spots
of red roses he gives her

Direct from facebook: I posted my favorite part of a poem from Anne Sexton, one of the many things I am reading as part of my Rory Gilmore Challenge. I know sometimes long poetry keeps people away, so originally I only posted part of it, the best part. At the end of this post, I will put the whole poem, because I imagine she would not want it only posted in part only. The idea is so simple, and so deep, and so profound, it truly spoke to me the way you hear that poetry is supposed to do. Basically, the world is an imperfect place, full of bad things, and we long to protect our child from every danger big and small. We want them to have all of their best dreams come true and none of their bad ones... but we can't. We have no power to make that happen. What we can promise is love. Love for them through the heart ache, through the tragedies, through everything that we wish we could shield them from. THE FORTRESS while taking a nap with Linda Under the pink quilted covers I hold the pulse that counts your blood. I think the woods outdoors are half asleep, left over from summer like a stack of books after a flood, left over like those promises I never keep. On the right, the scrub pine tree waits like a fruit store holding up bunches of tufted broccoli. We watch the wind from our square bed. I press down my index finger -- half in jest, half in dread -- on the brown mole under your left eye, inherited from my right cheek: a spot of danger where a bewitched worm ate its way through our soul in search of beauty. My child, since July the leaves have been fed secretly from a pool of beet-red dye. And sometimes they are battle green with trunks as wet as hunters' boots, smacked hard by the wind, clean as oilskins. No, the wind's not off the ocean. Yes, it cried in your room like a wolf and your pony tail hurt you. That was a long time ago. The wind rolled the tide like a dying woman. She wouldn't sleep, she rolled there all night, grunting and sighing. Darling, life is not in my hands; life with its terrible changes will take you, bombs or glands, your own child at your breast, your own house on your own land. Outside the bittersweet turns orange. Before she died, my mother and I picked those fat branches, finding orange nipples on the gray wire strands. We weeded the forest, curing trees like cripples. Your feet thump-thump against my back and you whisper to yourself. Child, what are you wishing? What pact are you making? What mouse runs between your eyes? What ark can I fill for you when the world goes wild? The woods are underwater, their weeds are shaking in the tide; birches like zebra fish flash by in a pack. Child, I cannot promise that you will get your wish. I cannot promise very much. I give you the images I know. Lie still with me and watch. A pheasant moves by like a seal, pulled through the mulch by his thick white collar. He's on show like a clown. He drags a beige feather that he removed, one time, from an old lady's hat. We laugh and we touch. I promise you love. Time will not take away that. Anne Sexton

A Tale of Two Cities

Is it heretical to rate a Dickens book anything less than a 5? Sadly, as much as I eventually enjoyed the story, I found it to be very wordy, slow at times, and confusing at times. But overall I liked the character development and found the last third of the book to be exciting and fully interesting. Worth a read, not just for historical/ cultural value.

That is what I wrote on goodreads, and I think it does a good job of summarizing my thoughts about the book. Overall, I decided it was worth a 4.

When I told my husband I had never read A Tale of Two Cities he was surprised. It is that much of a classic, one that everyone has heard of, and one that is expected to be in the vernacular of a well read person. Yet, it was never one of my assigned high school books, and I think that most classics are in danger of never being unless they are forced reading. You don't usually tell your friends to read a classic like you do Hunger Games, you aren't typically going to read it either before or after a big blockbuster film, because if they are going to be made into movies, most of them already have been.

Yet, I was completely in the dark about this book, except for the first line, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." I didn't even know that it was about the French Revolution, until we got to that point in the book! Even the blurb on the back cover, which I read about halfway through the book, was a spoiler for me.

I started listening to it as an audiobook on itunesU, which is a great app by the way, in that there are many classics available to listen to for free, as well as lectures about a diverse and large number of topics. For the first portion of the book, I was content to listen to it slowly, and whenever I happened to have a good time to listen. Then it got more exciting, and I started listening to it more at home, purposely seeking out times to listen. Then it got to a point where listening wasn't good enough (which frequently happens to me with audiobooks) and I happened to own the book (thanks to my husband's high school book collection), so I learned the conclusion of the book partly by reading and partly by listening.

As I said in my short review, I did come to enjoy the characters, and especially how they were shaped and changed over the course of the book. But no matter how much I got drawn into the story, no matter how much I found myself enjoying the characters, I couldn't rate it a five.

There were complete paragraphs that I would have edited out, and as much as Dickens is a renowned author, I felt that he was confusing at times. Even as someone who loves to read, and went up to AP English in high school, I found myself having to go online to have portions of the story explained to me.

Overall, I would say, prepare yourself for confusion, and excessively wordy paragraphs, but also for an adventure of a story (once the revolution starts), and joining the large portion of the population who have already read this famous story.

The Polysyllabic Spree

This book was a short read, both in length and in the time it took me to finish (caused by someone putting it on hold after me, and me only noticing that the day before it was due, so I basically read the whole thing in one night).

I probably would have enjoyed it more as a monthly column (which it originally was) instead of a one night read. Lots of book recommendations from it, but most of all I liked the connection I felt with a fellow book lover.

Nick Hornsby, the author, does a great job of talking about how he buys more books than he reads, reads books he doesn't end up liking (though he can't give the titles of those books) and then shares what books he did love and recommends for the month. I totally related with him being stuck in a classic for an extended period of time and not being able to read other things.

 I recommend this book if you are a book lover, just to read someone with a kindred soul, or if you are looking for some book recommendations.

Lord of the Ring Series, the books

I have long held the opinion, shared with most of the world, to read the book first, see the movie second. Most of the time, I won't even watch a movie based off a book, unless I have read the book first.

But the Lord of the Rings series was an exception for me. It was a large trilogy, previously started and unfinished, and the movies were too popular to not join with friends and see as they were released.

I loved the movies, how they presented the world of the books, the nuances of characters and was very moved by just the stories presented on the screen. As much as I loved the movies, I loved the books more.

It did take something away, knowing what was coming, but to hear Tolkien's description of the emotions, and depth of the characters that movies just can't come close to bringing across was incredible. I actually cried, at numerous points throughout the books, they were that touching.

I was also pleasantly surprised when I came across the sections that didn't make the movies, and found extra delight in them.

Bottom line, even if you have already watched the movies, these books are worth the time invested in them. If you are short on time, just read the end of The Return of the King, there is a HUGE interesting story about the hobbits return home that is not even close to represented in the movie, and it is quite the interesting end of the book. Plus, you would then be able to read the touching scene where Sam and Frodo part company, and that is worth reading all by itself.

What I learned from it- the power of friendship, and the various ways that friendship is represented in the story. There are friends who fight for you, friends who make you laugh, and friends who stand by your side even through the darkest times, even when you try to push them away. This series is a good reminder that you will never make your goals in life without precious friends getting you through.

The Bell Jar

I rated this book a five, for its ability to keep my interest, and make me want to read it. At the same time, would I recommend it? I'm not sure.

It definitely gave great insight into what the mind of a depressed person looks like, and the prose of her just not wanting to continue living was very well written.

The book has a silver lining ending... but Silvia Plath doesn't, as it is well known that she does eventually end her life, and that makes you leave the book on a down note, because you know that the author eventually stays stuck inside her bell jar, and I pity her.

Me Talk Pretty One Day

I have never actually been on a blind date, but based on what I see on tv, this book was like a bad blind date.

Reviews sounded great, talked up how funny it was, got good reviews... but the book and I just didn't click.

The things he found funny, I didn't, and his personality just rubbed me the wrong way. Like a blind date, others might like the book... it just wasn't the right kind of humor for me.

I laughed a few times, but didn't walk away with any great truths, and just felt "eh" at the end.

Deleted

In some ways, deleting any books from "the list" defeats the whole purpose. But the list in my head varies from the official list in one major way. Most official "Gilmore Girls Book Lists" talk about being the books that Rory read, and that was a big part of the reason I decided to do this challenge: to feel a kindred spirit with this fictional character who also loved to read.

A deeper look reveals something about "the list." The books listed are simply all of the books referred to or seen on the show, not necessarily ones that she read. For the sake of time, I am not double checking every book of the list, finding how they occurred in the show and then deciding to read them or not. But if there are books that are less than favorable reading material... yeah, I am going to make sure that it was Rory herself who read or referred to the book (as one she had read).

A big delete made in this way is the series by Kagan on Greek history. It was going to be big, fat, boring history books, quite a challenge. I checked on it. Turns out these books were given to Rory's grandfather as a gift... NOT read by Rory herself. So... delete!

Robert's Rules of Order<-- 800 page book on how to run a meeting. Checked the reference in the show, Paris lectured someone about it, not Rory, and doesn't sound like a reading book as much as a reference book. So, delete. 

Catch 22 and Ella Minnow Pea

I didn't intend to juxtapose these two books when I chose to read them close together. But I'm glad I did.

On the surface level, both are silly, ridiculous books that are so far from reality they can be reviewed as pointless, dumb books. 

But at a deeper level, both are a commentary on government, albeit in different ways. 

It took towards the end of Catch 22 for me to enjoy it, the rest was too ludicrous for my taste (think Monty Python silly).

On the other hand, I very much enjoyed the quick read of Ella Minnow Pea and highly recommend it. A brilliant feature is the author's ability to write with increasingly less of the alphabet and still bring across an interesting story. 

Both, if looked at from the deeper level, leave you thinking about the problems inherent in government and bureaucracy and while knowing that things aren't quite as bad as these books portray, it makes you wonder if we aren't almost as bad. 

Bottom line as a review- read Ella Minnow Pea. If you choose to try to battle through Catch 22, make it to the end to get the book's many ongoing jokes/ story lines. 

The Art of War

This was an interesting one. I had heard of the book many times before, but until this challenge, I didn't have the slightest inclination to read it. As I went through the list, I read other people's reviews of it, and found it intriguing.

I put a hold on it at the local library and was first struck by how small of a book it was!

This is not a huge dense book, but very concise.

The majority of it was, in my mind, strictly military, but there were gems that were applicable to anyone that I liked.

The best actually corresponds with a piece of advice that I got from my sister in law, who in turn, got it from a book (which I don't remember what book she got it from). The basic idea is to stay quiet in confrontation. Our tendency is to lash out, fight back, defend ourselves, but there are times that this defense actually hurts us, and it is better to just take the other person's anger (especially when it is unjustified) and allow them to calm down and come around to your side.

The quote from Art of War that gives similar advice is this:

Move not unless you see an advantage; use not your troops unless there is something to be gained; fight not unless the position is critical. No ruler should put troops in the field just to gratify his own spleen; no general should fight a battle simply out of pique. Anger may in time change to gladness; vexation may be succeeded by content. But a kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life.

This is not to say that others should be allowed to walk all over you, but simply pick your battles wisely. In relationships, it isn't death, but it could hurt the relationship, and many times it is simply better to walk away from a fight as "anger may in time change to gladness."

The Joy Luck Club

My short goodreads review: "Sad at times, but felt very real and helped me understand two different cultures more. Kept my interest throughout."

This book is many things, and that is probably why it was/is so popular.

It has an element of historical fiction as you hear the stories of the mothers, but it also has somewhat historical fiction even with the daughters at this point.

It it about the complex relationships between parents and their children, which hits close to home for me as I can sympathize with both the daughters and the mothers as I am now a mother myself. You, as a mom, want so much for your kids, but you know that ultimately they have to make their own choices in life. At the same time, I have felt as a daughter the friction caused by a difference of opinion between my mom and myself.

It was mostly eye opening in the knowledge of what it feels like to grow up so mixed between the culture of your parent's country compared to the country that is your own county. I have no personal knowledge on that front, having never experienced that kind of a culture clash within the home, but I found it very interesting. 

Brick Lane

The biggest themes from this book are about fate and having the power to choose your own path.

It made me think a lot about marriages and relationships. The main character is forced into an arranged marriage, that like any marriage, has its ups and downs.

I wonder who my parents would pick for me, and if I would approve of their choice. On the other hand, another character in the story chose her own husband, against the wishes of her parents, and her story doesn't go as she intended either.

I think the author is trying to make a point of the contrast that neither is absolutely true. We don't have to surrender our lives to the will of fate or God and sit back passive and let life pass us by, but we also can't believe that we control everything. Whatever name you give to it, there are always going to be circumstances beyond your control that you then can make choices based on those uncontrollable actions.

Da Vinci Code

I have avoided reading this book for years, despite the wave of positive reviews and its status as a "must read" book for a good section of time. The biggest reason for the avoidance was the negative reviews that it got by Christians as being heretical and completely against what the Bible teaches, and leads people astray.

As it was on "the list" I was able to push past these misgivings, and just judge it on its own.

Honestly, I enjoyed it. It had a very drawing story, lots of symbolism and word play, and I didn't find the big mystery as heretical as I thought it would.

Without giving up the plot to anyone who hasn't read it, I think that the big mystery/secret of the secret society is not implausible, nor is it directly against anything that I have read in the Bible, and some of their arguments are solid in my opinion.

While I don't approve of the described society's rituals, it doesn't detract too deeply from the possibility of the mystery/secret.

My big takeaway- things are not always what they appear, so give items the time and consideration they deserve.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

This book was a very familiar story, as I have seen the Disney Alice in Wonderland many times, and for the portions that the Disney version covered, it appeared to be very accurate.

There were some big scenes that they took out, but for apparently good reason as I found them very strange.

The overall take away message I got from this book was that Alice was a child who made many poor choices, and frequently got herself into trouble, and the moral for kids reading it was simple... think before you act, as your actions may have big consequences.

The Idea

It started with one of those silly little buzzfeed quizzes.

Depending on which list you read, it hovers between 334-339 books that are either seen in Rory Gilmore's hands or books that are referenced by Rory on the show Gilmore Girls.

I went through the list, and sadly was only able to claim having read about 30 of them.

But as I perused the list, clicking off the ones I had read in high school or otherwise in my past, I found myself saying over and over again how many of these books sound interesting, or sound like books I should read. A bunch of them were already on my shelf too, bought, but unread.

I tend to limit myself to basically two categories of books: fantasy/science fiction, and historical fiction. I don't read a lot of memoirs, history books, classics or books set in modern times. I never read poetry, political books, or feminist books. But I have been going through a phase where I don't really know what to read, to the point where I let my three year old randomly pick out a book for me the last time I went to the library!

Unless a friend recommends a book... I feel like I have only been reading the "popular" books.

Rory Gilmore, from Gilmore Girls, is an avid bibliophile, and I thought that she and I were kindred spirits in that area... only to discover that if we compared my and her lifetime reading list, you would find so much more variety and higher educational readings in her lifetime library.

I stick so much to the "safe zone" in books. I typically don't read books that scare me, that are sad, that could be boring... and I am missing out on so many books!

So... I decided to take this little (ha!) list as a challenge. There is no time limit, and I am not limiting myself to only reading these books. If there is a book from a favorite author that comes out or interests me, I am not going to turn it down, especially as the show ended many years ago, and there are always new books coming out that are worth reading.

Last night I started going through the list, in alphabetical order, seeing what the books are about, and how I can get a hold of them (library, free on kindle or if I have to buy them). In the first 32, there is one children's book, three short classics, three memoirs, three modern fictions, five historical fiction, three feminist, three non-fiction history, one religious book and one scary book. There are also two "classic challenge" books.

The classic challenge is a term I have given to the classics that are over 700 pages and are going to be the most challenging on the list.

To be clear, big books don't scare me, nor do classics, with their archaic language, footnotes and extensive vocabulary and characters. The combination does. To have to slow down my reading fun enough to get though a classic that is also large... daunting.

My plan is simple. For the most challenging books in my 300+, many year undertaking, I am going back to school... kind of. Itunes U has access to many free lectures done by prestigious universities, that I can download and listen to. They break down the readings into sections and then teach on them (like college) and this will give me small, concrete goals to help me check off my classic challenge books one at a time.

A large portion of the list are books I would never have picked for myself, as many of them are out of the "safe zone," but after just looking at the smallest portion of the list, I can honestly say that I think this will be a really good goal for me, giving me direction, and opening my eyes to new interesting books.