Books I Plan To Read in 2005 - PLAN NOW FINISHED
Books I Plan To Read in 2005 - PLAN NOW FINISHED
- FINISHED
- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck .   Recommended by 1922.
- To Sail Beyond the Sunset by Robert Heinlein - prequel to 'Time Enough For love'.
- Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.
- The Golden Compass (retitled "Northern Lights" in the UK) by Philip Pulman
- (first volume of "His Dark Materials" trilogy).
- Gateway by Frederik Pohl.   Recommended by bertie.
- The Subtle Knife by Philip Pulman
- (second volume of "His Dark Materials" trilogy).
- The Second World War by Winston S. Churchill
- - Volume One (of twelve) "The Gathering Storm - From War To War".
- Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte -
- Number 13 in the BBC poll Britain's Favourite Novels.
- Tom O'Bedlam by Robert Silverberg.
- Laughter in the Dark by Vladimir Nabokov.
- The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pulman
- (third/final volume of "His Dark Materials" trilogy).
- The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro - a favourite film of mine.
- The Second World War by Winston S. Churchill
- - Volume Two (of twelve) "The Gathering Storm - The Twilight War".
- Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.   Another favourite film of mine.
- (The Illustrated) A Brief History Of Time by Stephen Hawking.   WOW !
- CURRENTLY READING  
- ALL PLANNED READS NOW FINISHED !
- NOT YET STARTED
- ALL PLANNED READS FINISHED !
- I shall move onto borrowing from my planned list for 2006, plus perhaps a few re-reads.
- (See my list of   "Books I Read in 2005"   for more details.)
Comments are invited.
(Latest updates are in blue text)
These are the books that I planned to read in 2005, all books from my bookshelf that I already own, and there are hundreds of those so the choice is not straightforward.   If I don't plan ahead I will pick them up more randomly or dependent upon mood, and by listing them in advance I am less likely to be distracted into reading other books from the shelf.   I will typically read 20-25 books per year, but I never expected to reach that number this year (quality rather than quantity was my goal for this year).
Progress has been very good so I shall borrow a few titles from my planned list for 2006. Additionally, another 'reading project' I have had in the back of my mind for a few months is to try and re-read some of my past favourites, despite the fact that I already have too many on my 'to be read' bookshelf. This now is the opportunity to start that project.
See also my list of   "Books I Plan To Read in 2006"
See also my list of   "Books I Read in 2004 - Final List"
See also my list of   "Books I Read in 2003 - Final List"
Definitely read Wuthering Heights. Jane Eyre is great too, but in a predictable way; WH is just one of those books that makes you shake your head and ask "where did this COME from?" Sui generis!
So Laughter in the Dark got good reviews? Have you read Pale Fire?
I have read nothing by Nabokov to date, but read great things about Lolita, and also heard that Laughter In The Dark is his best, so I bought them both to read at some stage (I shall get to Lolita later). I did read the reviews for Pale Fire, but the synopsis was less appealing (to me) than Laughter In The Dark or Lolita. Have you read any his works, and what did you think / which do you prefer ?
Thanks for your comments on WH - you confirm my suspicions that it would be more original and appealing than Jane Eyre or P&P, although both are higher up on the list of 'Britain's Favourite Novels'. I've got a great quality hardback version, part of a collectors set of classic novels (Heron) that I bought.
The thing about Pale Fire is that it's not just a book, it's a project, and you have to decide how you're going to read it: do you read the poem, then the commentary, or do you flip back and forth? It lacks the pathos of Lolita and Ada, but there's some very intricate word play, and parts of it had me laughing out loud.
Lolita is definitely my favorite Nabokov, though--just a bizarre, funny, heartbreaking book.
Finished The Grapes of Wrath - check out Books I Read in 2005 for my review.
I've started on the next book on my list 'To Sail Beyond the Sunset' by Robert Heinlein, but I'm not sure that was a wise choice because Heinlein books are often full of sex and 70's style psychadelia philosophy which is not necessarily a good follow-up to Steinbeck, but I'm sure that I'll soon get into it. I deliberately tend to chose something lighter (often sci-fi) after a heavier classic to keep up some kind of momentum. It's a few years since I read anything from Heinlein.
"Rebecca" is a good book and really lets you get into the characters' minds in a way the movie might not have. I also quite enjoyed "Wuthering Heights". I haven't read any of "His Dark Materials" so I'd be interested to hear what you thought of those books. If you enjoy the classics with a futuristic, mystery, comedy twist, you might want to check out Jasper Fforde's series about the literary detective Tuesday Next.
"really lets you get into the characters' minds": that's the kind of boook I like, very much like Thomas Hardy whose 'Tess Of The D'Urbervilles' I am currently reading - superb.
Finished 'To Sail Beyond the Sunset' by Robert Heinlein - check out my   Books I Read in 2005   for my review.
Today finished 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' by Thomas Hardy - check out my   Books I Read in 2005   for my review.
19th April I finished 'The Golden Compass (retitled "Northern Lights" in the UK) by Philip Pulman' -
check out my   Books I Read in 2005   for my review.
Today I finished (just minutes ago) Gateway by Frederick Pohl -
check out my   Books I Read in 2005   for my review (when I get to posting it).
Today I finished The Subtle Knife by Philip Pulman. Find my review in   the usual place.
I wasn't really looking forward to starting The Second World War by Winston S. Churchill because twelve volumes seemed rather a daunting task, but I've now changed my mind and I am looking forward to it immensely.
I've probably mentioned this before elsewhere, but Winston Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature
(in 1953) for 'The Second World War'.
10th June I finished 'The Second World War' by Winston S. Churchill - Volume One (of twelve) "The Gathering Storm - From War To War".   Find my review in   the usual place.    
27th July I finished 'Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.   Find my review in   the usual place   (when I get to posting it).
11th August I finished 'Tom O'Bedlam' by Robert Silverberg. Find my review in the usual place.
7th September 2005 I finished 'The Amber Spyglass' by Philip Pulman (third/final volume of "His Dark Materials" trilogy).
Find my review in the usual place.
16th September 2005 I finished 'The Remains of the Day' by Kazuo Ishiguro, which is a favourite film of mine.
Find my review in the usual place.
02 October 2005 I finished volume two of 'The Second World War' by Winston S. Churchill
- Volume Two (of twelve) "The Gathering Storm - The Twilight War".
Find my review in the usual place
13 October 2005 I finished Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.
Find my review in the usual place.
10 November 2005 I finished "The Illustrated Brief History of Time, Updated and Expanded Edition (Hardcover)" by Stephen William Hawking. Find my review in the usual place.
The Illustrated Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking was the final book on my list of books I planned to read this year.   I've still some time left so I shall read some others besides.   See my list of   "Books I Read in 2005"   for more details.