MANY HOURS . . .

I have given myself many unclaimed hours today. So here's something to fill a bit of time, thanks to Jade Park:

Look at the list of books below.
BOLD the ones you’ve read.
ITALICIZE the ones you want to read.
CROSS OUT the ones you won’t touch with a 10 foot pole.
PUT A CROSS (+) front of the ones on your book shelf.
ASTERISK (*) the ones you’ve never heard of.
Don't touch the books about which you feel indifferent.

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown): this book made me crazy. It was enjoyable, but it made me crazy.
2. + Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen): I read this every year, at least once a year. The BBC movie, I watch at least twice a year. Is this a problem?
3. + To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee): I think it would be fair to say that this book changed my life.
4. + Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell): I'm a dork. I read the book once. Then I watched the movie once. Then I watched the movie with the book open in front of me to see how well the movie matched the book.
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien): I have this thing about fantasy and sci-fi literature. I can't read it. I just can't. For all that my imagination runs wild with images and scenarios and colours and words, I can't drop into a fantasy literary world and enjoy it. I can, however, watch the movie. So that is what I did.
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (J.R.R. Tolkien): see #5.
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (J.R.R. Tolkien): see #5.
8. + Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery): for a short while, I thought I was Anne, and it confused me to look in the mirror and see no red hair or freckles.
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling): sorry, I don't do Harry Potter.
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown): this book did not make me as crazy.
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (J.K. Rowling): see #11.
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving): I went through a phase where I read every John Irving book I could get my hands on, in a row. That was a few years ago. I haven't been able to read Irving since.
15. + Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden): I thought the book itself was a smooth and fantastical read. But I always thought it a bit bizarre that a white guy wrote it. Know what I mean?
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (J.K. Rowling): see #11.
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald): I don't remember much about the actual book, but I remember not liking it very much, and feeling very disturbed that I had taken the time to read it.
18. The Stand (Stephen King): is this the one with the scary clown in it?
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (J.K. Rowling): see #11.
20. + Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte): I read this when I was too young to read it. I think it left scars that are still being picked over.
21. The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien): see #5.
22. + The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger): I own it; I just haven't read it yet.
23. + Little Women (Louisa May Alcott): I read this when I was too old to read it and really fall into the story. But I still found it charming, and wished I had read it when I was younger.
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold): good enough.
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. + Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. + The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis): this man is a genius. There's nothing he wrote that I won't read.
29. + East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom): I have this thing ... I can't stand overwrought sap. And I can't bring myself to easily pick up a book that gazillions of Americans love to read. If it's too popular, I am repelled by it. That's why I still have yet to watch "Titanic."
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks): see #30.
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (George Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. * The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. * The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. + The Red Tent (Anita Diamant): borrowed long ago, it's on my to-read pile.
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. + The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel): seriously. There's just a lot of sex in Auel's books. It's like reading porn, because there really is no plot, other than to get to the next opportunity for sex. Bizarre. Is this story-telling?
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella): uh, just no.
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom): see #30.
45. + Bible: what is there not to like? It's the story of my life.
46. + Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt): I have a friend who is seriously into all things Irish (although he is the furthest thing from). I myself am seriously into all things English. It makes for interesting faux-arguments.
49. + The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. + The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver): currently reading ...
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
53. + Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card): Juice gave this to me to read years ago. Oops.
54. Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
56. * The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J.K. Rowling): see #11.
58. + The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough): remember Richard Chamberlain in the miniseries? Is it bad that Richard Chamberlain in the miniseries is all I can recall about the BOOK?
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. + Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky): oh yeah. I love me my dark Russian authors.
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Leo Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice): I read it because I wanted to get through the book before I got through the movie. Never went to see the movie; regret spending the time to read the book.
65. * Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. + One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares): also, just no.
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. + Les Miserables (Victor Hugo): read the book once, saw the musical eight times.
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery): is it strange that I read this in French?
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Helen Fielding): the film was enjoyable enough, but I don't feel the need to redo my Bridget Jones experience on paper. Once was good for me.
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. + The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje): I never thought I'd say this about a book, but ... the movie was better.
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett): sigh, sigh and sigh again. Even as a little girl, I sighed my way through this book.
76. * The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. * The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White): I'm a leeeeetle annoyed that Julia Roberts plays Charlotte in the recently released movie. I simply love this book and love the story.
81. * Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier): why, exactly, did they make us read this in high school?
84. * Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. + Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams): isn't this something about rabbits on a ship? Yeah, file this under "can't picture it, can't read it."
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. * Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. * Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. * In The Skin Of A Lion (Michael Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum): I forgot this was a book first. The movie was fantastic.
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford): oh yeah, I remember my trashy novel days. Good times.
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

My stats:
* Read: 39
* Own: 23
* Want to read: 10
* Indifferent: 28
* Wouldn't touch: 10
* Never heard of: 10