Guys! Happy New Year! I know that for most of us reading tends to slow down a bit over the festive season – and that’s okay, because if we are so blessed to spend it with loved ones then we should. The new year brings new resolutions, and it may not be such a bad idea to make some of those bookish. It’s good to read fun books, but it’s also good to commit to reading books that you struggle to get to.
The books that follow, brought to you by The Broke and The Bookish, are thus not necessarily books that I have a burning desire to read, but rather books that I have been meaning to read but that keep being put on the back burner - like Pride and Prejudice, which I finally read this year.
Conversations with Myself by Nelson Mandela – a friend gave me this book about two years ago and I really should have read it already because it is not every day that you get books as gifts! Madiba is quite a hero for me, I knew his name long before I knew who he was.I am intrigued to read this collection of speeches, drafts and letters, but they are a bit daunting.
Animal Farm by George Orwell – I still haven’t read any Orwell and it’s becoming a little embarrassing. It’s also a pretty short book and I think I would like it.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde – I also haven’t read any Wilde. I read the first few pages of this book a year ago and then forgot to continue. I think it is time.
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess – not a year goes by that this isn’t recommended to me. It sounds really scary, psychologically, but it also sounds like worth the read.
Endless Forms Most Beautiful by Sean B. Carroll - the new science of evo devo and the making of the animal kingdom. Probably the first book recommended to me via the blogging world, and the review I read for it sounded simply beautiful. It’s a scientific book and might go slightly over my head.
Whisper Not by Nombeko Mpongo - 15 Africans speak out on life and love beyond HIV. I acquired this signed copy at the Cape Town Book Fair and was so excited about it, but I’v only read half of the first story. It requires a bit of effort because the authors are not necessarily writers, but that also gives their stories and chillingly honest quality that make it emotionally heavy. It’s not right to pay so much for a book and not read it!
Ways of Dying by Zakes Mda – I promise every year that I’ll read Mda, and I never do. I follow him on twitter and he’s brilliant, so I think I’d enjoy this book that sounds like a bit of magical realism, actually.
The Colour Purple by Alice Walker – I read that this is one of the most commonly-banned books! All the more reason for me to read it.
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card – said to be the original hit-science fiction. It seems only right that it be read.
The Giver by Lois Lowry – said to be the original hit in dystopians. See above…
And there they are! I sure hope I get some time – even just a little! – to read. Do you have reading resolutions?
I read The Giver in school as a child. I thought it was fascinating, but it wasn’t until I was an adult that I understood all of it. I disliked The Animal Farm, but maybe that was more because the idea of it terrifies me. Good luck on your goals this year!
The Giver is one I would like to get hold of this year too, sounds really good
And see, I loved Animal Farm which I read in high school – one of the few “required reading” books that I loved totally and wholly. And The Giver, I really liked (but not loved).
The Giver is wonderful. If you read a lot of current YA dystopian books, you’ll see a lot of similarities with The Giver.
Our TTT
Nice list. I have to brave classics as well. I haven’t read one. :L
Happy New Year!
My TTT
I struggle with classics as well! I think I’ve read about two or three…
Great list…I haven’t read any of them (though I probably SHOULD, lol)…
Happy New Year, thanks for stopping by my blog! Enjoy your Semester at Sea…I wish I’d done something like that when I was younger!
Bree
Coffee Bean Bookshelf
Thank you Bree! Have a lovely 2013!
Happy New Year! Great list, I enjoyed reading Animal Farm and The Picture of Dorian Gray
Ender’s Game was good too, I ought to re-read it since the movie is coming out sometime this year (last I checked)
Here’s my TTT for this week =)
I loved Animal Farm and The Giver. The rest I still need to read. Great list! Happy New Years and happy reading!
Here are the books I resolve to read
~Danica Page
Taking it One Page at a Time
You’ve got some good one on here. It makes me feel better that someone else out there hasn’t read Animal Farm!
Hah! Now I don’t feel so bad either!
So glad you read Pride and Prejudice. Did you like it? It is my favorite book. I like it more and more every time I re-read it. I really love Jane Austen’s sense of humor.
It’s not my favourite book, but I’m not sure I have a favourite book… I did enjoy it though!
I got a copy of Whisper Not because I had the highest mark in the Health and Society unit of one of my classes, haven’t gotten a chance to read it yet, I don’t know how you find the time to read “non-school” books while in med school?!? I barely have time to read what I need to read for class! Your list looks awesome though, there are only 2 I haven’t read on it. Don’t read the colour purple after a bad day…
That’s a cool prize! Hah, if I read less maybe my grades would be better eh… mh… Thanks for the warning about the colour purple though!
Such a diverse and interesting list, as always. Animal Farm is fantastic – I recently re-read it and it’s such a chilling comment on human behaviour. A Clockwork Orange is incredibly dark but also brilliant – and the way he creates his own dialect is absolutely amazing. I thought Ender’s Game was hugely overrated, but I do keep hearing about The Giver so I’d like to check that one out. Happy reading.
Here’s my list: http://annabelsmith.tumblr.com/post/39359194653/top-10-tuesday-the-first-ten-books-i-plan-to-read-in
Thank you! I look forward to reading these, I’m glad to hear they’re enjoyable!
Some great choices. I love Animal Farm. I read it 15 or so years ago and still quote it fairly regularly. The Giver was great, I just learned it is a trilogy so I am excited to follow the story.
Good to hear, I look forward to reading them!
I also got Conversations With Myself two years ago and plan to read it this year.