Although I haven’t planned a complete reading-list for 2011 (it usually is disastrous if I do as I never follow time-tables!) I do have a few books I intend to read next year. Among them are the following that I am really excited about.
This list is no particular order of preference.
- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - I’ve been meaning to read this book for ages! I’d borrowed this from an aunt a couple of years ago, and it is still sitting in my shelf. I guess, anything by Dickens, as always, makes me ponder and debate within myself before I open a work of his to begin reading. With this particular novel, I had the misfortune of hearing an outline of the story from my mom, and then promptly decided that I could never read it – its ending isn’t happy enough for me, you see. But I took a sneak peek at the first page sometime last month, and am now very excited about reading it!
- Caesar by Colleen McCullough - It belongs to the Masters of Rome series and I think is the fifth of seven books. I read Caesar’s Women sometime in June and loved it! McCullough has a beautiful writing style and I love the way she writes history. Her Author’s Notes at the end where she describes any ‘historical’ changes she might have made to lend flavour to her story add to how believable her works can be. Apart from this, Julius Caesar is an awesome personality from history to read anything about. I’m just thrilled about diving into this one!
- Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare - So, I love reading anything about Caesar, hence this play. This is also what I’ve listed under the Shakespearean challenge and I’m really glad I came across this challenge or Shakespeare most likely would never have featured in next year’s reading list! I recall having studied the famous speech by Anthony in Shakespeare’s tragedy, the one that begins “Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears!” – such a beautiful and powerful speech. I’m dying to find out how the Bard dealt with the whole.
- North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell - I had seen the final few BBC episodes based on this book over a year ago, and so became rather curious about Gaskell. The last few months in the book blogging world and on Goodreads have piqued my curiosity even further and I’m looking forward to discovering what all the fuss is about.
- The Good Earth by Pearl Buck - My mother has been after me for years to read this one. For some reason that I cannot explain, I’m excited that I’m finally going to! Never having read anything that has China for a setting I’m thinking this is going to be an awesome experience!
- Hollow Hills by Mary Stewart - The book following The Crystal Cave in her Arthurian series is bound to be as exciting as the first. Merlin comes to life as a young intellectual and we watch him grow in such a way as to incite the legend of his magical powers. I’m eager to read more of him!
- The Last of the Mohicans by J Fenimore Cooper - This is another book I’ve been meaning to read for the last four years. I got to watch a bit of the movie and liked the storyline. Having bought the book as a present for mom, I’d made a mental note to read it myself. This would be my first American literature book with American Indians in it! (Actually, I haven’t read much American Literature, come to think of it….)
- The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone - It’s all about Michael Angelo, the famous Italian painter. Enough said.
- Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell - I watched the movie when I was around eleven years old, and was quite put out by the story. Or, you could say, I hated that Scarlett made a fool of herself over a married man, never understood how much Butler loved her, and then lost him in the end only to wind up alone. When you’re a kid, you love happy endings. My bitter disappointment was enough to keep me off the book…until now. Like I mentioned before, I’ve reached a stage where happy endings in books don’t matter any more; it’s the prose and the style. So, I’m off to give this one a try!
- Byzantium by Stephen R Lawhead - I love the way he writes. It’s picturesque without being wordy and appeals to all the senses. And….it’s Byzantium!
