AK’s Reading Goals

[anonymouskitten]

I am participating in this 2015 Reading Challenge, and I am naturally behind. (Why wouldn’t I be?)

I have written a list of books that fulfill each requirement, though. These books go in the order of the 50 requirements.

1. East of the Sun, Julia Gregson
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
4. In the Unlikely Event, Judy Blume
5. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne
6. Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe
7. The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien
8. An Abundance of Katherines, John Green
9. Sing You Home, Jodi Picoult
10. The Face, Dean Koontz
11. Yo!, Julia Alvarez
12. Cabbage and Bones: An Anthology of Irish-American Fiction
13. The Farming of Bones, Edwidge Danticat
14. The Hot Zone, Richard Preston
15. Carrie, Stephen King
16. Leaving Time, Jodi Picoult
17. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman
18. Olive Kitteridge, Elizabeth Strout
19. One Thousand White Women, Jim Fergus
20. Emory’s Gift, W. Bruce Cameron
21. The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz
22. The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly, Stephanie Oakes
23. The Picture of Dorian Grey, Oscar Wilde
24. The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd
25. Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert
26. Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer
27. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, Judy Blume
28. Icy Sparks, Gwyn Hyman Rubio

The Herbalist, Niamh Boyce

31. World Without End (Sequel to Pillars of the Earth), Ken Follett
32. Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn
33. Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
34. The Cay, Theodore Taylor
35. The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
36. The Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood
37. Before I Fall, Lauren Oliver
38. The Color Purple, Alice Walker
39. A Million Little Pieces, James Frey
40. Book of Shadows, (I think James Reese, but I’ll look it up at home.)
41. The Sandman, Neil Gaiman
42. Songs of Willow Frost, Jamie Ford
43. A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson
44. Slasherazzi, Danielle Kaine
45. The Plague, Albert Camus
46. Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, Agatha Christie
47. ( I haven’t chosen one from an author with my same initials.)
48. A Midsummer’s Night Dream, William Shakespeare
49. As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner
50. The Dovekeepers, Alice Hoffmann
51. American Gods, Neil Gaiman

I’m sure I’ll read more than these, simply because when I walked into Goodwill one afternoon, I walked out 64 books heavier. (The cashier thought it was a prank.) My goal is to at least finish these 50 books. I’ve read 12 so far, three of which were read within the last two weeks.

[anonymouskitten]

Books that have already been read on The List (in order of read):

1. An Abundance of Katherines (John Green)
2. The Fault in Our Stars (John Green)
3. The Picture of Dorian Grey (Oscar Wilde)
4. The Hot Zone (Richard Preston)
5. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Jules Verne)
6. Leaving Time (Jodi Picoult)
7. Sing You Home (Jodi Picoult)
8. The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Neil Gaiman)
9. Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn)
10. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
11. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret (Judy Blume)
12. Before I Fall (Lauren Oliver)
13. A Walk in the Woods (Bill Bryson)

Currently reading: A Walk in the Woods (Bill Bryson)

[anonymouskitten]

Right now, I’m reading through On Writing by Stephen King. It’s not on the official list since I just ordered it online on a whim. (If you call pining over a book for seven years a whim, anyway.) I’m considering striking The Hot Zone from the list for non-fiction book, since it’s hardly based on facts at all, and substituting this one. Or maybe I’ll keep it as an Honorary Book.

It’s certainly giving my a lot to think about, especially with Camp NaNo coming right around the corner. (Ahem, eight days to be precise.) I didn’t see this as a writing manual of sorts; it’s not even labelled as such, but I’m finding that there are pockets of wisdom (how could there not) about writing – what has worked, what hasn’t, and the learning bridge in between. It’s opening my eyes to my own process, or lack thereof, and it has given me new strategies to try.

The strategy I’m grabbing ahold of right now is the “start out with a basic situation and tell the story” one. I prefer the title storyteller to writer or novelist, so this tip rings true to me. All I ever want to do is tell the story as truthfully as I can. (Or as truthfully as the characters will allow. More on unreliable characters later.) This strategy begins most often with a “What if” question, and it builds from there.

I have my What if question. I have a rudimentary set of character with whom to work. I have my basic setting, though I still need to do research on it since I’m not exactly familiar with Central American rainforests. I even have a proposed ending, but, of course, I trust my characters to find their own way out of their mess. I just don’t have all that murky middle, the part where I slack off and let sag until I finally toss aside the project in disgust. I don’t have any of that. I don’t even know how character 1 will get from A to B, and truthfully, I don’t even know what or where B is, much less X, Y, or Z. This is how King prefers it, and this is my strategy for this Camp NaNo, no matter how terrifying the idea seems to me.

*I’m jumping in!

(I didn’t know where to put this post. It’s about both reading and writing, though mostly more about writing. If I find a more suitable place for it, I’ll move it.)

[Ashe Elton Parker]

The Techniques board might be a good place.

I hope you’re able to complete your Camp Nano project (btw, there’s an FM Cabin, and I think we still have a space or two left, if you’d like to join us).

Ashe Elton Parker
"Just love me, fear me, do as I say, and I will be your slave." ~ David Bowie as Jareth in Labyrinth
~*~
Member since 1998.
~*~
Look me up on Wattpad for some of my books!

[anonymouskitten]

Thanks, Ashe! I’ll play around in the forums and explore after work.

I wish I knew about the cabin. I started one with a couple friends already, and I’d feel bad if I dropped out of the one I created. There’s always next summer, though.

[Author]

Posts