Odd Reading List
Or perhaps, better, would be 'Reading List: Odd'.
There are books I like to read every few years, partly because they are well-worn favorites, but also partly because they are, for me, the pencilled-in height chart on the moulding of my bedroom door. Virtually speaking, of course... my parents weren't into milestones of that nature.
But oh yeah, the list.
First are the books I loved first: 'The Wizard of Oz', all twelve original volumes by L. Frank Baum, as well as all seven of 'The Chronicles of Narnia'. I read through Oz to make sure my sense of childlike wonder doesn't disappear entirely as I get old (ahem), while Narnia I read to see if I better understand all the allegory involved.
'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep' is also in that vein. Does Philip K. Dick make better sense as I get wiser? Jury's still out.
'The Doll's House' by Rumer Godden.
'Shoeless Joe' by W.P. Kinsella. (Remember my favorite movie is 'Field of Dreams'.) This is a pure feel-good all the way through.
'Catcher in the Rye'. The older I get, the less I identify with Holden Caulfield. Still love Phoebe and still want to be D.B. Caulfield, though.
I make sure to include a book in French, though the last couple of times I couldn't get through it without a French-English dictionary close at hand.
Last on the list is 'The Diary of Anne Frank', both to keep me honest and so I never, ever forget.
There are books I like to read every few years, partly because they are well-worn favorites, but also partly because they are, for me, the pencilled-in height chart on the moulding of my bedroom door. Virtually speaking, of course... my parents weren't into milestones of that nature.
But oh yeah, the list.
First are the books I loved first: 'The Wizard of Oz', all twelve original volumes by L. Frank Baum, as well as all seven of 'The Chronicles of Narnia'. I read through Oz to make sure my sense of childlike wonder doesn't disappear entirely as I get old (ahem), while Narnia I read to see if I better understand all the allegory involved.
'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep' is also in that vein. Does Philip K. Dick make better sense as I get wiser? Jury's still out.
'The Doll's House' by Rumer Godden.
'Shoeless Joe' by W.P. Kinsella. (Remember my favorite movie is 'Field of Dreams'.) This is a pure feel-good all the way through.
'Catcher in the Rye'. The older I get, the less I identify with Holden Caulfield. Still love Phoebe and still want to be D.B. Caulfield, though.
I make sure to include a book in French, though the last couple of times I couldn't get through it without a French-English dictionary close at hand.
Last on the list is 'The Diary of Anne Frank', both to keep me honest and so I never, ever forget.