Reading The 1000 Books to Read Before I Die

“I know they will remember all I said to them, that they will be loving children to you, will do their duty faithfully, fight their bosom enemies bravely, and conquer themselves so beautifully that when I come back to them I may be fonder and prouder than ever of my little women." Mr. March Happy Holidays 1000 Bookies! I hope everyone had a great holiday and I wish you a healthy and productive New Year!   I wish you a New Year where you make the time to read.   The next stop on the 1000 Books to Read Before You Die is a classic tale of love, family and loss, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.   I chose to read this timeless novel because of the release of the new film. I wanted to be able to compare the classic book with the latest movie.   I thoroughly enjoyed reading Little Women .   As the father of three daughters and the uncle of several nieces I recommend to any father or uncle with young ladies in their lives to read Little Women . The story ...

Hey 1000 Bookies-- Happy Holidays! As we travel through  the holiday season --we have a guest blogger--our good friend Jonathan Hanson.  Jonathan is discussing the granddaddy of holiday books--A Christmas Carol.  To me, this is the greatest book ever written.  Charles Dickens literally invented or reinvigorated the modern holiday season with his book.  I read A Christmas Carol every year to my kids and watch every version from the original talker with Sir Seymour Hicks to the version with Reginald Owen (Admiral Boom from Mary Poppins) and Alistair Sim, from the musical version with Albert Finney (Hercule Perot & Daddy Warbucks) to the more haunting version with George C. Scott.  Last Year the BBC Show Dickensian featured characters from Dicken's novels trying to solve the murder of Jacob Marley.  Literature is complete with references and allusions to the Christmas Carol.  Merry Christmas!!!  A Christmas Carol by Charles D...

“Learn to love your failures, Marcus, because it is your failures that will make you who you are. It is your failures that will give meaning to your victories. ” Harry Quebert Hey 1000 Bookies!!  I recently finished the murder mystery, The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker.  Mr. Dicker is a Swiss novelist.   I enthusiastically recommend it to anyone who likes a good mystery.   I discovered the book on a Buzzfeed list, 21 Thought-Provoking Books That Will Stay on Your Mind for Days.   The book did not disappoint.   Although the book is over 600 pages long, the story did not feel overly long nor did I lose interest.   I found the book a pretty quick read and I almost did not want the book to end.   However, I wanted to find out what really happened.   The story has many twists and turns.   Everything centers around the disappearance in 1975 of Nola Kellergan, a 15yo waitress and high school student.   What...

"And Don't Laugh.  As you have seen, within the walls laughter doesn't enjoy a good reputation" Umberto Ecco, The Name of the Rose Hey 1000 Bookies!!!! Our current stop on the 1000 Books to Read Before You Die takes us to the 1300s, in Italy by way of the novel, The Name of The Rose by Umberto Ecco.  This historical fiction story is approximately 600 pages long, a very long 600 pages long.  The story is narrated by the character of Adso.  Adso is recounting the take many years after the events of the book.  Adso is the sidekick/monk novice of William of Baskerville.  William is an English Franciscan monk who is sent by the Holy Roman Emperor to advocate on behalf of the Franciscans Monks who are accused of being heretics by Pope John XXII.   In 1327,   friar   William  and  and Adso , travel to a  Benedictine monastery in  Northern Italy  to attend a  theological disputation . This abbey is bei...

“You know the character, of course, You’ve Seen him throughout your life—in cartoons, on cereal boxes, in countless movies and TV shows, and later teaming up with other creature-feature stars like Frankenstein and the Wolf Man, squaring off against the good guys from Sherlock Holmes to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” James Mustich Hi 1000 Bookies!!! Our next visit in the 1000 Books to Read Before You Die  begins at the turn of the last century in the woods of Transylvania, and then the estates of Victorian England.  For this Halloween season, I chose to read the classic novel, Dracula by Bram Stoker.  Because of this great story, a little known minor historical figure gained immortality…at least culturally.  Count Dracula has attained the highest level of recognition in  the literary hall of fame with the likes of Sherlock Holmes, Ebenezer Scrooge, and Tom Sawyer. However,  according to literary critic, Brooke Allen, “Upon its publication in 18...

“And a last thought from Tom: O Mr. Moundshroud, will we EVER stop being afraid of nights and death? And the thought returned: When you reach the stars, boy, yes, and live there forever, all the fears will go, and Death himself will die.” The Halloween Tree is is a great story about Halloween and one of those books that should be on the list of Books to Read before you Die.  Written by Ray Bradbury of Fahernheit 451 fame and published in1972, The Halloween Tree is an example of a "Buddy" story.  Geared to teenage boys and those of us who remember our younger selves--the book tells the story of preteen boys enjoying a Halloween evening.  I cannot recommend this story enough to all the preteens, teens and those of us that are young at heart who nostalgically reflect on their own Halloween nights.  In a time with slasher movies and monsters like Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees and Freddie Kreuger, the Halloween Tree is spooky without becoming terrorfying or gory....

The Game of Kings By Dorothy Dunnett Hello 1000 Bookies!!!   The next stop on the tour of the 1000 Books to Read Before You Die takes us to 1550s Scotland in a historical fiction novel.   The Game of Kings , written by Dorothy Dunnett, is the first novel in an eventual 6 novel series, the Lymond Chronicles.   This was Ms. Dunnett’s first novel and she decided to write it with the encouragement of her husband when she said she ran out of literature she liked.   The novel came out in 1961 and a reader can tell that.   Today the popularity of the Outlander book Series and television show owes much to The Game of Kings.   Before there was Jamie Fraser, there was Francis Crawford, the Master of Cutler.   The novel takes place in Stuart Scotland in the 1550s.   When King Henry VIII died, England and Scotland were not one nation as they are today. Henry was succeeded by his son, Edward VI. Henry wanted a son and broke the Catholic Church to ...

Salem’s Lot By Stephen King The book Salem’s Lot is one of my favorite novels ever written.   I read the novel every October.   The characters are old friends to me.   The spookiness fits the season.   Halloween is a major holiday at my house, so I wanted to share some spooky books on my blog this October.   I personally believe that Stephen King, the author of Salem’s Lot , is one of the best authors the United States has ever produced. One day, Stephen King will be mentioned in the same breath as Twain, Hawthorne, Dickenson and Fitzgerald.   It was not always this way. I labored under the mistaken impression that Stephen King was a “horror” writer.   I would see the stack of Stephen King hard back novels on a bookshelf at my grandmother’s home.   She always purchased the latest King book.   I would wrinkle my nose, and silently or not so silently pass judgement on my grandmother’s lousy taste in reading.   I would even avo...

"This was the land where no man had to bow" Michael Shaara, The Killer Angels Hello 1000 Bookies!!!!  We have a great blog post on The Killer Angels .  The Killer Angels is on the list of 1 000 Books to Read Before You Die.   When we were young kids, our guest blogger, Mr. Jonathan Hanson and I went on a trip to Gettysburg with his wonderful parents.  We had been watching the miniseries,  North and South Book 2 and it was a real treat.  We saw the cyclorama and the battlefield. Jon was a Civil War reenactor who fought at Gettysburg. Who better to review this masterpiece--I am so proud to have Jon's blog post on The Killer Angels .  Without further ado... A Review of the Killer Angels By Jonathan Hanson  The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara makes my Top 10 List of Books I’d Want on a Deserted Island. Every time I read it, I find something new within: a connection between characters or a historic reference that I’d missed before. As a hist...

“Number one: you are not the first and you will certainly not be the last. Number two: remember, it’s not about the money—it’s about The Chain.”   Adrian McKinty The Chain: The Sum of All Parents Fears By Jim Romano The Chain is a novel by Northern Irish author, Adrian McKinty.   The novel scared the hell out of me.   Pure and simple.   The events written in The Chain is the sum of all my fears as a parent.   Everyday I worry about the safety of my daughters.   Adding onto my worries about a crazed person with a gun shooting up their school, I also worry about them being kidnapped. I worry about them being sexually abused. I worry about evil being visited upon them.   The Chain brings out how our social media society could be perverted to hunt our children. This story begins with a kind of botched kidnapping.   A 12-year-old girl is kidnapped at her bus stop.   The kidnapping is a notch in the chain.   The girl’s mother...