To be honest, I owe the library...

The public library. She and I have had a long and emotional relationship. The first library I remember was in my Catholic elementary school, St. Ann's. For some reason many of the books had been re-covered in plain, red vinyl covers which did not tell you even the name of the book. You had to open the book to the first page to even see what it was. They were not the least conducive to browsing, but I remember picking one out at random, reading it and finding it so unexpectedly entertaining that I had a revelation. I was about six years old and remember going home and telling my mom with absolute solemnity, "I KNOW why they say, 'don't judge a book by its cover.'

My next library was in Maple Grove and it was here that things got messy. I loved the library. There was not another place on Earth that I would have chosen over it. For some reason, my family didn't go there often -- not nearly as often as I wanted -- and so I had absolutely no self-control when I did go. It was not uncommon for me to leave with 25 books (lots of Sweet Valley High and V.C. Andrews.) I usually only read a fraction of them, lost a greater fraction and never, ever returned them on time.

This resulted in a very long stretch of my being deprived of the joy of the library because I had accumulated such excessive fines. I pined for it. I felt sick to my stomach when I thought of it. Years passed.

I heard a rumor when I was about 13 that Amnesty International had paid off everyone's library fines. At first I didn't -- couldn't -- believe it. But the rumor grew in strength and credibility until finally I made the phone call to check. I can't tell you how agonized I was as I dialed the number. If it were true, I could go back to my favorite place on Earth! If it weren't true, not only would I be bitterly disappointed, but I'd have to face the ultimate shame of owning up to my past to the librarian who checked my account. The librarian breezily told me that I had no fine. Amnesty, indeed!

Unfortunately, that was not the end of my irresponsible ways with the library. At 18, I went on a library book binge and then decided to leave the state for the summer. By the time I got home, I had destroyed my good name with the Hennepin County Library yet again and had accumulated a $200+ fine that I STILL OWE TO THIS DAY!

So, not only do I owe the library for all of the joy that I got (inbetween my self-imposed banishments) from visiting them, I literally owe the library. You'd think I'd pay my debt, wouldn't you? But, as is typical of her gentle nature, the library is very patient. She doesn't send bills or accumulate interest. So it is much easier to ignore her, especially now that I don't live in Minnesota.

The point, that I've taken a long time to reach, is that I would like to publicly promise that after I've finished my project, I will pay my fine at the Maple Grove, Minnesota library!

34 The Giver (the first book!!!)

I chose The Giver by Lois Lowry as my first book. Why? Mostly because it was one of the only books that the Gig Harbor library (which showcases roughly the same number of books as your average garage sale) actually had on the shelf. I was surprised to find it in the Junior section.

I opened this book having no idea what to expect. I'd heard of it, but for some reason I thought it was about the Holocaust. I think it's because there's an old man on the cover with a long beard and he looks sad -- guess that's my own personal symbol of the Holocaust.

It's not. At all. About the Holocaust.


Some stats:

• I had a really hard time accepting that Lois Lowry was a woman. I don't know why. Lois is a woman's name, but I kept getting surprised when I looked at the back flap and found a woman's picture.
• The book is very short -- 180 pages
• I read the entire book pretty much in one sitting -- causing me to stay up until around 2 AM even though I had to be up at 6:30. Beware!
• The author lives on Beacon Hill in Boston -- so she's apparently rich
• The Giver won the Newbery Medal

Plot Summary

The story takes place in the future and is told from the point of view of 12 year-old Jonas. It's got the creepy Utopian future (but at what cost, man !!??!!) feel to it. Really, I can't say too much about the plot because it's just so cool to discover it on your own. Yeah, I know -- crappy plot summary!

LoLo's Review

Obviously I loved it, because I sacrificed sleep (which I hold as dearly to my happiness as pizza and weekends) in order to finish it. Lois is one concise little writer. You can't put it down because every single word draws you in further. Jonas has never known a society other than his own, and from his innocent perspective it seems even creepier. And I mean it -- make your skin crawl creepy with one of THE freakiest scenes I've ever read (See pages 149-150)...and in a children's book!

The end was satisfying, but a little ambiguous. If anyone reads it and wants to discuss, I'd like that.

LoLo's Rating

As this is my first rating, I'll try to set some ground rules. I'll use a 5 ampersand system. I'm going to use my favorite book, Catch-22 (funny, insightful, meaningful, brilliantly written, amazing character development) as the standard for a &&&&&. I'll use my least favorite book (that I can remember) Judith Kranz's Lovers (vapid, trendy, craptastic) as the standard for the lowest score which is &. Hopefully, as I go along I'll be able to have a little more precise measuring system -- but this is what we've got now.

So without further ado...

&&&&

Four ampersands! I would maybe have given it four and a half but I have no idea how to create a half ampersand.

To sum up -- I really did like it a lot. It was especially impressive for a kid's book as it didn't pull any punches. I'd love it if someone wanted to read it and post a comment!

That makes 38...62 to go!

It Begins

As stated previously, I have read 37 of the 100 books on The List.

Only 63 to go!

Come along with me on my journey to read the rest of the novels and find out if librarians really do know best...

I will update as I finish each novel (maybe multiple posts for the long books...like David Copperfield.) Read the books with me! Comment! Tell me about what you're reading!

There's a comments section -- use it!

One Hundred Novels

A good book can change your whole world -- at least for awhile. A great book can change your world forever.

Having experienced a drought of great books recently, I looked online for a list of great novels. I found this. It's Random House's list of the 100 greatest novels ever written. Maybe they're right, maybe these novels are great, but I've gotta say I started getting depressed just reading the list of titles. The Grapes of Wrath, 1984, Animal Farm, Main Street, The House of Mirth...what is it about bleakness that critics find so laudable?

Disappointed, but undaunted I checked out the corresponding Reader's List. The Readers seem to be overwhelmingly made up of scientologists and extreme capitalists as there are SEVEN novels by Ayn Rand and L. Ron Hubbard in the top 10!!!

I took a different tack and searched for favorite novels instead. I found the list that I've pasted in below. It is called The 100 Favorite Novels of Librarians

This list...RULES.

First of all, it contains almost every single one of my favorite novels of all time (Gone With the Wind, Lord of the Rings, Mists of Avalon, Catch-22, To Kill a Mockingbird, Jane Eyre, etc.) Second of all, it is filled with books that are just fun to read. Some of them are "great" and some of them probably aren't by critic's standards -- but readers love them anyway.

Being a freak, I knew I had to obsess about this list! And obsess...I have.

Some statistics:

• I have read 37 of the novels on the list already
• Of those 37, I have read 8 of them more than once
• There are only two novels that I hated (A Handmaid's Tale, The Old Man and the Sea) and another four that I didn't really like (One Hundred Years of Solitude, Snow Falling on Cedars, The World According to Garp, Beloved and The Great Gatsby)
• There are 7 novels that I haven't read, but that I own (A Christmas Carol, Alice in Wonderland, Atlas Shrugged, the Count of Monte Cristo, The Color Purple, The Stand, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
• There are at least two misspellings in the list, which I find odd (Can you spot them?)
  
• I will not rest easily until I have read them all!!!

1. Pride and Prejudice Austen 2. To Kill a Mockingbird Lee 3. Jane Eyre Bronte 4. Gone with the Wind Mitchell 5. Lord of the Rings Tolkien 6. The Catcher in the Rye Salinger 7. Little Women Alcott 8. A Prayer of Owen Meany Irving 9. The Stand King 10. The Great Gatsby Fitzgerald 11. Mists of Avalon Bradley 12. David Copperfield Dickens 13. Kristen Lavransdotter Undset 14. Beloved Morrison 15. Age of Innocence Wharton 16. The Shell Seekers Pilcher 17. Tess of the D'Urbervilles Hardy 18. The World According to Garp Irving 19. Catch 22 Heller 20. The Clan of the Cave Bear Auel 21. The Horse Whisperer Evans 22. Pillars of the Earth Follett 23. Prince of Tides Conroy 24. Possession Byatt 25. Rebecca DuMaurier 26. Follow the River Thom 27. My Antonia Cather 28. The Old Man and the Sea Hemingway 29. The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne 30. Sophies Choice Styron 31. Snow Falling on Cedars Guterson 32. One Hundred Years of Solitude Marquez 33. Name of the Rose Eco 34. The Giver Lowry 35. Cold Mountain Frazier 36. Cold Sassy Tree Burns 37. Atlas Shrugged Rand 38. Bridge to Terebithia Paterson 39. Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant Tyler 40. The Hobbit Tolkien 41. Les Miserables Hugo 42. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Lewis 43. Wuthering Heights Bronte 44. A Tale of Two Cities Dickens 45. Huckelberry Finn Twain 46. Alice in Wonderland Carroll 47. The Wind in the Willows Grahame 48. The Bean Trees Kingsolving 49. Ben Hur Wallace 50. And Then There Were None Christie

51. The Secret Garden Burnett 52. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Taylor 53. Busman's Honeymoon Sayers 54. Schindler's List Keneally 55. Emma Austen 56. The Color Purple Walker 57. The Count of Monte Cristo Dumas 58. Charlotte's Web White 59. Anne of Green Gables Montgomery 60. The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood Wells 61. Lady Chatterly's Lover Lawrence 62. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Smith 63. East of Eden Steinbeck 64. The Once and Future King White 65. Enders Game Card 66. The Fountainhead Rand 67. A Patchwork Planet Tyler 68. Gaudy Night Sayers 69. Shogun Clavell 70. Grapes of Wrath Steinbeck 71. Handmaid's Tale Atwood 72. Lonesome Dove McMurtry 73. Outlander Gabaldon 74. Pigs in Heaven Kingsolver 75. Slaughterhouse Five Vonnegut 76. Jude the Obscure Hardy 77. Time and Again Finney 78. Misery King 79. A Christmas Carol Dickens 80. The Accidental Tourist Tyler 81. Giants of the Earth Rolvaag 82. Persuasion Austen 83. Fried Green Tomatoes Flagg 84. Tisha Specht 85. The Thornbirds McCullough 86. Christy Marshall 87. Lost Horizon Hilton 88. The Little Prince St. Exupery 89. Fahrenheight 451 Bradbury 90. For Whom the Bell Tolls Hemingway 91. Frankenstein Shelley 92. Bleak House Dickens 93. Boy's Life McCammon 94. Chesapeake Michener 95. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Adams 96. How Green Was My Valley Llewellyn 97. Howard's End Forster 98. I, Robot Asimov 99. Of Mice and Men Steinbeck 100. A Passage to India Forster