Methodically reading through a list can get dull. I tried to tackle the Modern Library's 100 Greatest Novels a few years back. It was fun for a couple of years. I discovered a couple of authors that I really enjoy reading, and I read some good books that I probably would have never opened. But somewhere around the 70s, I lost my head of steam. I started to see the philosophical attitudes of the people who make those lists, and how similar the themes, subject matter, and even characters were during the 'modern' period. I'm not sure I can bring myself to surmount the pile of Henry James, D.H. Lawrence and E.M. Forster that is left to read.
I choose to use my personal book list differently. I don't go through it chronologically or in any type of systemic fashion. When I am ready for a new book, then I choose one from the list that I feel like reading. Sometimes I will deliberately focus for a bit on history or theology for a few months, but then I will usually jump back to something relaxing to read. In all it keeps my reading somewhat focused by the people I've met, the classes I've taken, and other books. But at the end of the day, I get to read what I want to read.
I've copied a partial list below!
Ransom - David Malouf
Ten Hours Until Dawn - Michael Tougias
Mutiny on the Globe - Thomas Farel Hefferman
The Worst Journey in the World - Apsley Cherry-Garrard
Father Than Any Man - Martin Dugard
Over the Edge of the World - Lawrence Bergreen
The Kon-Tiki - Thor Heyerdahl
In Harm's Way - Doug Stanton
Of Whales and Men - RB Robertson
Mawson's Will - Lennard Bickel
Into Africa - Martin Dugard
The Journals of Lewis and Clark - Lewis and Clark
Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America - Cabeza de Vaca
Among the Believers - VS Naipul
Veiled Sentiment - Lila Abu Lughod
The Arabs in History - Bernard Lewis
Debating Muslims: Cultural Dialogue - Michael Fischer
Blood Revenge - Joseph Ginat
All the Little Live Things - Wallace Stegner
Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned - Walter Mosley
California: A History - Kevin Starr
Winning the Wild West - Page Stegner
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men - James Agee
The Civil War: A Narrative - Shelby Foote
The American Civil War - John Keegan
The Longest Night - David Eicher
Confessions of John D Lee
High Adventure - Edmund Hillary
Touching the Void - Joe Simpson
The Lost City of Z - David Grann
Ransom - David Malouf
Ten Hours Until Dawn - Michael Tougias
Mutiny on the Globe - Thomas Farel Hefferman
The Worst Journey in the World - Apsley Cherry-Garrard
Father Than Any Man - Martin Dugard
Over the Edge of the World - Lawrence Bergreen
The Kon-Tiki - Thor Heyerdahl
In Harm's Way - Doug Stanton
Of Whales and Men - RB Robertson
Mawson's Will - Lennard Bickel
Into Africa - Martin Dugard
The Journals of Lewis and Clark - Lewis and Clark
Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America - Cabeza de Vaca
Among the Believers - VS Naipul
Veiled Sentiment - Lila Abu Lughod
The Arabs in History - Bernard Lewis
Debating Muslims: Cultural Dialogue - Michael Fischer
Blood Revenge - Joseph Ginat
All the Little Live Things - Wallace Stegner
Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned - Walter Mosley
California: A History - Kevin Starr
Winning the Wild West - Page Stegner
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men - James Agee
The Civil War: A Narrative - Shelby Foote
The American Civil War - John Keegan
The Longest Night - David Eicher
Confessions of John D Lee
High Adventure - Edmund Hillary
Touching the Void - Joe Simpson
The Lost City of Z - David Grann
The March Arabs - Thesiger
High Exposure - David Breashears
The Travels of Marco Polo
Annapurna - Maurice herzog
Between a Rock and a Hard Place - Aron Ralston
K2 - Charles Houston
The Darkest Jungle - Todd Balf
The Race for Timbuktu - Frank Kryza
*A Man on the Moon - Andrew Chaikin
The Vinland Sagas
My Life as an Explorer - Sven Hedin
Trespassers on the Roof of the World - Peter Hopkirk
On Horseback Through Asia Minor - Frederick Burnaby
The Man Eaters of Kumaon - Jim Corbet
Brazilain Adventure - Peter Fleming
Undaunted Courage - Stephen Ambrose
The Man Eaters of Tsavo - Colonel Patterson
The Crystal Horizon - Reinhold Messner
The Snow Leopard - Peter Matthiessen
Digging Up the Dead - Michael Kammen
Darkness Visible - William Styron
The Force of Destiny - Christopher Duggan
The Gamble - Thomas Ricks
The Discarded Image - C.S. Lewis
The Everlasting Man - Chesterton
The Message in the Bottle - Walker Percy
Amusing Ourselves to Death - Neil Postman
The Last 100 Days - John Toland
The Rising Sun - John Toland
The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien
In the Land of the White Death - Albanov
Dora: An Analysis of Hysteria - Freud
Still Life with Oysters and Lemon
Nectar in a Sieve - Kamala Markandaya
Calling of Katie Makanya - Margaret McCord
The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
Blink - Ted Dekker
The Man With the Golden Arm - Nelson Algren
Up From Slavery - Washington
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Angelou
The View From Pompey's Head - Basso
Mating - Norman Rush
The Big Sleep - Chandler
Sacred Pathways - Gary Thomas
St. Paul the Traveler and the Roman Citizen
Jewish Wars - Josephus
The Real Face of Atheism - Ravi Zacharias
The Reformation: A History - Patrick Collinson
A Tale of Three Kings - Gene Edwards
The Release of the Spirit - Watchman Nee
Letters from a Sceptic - Greg Boyd?
The Crazed - Ha Jin
The Interpreter of Maladies - Lahiri
The Namesake - Lahiri
Silence - Endo
The Bookseller of Kabul - Seierstad
Purple Hibiscus - Adichie
The Essential Haiku - Robert Hass
The Adventrues of Sayf ben Dhi Yazan - Yazan
The Epic of the Kings: the National Epic of Persia - Ferdowsi
Subhuman Redneck Poems - Les Murray
Look Homeward, Angel - Thomas Wolfe
A Persian Requiem - Simin Daneshvar
Cane - Jean Toomer
The Last Gentleman - Walker Percy
Beasts of the Southern Wild - Doris Betts
Lanterns on the Levee - Percy
The Holy Sinner - Thomas Mann
The Witch Diggers - Jessamyn West
Ten North Frederick - John O'Hara
Band of Angels - Robert Penn Warren
The Field of Vision - Wright Morris
The Magic Barrel - Malamud
Goodbye, Columbus - Philip Roth
The Cave - Robert Penn Warren
Confessions of Nat Turner - Styron
Steps - Kosinski
Chimera - John Barth
Jr. - Gaddis
Blood Tie - Mary Lee Settle
That Night - McDermott
Paris Trout - Dexter
Wartime Lies - Louis Begley
The Berlin Stories - Isherwood
Middle Passage - Charles Johnson
Atonement - Ian McEwan
High Exposure - David Breashears
The Travels of Marco Polo
Annapurna - Maurice herzog
Between a Rock and a Hard Place - Aron Ralston
K2 - Charles Houston
The Darkest Jungle - Todd Balf
The Race for Timbuktu - Frank Kryza
*A Man on the Moon - Andrew Chaikin
The Vinland Sagas
My Life as an Explorer - Sven Hedin
Trespassers on the Roof of the World - Peter Hopkirk
On Horseback Through Asia Minor - Frederick Burnaby
The Man Eaters of Kumaon - Jim Corbet
Brazilain Adventure - Peter Fleming
Undaunted Courage - Stephen Ambrose
The Man Eaters of Tsavo - Colonel Patterson
The Crystal Horizon - Reinhold Messner
The Snow Leopard - Peter Matthiessen
Digging Up the Dead - Michael Kammen
Darkness Visible - William Styron
The Force of Destiny - Christopher Duggan
The Gamble - Thomas Ricks
The Discarded Image - C.S. Lewis
The Everlasting Man - Chesterton
The Message in the Bottle - Walker Percy
Amusing Ourselves to Death - Neil Postman
The Last 100 Days - John Toland
The Rising Sun - John Toland
The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien
In the Land of the White Death - Albanov
Dora: An Analysis of Hysteria - Freud
Still Life with Oysters and Lemon
Nectar in a Sieve - Kamala Markandaya
Calling of Katie Makanya - Margaret McCord
The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
Blink - Ted Dekker
The Man With the Golden Arm - Nelson Algren
Up From Slavery - Washington
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Angelou
The View From Pompey's Head - Basso
Mating - Norman Rush
The Big Sleep - Chandler
Sacred Pathways - Gary Thomas
St. Paul the Traveler and the Roman Citizen
Jewish Wars - Josephus
The Real Face of Atheism - Ravi Zacharias
The Reformation: A History - Patrick Collinson
A Tale of Three Kings - Gene Edwards
The Release of the Spirit - Watchman Nee
Letters from a Sceptic - Greg Boyd?
The Crazed - Ha Jin
The Interpreter of Maladies - Lahiri
The Namesake - Lahiri
Silence - Endo
The Bookseller of Kabul - Seierstad
Purple Hibiscus - Adichie
The Essential Haiku - Robert Hass
The Adventrues of Sayf ben Dhi Yazan - Yazan
The Epic of the Kings: the National Epic of Persia - Ferdowsi
Subhuman Redneck Poems - Les Murray
Look Homeward, Angel - Thomas Wolfe
A Persian Requiem - Simin Daneshvar
Cane - Jean Toomer
The Last Gentleman - Walker Percy
Beasts of the Southern Wild - Doris Betts
Lanterns on the Levee - Percy
The Holy Sinner - Thomas Mann
The Witch Diggers - Jessamyn West
Ten North Frederick - John O'Hara
Band of Angels - Robert Penn Warren
The Field of Vision - Wright Morris
The Magic Barrel - Malamud
Goodbye, Columbus - Philip Roth
The Cave - Robert Penn Warren
Confessions of Nat Turner - Styron
Steps - Kosinski
Chimera - John Barth
Jr. - Gaddis
Blood Tie - Mary Lee Settle
That Night - McDermott
Paris Trout - Dexter
Wartime Lies - Louis Begley
The Berlin Stories - Isherwood
Middle Passage - Charles Johnson
Atonement - Ian McEwan
The Blind Assassin - Atwood
Middlemarch - Eliot
Beware the Fish! - Gordon Korman
Widow for One Year - Irving
The Hotel New Hampshire - Irving
Trying to Save Piggy Sneed - Irving
Cities of the Plain - McCarthy
The Bear in the Attic -Patrick McManus
Suttree - McCarthy
Dog Soldiers - Robert Stone
*Love in the Time of Cholera - Marquez
Middlemarch - Eliot
Beware the Fish! - Gordon Korman
Widow for One Year - Irving
The Hotel New Hampshire - Irving
Trying to Save Piggy Sneed - Irving
Cities of the Plain - McCarthy
The Bear in the Attic -Patrick McManus
Suttree - McCarthy
Dog Soldiers - Robert Stone
*Love in the Time of Cholera - Marquez
Snow Falling on Cedars - Guterson
The Lay of the Land - Ford
In the Tennessee Mountains - Craddock
God's Little Acre - Erskine Caldwell
Like Trees, Walking - Ravi Howard
The Lay of the Land - Ford
In the Tennessee Mountains - Craddock
God's Little Acre - Erskine Caldwell
Like Trees, Walking - Ravi Howard
Sugar - FcFadden
Visits from a Drowned Girl - Sherrill
You Don't Love Me Yet - Jonathan Letham
The Thirteenth Tale - Setterfield
March - Geraldine Brooks
Housekeeping - Robinson
Gilead - Robinson
The Known World - Edward P. Jones
Les Miserables
Hatchet - Gary Paulsen
Captains Courageous - Kipling
She - H Rider Haggard
Southern Mail/Night Flight - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Lost World - Arthur Conan Doyle
The Man Who Would Be King - Rudyard Kipling
The Adventures of Captain Hatteras - Verne
The Tigers of Mompracem - Emilio Salgari
The Pirates of Malaysia - E. Salgari
Congo - Michael Crichton
Jurassic Park - Crichton
The Lost World - Crichton
Kidnapped - RL Stevenson
The Mysterious Island - Verne
True at First Light - Ernest Hemingway
The Thirty Nine Steps - John Buchan
The Sea Wolf - Jack London
The Beach - Alex Garland
Captain Blood - Rafael Sabatini
Tarzan of the Apes - Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Road to Omaha
The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse
Strange Angels - James Agee
Visits from a Drowned Girl - Sherrill
You Don't Love Me Yet - Jonathan Letham
The Thirteenth Tale - Setterfield
March - Geraldine Brooks
Housekeeping - Robinson
Gilead - Robinson
The Known World - Edward P. Jones
Les Miserables
Hatchet - Gary Paulsen
Captains Courageous - Kipling
She - H Rider Haggard
Southern Mail/Night Flight - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Lost World - Arthur Conan Doyle
The Man Who Would Be King - Rudyard Kipling
The Adventures of Captain Hatteras - Verne
The Tigers of Mompracem - Emilio Salgari
The Pirates of Malaysia - E. Salgari
Congo - Michael Crichton
Jurassic Park - Crichton
The Lost World - Crichton
Kidnapped - RL Stevenson
The Mysterious Island - Verne
True at First Light - Ernest Hemingway
The Thirty Nine Steps - John Buchan
The Sea Wolf - Jack London
The Beach - Alex Garland
Captain Blood - Rafael Sabatini
Tarzan of the Apes - Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Road to Omaha
The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse
Strange Angels - James Agee
Deadwood - Dexter
The Meadow - Galvin
The Jump-Off Creek
Desperadoes - Hansen
Sometimes a Great Nation - Ken Kesey
Streets of Laredo - McMurtry
Call it Sleep - Roth
Life Size - Shute
The River of Doubt
Foundation Trilogy - Aasimov
The Reformed Pastor
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Sexual Violence: Our War Against Rape
Friday Night Lights
Sounder
Honor and Shame: Unlocking the Door - Roland Muller
The Meadow - Galvin
The Jump-Off Creek
Desperadoes - Hansen
Sometimes a Great Nation - Ken Kesey
Streets of Laredo - McMurtry
Call it Sleep - Roth
Life Size - Shute
The River of Doubt
Foundation Trilogy - Aasimov
The Reformed Pastor
The Martian Chronicles - Ray Bradbury
Sexual Violence: Our War Against Rape
Friday Night Lights
Sounder
Honor and Shame: Unlocking the Door - Roland Muller
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