In anticipation of the New Year, I'd like to hear your resolution for a work of literature that you're planning to read sometime in 2009, along with an explanation of why you feel you need to read it.
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Having been a blogger since my early childhood, I have decided to incorporate this useful tool into my teaching. Instructions: At the end of each month, I will award you 2 points for each meaningful post, with a maximum score of 12/10. Be sure to read what others have written - no credit for repetition.
27 comments:
For the past couple of months, I have heard about the Twilight series everywhere I go. I have gotten so annoyed with wondering if it is really as good as everyone says it is that I think I'm going to have to read it soon. The Harry Potter books never excited me but maybe this will be different.
i have always wanted to read Gone With The Wind and actually started it this year but it was a library book so i had to return it before i could even get into it. So thins year i'm going to buy it and read it. As for why, well i really want to see the movie and i cant do that untill i read the book.
I also plan to finnish Wurthering Heights, i started it last year but then got too involved in the play and musical and never finnished it. why i want to read that one is just because i enjoy books from that period sometimes.
I'm sorry to admit it but I have to agree with Carla, "Twilight" is popping up almost eveywhere I turn and now even my 28-year-old sister has fallen victim. I fear that I too must read this annoyingly long series so I can finally understand what the heck everyone is talking about. I also need to finish Lolita... Ms Winkler gave me a copy last year, but then the year ended while I was halfway through the book, so I had to return it. If I can possibly conjure up enough motivation and/or time to read anything else by Nabokov I certainly would...only over the summer though. Is Nabokov still alive? If he was, my literary resolution would be learn how to write as freakishly/amazingly as he does.
Oh, I forgot to add this.. If Nabokov would teach me to write that way, that is.
The book that I plan on reading as soon as I can is "The Glass Castle". I know a lot of people who have read it, and have told me that it is something that I have to read. It will be interesting because it is a true story; author Jeannette Walls tells the story of her intense childhood and how it has affected her life.
First off, Allie you definitely need to read "The Glass Castle"! Winkler told me to read it and I loved it. It's such an interesting story. But anyways, I think I'm going to have to agree with Carla and Paul. Everyone is so obsessed with this Twilight series. I told myself that I wouldn't follow the trend and start reading them but I think I just might have to. Some people who have read it tell me that they were skeptical at first as well but now they can't put them down. So my New Year's literary resolution is to read Twilight to see if its as good as everyones making it out to be.
I want to tackle a few books but most of all I want to read The Memory Keeper's Daughter because I see it everywhere I go and everytime I see it I pick it up but I never actually read it. I think that it is about time that I do read it because if it is able to catch my atttention that much when I see it a thousand times then I think it should be read.
I want to read Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights because they are both referred to a lot, basically everywhere you go. They are also referred to a lot in other books. I think it is important to read them because they can teach important life lessons. When we had to pick a Victorian novel to read in the summer before junior year i chose Jane Eyre and i really liked it so i would highly recommend it to other girls that believe a woman should have her own identity.
In response to some other comments, i read Twilight sophmore year before it was crazily popular, actually most people had never heard of it. I absolutely loved it, but i think you need to go into it with an open mind and forget what everyone has told you in order to enjoy it.
I have had Vanity Fair for about a year and I haven't had the time to tackle it, so I hope I can read it this year. I also want to read Anna Karenina at some point because I have heard such good things about it. I read the beginning of it at the book store when I got my copy of Hamlet this summer and I think I am going to like it.
When I am in need of "literary advice," or in other words in need of a recommended reads, I turn to my grandfather. My grandfather always points out the "classics" he read and thinks I should read. A few months ago he suggested three novels, one of which is the novel we are reading right now (Crime and Punishment). The other two were Erewhon by Samuel Butler and Gulliver's Travels by Johnathan Swift. I have been meaning to try to tackle Gulliver's Travels since last year because I was fascinated with the works of Johnathan Swift. I fell in love with his clean cut, straightforward parody and satire that was seen in the dark humor of a "Modest Proposal." I admire any man who can base an essay around the central idea of baby cannibalism. As for Erewhon, I don't know much about it other than that its supposed to be backwards for "nowhere." It is another classic satirizing Victorian society by creating a fictional utopia nation called "erewhon." I guess what it comes down to with me is reading "classic" parodies and satires.
I've actually owned this novel for a while now, but never got around to it. My New Year's resolution is to read The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I've wanted to read it ever since I discovered who Oscar Wilde was last year when we read The Importance of Being Earnest. I really liked his poem the Ballad of Reading Gaol, and I've always loved novels from that time period, so I feel that reading The Picture of Dorian Gray would be something I would like.
I also plan on maybe picking up Twilight as alot of you have said, for very similar reasons. I did like Harry Potter when that craze first began, although somehow I never made it past the fifth book. Twilight seems to be that craze now, and I think I'll give it a chance.
i also want to read Jane Eyre. i had forgoten that except Brenda reminded me, i bought it this summer but i would like to actually read it.
The first book I need to read in 2009 is Identical by Ellen Hopkins. She's my favorite author, and I've been waiting a while for a new book to come out, so I'm definately reading this one first.
Afterwards, I'd like to read The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. They're both relatively easy reads, but many friends have recomended them to me. I just haven't found the time to read them. I also have to read The Kite Runner before I see the movie...
Another reason that I'm determined to read both books is because I haven't read anything similair. Both books feature Afghanistan as the main setting, and explore a culture where people struggle to live. Most of the books I've read don't deal with foreign issues, so I'd like to learn something new from both of these books.
The book I have decided to read in 2009 is Dostoyevsky's Notes From the Underground. When i got my copy of Crime and Punishment I picked up this book as well since it sounded really interesting. I am waiting for us to be done with Crime and Punishment however because I dont think i should read them at the same time. I hope this book is as good as Crime and Punishment, but it sounds very different since it is Dostoyevsky's own knowledge of being in prison.
I read the Twilight series already...so I can't be cool like everyone else and say I'm going to attempt them.
What I am going to try reading is The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran. I got it last Christmas as a gift and still haven't taken the time to read it. It's not too too long and I was working the other day and someone asked if their codename could be Kahlil and they began to spell it and I was like, " I know how to spell it!" Because I totally know who Kahlil is...so now I feel partially obliged but partially intrigued to read The Prophet.
I really really really want to read the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy...series...thing. I've never watched any of the movies because I require myself to read the books first, you know? My cousin is obsessed with the Hobbit and I started it back in 6th grade and never finished, so now I feel like I need to read through them all. I'm excited though because I love those kind of fantasy- middle earth crazy books.
Oooh, that reminds me I need to read Eldest and Brisnger because the fourth book in the Eragon series is coming out. AND I have to read Untamed, it came out in November-ish.
Most importantly though, I am going to read Infinite Jest. I read an article back in October about this revolutionary author who was really making an impact on the present day literary community that just was unable to deal with life and developed...or had... a mental illness and committed suicide in September. We were still reading Hamlet at the time so the title's allusion to the Gravedigger scene interested me...plus its supposedly one of the guy's best books.
Mr. Cianflone! If I can't find it at the book store...like I couldn't 3 different times, may I please borrow yours?
Yay!
Like some others, I going to have to say "Twilight". I started reading it Thanksgiving break but didn't get too far into it. I really want to read it...just it see if it's good as everyone says it is.
Also, I want to "The Kite Runner". I wanted to read it when it first came out but never did. I've heard good things about it...so we'll have to see.
I'm going to agree with Kelsey on this one and say that I HAVE to read gone with the Wind. I've never heard a summary, or seen the movie, but my aunt gave it to me as a gift in May for my birthday and said I had to read it. I know that my aunt loves to read, so I wasn't suprised (that looks wrong)that she got me a book. But usually I don't pay attention. This time, however, she wrote a note saying how this was the first book she LOVED when she read it is school and I had to read it. Obviously I havent yet. But I really feel that if people feel so strongly about it it must be amazing.
Winkler aslo told me to read "The Glass Castle" and I'll get around to that someday.
Also I've always wanted to read Tale of Two Cities. And after Crime in Punishment's russain craziness I think that I definitely want to read Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina because it's always looked interesting, and now I feel that after reading about Raskolnikov I am ready for it.
I also hope to not be doing my blogs on the last night anymore (although it's interesting that it only happens when it New Years Eve). and I'd also like to thank Mike for reminding me about these at 9:00. He's my savior, obviously (other than you Cianflone).
Oh, and I want to read any books that Cianflone has said I should becasue he's a genius! And i better get full credit for all fo thee blogs.
I definitely want to read A Dance with Dragons, if it ever is released, but as for books that are already out, I am definitely going to read The Fountainhead for that scholarship contest
Oh well, I'm writing this in January. Too bad.
Brenda, definitely you should read Pride and Prejudice , I liked it a lot.
Um, I kind of want to try reading Ulysses, and War and Peace . Besides the fact that they are both classics and some of the greatest works ever...er...I actually am curious to see why the greatest novel EVER (Ulysses) is considered unreadable. And if it is unreadable, what's the point in making it the greatest novel ever? As for W&P I'm just interested to see what it's all about cause...like Kristen said, pretty much anything Cianflone says is good is good. Oh yeah and since I've finally found a copy of Fahrenheit 451 I'm gonna read that, because I want to know why people would burn books. Hopefully it's worth my time.
i would like to thank Ellen for her lovely post that made the rest of us look like a bunch of slakers who want to read fluffy books even if Gone with the Wind is like 1004pgs. thank you Ell for choising to read more Dostoesvsky (btw i just realised his names looks nothing like the way it's prononced but w/e)
I would like to read "Angels and Demons" by Dan Brown. After reading "The Da Vinci Code" and seeing the movie, I am assuming that I will like this book since it is based on some controversial topics and I enjoy reading about it. "The Da Vinci Code", I thought, was very interesting, so I have high expectations for this book as well.
I am going to try and read A Midsummer Night's Dream. Every play that I have read by Shakespeare I have really enjoyed. Every time Shakespeare's name seems to come up this is one of the titles that is mentioned. I have actually never read a Shakespeare play outside of school so I would like to be able to see what I can get out of it by myself. I always have a bigger appreciation for the play after it has been explained, so I would like to see how well I will enjoy it by trying to discover all the hidden messages by myself.
I did read “The Glass Castle,” and I thought it was a really good book. The author, Jeannette Walls’s, life was so hard and complicated, but she still found ways to have fun and live her own life. I know that stuff like that did go on, and still does go on, with parents who don’t really care and being in awful financial situations; reading this book made me feel even more appreciative of everything my parents have given me.
Now that I have finished “The Glass Castle” there is another book that I want to read. My trainer told me that I have to read “Hope Rising.” I don’t know too much about it, only the description I read online and what she told me about it, but it looks really interesting so that is the next book on my list.
I know i've alreay left a comment on this blog but I realized that I left out my absolute favorite author Jodi Piccoult. I've already read 3 of her books and I'm halfway through my 4th. I'm unsure of how many she's written in total but i know that i plan to read the rest of them in 2009. For anyone who's never read one of her books i absolutely recomend them. Theyre not girly books either so i think guys would enjoy them too. Each one has such an interesting story line that you just can't put them down. I definitely recommend Jodi Piccoult to anyone looking to read a good book in 2009.
I also would like to read The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls because last year i read First They Killed My Father with Miss Winkler, and though it was trajic, i really liked reading because reading a memior allows you to learn about history in a very unique way and i think getting inside someone's head like that also allows you to examine yourself. The Glass Castle is another memior that actually takes place in America and was recommended to me by Miss Winkler and i need to prioritize it.
I know I said that I wnated to read the Twilight series this year, but i haven't gotten around to it. So, I've decided to tackle something a little less overwhelming. I recently watched the movie 'The Kite Runner' for the first time and really liked it. I didn't even know that there was a book to go along with it until I saw my sister reading it a couple of days ago. When she's finished with it I think that I'm going to read it. It is always interesting to see the differences between books and their movies.
I would like to read the Fountainhead. This is my goal because i plan to also submit an essay to the foundation that gives money for high schoolers that read their books and write certain essays on it. I wish to challenge myself with the interpretation and reading of this book and then t turn it into an essay anyway, so the fact that there is a cash prize at stake makes the challenge even more desirable to take on. I have heard the book is actually pretty good so I'm not completely dreading the length or difficulty of it. It should be fun.
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