My book bucket list

I read about this on Bibliophile by the Sea and loved it! The original idea from Pam at Bookalicio.us was to list your top 10 books that others should read before they die. Lilly at Reading Extravaganza amended it to list the top 10 books that you haven't read but think you should before you die. I like this better because I cannot limit myself to 10 when it comes to recommending books to others, but I think I can manage just 10 for myself.

My list (three of these are on my Fill in the Gaps project list):

1. The Bible
2. Ulysses by James Joyce
3. the complete works of Shakespeare
4. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
5. Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
6. Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
7. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
8. The Histories by Herodotus
9. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
10. John Updike's Rabbit omnibus

What are you reading on Mondays? - September 28

I still haven't had time to write my review for The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis, but I got a couple of comments last week about it and wanted to say that I liked it tremendously. I highly recommend it.

Recent completions:

Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones -- I haven't written my review yet, but I enjoyed this one very much.

No Greater Love by Mother Theresa -- review

Reading this week:

A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor

Ungrateful Daughters: The Stuart Princesses Who Stole Their Father's Crown by Maureen Waller

Up next:

Nana by Emile Zola

Challenge progress:

1% Well-Read: 8/10
A to Z Challenge: 24/26
Baker Street Challenge: 2/4
Book Awards 3: 1/5
Chunkster: 2/3
Decades '09: 7/9
Elizabeth Gaskell: 1/2
Fill in the Gaps 100 Books: 4/100
George Eliot: 1/2
Guardian's 1000 Best Novels: 8/10
Orbis Terrarum: 9/10
Support Your Local Library: 32/50
Well-Rounded Challenge: 2/5
What's in a Name 2: 4/6

999 Challenge (overall): 67/81

999 Subcategories:

• 1001 Books: 7/9


• Booker/National Awards: 5/9


• Through the Decades: 7/9


• Dewey's Books: 8/9


• C.S. Lewis: 5/9


• Biographies: 8/9


• Travel: 9/9 ***complete


• Catholicism: 9/9 ***complete


• Dewey Decimal: 9/9 ***complete
  

It's Monday! What are you reading this week? is a weekly event hosted by J Kaye's Book Blog.

Books available on PaperBackSwap

In an ongoing effort to clean off some badly-needed shelf space, I listed a bunch more books to my PaperBackSwap account today. If you've noticed a book on this blog and thought you'd like to read it, check out my bookshelf at PaperBackSwap.com and request it. My nickname is florida-fan.

Here's what I listed:

All I Know About Animal Behavior I learned in Loehmann's Dressing Room by Erma Bombeck

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller

The Duchess of Windsor by Michael

Empire Falls by Richard Russo

A Fez of the Heart: Travels in Turkey in Search of a Hat by Jeremy Seal

Geisha: A Life by Mineko Iwasaki

The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw

Literary Feuds: A Century of Celebrated Quarrels - from Mark Twain to Tom Wolfe by Anthony Arthur

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester

Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

The Rural Life by Verlyn Klinkenborg

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carre

Tales of the South Pacific by James Michener

What Southern Women Know (The Every Woman Should): Timeless Secrets to Get Everything You Want in Love, Life, and Work by Ronda Rich

No Greater Love by Mother Teresa

Title: No Greater Love

Author: Mother Teresa

First Published: 1995

No. of Pages: 206

Synopsis (from B&N): "No Greater Love is the essential wisdom of Mother Teresa — the most accessible, intimate, and inspiring book of her teachings. Thematically arranged to present her revolutionary vision of Christianity in its graceful simplicity, the book features her thoughts on love, generosity, forgiveness, prayer, service, and what it means to be a Christian. A passionate testament to deep hope and abiding faith in God, No Greater Love celebrates the life and work of one of the world’s most revered spiritual teachers."

Fiction or Nonfiction: Nonfiction

Comments and Critique: Mother Teresa was truly one of the most humble people in our world. This is evidenced throughout this book, beginning with the first line.

I don't think there is anyone who needs God's help and grace as much as I do.

Imagine Mother Teresa, felt throughout the world to be a saint, feeling that! In some ways, it makes me feel better about myself to know she felt that, but then I must also acknowledge that her feeling differs from mine. I'm not nearly humble enough and when I think or say "I'm so weak, why doesn't God help me?" it's really self-pity working and not true reliance on the Lord. But Mother really meant it. It was never about her, always about God, which is obvious throughout her writing.

Rather than give a more traditional type of review, I thought I'd share some lines from the book that really stood out for me and why.

Perfect prayer does not consist in many words, but in the fervor of the desire which raises the heart to Jesus.

I've always had a problem with prayer, never feeling that I was doing it "right." This statement from someone who knew so much about prayer makes me feel that maybe my desire to pray counts for something, even if I can't come up with the words.

You will learn humility only by accepting humiliations. And you will meet humiliation all through your life. The greatest humiliation is to know that you are nothing.

The greatest mistake is to think you are too strong to fall into temptation. Put your finger in the fire and it will burn. So we have to go through the fire. The temptations are allowed by God. The only thing we have to do is to refuse to give in.

These are two of the hardest for me. I say I want to be humble, but I sure don't like it when I have the experiences necessary to make me that way!

We do not need to carry out grand things in order to show a great love for God and for our neighbors. It is the intensity of love we put into our gestures that makes them into something wonderful for God.

It is easy to love those who live far away. It is not always easy to love those who live right next to us.

The first quote is so important to remember. The big actions we perform are worthwhile, but how we live our daily life is so much more so. For the second quote, how true this can be! I think this is because loving and showing our love for those closest to us makes us much more vulnerable. Also, it can be so much easier to think positively about those far away, while we view those up close much harsher.

We all long for heaven where God is, but we have it in our power to be in heaven with Him right now, to be happy with Him at this very moment.

How many of us say we want to go to heaven, to be with God, but are unwilling to do what's necessary to be with Him today? I know I do. To be with Him now and everyday means giving up my will, my wants, my plans. That's so hard to do!

Challenges: 999 ("Catholicism"); Support Your Local Library

Two giveaways

Teddy at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time currently has 2 fabulous giveaways going.

First, in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 through October 15), Hatchette Book Group is giving up to 5 winners a set of 5 books:

Zumba® by Beto Perez with Maggie Greenwood-Robinson
Evenings at the Argentine Club by Julia Amante
Tell Me Something True by Leila Cobo
Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz by Belinda Acosta
Amigoland by Oscar Casares

Second, Hatchette Book Group is also giving away up to 5 copies of Supreme Courtship by Christopher Buckley.

Both giveaways end October 15 and are limited to U.S. and Canadian addresses only. No post office boxes. Check out Teddy's blog to enter.

What Makes Us Catholic by Thomas Groome

Title: What Makes Us Catholic

Author: Thomas Groome

First Published: 2002

No. of Pages: 299

Synopsis (from B&N): "What makes a Catholic a Catholic? According to Thomas Groome, an expert on the essential ingredients of Catholic Christianity, Catholics share certain vital features of life and identity. What Makes Us Catholic explains and illuminates that character, and invites Catholics of all kinds to connect more deeply and imaginatively with their own culture and spirituality."

Fiction or Nonfiction: Nonfiction

Comments and Critique: I found this book a bit boring at first, but about chapter 4 or 5 it started to pick up and offered a number of beautiful, soul-affirming sentiments. A major theme of the author is that humans are meant to follow God's will and that His will is for us to love Him and one another. Everything else proceeds from love. The author takes that theme and applies it across human relationships - with our family, friends, coworkers, and the world in general. Each chapter discusses a particular concept and then provides three spiritual practices to help the reader develop more fully in that area. All can be adapted to the individual or replaced with your own.

I found this book uplifting and inspiring, and I felt good both while reading it and after. I'll be keeping my copy to use as a reference in the future.

Challenges: 999 ("Catholicism")

Clear Off Your Shelves Challenge

This challenge is a great idea! It's being hosted by S. Krishna at S. Krishna's Books. Here's the scoop straight from the source:

This is a challenge that is aimed at getting through those books that have been sitting on your shelves for months, even years!

What?

Any non-review books that are on your shelves and/or review copies that have been on your shelves for over six months. This means that recent review copies and library books are not eligible for this challenge! However, that doesn’t mean the book has to have been out for six months in order for the review copy to be eligible.

For example, say a book came out in July, but you received the review copy in January. That review copy would be eligible for the challenge since it’s been on your shelves for over six months.

EDIT: I want to clarify, because it seems like I haven't been clear on this - only review copies have the 6 month shelf life requirement. Books you have purchased/traded for/etc. and are NOT review copies can be from anytime - even from during the challenge!

Crossover with other challenges is welcomed, even encouraged!

When?

This challenge will run from October 1, 2009 – November 30, 2009. This means that it does coincide with Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon, and any books that qualify for this challenge that you read during the Read-a-thon are eligible!

How?

This challenge will work a little differently than other challenges. Instead of picking a set number of books to read during this time period, you will pick a percentage. This means that a certain percentage of the books you read during these two months will have to qualify for this challenge. For example, let’s say you pick 40% and you end up reading 10 books in October and November. 4 of those books would have to qualify for this challenge in order for you to complete it. I am setting a minimum percentage of 20%.

As a result, there is no need to make a list of books prior to starting the challenge, though please feel free to do so if you want to! Your wrap-up post should have a list of the books you read for the challenge, though, so please do keep track of what you read!

I'm choosing 50% as my percentage. Hopefully this will give me an extra nudge on some of my challenges!

What are you reading on Mondays? - September 21

I've been absent the last couple of weeks, trying hard to finish most of the challenges I'm in, although I'm determined not to sign up for so many in the future. I've managed to finish up 4 challenges since my last Monday post, woohoo!

I'm also behind in my reviews -- I was doing well at writing them as soon as I finished a book, but the thought of the last couple felt too much like an English assignment.

Recent completions:

A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul -- review

The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis

Morality Play by Barry Unsworth -- review

Royal Charles: Charles II and the Restoration by Antonia Fraser -- review

The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle -- review

What Makes Us Catholic: Eight Gifts for Life by Thomas Groome

Reading this week:

A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories by Flannery O'Connor

No Greater Love by Mother Theresa

Up next:

Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones

Ungrateful Daughters: The Stuart Princesses Who Stole Their Father's Crown by Maureen Waller

Challenge progress:

1% Well-Read: 8/10
18th and 19th Century Women Writers: 5/5 ***COMPLETE
A to Z Challenge: 23/26
Baker Street Challenge: 2/4
Book Awards 3: 0/5
Chunkster: 2/3
Classics Challenge: 6/6 ***COMPLETE
Decades '09: 7/9
Elizabeth Gaskell: 1/2
Fill in the Gaps 100 Books: 4/100
George Eliot: 1/2
Guardian's 1000 Best Novels: 8/10
Nonfiction 5: 5/5 ***COMPLETE
Orbis Terrarum: 8/10
Support Your Local Library: 31/50
TBR Lite: 6/6 ***COMPLETE
Well-Rounded Challenge: 2/5
What's in a Name 2: 4/6

999 Challenge (overall): 65/81

999 Subcategories:

• 1001 Books: 7/9


• Booker/National Awards: 4/9


• Through the Decades: 7/9


• Dewey's Books: 8/9


• C.S. Lewis: 5/9


• Biographies: 8/9


• Travel: 9/9 ***complete


• Catholicism: 8/9


• Dewey Decimal: 9/9 ***complete
  

It's Monday! What are you reading this week? is a weekly event hosted by J Kaye's Book Blog.