Thursday Thirteen #4

(This image provided by Samulli.)

It's Thursday again! For today's Thursday Thirteen, I took my computer over to our overflowing bookshelf and chose 13 Random Books on my Shelf.

1. Literary Trips: Following the Footsteps of Fame, edited by Victoria Brooks

My brother gave this to me one year for Christmas. I should admit that I've never read the whole thing, but what I have read is interesting. It really is a travel book, with "touritst" information about the various places described, but all of the places in the book were important for one reason or another to a particular author.

2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

I remember really loving this book when I first read it in high school, but I seriously could remember almost nothing about it. I was thrilled when it was the book chosen for my first book club meeting, and I'm glad this is one I bought instead of just borrowing it from the library.

3. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz

I bought this book over the summer based on rave reviews I had read. I did not enjoy this book. It won a Pulitzer Prize in 2008, so I'm guessing I missed something.

4. The Complete Plays of Sophocles

I'm pretty sure this is leftover from one of my college classes. So I know that I've read some of the plays, but probably not all of them.

5. The Confessions of St. Augustine, translated by Rex Warner

I did read this shortly after finishing college. I remember that I really struggled with understanding parts of it, but at that point, my goal was simply to be able to say that I'd finished it. I think I'll give it another read eventually.

6. Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella

Ah, from theology and philosophy to chick lit. :) This was actually the first "chick lit" book I think I ever read (at least, since I learned that it had more or less become its own genre). I actually really enjoyed it. Occasionally, it's very refreshing to read something that's just "fluff" and that I don't have to concentrate on to enjoy.

7. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Since the "three" books were always intended to be read as one, I'm counting it as one book. I adore this book. The storyline is amazing, the themes are powerful, and the writing is beautiful. I loved the movies, and the book is 10 times better. I'm planning to reread it soon.

8. The Metamorphoses by Ovid

This is another leftover from a college class. However, I will say that I'm 95% sure that I actually did all of my assigned reading for that class ("Mythology" with Dr. Holmes, freshman year), so I'm pretty sure I've read the entire book.

9. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot

I read this book for senior year AP English Lit. I fell in love with George Eliot, and I chose to write my "regular" senior English paper on the symbolism in this book. This is another one I need to reread.

10. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi

I have to admit that I didn't love this book nearly as much as I was hoping I would. I wonder if it's at least partially because I hadn't read a lot of the books that she was using as references. Maybe I'll try it again someday...or at least maybe I'll read more of the books that were so powerful in her life.

11. Three by Flannery O'Connor (This is actually a collection that contains Everything That Rises Must Converge, The Violent Bear It Away, and Wise Blood.)

I first discovered O'Connor when I did a research paper on her life and works in 10th grade English. I was on a big "anything Irish is wonderful" kick, and when I saw the name on the list of authors to choose from, I assumed she was Irish (I also assumed she was a man...I learned a lot by writing that paper). This book was another from senior year AP Lit. I love O'Connor's writing.

12. Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton

This is another one that I read and struggled through and yet enjoyed. Again, I should read it again one of these days.

13. The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky

I read this a few years ago when I was on a summertime "must read difficult classics" kick. I did really like this book...I just wonder if I would've enjoyed it more if it hadn't been preceeded that summer by The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James and Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. (And yes, this was also my way of getting two more books from my shelf on this list.) :)