My Progress so far...

Although I've only started blogging about this project, I actually officially started it in November 2010. My first completed book was A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I loved it. I still love it. I'll always love it. It was the perfect book with which to begin this literary journey. I've been a fan of Khaled Hosseini ever since I read The Kite Runner a few years back. That book changed my perspective on Afghanistan and made it more personal to me. A Thousand Splendid Suns reinforced that changed perspective to the point that I'm unable to hear the word Afghanistan without thinking of characters in both books. Afghanistan is no longer a remote country I know nothing about. It is a very real place where Miriams (Splendid Suns) and Hassans (Kite Runner) live and survive each and every day.

My favorite quote from A Thousand Splendid Suns is as follows:

"Miriam wished for so much in those final moments. Yet as she closed her eyes, it was not regret any longer but a sensation of abundant peace that washed over her. She thought of her entry into this world, the harami child of a lowly villager, an unintended thing, a pitiable, regrettable accident. A weed. And yet she was leaving the world as a woman who had loved and been loved back. She was leaving it as a friend, a companion, a guardian. A mother. A person of consequence at last. No. It was not so bad, Miriam thought, that she should die this way. Not so bad. This was a legitimate end to a life of illegitimate belongings."

There are so many emotions in this quote that as I first read it, my heart ached for Miriam and I still feel that ache when I read it now. It's a beautiful story and I hope someone who has never read this book will pick it up and give it a read.

My second book was American Pastoral by Philip Roth. Ugh. Only my second book in and I had to admit defeat with this one and mark it as unread on the list. I couldn't get through it. I couldn't force myself to finish it. I thought it was the most boring book I've ever read (or attempted to read). When the project is over, I may go back and try to finish any books that I couldn't finish the first time around. Maybe this second chance will spark an interest in this book, but I'm not holding out high hopes. Instead, I may just catch the movie.

My third book was a good choice. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This is a book many people likely came across as children, but I never did. Or if I did, I never picked it up and gave it a read. But I'm glad I read it now. I really enjoyed this book over Christmas 2010 and I look forward to reading other Sherlock Holmes adventures in the future. The Five Orange Pips and The Adventure of The Blue Carbuncle are probably my two favorite adventures from this book.

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien was my fourth book and I was excited to read it. It didn't disappoint, I'm happy to say. It was while I was reading it that Peter Jackson announced that he would start production on The Hobbit in March 2011 and that just made reading it all the more enjoyable, knowing a movie was being made and would be released within a year or so. This book has become one of the stand out books on my list so far. 

John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men was my fifth book choice and was a quick and easy read. A total of 107 pages, it was just what I needed at the time. The story was simple, but has stayed with me.

My sixth book was Dracula by Bram Stoker ("One of the least-known authors of one of the best known books ever written"). I very much enjoyed this book. I will even admit that I became so engrossed in the story at times that I would have slightly nightmarish dreams if I fell asleep while reading it. I was disappointed in the ending though. The second half of the book was a build-up to the final destruction of Count Dracula… the waiting, the traveling, the planning… and it all happened so uneventfully, so easily, that the ending was a letdown. 

Favorite quote from the book:

"Blood is too precious a thing in these days of dishonorable peace; and the glories of the great races are as a tale that is told."

My seventh (and current) book is Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon. I'm a fan of Toni Morrison. She is a terrific storyteller and I highly recommend The Bluest Eye. It's the sort of book that stays with you long after you've put it back on the shelf. I've read it several times and enjoy it each time like it was the first. There are hints of those same qualities in Song of Solomon as well. I'm about 1/3 of the way through it and can tell it's going to become a favorite of mine.