Wednesday 5 September 2012

Books to read before the end of 2012

This is a post purely for me really, in the sense that if I 'publish' this on here I am more likely to achieve my aim, silly as that is.

I went camping in France for the last few weeks of August and it was really wonderful.  I took my Kindle and whirled through books the whole time I was there.  It made me feel productive and pleased with myself to look back on the week and think I had used my free time to read two or three really great fiction books and this is something I don't want to stop.

Quick stop in the French and Spanish Pyrenees mountains

So, although this may seem a silly challenge as I am about to start a full time PhD, I have decided that by the end of the year I want to have read ALL of the 'novels' by two of the authors I claim to be my favourite.  (As it seems a bit false to claim someone is your favourite author when you haven't even read all of their books.)  After this maybe I will continue the list with their poems and short stories.

I will cross these off one by one, updating the list which will be hopefully complete by the end of December.

Margaret Atwood
  • The Edible Woman (1969) 
  • Surfacing (1972)
  • Lady Oracle  (1976) Read August 2012
  • Life Before Man (1979)
  • Bodily Harm (1981)
  • The Handmaid's Tale (1985)
  • Cat's Eye (1988) 
  • The Robber Bride (1993) 
  • Alias Grace (1996) 
  • The Blind Assassin (2000) 
  • Oryx and Crake (2003) *currently reading*
  • The Penelopiad (2005)
  • The Year of the Flood (2009)

Haruki Murakami
  • Hear the Wind Sing (1979)
  • Pinball, 1973 (1980)
  • A Wild Sheep Chase (1982)
  • Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the Edge of the World (1985)
  • Norwegian Wood (1987)  Read September 2012
  • Dance Dance Dance (1988)
  • South of the Border, West of the Sun (1992)  Read August 2012
  • The Wind-up Bird Chronicle (1995)
  • Sputnik Sweetheart (1999) Read August 2012
  • Kafka on the Shore  (2002)
  • After Dark (2004)
  • 1Q84  (2009)
  • What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (Non Fiction) (2007)
Sorry this probably won't be of much interest to anyone else - but these are two truly fantastic authors if you haven't heard of them and are fancying something new to read in the Autumn!

2 comments:

  1. Such a great idea to read all the books by your favourite authors! At this point, I haven't really read another non-Plath related book in two years, so I'm really looking forward to (around this time next year), picking up more novels again and enjoying them! Philip Roth would be a writer whose back catalogue I would enjoy, I think.

    I absolutely love your dress in the picture and camping in France just sounds wonderful! Something I would like to do myself one day! :)

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  2. I love that picture of you Zoe! I know you've made me some recommendations and I definitely want to read a lot more, the kindle has enabled me to read some books i wouldn't have otherwise!

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