Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Journal of Gratitude Day 21

"It’s what we read when we don’t have to that determines what we’ll be when we can’t help it." - Oscar Wilde
I love books- anyone who knows me knows this. Anyone who has been to my home, crammed with books in piles, knows this.

I have read HUNDREDS of books- some the dreaded assigned books for school (more than one of which I totally enjoyed) but most for pleasure, to expand my knowledge, and in the case of a rare few, to make me cry as I laugh out loud. Below is a list of some of these treasures...books I read as a child, read to my children, shared with my sister Ellen and cousin Margie (provided they were returned undamaged) and some I visit over and over...


1. "A" Is for Alibi Sue Grafton (I have read a number of her books- fairly sure I got through F and then checked in several times later in the alphabet)

2. 10th Anniversary James Patterson

3. 13 little blue envelopes Maureen Johnson (My daughter and I read this and both of us enjoyed them- can't wait to read the sequel!)

4. 1st to Die James Patterson

5. 2nd Chance James Patterson

6. 3rd Degree James Patterson

7. 4th of July James Patterson

8. 7th Heaven James Patterson

9. 8th Confession James Patterson

10. A Land Without Time John Sumser (A really good RPCV story about an Afganistan that no longer exists.)

11. A Man in Full Tom Wolfe (Horrific rape scene- the stuff of nightmares)

12. A Separate Peace by John Knowles

13. A Swiftly Tilting Planet Madeleine L'Engle

14. A Time to Kill  John Grisham

15. A Tree grows in Brooklyn Betty Smith (Early NYC and how the poor survived- beautiful story)

16. A Wind in the Door Madeleine L'Engle

17. A Wrinkle in Time Madeleine L'Engle

18. Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day Judith Viorst

19. All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten Robert Fulghum

20. Along Came a Spider James Patterson

21. And The Band Played On Randy Shilts (Still makes me mad)

22. Angela’s Ashes Frank McCourt (Not sure why the man had to bash his mom so and lets his father off scot free, but burning the wall a stick at a time- priceless)

23. Angels Marian Keyes

24. Anne Frank Remembered  Miep Gies

25. Anne Frank, Diary of a Young Girl (Makes that terrible time real- hauntingly real)

26. Anne of Green Gables Lucy Maud Montgomery (I have read most of this series but I like this one best)

27. Antigone Sophocles (High School... clearly)

28. Anybody Out There? Marian Keyes

29. Are You There God, It’s me, Margaret Judy Blume (as close to a birds & bees talk as I ever got)

30. Bachelor Girl Roger Lea MacBride

31. Bargain for Frances Russell Hoban

32. Battleground WEB Griffin

33. Behind the Lines WEB Griffin

34. Being There Jerzy Kosinski

35. Black Ops WEB Griffin

36. Blood and Honor WEB Griffin

37. Blowback Brad Thor

38. Blubber Judy Blume

39. Brian’s Return Gary Paulsen

40. Brian’s Winter Gary Paulsen

41. Bridge of Courage Jennifer Harbury (Guatemala lit- post Peace Corps, it really broke my heart)

42. By Order of the President WEB Griffin (A great new series set in modern day)

43. By the Shores of Silver Lake Laura Ingalls Wilder

44. Call to Arms WEB Griffin

45. Cat and Mouse James Patterson (Scared me sleepless)

46. Cat in the Hat Dr. Suess

47. Charlotte’s Web E. B. White

48. Chronicles of Narnia series (7) C.S.Lewis (So so good as a series- wonderful tales)

49. Circle of Friends Maeve Binchy (Crappy)

50. City Girl Patricia Scanlan

51. City Lives Patricia Scanlan

52. Clear and Present Danger Tom Clancy

53. Close Combat WEB Griffin

54. Coming Plague Laurie Garrett (Wonderfully human examination of infectious desease and the race to understand it.)

55. Counterattack WEB Griffin

56. Covert Warriors WEB Griffin

57. Cricket in Time Square by George Selden

58. Death and Honor WEB Griffin

59. Death of a Salesman Arthur Miller (High School and again in college...Nothing else to choose from?)

60. Debt of Honor Tom Clancy

61. Deenie Judy Blume

62. Dewey Vicki Myron (A great story about a really cool cat)

63. Double Wedding Patricia Scanlan

64. Eat Pray Love Elizabeth Gilbert (She may have written this just so I would find it)

65. Eleven on Top Janet Evanovich

66. Evening Class Maeve Binchy

67. Exodus by Leon Uris (Israel's fight)

68. Explosive Eighteen Janet Evanovich

69. Farmer Boy Laura Ingalls Wilder

70. Fearless Fourteen Janet Evanovich

71. Final Justice WEB Griffin

72. Fine Things Danielle Steele

73. Finger Lickin' Fifteen Janet Evanovich

74. Finishing Touches Patricia Scanlan

75. Firefly Lane Kristin Hannah

76. Five Days in Paris Danielle Steele

77. Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood Ann Brashares

78. Forever Judy Blume (yeah, 5th grade was a little early for this one...)

79. Foul Play Janet Evanovich

80. Four to Score Janet Evanovich

81. Francesca’s Party Patricia Scanlan

82. Franny and Zooey J.D. Salinger

83. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler E. L. Konigsburg (A favorite from childhood, though who can remember typewriters anymore?)

84. Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood Ann Brashares

85. Go Ask Alice

86. Gone with the Wind Margaret Mitchell (Read it in Guatemala and found out how much was left out of the movie)

87. Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner

88. Green Eggs and Ham Dr. Suess

89. Guatemala: Eternal Spring, Eternal Tyranny Jean Marie Simon (Heartbreaking beauty)

90. Guatemalan Journey

91. Guests of the Ayatollah Mark Bowden

92. Hamlet William Shakespeare

93. Hard Eight Janet Evanovich

So I am a HUGE Harry Potter nerd so I have read these over and over and over again...

94. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets J.K. Rowling

95. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows J.K. Rowling

96. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire J.K. Rowling

97. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince J.K. Rowling

98. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix J.K. Rowling

99. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban J.K. Rowling

100. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone J.K. Rowling

101. Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion

102. Hatchet Gary Paulsen

103. High Five Janet Evanovich

104. Honor Bound WEB Griffin (Love these characters and visit them often)

105. Horton hears a who Dr. Suess

106. Hot Six Janet Evanovich

107. How The Grinch stole Christmas Dr. Suess (Christmas classic)

108. I, Rigoberta Menchu Rigoberta Menchú (A look at the war on the Mayans of Guatemala in the 80's)

109. Illusions Richard Bach

110. In Danger’s Path WEB Griffin

111. In the Land of the Big Red Apple Roger Lea MacBride

112. Island of the Blue Dolphin Scott O’Dell

113. Jack & Jill James Patterson

114. Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë

115. Johnny Tremain Esther Forbes

116. Jonathan Livingston Seagull Richard Bach

117. Joy Luck Club Amy Tan

118. Julius Caesar William Shakespeare

119. Kiss the Girls James Patterson

120. Last Chance Saloon Marian Keyes

121. Lean Mean Thirteen Janet Evanovich

122. Line of Fire WEB Griffin

123. Little Farm in the Ozarks Roger Lea MacBride

124. Little House in the Big Woods Laura Ingalls Wilder

125. Little House on Rocky Ridge Roger Lea MacBride (The rest of Laura Ingalls Wilder's story)

126. Little House on the Prairie Laura Ingalls Wilder

127. Little Men by Louisa May Alcott

128. Little Town in the Ozarks Roger Lea MacBride

129. Little Town on the Prairie Laura Ingalls Wilder (I really loved this volume of the series)

130. Little Women Louise May Alcott (Jo, Beth, Meg and Amy- with Laurie, bring me joy)

131. London Bridges James Patterson

132. Love Story  Erich Segal (Love means never having to say you're sorry...")

133. Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married Marian Keyes (This author came over from Ireland with a visitor and went round and round. A new favorite author was discovered)

134. Macbeth William Shakespeare

135. Men in Blue WEB Griffin

136. Mirror, Mirror Patricia Scanlan (Prepare to laugh out loud)

137. Motor Mouth Janet Evanovich

138. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

139. New Dawn on Rocky Ridge Roger Lea MacBride

140. Nights of Rain and Stars Maeve Binchy

141. Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger

142. Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck

143. Oh the places you’ll go Dr. Suess

144. On Death and Dying by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (For a college project)

145. On the Banks of Plum Creek Laura Ingalls Wilder

146. On the Banks of the Bayou Roger Lea MacBride

147. On the Other Side of the Hill Roger Lea MacBride

148. Once in a Lifetime Danielle Steele

149. One for the Money Janet Evanovich (My son gets embarrassed when I laugh out loud reading this series- LOVE Stephanie Plum)

150. One Thousand White Women Jim Fergus (I was not prepared for how good this was)

151. Otherwise known as Sheila the Great Judy Blume (I love Sheila)

152. P.S. I Love You by Cecelia Ahern (SO much better than the movie- laughing out loud while crying so hard snot ran down my face- WONDERFUL)

153. Palestine: Peace not Apartheid Jimmy Carter ( a hard look at an impossible situation)

154. Patriot Games Tom Clancy

155. Portraits in Courage JFK (For HS and SO good!)

156. Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen (Where are the Mr. Darcy's of today?)

157. Promises, Promises Patricia Scanlan (Need to read it with it's sequel)

158. Quentins Maeve Binchy

159. Rachel's Holiday Marian Keyes (Sad, hard and well worth reading)

160. Rainbow Six Tom Clancy

161. Retreat, Hell! WEB Griffin

162. River of lost voices Mark Brazaitis (RPCV Guatemala stories)

163. Robinson Crusoe Daniel Defoe

164. Roses Are Red James Patterson

165. Schindler’s List Thomas Keneally

166. Searching for Everardo Jennifer Harbury

167. Secret Honor WEB Griffin

168. Secrets Danielle Steele

169. Semper Fi WEB Griffin

170. Seven Up Janet Evanovich

171. Seven Years in Tibet by Heinrich Harrer

172. She Said Yes Misty Bernall

173. Silver Wedding Maeve Binchy

174. Sizzling Sixteen Janet Evanovich

175. Smokin' Seventeen Janet Evanovich

176. Speak Laurie Halse Anderson

177. Special Operations (Badge of Honor) WEB Griffin

178. Special Ops (Brotherhood of War) WEB Griffin

179. Stuart Little E. B. White (Sr. Patricia Graham read a chapter a week to us in 1st Grade... WONDERFUL)

180. Sue Barton: Neighborhood Nurse Helen Dore Boylston (When we decided as children to become nurses, my cousin Kathleen and I read Sue Barton over and over)

181. Sue Barton: Rural Nurse Helen Dore Boylston

182. Sue Barton: Senior Nurse Helen Dore Boylston

183. Sue Barton: Staff Nurse Helen Dore Boylston

184. Sue Barton: Student Nurse Helen Dore Boylston

185. Sue Barton: Superintendent Nurse Helen Dore Boylston

186. Sue Barton: Visiting Nurse Helen Dore Boylston

187. Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing Judy Blume (Poor Turtle...)

188. Ten Big Ones Janet Evanovich

189. Tess of the d'Urbervilles Thomas Hardy (Read it as a Junior in HS and was surprisingly engrossed in the story)

190. The 5th Horseman James Patterson

191. The 6th Target James Patterson

192. The 9th Judgment James Patterson

193. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain

194. The Adventures of Ulysses Bernard Evslin (All you could want to know about Greek/Roman gods)

195. The Assassin WEB Griffin

196. The Aviators WEB Griffin (The first book from this author that I ever read- I picked it up in the Barnes and Noble Annex in Manhattan and fell in love. )

197. The Berets WEB Griffin

198. The Big Bad Wolf James Patterson

199. The Bridge Across Forever Richard Bach (This book brought me back after a broken college romance)

200. The Brightest Star in the Sky Marian Keyes

201. The Captains WEB Griffin

202. The Cat Who Could Read Backwards Lilian Jackson Braun (I have read a bunch of these, but to pick out all of them is impossible)

203. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

204. The Christmas Box Richard Paul Evans

205. The Colonels WEB Griffin

206. The Commitments Roddy Doyle

207. The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden

208. The Crucible by Arthur Miller

209. The Double Agents WEB Griffin

210. The Fighting Agents WEB Griffin

211. The First Commandment Brad Thor

212. The First Four Years Laura Ingalls Wilder

213. The Generals WEB Griffin (Not my favorite- the only one I don't own, cause I won't ever read it again.)

214. The Glory Herman Wouk (The nation of Israel)

215. The Grand Finale Janet Evanovich

216. The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

217. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (6) Douglas Adams (I have read all six books in the trilogy)

218. The Hobbit J.R.R. Tolkien

219. The Honor of Spies WEB Griffin

220. The Hope Herman Wouk (The dream of Israel)

221. The Hostage WEB Griffin

222. The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy

223. The Hunters WEB Griffin

224. The Investigators WEB Griffin

225. The Jungle Upton Sinclair (Mr. Gentile, I am still mad you spoiled Christmas dinner making me read this. Meatpacking at the turn of the last century- gross and sad and did I mention GROSS!)

226. The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan ( I enjoyed this more than the Joy Luck Club)

227. The Last Heroes WEB Griffin

228. The Letter Richard Paul Evans

229. The Lieutenants WEB Griffin (Loved Ken McCoy from the very beginning)

230. The Lilac Bus Maeve Binchy

231. The Long Night of White Chickens Francisco Goldman (Guatemalan mystery)

232. The Long Winter Laura Ingalls Wilder (The horror of the 1880-81 De Smet winter)

233. The Majors WEB Griffin

234. The Maltese Falcon Dashiell Hammett

235. The Messiah Marjorie Holmes

236. The Metamorphosis Franz Kafka (Why do they make us read this? Why?)

237. The Moonstone Wilkie Collins (For my mystery fiction class my sophomore year in college- LOVED IT)

238. The Murderers WEB Griffin

239. The New Breed WEB Griffin

240. The Night Before Christmas Clement Clarke Moore

241. The Old Man and the Sea Earnest Hemingway

242. The Once and Future King T. H. White (Read this for school the summer I was in Ireland- great story of King Arthur)

243. The Other Side of the Story Marian Keyes

244. The Other Wise Man Henry van Dyke (A Christmas story for Easter)

245. The Outlaws WEB Griffin

246. The Outsiders S.E. Hilton (Because we are all outsiders at some point)

247. The Pearl John Steinbeck

248. The Pigman Paul Zindel (HS would not have been the same without the stories- assurance that everybody feels that was in HS)

249. The Pigman's Legacy Paul Zindel

250. The Polar Express Chris Van Allsburg

251. The Prince and the Pauper Mark Twain

252. The Promise Danielle Steele ( Her first story)

253. The Saboteurs WEB Griffin

254. The Second Summer of the Sisterhood Ann Brashares

255. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

256. The Secret Warriors WEB Griffin

257. The Shooters WEB Griffin

258. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Ann Brashares (Love these teenagers)

259. The Soldier Spies WEB Griffin

260. The Spy who came in from the Cold John le Carré

261. The Spymasters WEB Griffin

262. The Story of my life: Helen Keller (Shows what is possible)

263. The Tales of Beedle the Bard J.K. Rowling

264. The Thorn Birds Colleen McCullough (Read it in the back of my uncle's van on our way back from visiting Ohio)

265. The Traffickers WEB Griffin

266. The Velveteen Rabbit Margery Williams (Still sad)

267. The Victim WEB Griffin

268. The Vigilantes WEB Griffin

269. The Wedding Letters Jason F. Wright (LOVE the idea of wedding letters)

270. The Wednesday Sisters Meg Waite Clayton (A group of moms who become writers)

271. The Witness WEB Griffin

272. Then Again, Maybe I won’t Judy Blume

273. These Happy Golden Years Laura Ingalls Wilder

274. Thimble Summer Elizabeth Enright

275. This Charming Man Marian Keyes (He was not so charming in the end...)

276. Three Cups of Tea Greg Mortenson (I read this and loved it... it is sad it is not all true)

277. Three to Get Deadly Janet Evanovich

278. Tiger Eyes Judy Blume

279. Timepiece Richard Paul Evans

280. To the Nines Janet Evanovich

281. Tom Sawyer Mark Twain

282. Trinity Leon Uris (Historical Fiction of Ireland becoming an independant nation)

283. Tuesdays with Morrie Mitch Albom

284. Twelve Sharp Janet Evanovich

285. Two for the Dough Janet Evanovich

286. Under Fire WEB Griffin

287. Under the Duvet Marian Keyes

288. Unfinished Conquest: A Guatemalan tragedy Victor Pererea (A hard look at Guatemalan history)

289. Victory And Honor WEB Griffin

290. Violets Are Blue James Patterson

291. Vital Signs (Three women doctors in Med School become lifelong friends)

292. Watermelon Marian Keyes (Pregnant is sometimes not pretty but always pretty funny)

293. What’s so Amazing about Grace Philip Yancy (A great book)

294. Where the Wild Things Are Maurice Sendak

295. Without Remorse Tom Clancy (His best work- my favorite of his stories)

296. Woman Thou Art Loosed TD Jakes (This book was a game changer for me)
297. Zoya Danielle Steele

298. The Firm John Grisham (I read this in Guatemala- the first book of his I ever read- and could not put it down

299. Short Stories  O. Henry (A Retrieved Reformation and The Gift of the Magi are favorites)

300. The Complete Sherlock Holmes: 4 Novels and 56 Short Stories (I love me some Sherlock Holmes!)
      1.  A Study in Scarlet
      2. The Sign of the Four
      3. The Hound of the Baskervilles
      4. The Valley of Fear

And no, I have not read "The girl with" or "Twilight" or "50 shades of"... What surprised me most was that it took very little time to find these first 300... and that I still own copies of the vast majority...

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