So many books, so little time

There’s a list of 30 books everyone “should” read before they turn 30. There is also a list of 100 books everyone should read in their lifetime. About 4 years ago I decided to take these lists on, and read all of the books. There are some books that are on both of the lists, so after crossing those off it comes to about 116 books. No prob right? So, why 4 years later, 6 months before I turn 30, are there still 21 books on Before 30 reading list that I have yet to read? It’s not that I haven’t read any books in that last few years… In 2012 I read 75 books, and in 2013 I read 78 books. Just not the books from the lists, I guess. So, now, with the deadline approaching, I've decided to pick up a few of the books on the Before 30 list. I know I’m not going to read them all before my birthday in June, but I’m going to read as many as I reasonably can.

The problem is that most of them aren't my cup of tea, they’re just not my thing. I don’t really know what my “thing” is, but recently I've just been reading a lot of fantasy books, mostly because I also have to read my school textbooks, and fantasy is as far away from that those as possible. They are my break from the real world, and from the dry textbooks. But it is what it is. Alright, wish me luck in this endeavor. Please and thank you.

I will update these lists as I read the books

30 before 30... to be read list:

  .  For Whom the Bell Tolls – Ernest Hemingway

  . War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy

  . The Rights of Man – Tom Paine

. The Social Contract – Jean-Jacques Rousseau

. One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel García Márquez*

. The Origin of Species – Charles Darwin*

. The Wisdom of the Desert – Thomas Merton

. The Tipping Point – Malcolm Gladwell

. The Art of War – Sun Tzu

. The Lord of the Rings – J.R.R Tolkien

. David Copperfield – Charles Dickens

. Crime and Punishment – Fyodor Dostoyevsky

. The Prince – Niccolo Machiavelli

. Walden – Henry David Thoreau

. The Republic – Plato

. Getting Things Done – David Allen

. How to Win Friends And Influence People – Dale Carnegie

. The Master and the Margarita – Mikhail Bulgakov 

30 before 30... have read list:

.  Siddhartha - Hermann Hesse 

.  1984 – George Orwell  

. To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

. Lord of the Flies – William Golding

. Four Quartets – T.S. Eliot

. Catch-22 – Joseph Heller

. The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald

. The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Graham

. Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
. Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess
. The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck
. The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger

*I'm currently reading some of the books from this list. Here's hoping I make a dent. 

Snow Day

Songs that played while writing this blog: Joe Jackson- “Got the Time”, Tommy Tutone- “867-5309/Jenny”, ELO- “21^st Century Man”,  and The Damned- “Anything”.

It is -12° outside right now! Woah! Chicago Public Schools called a snow day, and since I work before-school and after-school care, I have a snow day too. So what do I do on my snow day? Watch Netflix/amazon prime, listen to music and write this blog. That’s it. Not that I could really be productive on a day like this. Oh! I did boil some water so my roommate could take it outside, and throw it into the air to create clouds. Snow days are fun!

I’m just blown away that I live somewhere that has a high of -10° on a day when my hometown’s high is 74°… Thank goodness I didn't take weather into consideration when choosing to move here. I truly do like living in Chicago, but on days like this I tend to forget why.

UPDATE: Just got an email from my boss saying that CPS called another snow day for tomorrow!

2014

Woo-hoo, New Year! Right? I mean, it’s exciting… Right? 2014! Going to be awesome! Right?

Resolutions: Read 'X' amount of books, eat healthier, write more, etc., etc… I feel like these are the same resolutions, or goals if you’d rather, as last year. So basically, I’m going to keep on doing what I have been doing.

I’m sure there will be some good times, some great times, some bad times, some hard times, and some fairly awful times. I’m also sure I’ll make some amazing memories, and have some moments that I’ll want to forget. But these things can be said about every year.

So… Here’s to a New Year… Similar to last year, but with enough differences to keep it interesting.

Cheers! 

P.S. Interested in joining an online book club? Bookishly Delighted would be delighted to have you!!!!