1 day of Zooey

I just saw 500 Days of Summer, with Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and it is really cute/funny and much more interesting and different from the typical, shall we say, rom-com. The 500 days are the 500 days of their relationship, but they're shown out of sequence. If I were hipper, I'd want to have Zooey's (she's kind of my girlfriend, so don't worry - we're totally on a first name basis) whole retro wardrobe.

AND - earlier today, I watched a rerun of Top Chef Masters, and the remaining chefs' challenge was to cook a delicious vegan meal for none other than vegan Miss Deschanel and a bunch of her vegan friends. I'm not a vegan, but if anyone wants to hold a competition to see who can prepare me the most delicious vegetarian food, I wouldn't put a stop to it. I've always thought being a food critic would be pretty fun, and I realize that I've really limited my potential there since there are now so many foods I won't eat. A vegetarian competition/feast/competifeast by amazing chefs sounds like a good idea. Anyone?

Oops I did it again

My friend Elizabeth tagged me in a note on Facebook with all of these many questions. Thanks Liz! I should note that this survey took me a while, so I did some on Thursday and some on Friday morning and some on Friday night.


1. What time did you get up this morning?

6! 6 AM! Every day! (This was my Thursday answer. My Friday day off answer is 9 AM! We slept in!)

2. How do you like your steak?

I like it not at all.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?

Ooh, the cinema. How elegant! Harry Potter.

4. What is your favorite TV show?

What a complicated question. The still-airing show I get most excited about is LOST. This summer, I am anxiously awaiting Mad Men and Project Runway.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?

In the Pacific Northwest! Lucky me.

6. What did you have for breakfast?

Kashi Go Lean cereal with craisins and walnuts, and a chai tea latte. (Thursday answer! On Friday, I awoke at the luxurious hour of 9 AM to find that Brad had made delicious blueberry pancakes, from scratch, and coffee. Thanks buddy!)

7. What is your favorite cuisine?

Big salad.

8. What foods do you dislike?

Canned green beans, cucumbers, meat, fake cheese, Boca burgers, cottage cheese, casserole, things with creamy centers.

9. Favorite place to eat?

I am in love with the Picabu Bistro lately. I love their falafel, and I love their summer salad menu, and basically everything I've ever had there. PLUS, Brad and I get their VIP discount when we go in, because Brad went to high school with the owner's son. And sometimes free drinks. I like to whisper "VIPs in the house!" when we walk in.

10. Favorite dressing?

My own homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive?

My vehicle is a Subaru Outback. I can't drive Brad's vehicle because it is a stick shift and I never learned how to drive one; whoops! I am a bad wife.

12. What are your favorite clothes?

I have a hard time liking my own clothes.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?

Oh, everywhere. I don't even know where to begin.

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?

Half full. Unless it's a cup of ice cream.

15. Where would you want to retire?

Well, not Florida. That's for sure.

16. Favorite time of day?

I like the early morning, as long as I've slept enough, which almost never happens. I like the evening when the sun is setting.

17. Where were you born?

Edmonds, WA.

18. What is your favorite sport to watch?

As if I care! I guess I would say college basketball.

19. Who do you think will not tag you back?

I think I didn't tag anyone.

20. Person you expect to tag you back first?

Come on...

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?

Stop asking me about tagging! Enough is enough!

22. Bird watcher?

No, but I think it runs in the family. Ask me later.

23. Are you a morning person or a night person?

Morning ish.

24. Do you have any pets?

Yes, one dog, a funny lady named Emmy.

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share?

Well! I've been hoping you would ask that, survey!

26. What did you want to be when you were little?

A teacher.

27. What is your best childhood memory?

Hmm. Going to my grandparents' "Beach Place," perhaps.

28. Are you a cat or dog person?

Dogs, dogs, dogs.

29. Are you married?

Yes. It is almost our SIX YEAR ANNIVERSARY, which is completely insane. September 7.

30. Always wear your seat belt?

Always.

31. Been in a car accident?

No, but I don't like to talk about it, because I'm afraid I'll jinx myself.

32. Any pet peeves?

I have quite a few, but I can never remember them when asked. If I can think of them I might post them separately.

33. Favorite pizza toppings?

I love love love the "Saxon" pizza at Benniditos: artichoke hearts, mushrooms, goat cheese, mozzarella, and pesto, with tomato and garlic sauce.

34. Favorite flower?

I don't really have one. I do love peonies though. I wish they bloomed longer. I was very disappointed with how long mine were pretty this year. And dahlias! Big fat flowers are my thing.

35. Favorite ice cream?

I love a lot of ice creams. No plain chocolate, and I don't usually get the fruity flavors. And no marshmallows!

36. Favorite fast food restaurant?

Wendy's.

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test?

Nine times. Just kidding, zero.

38. From whom did you get your last email?

Um, from someone I work with. I think.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?

Hmm. Well, I wouldn't do that. If I did, maybe this year's Nordstom sale. Or maybe Anthropologie? Or a home store.

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?

Hmm. Let me think. I spontaneously bought a two pack of Softlips chapstick at Target today. I am really flying by the seat of my pants!

41. Like your job?

I like it pretty well.

42. Broccoli?

Sure, why not. When I was at the Spaghetti Factory recently I was offered some broccoli with mizithra, and it was really delicious.

43. What was your favorite vacation?

Probably the London/Rome/Florence/Paris trip we went on a couple of years ago. Or New York and Boston. Both trips were fantastic.

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?

I went to the Spaghetti Factory, home of the broccoli with mizithra, for my grandpa's 90th birthday, and there were lots of people there. Also, Autumn and I had a fine dining experience at Taco Del Mar in Ellensburg on our way back to Spokane on Sunday, with her foster baby.

45. What are you listening to right now?

Not listening.

46. What is your favorite color?

Green, I think.

47. How many tattoos do you have?

No thanks.

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz?

OMG, you are so self-absorbed, quiz!

49. What time did you finish this quiz?

Um, what? It's 11:52 right now. I am really dedicated to this posting every day business.

50. Coffee Drinker?

Yeah. Two cups this morning, one cup this afternoon. I avoided it for a long long time, but I love being a coffee drinker.

When the living's easy

My brain is tired! My brain! I just started two posts that I then discarded when I decided they were stupid. One was about riding my bike to work. The other was a few delicious recipes. Both of them seemed like a waste of everyone's time after about thirty seconds of writing.

So, instead, what? I'll just say that I love this summer. I've never had such a free, uncommitted, easygoing summer before. Last summer was technically just as free time-wise, but I had just left the bank, and readjusting to a whole different style of life was still overwhelming.

This summer is different. I have loved reading on the front porch, waking up early and running, hanging out at coffee shops with my laptop and attempting to write (sometimes I've also hated that), checking out more books from the library than I could ever read, getting ice cream at The Scoop, biking to work, hanging out with high schoolers, watching Alias, reading and praying and being quiet in the morning times, writing articles about rodeos, and just having TIME to do whatever I want with.

When school starts again in September I know the stress and the pressure will be back, and I'll be short on sleep and generally unrelaxed until June. That's because I'm a perfectionist, not because my program is trying to beat me to a pulp. And it will be good for me in some ways and exhausting in others and it will all work out okay eventually. But I want to remember how restful (even though, honestly, I haven't been sleeping all that much) these few months have been, and how rejuvenating this time off has felt (even though this heat is trying to melt me). It feels good to love life.

Couldn't resist

So, I gave in to my guilty pleasure and did a survey, and it took a long time and I'm tired and it's not even fun/funny! Deal with it!

1. First thing you wash in the shower? Hair.

2. What color is your favorite hoodie? Blue.

3. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? Yes.

4. Do you plan outfits? seriously? Um, yes? Seriously. Not every day or anything. But sometimes.

5. How are you feeling RIGHT now? Oh, you mean RIGHT now? Tired, stuffed up, thirsty.

6. What’s the closest thing to you that's red? A throw pillow! Right on top of my lap!

7. Tell me about the last dream you remember having: Shut up, I won't. I don't remember any recent dreams.

8. Did you meet anybody new today? Um...no. I talked to a gazillion people but they were all people I knew. A little girl was at my office and kept sneaking around the corner by my desk and spying on me, but we never met. It was corporate espionage, pure and simple.

9. What are you craving right now? Sleep.

10. Do you floss daily? Oh yes. Every day. It's very important to me. Did you know you're supposed to floss before you brush your teeth, not after? Totally true!

11. What comes to mind when I say cabbage? Ahh! Someone was eating what smelled like a bowl of hot cabbage at my work today and it was sicko.

12. Are you emotional? No, only if you push me to the edge of tiredness and stress. Then I am emotional AND irrational.

13. Have you ever counted to 1,000? That sounds horrible. No. Don't waste my time.

14. Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it? Lick. Who wants to stick their teeth into that? A waste of deliciousness.

15. Do you like your hair? Nope! It is in a horrible, awkward, geeky growing out phase. The ends are nasty, the ends don't match the roots, and I do not know how to style it. It is a sad situation.

16. Do you like yourself? Generally.

17. Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush? Hmm, I was not expecting to get that offer. I guess so?

18. What are you listening to right now? Thirteen Going on Thirty is on in the background. I guess I'm in the midst of a Jennifer Garner obsession.

19. Are your parents strict? Honestly, I don't really know. I didn't really push the limits much.

20. Would you go sky diving? No! Unless I went on the Amazing Race. If I were brave enough to go on the show, I'd know skydiving might be a part of it, and I would want to die inside but would have to agree to sky dive in tandem with someone. Eee I don't want to!

21. Do you like cottage cheese? Oh, no. I've tried. Cottage cheese should not exist.

22. Have you ever met a celebrity? Heyoooooo! Arsenio Hall!

23. Do you rent movies often? Yes. And TV shows on DVD.

24. Is there anything sparkly in the room you're in? My wedding ring. My glimmering shimmering eyes.

25. How many countries have you visited? 6

26. Have you made a prank phone call? Yes.

27. Have you ever been on a train? Yes.

28. Brown or white eggs? I like the look of brown eggshells.

29. Do you have a cell-phone? Yes. I had the worst phone in the world for a while, a white Chocolate phone that was embarrassingly faulty. It really messed with me and was always beeping in my ear and showing me weird screens. Now I have a delightful cell-phone (why are we hyphenating this, survey? you weirdo!) with a full text keyboard. Whoop!

30. Do you use Chap Stick? Yeah dude.

31. Do you own a gun? Who are you talking to? No!

32. Can you use chop sticks? If I have to. I want the ones that they make for babies, where the ends are permanently attached for easy breezy chopsticking.

33. Who are you going to be with tonight? Brad, Emmy, Sidney Bristow.

34. Are you too forgiving? No.

35. Ever been in love? Yes.

36. What is your best (good) friend(s) doing tomorrow? Working.

37. Ever have cream puffs? No? I don't like things with creamy centers. Not even the world's best and most precious eclair.

38. Last time you cried? I don't remember, but today I coughed so hard that my eyes watered and made me look like I'd been having an emotional breakdown.

39. What was the last question you asked? What are you doing tomorrow?

40. Favorite time of the year? I like when seasons turn; the beginning of each one is perfect and refreshing.

41. Do you have any tattoos? No, no, no. I'm afraid of needles and long-term decisions.

42. Are you sarcastic? Yes, sometimes. I don't think I pull off sarcasm very attractively, though.

43. Have you ever seen The Butterfly Effect? No. No thanks.

44. Ever walked into a wall? Not completely. I bang my shoulders into door frames all the time. I have man shoulders but my brain never remembers about them.

45. Favorite color? Green.

46. Have you ever slapped someone? Probably? I'm sure I've slapped my brother. I've done some shin kicking in my day too.

47. Is your hair curly? Wavy when air dried. Curly never.

48. What was the last CD you bought? Um, I don't know. I should know. The CD I've been meaning to listen to a lot (but have not yet been) is Manchester Orchestra.

49. Do looks matter? Well, yes.

50. Could you ever forgive a cheater? Once a cheater, always a cheater! That's from Friends, and it's a line that is stuck in my brain. Thank you, Ross and Rachel! With enough time and wisdom, I think it is possible to forgive most things.

51. Is your phone bill sky high? No? What a weird question.

52. Do you like your life right now? I love the summertime! Except that my house is so toasty.

53. Do you sleep with the TV on? No, I hate that. Only if I fall asleep on the couch temporarily.

54. Can you handle the truth? Yes? Can you ask me meaningless questions in the form of iconic movie lines?

55. Do you have good vision? Oh yes. Glasses free since 1980!

56. Do you hate or dislike more than 3 people? Yes. Dislike.

57. How often do you talk on the phone? Occasionally. I kind of hate my phone. I almost never have my ringer turned on, and I don't like answering it.

58. The last person you held hands with? Brad. And Emmy and I hold hands a lot.

59. What are you wearing right now? Lounge wear. A leisure suit.

60. What is your favorite animal? Dog. Emmy has opened my eyes to the wonderful world of dogs. I want all of them to be my buddy.

61. Where was your profile picture taken at? Um, is this a Facebook question? On a boat. Never thought I'd be on a bo-oat!

62. Can you hula hoop? Yes.

63. Do you have a job? Yes.

64. What was the most recent thing you bought? Coffee.

65. Have you ever crawled through a window? It seems impossible that I wouldn't have done this, but I can't remember having to. I remember locking Danyeal, Marty, and myself out of my apartment a few years ago, but Marty saved the day by crawling through the bathroom window that time. He came in through the bathroom window.

Summer reading

My goal is to start posting some book reviews soon. I checked out (another) big stack of books from the library today. I don't know when exactly it is that I think I'm going to read them all, with a lot a lot a lot of work to do this week and Westport coming up very soon, but I just can't resist library books. As soon as I see something interesting, I grab it, because it's free! And because it's a book! And because just having a big fat pile of them around makes me feel smarter.

Books currently in my stack of summer reading material:

• Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, Anne Lamott
• The Undertaking, Thomas Lynch
• I Feel Bad About My Neck, Nora Ephron
• Julie and Julia, Julie Powell
  
• Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, Chuck Klosterman
• Jesus Wants to Save Christians, Rob Bell and Don Golden
• Ex Libris, Anne Fadiman
• Everything is Illuminated, Jonathan Safron Foer
• The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz
• Gilead, Marilynne Robinson

And so many more that it makes me feel both excited and a little nervous, because who am I kidding? There is absolutely no way I'm going to read all of this stuff (especially because of Brad's and my "summer project": watching endless episodes of Alias on DVD. Choose Vaughn! Choose Vaughn!). But, I can try. I recently finished both Plan B and I Feel Bad About My Neck, so further thoughts on books written by women over fifty will be coming up soon. Both books are great, but I think I've read enough about stomach pooches and saggy necks to last me quite a while.

grorry

I forgot to post yesterday! But posting so very early on a weekend morning should make up for it. I have a lot of readers clamoring for my posts. Anyway, this will be short. I didn't blog yesterday because I am sick! With a cold. In July. It is so lame. Plus, it was about 8 billion degrees in our house last night and I could hardly breathe out my nose and it was practically impossible to sleep, plus I didn't want to take any cold medicine because I had to get up at 5:15 this morning to take Brad to the airport. I knew from past experience that I would have still felt drugged and grorry, a.k.a. groggy, when I woke up, which is bad for driving. So now I'm just sitting here like a zombie eating cereal and trying to lower the temperature in the house. Each degree lower is a victory. I've made it from 78 to 75, so that's three small groggy celebrations so far.

One topic I forgot to include on my list of essay ideas is the elements of story, and what makes us interested in those particular elements. For example, foreshadowing. What makes readers look for foreshadowing in stories (consciously or not)? The more I read and really study writing, the more I notice that even in the most diverse writing, the same elements are there again and again. So, why? I've got some ideas.

getting down to business

My goal this summer was to lounge a lot and to work a little and to write most of my thesis, or at least a draft of most of the essays that will be in it. I am good at lounging and working but I suck at writing. In the first couple of weeks of summer I wrote an article for Spokane Coeur d'Alene Living magazine about rodeos, which I knew nothing about going in and which required tons of research. Doing the article was a great experience but it burned me out on writing for a while, because I had just finished my first year of grad school before I started the article and was already feeling pretty tired. I didn't write much at all for a little while after that.

And regarding lounging: I've learned that I'm probably never going to be someone who has long unmarked spans of time stretching out ahead. Being interested in lots of things and liking lots of people and wanting to go to lots of places will always keep something out ahead of me. This summer, so far, has been good and relaxing and full of fun people and time to read magazines and ride my bike to The Scoop for ice cream. But it's also been full of work projects and article writing and people visiting and mission trip planning and traveling. I say yes to doing lots of things, and every week there's something going on, and it makes it hard to find some sort of routine to do any real writing.

So, while I was walking Emmy tonight, I had an idea: I should set a deadline for my next essay. I should give myself two weeks, which is how long I had to write my rodeo article, which was fairly long and very research intensive, so I know it's doable. And to keep myself accountable, I'll let you read it. If you read this blog and want to read my essay two weeks from now, post a comment telling me so, and I'll email it to you when it's finished. It probably won't be a perfect flawless gem like me, but it will at least be a pretty good draft.

And, as another attempt to help myself stay on track, here are some of the topics I'm hoping to write about this summer, in the form of personal essays, profiles, and research-based pieces. The list is kind of cryptic, but not to worry; I know what it all means.

• serial hobbyism
• vegetarianism, and my growing numbers of vegetarian friends
• movement and thought, and how they're connected
• working at a bank
• working at a church
• piano lessons
• longtime friends (and maybe high school reunions)
• writing about the secret world of rodeo
• the moment I knew I'd become an adult
  

Ideal Day

Recently I made a list of everything I'd do in my ideal (but normal, a.k.a. not a vacation or something wonderful like that) day. I love making lists and this one was extra delightful because it's all stuff I like. Obviously. My ideal day (in no particular order) includes:

• running or some exercise something
  
• music (listening to, playing)
• being quiet (reading, praying, writing, thinking)
• being with people in a meaningful way, definitely Brad, probably friends/family/etc.
• taking Emmy for a walk
• being productive, a.k.a. cleaning, organizing, gardening, working
  
• cooking or baking, or eating things I've prepared myself
• watching something really good on TV, or a good movie; being entertained by non-garbage
• using email and Facebook to stay in contact with people I like, not to just spy mindlessly
• laughing. A lot.
• going somewhere: a coffee shop, the library, work, someone's house, etc. In other words, not being at home all day.
• learning something new
• writing
• reading
  

I didn't have to work on Tuesday and had a super quaint little morning. I got up and read for a while, then went running with Emmy, then came back and got my computer and drove to Luna for their summer latte hour or whatever it's called. Luna is a restaurant not far from my house and it is so adorable that it makes me want to die, or just live there or eat there every day. I bought coffee and a scone and sat outside at the cutest table on the nicest and most foliage-covered outdoor patio area. I was in love with it. And while I was there I wrote a draft of a whole essay! That's right. So many things on my list were happening all at once. I was the master of my own plan. I stopped by the library to turn in books and check out a few more, and went home and ate a delicious salad I made myself, and vacuumed, and made some ultra boring but necessary calls to our insurance provider. I was the most productive and most pleased woman in the world.

Then, I went to the Department of Licensing. We are going to Victoria in six weeks and I need to get an enhanced driver's license because my passport says my maiden name and I won't be able to get that fixed in time. So I brought my passport and marriage license and my driver's license and a billion utility bills with my married name, my maiden name, Brad's name, everything. I drove for half an hour through super gross traffic, got in line to get my number, and then the guy told me he couldn't help me! Apparently, although it would be enough to fix the name on my passport, the DOL won't take a marriage license/passport combo to give you an enhanced driver's license. I was enraged, but I tried to be very subtle about. The guy said I'd need to bring in my birth certificate so they'd have "a paper trail" and that I should go to the courthouse to request it.

But I didn't have my checkbook with me, so I needed cash for the birth certificate business. So I drove to a credit union downtown. I accidentally drove through their teller window area backward. Not in reverse; I went around the building counter-clockwise, and it was supposed to be clockwise. Awesome. A little embarrassment always helps me when I'm feeling enraged. I got $20 for the birth certificate, and drove to REI because they are close to the courthouse and have free parking. For customers only. So, to feel less like a parking space thief, I stopped into REI for a minute and priced out metal water bottles. It was ridiculous but it made me feel less guilty.

Then, on to the courthouse. However, contrary to what my buddy at the DOL told me, the courthouse does not provide birth certificates! No, no, no. Those are from some other building a couple of blocks south of the courthouse. So I wandered down there, and it was getting hot and miserable, and I was carrying around my laptop because I was supposed to meet some friends for a writing date at a coffee shop at that exact moment, and it was digging into my shoulder and making me feel off-balance. I filled out the paperwork and got my birth certificate and hiked back to my car (which was now kind of far away). And I was tired and sweaty and running late, I didn't have an enhanced driver's license, and I only wanted to go home. So I did. My ideal day disintegrated into a very unsuccessful and grouchy afternoon.

And on Thursday, instead of going back to Luna, I went back to the DOL. I waited for more than four hours, then spent about 10 minutes filling out paperwork, answering questions, getting my eyes checked, and having my picture taken. Driver's license, consider yourself enhanced. Ideal day list, consider yourself thwarted by normal life.

Books! Books! Books!

I still exist. Does anybody care? I really abandoned my blog for a while.

This quiz has been all over Facebook lately and I've been dying to fill it out but, for some reason, feel like Facebook isn't the appropriate venue. I'm acting like a Facebook snob, but I am neurotic and contradictory because I am on Facebook reading other people's quizzes all the time. Whatev!

The BBC says most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here.

Book List:

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (x...despite my love/hate relationship with Jane Austen, I've read a lot of her books)
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien (x)
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte (x)
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling (x+)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee (x)
6 The Bible (x)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte (x)
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell (x)
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens (*)
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott (x+ and Little Men! and Jo's Boys!)
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy (x)
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller (x)
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare (*)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier (? Who can remember something like that?)
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien (I'm not even marking this as "to-read." Scandal!)
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger (x+++)
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger (*)
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot (*)
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell (x+)
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald (x+)
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens (*)
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (*)
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky (x--number one source of unintentional sleeping spring of my senior year of high school.)
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (x)
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll (*)
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame (*)
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy (x)
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens (*)
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis (*--some, not all...I should get back to these)
34 Emma - Jane Austen (x)
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (x)
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini (x)
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres (Bella Bambina, 2 o'clock! Have not read!)
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden (x)
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne (x)
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell (*--why didn't I have to read this in high school? Didn't everybody else?)
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (x)
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (*)
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving (*)
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery (x+...I have the Anne of Green Gables complete boxed set in my basement. I have read all eight books multiple times. I have a Word document I once created indicating the full name and birth year of each of Anne's seven children--and the age she was when each one was born. Nerd alert! Slash awesome??)
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy (x)
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood (*)
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding (x)
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan (*)
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel (x)
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (x)
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon (x)
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens (x)
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (x)
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon (x+)
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (*)
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck (x)
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold (x+)
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac (*)
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding (x)
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville (x...I wrote my senior thesis on this book)
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens (*--does Oliver and Company count? Then xxxxxxxxxxxx)
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (*)
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce (*)
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath (*)
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray (*)
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens (*)
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker (*)
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert (x)
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White (x)
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albot
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (x)
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint (*)
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams (x)
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare (x)
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl (x)
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (x)

I've read 43 -- and I want to read a lot more. I have read Bridget Jones's Diary but hardly any Dickens. I'm awesome.

Share your list -- Instructions:
1) Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.
2) Add a '+' to the ones you LOVE.
3) Star (*) those you plan on reading.
4) Tally your total at the bottom.
5) Put in a note with your total in the title line.