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20 Books in 20 Minutes


This is one of those Facebook things that comes around every so often. While I'm not keen on most FB quizzes (inane) I appreciate this one as it can be a good source of inspiration for new books to read.

Here's my list:

The rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Twenty books you've read that will always stick with you. List the first twenty you can recall in no more than twenty minutes. Tag some friends, including me, because I'm interested in seeing what books my friends choose. (To do this, go to your Notes tab on your profile page, paste rules i... etc etc.

1. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

2. The Twits - Roald Dahl

3. Regeneration Trilogy - Pat Barker

4. Lord of the Rings - Tolkein

5. Red Mars - Kim Stanley Robinson

6. 1984 - George Orwell

7. Down and Out in Paris and London - George Orwell

8. Mill on the Floss - George Elliot (Still not finished it but loved it so far)

9. The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver

10. Cry the Beloved Country - Alan Paton?

11. Cat's Eye - Margaret Atwood

12. No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency - nice bit of cheerful fluff which shows an African country in a positive light

13. Father Ted - The Complete Scripts - Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews

14. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

15. Monkey - Wu Chen'eng en

16. Ray Bradbury/Azimov/Arthur C Clarke/Philip K Dick - Can't choose one specific book

17. John Wyndham - Day of the Triffids

18. The Book of Dave - Wil Self

19. Last King of Scotland - Giles Foden

20. The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts - Louis De Bernieres


Also Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow, Philip Larkin poetry, the War poets, Debbie Stollers learn to knit book, A Primates Memoir by Sapolski...

Seems I like dystopian Sci Fi and depressing books about African countries (Mma Ramotswe being the exception).

It would be interesting to revisit this list in 5 years time.

I'll end this post with an excerpt from my favourite kid's book, The Twits by Roald Dahl.


If you've written a list on your blog please leave a link to it in the comments so I can get ideas for new books to read. Thank you.

Comments

christunte said…
Well - just a few books. I love "Winds of War" and "War and Remebrance" by Herman Wouk (I always dissolve in tears when reading the very final chapter).
"The Physician" by Noah Gordon was pure joy from the first to the final page. "Anybody out there?" by Marian Keyes was great. Especially because you never realised what was going on until the end. Oh - and then I love Harry Potter....
By the way - can I borrow your last picture for my blog? The one with thoughts and looks?
6 September 2010 at 10:18
Anonymous said…
I feel like I'm your groupie a little, but this stuck with me so I had to do it finally to just get it out of my head:

http://mostcurious.wordpress.com/2010/09/28/the-book-thing-20-books-in-20-minutes/
28 September 2010 at 17:41
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