Thirteen Things I've Read

Thirteen things I've read that have stuck in my memory, from a book I read when I was ten to last month... in no particular order:

1. On the Beach, my first nuclear holocaust read

2. 1984, read it multiple times, it's still creepy

3. Mists of Avalon, a female legend revolving around King Arthur, read it several times, still own it

4. The Stand, still one of the spookiest novels ever, kept me up as a teenager til 3 a.m.

5. Through a Glass Darkly, one of the few romance novels I consider great, though hard to find now

6. Conrad's War, a pre-teen book during my 'love of all things army' phase

7. All the Children Were Sent Away, another pre-teen book during my 'love of all things war' phase

8. Wild Swans, Three Daughters of China, great book based on the lives of three generations of Chinese women during three different phases of the country, from the concubine grandmother to the communist mother to the democratic daughter living abroad, great book.

9. The Lovely Bones, there's just no way that book can't stay with you.

10. The Chronicles of Narnia, might as well be one book. I've tried (unsuccessfuly) to get every child I have influence over to read these books, from my little brother to my eldest daughter.

11. Don't Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch, a book I was forced to read in Fourth Grade, way beneath my reading level (college at that age) because the teacher was not comfortable with my more adult (Sydney Sheldon, I believe) reading choices. It's still one of my favorite sayings, but the book bored me terribly.

12. The Once and Future King, a great book I try to get everyone I know to read, because it's a classic King Arthur tale that's funny.

13. A Canticle for Leibowitz, another book I try to get everyone to read, with little success I might add.