101 Books to Read Before You Die discussion

With spring/summer approaching, it's time to think about a summer challenge or a theme or a compare/contrast or some other approach to continue through our lists or to add some side challenges to those who are interested. Please suggest any thoughts on any of these topics or other ideas for fun reading discussion as we begin to (hopefully soon!) move into some warmer months with time for sitting outside taking in some good books!

I would like to suggest reading Patrick Leigh Fermor. A Time of Gifts is on our list. We could also read the remaining two books in the trilogy Between The Woods And The Water and The Broken Road: From the Iron Gates to Mount Athos

Good theme :)

Another thought for summer would be A Suitable Boy. At a monstrous 1488 pages, we may need a full season to finish it...

Good grief, is it really that long? You're right, that might be a good summer challenge to take small bites out of over time!

Have you read it? Is it good?

Alana wrote: "Good grief, is it really that long? You're right, that might be a good summer challenge to take small bites out of over time! Have you read it? Is it good?"
I haven't read it but I just found a used copy on Amazon. I'll have it ready for when we need it. It does have great reviews and I generally enjoy books set in India.

We should be thinking about a July read...

You're right! I meant to post threads last weekend but had family in town, so I forgot!

Out of curiosity, are there any books on either of these lists that you have no intention of reading, whether the group picks it or not? A book that you just don't want to read? If there's a specific book that the majority or all of the group doesn't want to read, we can certainly revise our list and cut some books out (or set them as side reads) over time. No point in forcing ourselves to read something none of us is really interested in. Any thoughts on that?

Alana wrote: "Out of curiosity, are there any books on either of these lists that you have no intention of reading, whether the group picks it or not? ..."
I have read most of 101... There are a few which I believe should get culled. I will post a few which I think should be replaced.

I'm totally fine with that if the active membership is in agreement. There are definitely books I've read that are so highly lauded, and I read them and think "this is a MUST-read? Why?"

I would question:
American Psycho (almost pornographic for its violence)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (this book is on the children's list too)
His Dark Materials (aka Northern Lights - at best a YA read)
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists (very dated treatise on the rise of labor unions)
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (again a very dated treatise, this time on religion)

Ok, we'll keep those in mind. Anyone have anything to say either agreeing or disagreeing? Read any of the books that Mike mentioned and think they are worth reading? Any books to add to the "don't care to read" pile?

Huckleberry Finn I'm fine with counting just in the Children's list (although there is some very not-kid-friendly material in it) and because (I believe) we've already read it under that list.

I would add A Confederacy of Dunces but only because I hated it... if it's your type of humor, you would really like it, but I don't think it necessarily belongs on a "must-read" list.

I don't know that Hitchhiker's Guide is a "must-read" per se, but it's just plain fun and i think would be an interesting book for our group, but if you're not into sci-fi or very dry humor, might not be your cup of tea.

I hated Rabbit, Run, but could be interesting for discussion. I will NOT re-read it, however.

Any others that I might question, I haven't read, so I don't have any valuable commentary on them.

I don't think half of those books are "must reads". I have no idea who put this list together. I have never come aross a top 100 books list that included titles like "The Lovely Bones". So, I think any culling of this list is going to be purely a matter of personal taste.

True. my thought was mostly to cut out anything that the group simply doesn't want to read, because forcing ourselves to read something we're not interested in is just silly. So if we're all in agreement about a particular book, I may just make a thread for a side read in case someone is interested later, but mark it off the list for group reads. But that can be done later: I just wanted to be thinking about it since we're about half done with the list now.

I posted this elsewhere, but I like the idea of continuing to read off the list. The list was what appealed to me in finding the group. Probably most of us are in other groups reading award winners as well, so there will be overlap. I joined you later, so you've read most of the 101. We could search for a more recent list and/or move on to a similar, but larger list. Some of my clubs have a set number if years that they lock out on reads. For example, one allows repeats after five years. I definitely like the idea of continuing an adult and a children's read.

Here's my post from the other thread as well, Leslie, for discussion here:

Thanks for your input everyone! Indeed, participation had slackened somewhat, either due to life business (in my case) or to lack of interest in some of the title, either because many of our members have already read them (Mike, I believe, has read nearly, if not all, of them) or because some of the titles just aren't as interesting to some members. I agree with you, I want to read (almost) all of the titles on the original list eventually, but to keep up interest, I decided to intersperse some other book selections in between, to keep up interest. I'll pop into the other thread to see what you all have discussed there as well. Thanks for your interest!

Actually, the book list we're currently working from was in place before I was involved in the group, before I became a moderator. I'm not sure where the original list came from but there have been suggestions about making a new 101 list of our own at some point. If there are several of us interested in that, I'd be happy to see about getting a new list going. We could even run the lists concurrently, having two reads a month, although I know that can get overwhelming (I know my life gets very busy at points and I just can't read the amount of books I would like). We're always open for new ideas to consider!

We could expand the list & re-imagine ourselves as the "133" (pick any number) books to read group. We could invite anyone interested to add a book to the list & get some fresh choices...

Like the "100+ Book Club" or something. Not a bad idea.

Do we want to do that now, add it to the titles we're already working from? Or replace the current list (or use it as some Buddy Reads in the background)? Or maybe everyone who's interested choose their top five or ten titles from the current list that we haven't read yet, just keep the top titles, and drop the remainder that don't have interest?

I like the idea of top 5/10 titles that we haven't read yet.

I like the idea of expanding the list only if it is from some other curated list. I know that if you were going to ask me to submit 5 books today it would come from books that have caught my eye because they are new or someone just wrote an amazing review. It would not be enduring books. But, if we picked 5 from Boxall's list or another list of enduring reads, I would be interested in that.

What are the lists that you prefer, Irene? I was thinking like Pulitzer (Fiction, History, etc), Booker, and maybe National Book Award (although that might be too current bestseller-driven).

What kind of lists would we like to work from, if that's the route we go?

I did not have any in mind, but major awards might be a start.

I am partial to the Giller Prize as well but that is just being Canadian. The Pulitzer & the Booker lists give us a great cross section from which to choose.

I made some posts that include all the relevant Pulitzer and Booker prizes to date. I think we've actually read quite a few of them, since I've looked at the titles. I was surprised how many titles I recognized or have read already (makes me feel accomplished, lol). We might find a few that appear on multiple lists and hone in on a few of those, as well.

I'm not familiar with the Giller Prize, but I'll check it out. We can always add more outside lists and just see what interests us.

Any new thoughts on this in the last couple of months? Have you had some time to look over our current list and see if there are some titles that you definitely still want to read (or definitely DON'T want to)? Other lists that you like?

Do we want to keep voting on the main list like we have been, or use a random number generator to finish it out, or move on to another list entirely?

Everyone's thoughts are welcome!

I am fine finishing out the list.