Overcoming the Huge Hole in My Education with a List of Books to Read or Read Again

This post was originally published on 6/3/2010 - I thought it would be interesting to revisit this post over a year later to see if I had chipped away at this list of classic books at all.  Over the past year, I have read 5 books from this list!  Five books is definitely not a ton of progress, but at least SOME progress was made!  

I went to college for over 9 years. I spent 4 years in an undergraduate program and 2 years in a Master's program - both of which I emerged from with degrees. I spent another 3 1/2 years in college working on a doctorate. I had a baby instead of finishing my dissertation.  I have absolutely no regrets.  The baby was far more interesting than my dissertation, to say the very least.

Reflecting back on my college experiences, most of which were very positive, I am amazed to realize that I read very few classics or recommended books. I spent my time reading academic journals and textbooks until my brain was fried but I read very few classics.

In fact, I was deeply bothered by the fact that of the 100 Most Recommended Works found in Reading Lists for College-Bound Students, I have only read a small handful of them.  The even more troubling part is that I only clearly remember the 2 that I have recently read so that my daughter and I could discuss them.

Honestly, I find that absolutely shocking.

The question now becomes, what am I going to do about this obvious deficit in my education?

I will start with a list, as all great projects must.

In an effort to overcome the huge hole in my education regarding classic/recommended books, I have compiled the following list combining the lists found at College Board and The Most Recommended Books List from Reading Lists for College-Bound Students.  My ultimate goal is to read all of the books on this list.  I expect that it will take me a very long time.

I have marked off any books that I have already read and clearly remember that are on this list.  While I have read some of the titles, I don't think I could have a three minute conversation about them so I should revisit them in my older and wiser age.  You can easily note that very few books have been crossed off the list.  As I work through the list, I will continue to update it by crossing off and highlighting books that I have read. 

With no further ado, here is the Overcoming the Huge Hole in My Education with a List of Books to Read or Read Again Book List

1. Beowulf
2. Achebe, Chinua - Things Fall Apart
3. Agee, James - A Death in the Family
4. Austen, Jane - Pride and Prejudice
5. Baldwin, James - Go Tell It On the Mountain
6. Beckett, Samuel - Waiting for Godot
7. Bellow, Saul - Seize the Day
8. Bellow, Saul - The Adventures of Augie March
9. Bronte, Charlotte - Jane Eyre
10. Bronte, Emily - Wuthering Heights
11. Camus, Albert - The Stranger
12. Carroll, Lewis - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
13. Cather, Willa - My Antonia
14. Cather, Willa - Death Comes for the Archbishop
15. Cervantes, Miguel de - Don Quixote
16. Chaucer, Geoffrey - The Canterbury Tales
17. Chekhov, Anton - The Cherry Orchard
18. Chopin, Kate - The Awakening
19. Conrad, Joseph - Heart of Darkness
20. Cooper, James Fenimore - The Last of the Mohicans
21. Crane, Stephen - The Red Badge of Courage
22. Dante - Inferno
23. Defoe, Daniel - Robinson Crusoe
24. Dickens, Charles - Great Expectations
25. Dickens, Charles - A Tale of Two Cities
26. Dostoevski, Feodor - Crime and Punishment
27. Douglass, Frederick - Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
28. Dreiser, Theodore - An American Tragedy
29. Dumas, Alexandre - The Three Musketeers
30. Eliot, George - The Mill on the Floss
31. Ellison, Ralph - Invisible Man
32. Emerson, Ralph Waldo - Selected Essays
33. Faulkner, William - As I Lay Dying
34. Faulkner, William - The Sound and the Fury
35. Fielding, Henry - Tom Jones
36. Fitzgerald, F. Scott - The Great Gatsby
37. Flaubert, Gustave - Madame Bovary
38. Ford, Ford Madox - The Good Soldier
39. Forster, E. M. - A Passage to India
40. Garcia Marquez, Gabriel - One Hundred Years of Solitude
41. Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von - Faust
42. Golding, William - The Lord of the Flies
43. Hardy, Thomas - Tess of the d'Urbervilles
44. Hawthorne, Nathaniel - The Scarlet Letter
45. Heller, Joseph - Catch 22
46. Hemingway, Ernest - A Farewell to Arms
47. Homer - The Iliad
48. Homer - The Odyssey
49. Hugo, Victor - The Hunchback of Notre Dame
50. Hurston, Zora Neale - Their Eyes Were Watching God
51. Huxley, Aldous - Brave New World
52. Ibsen, Henry - A Doll's House
53. James, Henry - The Portrait of a Lady
54. James, Henry - The Turn of the Screw
55. Joyce, James - The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
56. Kafka, Franz - The Metamorphosis
57. Kafka, Franz - The Trial
58. Kingston, Maxine Hong - The Woman Warrior
59. Lawrence, D. H. - Sons and Lovers
60. Lee, Harper - To Kill a Mockingbird
61. Sinclair, Lewis - Babbitt
62. London, Jack - Call of the Wild
63. Malamud, Bernard - The Assistant
64. Mann, Thomas - Death in Venice
65. Mann, Thomas - The Magic Mountain
66. Marquez, Gabriel Garcia - One Hundred Years of Solitude
67. Melville, Herman - Bartleby the Scrivener
68. Melville, Herman - Moby Dick
69. Miller, Arthur - The Crucible
70. Morrison, Toni - Beloved
71. Morrison, Toni - Sula
72. O'Connor, Flannery - A Good Man Is Hard to Find
73. Olsen, Tillie - Tell Me a Riddle
74. O' Neill, Eugene - Long Day's Journey Into Night
75. Orwell, George - Animal Farm
76. Paton, Alan - Cry the Beloved Country
77. Pasternak, Boris - Doctor Zhivago
78. Plath, Sylvia - The Bell Jar
79. Poe, Edgar Allan - The Fall of the House of Usher, The Purloined Letter, The Cask of Amontillado, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Tell-Tale Heart
80. Proust, Marcel - Swann's Way
81. Pynchon, Thomas - The Crying of Lot 49
82. Remarque, Erich Maria - All Quiet on the Western Front
83. Rostand, Edmond - Cyrano de Bergerac
84. Roth, Henry - Call It Sleep
85. Salinger, J. D. - The Catcher in the Rye
86. Scott, Sir Walter - Ivanhoe
87. Shakespeare, William - Hamlet
88. Shakespeare, William - Macbeth
89. Shakespeare, William - A Midsummer's Night Dream
90. Shakespeare, William - Romeo and Juliet
91. Shaw, George Bernard - Pygmalion
92. Shelley, Mary - Frankenstein
93. Silko, Leslie Marmon - Ceremony
94. Solzhenitsyn, Alexander - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
95. Sophocles - Antigone
96. Sophocles - Oedipus Rex
97. Steinbeck, John - The Grapes of Wrath
98. Stevenson, Robert Louis - Treasure Island
99. Stowe, Harriet Beecher - Uncle Tom's Cabin
100. Swift, Jonathan - Gulliver's Travels
101. Thackeray, William Makepeace - Vanity Fair
102. Thoreau, Henry David - Walden
103. Tolstoy, Leo - War and Peace
104. Turgenev, Ivan - Fathers and Sons
105. Twain, Mark - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
106. Twain, Mark - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
107. Updike, John - Rabbit, Run
108. Voltaire - Candide
109. Vonnegut, Kurt - Slaughterhouse Five
110. Walker, Alice - The Color Purple
111. Welty, Eudora - From the book "Thirteen Stories" - Why I Live at the PO, The Worn Path, The Petrified Man
112. Wharton, Edith - The Age of Innocence
113. Whitman, Walt - Leaves of Grass
114. Wilde, Oscar - The Picture of Dorian Gray
115. Williams, Tennessee - The Glass Menagerie
116. Woolf, Virginia - To the Lighthouse
117. Wright, Richard - Native Son

Top 100 Children's Books - A Post Revisited

I originally posted this on 4/21/10 - I thought it would be interesting to revisit this post and see if we've read any more of these recommended books... and we have!  Our family total is now up to 32 books!  While this is quite a bit better than 27 books, we still have a LOT of reading to do to conquer this list!


While reading through the blogs that I read each day, I found this delightful list of the Top 100 Children's Books originally posted by School Library Journal. The list was picked up by Teacher Ninja and discussed on the blog I love and regularly read, Our Journey Westward. I LOVE lists like this one as I am always looking for great books for my children (and me).

So, which books have I read? Which books have my children read? I have highlighted all of the books that I read and I put three asterisks by all of the books that at least one of my children have read.

100. The Egypt Game – Snyder (1967)
99. The Indian in the Cupboard – Banks (1980)
98. Children of Green Knowe – Boston (1954)
97. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane – DiCamillo (2006)
96. The Witches – Dahl (1983)
95. Pippi Longstocking – Lindgren (1950)
94. Swallows and Amazons – Ransome (1930)
93. Caddie Woodlawn – Brink (1935)
92. Ella Enchanted – Levine (1997)
91. Sideways Stories from Wayside School – Sachar (1978)
90. Sarah, Plain and Tall – MacLachlan (1985)
89. Ramona and Her Father – Cleary (1977)
88. The High King – Alexander (1968)
87. The View from Saturday – Konigsburg (1996)
86. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – Rowling (1999) ***
85. On the Banks of Plum Creek – Wilder (1937)
84. The Little White Horse – Goudge (1946)
83. The Thief – Turner (1997) 
82. The Book of Three – Alexander (1964)
81. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon – Lin (2009)
80. The Graveyard Book – Gaiman (2008)
79. All-of-a-Kind-Family – Taylor (1951)
78. Johnny Tremain – Forbes (1943) ***
77. The City of Ember – DuPrau (2003) ***
76. Out of the Dust – Hesse (1997)
75. Love That Dog – Creech (2001)
74. The Borrowers – Norton (1953)
73. My Side of the Mountain – George (1959)
72. My Father’s Dragon – Gannett (1948)
71. The Bad Beginning – Snicket (1999) ***
70. Betsy-Tacy – Lovelae (1940)
69. The Mysterious Benedict Society – Stewart ( 2007)
68. Walk Two Moons – Creech (1994)
67. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher – Coville (1991)
66. Henry Huggins – Cleary (1950)
65. Ballet Shoes – Stratfeild (1936)
64. A Long Way from Chicago – Peck (1998)
63. Gone-Away Lake – Enright (1957)
62. The Secret of the Old Clock – Keene (1959)
61. Stargirl – Spinelli (2000)
60. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle – Avi (1990)
59. Inkheart – Funke (2003)
58. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase – Aiken (1962)
57. Ramona Quimby Age Eight – Cleary (1981)
56. Number the Stars – Lowry (1989) ***
55. The Great Gilly Hopkins – Paterson (1978)
54. The BFG – Dahl (1982)
53. Wind in the Willows – Grahame (1908)
52. The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007)
51. The Saturdays – Enright (1941)
50. Island of the Blue Dolphins – O’Dell (1960)
49. Frindle – Clements (1996)
48. The Penderwicks – Birdsall (2005)
47. Bud, Not Buddy – Curtis (1999)
46. Where the Red Fern Grows – Rawls (1961)
45. The Golden Compass – Pullman (1995) ***
44. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing – Blume (1972)
43. Ramona the Pest – Cleary (1968)
42. Little House on the Prairie – Wilder (1935)
41. The Witch of Blackbird Pond – Speare (1958)
40. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – Baum (1900)
39. When You Reach Me – Stead (2009)
38. HP and the Order of the Phoenix – Rowling (2003) ***
37. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry – Taylor (1976)
36. Are you There, God? It’s Me, Margaret – Blume (1970) ***
35. HP and the Goblet of Fire – Rowling (2000) ***
34. The Watson’s Go to Birmingham – Curtis (1995)
33. James and the Giant Peach – Dahl (1961)
32. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH – O’Brian (1971) ***
31. Half Magic – Eager (1954)
30. Winnie-the-Pooh – Milne (1926)
29. The Dark Is Rising – Cooper (1973)
28. A Little Princess – Burnett (1905) ***
27. Alice I and II – Carroll (1865/72) ***
26. Hatchet – Paulsen (1989)
25. Little Women – Alcott (1868/9)
24. HP and the Deathly Hallows – Rowling (2007) ***
23. Little House in the Big Woods – Wilder (1932)
22. The Tale of Despereaux – DiCamillo (2003)
21. The Lightning Thief – Riordan (2005) ***
20. Tuck Everlasting – Babbitt (1975) ***
19. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Dahl (1964) ***
18. Matilda – Dahl (1988)
17. Maniac Magee – Spinelli (1990)
16. Harriet the Spy – Fitzhugh (1964)
15. Because of Winn-Dixie – DiCamillo (2000)
14. HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Rowling (1999) ***
13. Bridge to Terabithia – Paterson (1977)
12. The Hobbit – Tolkein (1938)
11. The Westing Game – Raskin (1978)
10. The Phantom Tollbooth – Juster (1961)
9. Anne of Green Gables – Montgomery (1908)
8. The Secret Garden – Burnett (1911)
7. The Giver -Lowry (1993) ***
6. Holes – Sachar (1998)
5. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler – Koningsburg (1967)
4. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – Lewis (1950) ***
3. Harry Potter #1 – Rowling (1997) ***
2. A Wrinkle in Time – L’Engle (1962) ***
1. Charlotte’s Web – White (1952)

Wow - I've only read 26 of the books on the list! I think I may have read a few others when I was MUCH younger but if I don't remember them clearly, I don't think it's fair that I count them. If you count the one book that one of my children read that I didn't read, it brings the grand total to 27. I guess we all have some reading to do!

How many have YOU read? Do you enjoy Top 100 lists like these?

Keeping Hands Busy and Minds Engaged During Read-Alouds - New Post Up At The Homeschool Classroom

Homeschooling mothers sometimes find it difficult for their children to sit still during read-alouds.  My advice is to just quit trying!  Now, I don’t advocate giving up read-alouds, but I do recommend giving up on making children sit still during read-aloud sessions!

I have antsy hands. My children do too, especially my boys. It is hard for any of us to just sit and listen to somebody read or even to just sit and watch an educational video. Regardless, I utilize read-alouds and educational videos regularly as part of our school day.

How do I balance antsy hands with my desire to include read-alouds and educational videos in our school days?

Please join me at The Homeschool Classroom to read my ideas for hands-on activities to do during read-alouds and share your own great ideas.

Homeschooling by the Numbers FREE E-Book: Encouragement and Ideas at the Homeschool Classroom

I am so excited to be part of Angie's latest wonderful project!  Angie from The Homeschool Classroom has compiled a fabulous FREE e-book filled with inspiring and informational articles that will help motivate and equip you for a brand new year of homeschooling!

Included in the FREE e-book, Homeschooling by the Numbers are the following articles:

• Five Steps to Becoming Homeschool Teacher of the Year
• 15 Ways to Have Fun with Fine Motor Skills
• Five Things to say “No” to While Homeschooling
• 10 Recipes for Homemade Art Supplies
• 10 Ways to Avoid Homeschool Burnout
• Seven Benefits of Using Notebooking
• 14 Reasons Why We Homeschool
• 12 Ways to Break Up Homeschooling Monotony
• Four Reasons to Pre-read Your Child’s Independent Reading Books
• 26 Fun Art and Craft Materials for $1.00 or Less {And some fun things to do with them}
• 19 Everyday Helps for a Smoother Homeschool Year
• Six Things to Do With Broken Crayons
• Five Ways the Conquer Your First Year with Flexibility
• 30 Truths about Homeschooling
• Top 10 Reasons to Attend The 2:1 Conference
• Five Must Listen to Audio Series for Boys (and Their Families)
• Six Reasons You Should Save Time in Your Schedule for Field Trips
• Seven Lessons Learned From Our First Year of Homeschooling
• Ten Tips for Traveling with Children
• Eight Weeks To The Perfect Home Scholar
• Seven Steps You Can Use When Choosing Your Home School Materials
• Five Easy Steps to Spending Quality Time Together
• Fifteen Ideas for a “Mental Health” Day
• My Top 10 Homeschool Resolutions.

The majority of the content is BRAND NEW!  I'm really proud of the article I wrote for the e-book, "10 Ways to Avoid Homeschool Burnout."  I can't wait to read all of the articles by the other great ladies who write for The Homeschool Classroom!

So, head on over to The Homeschool Classroom to find out all the details about how to get your own copy of the free e-book.  I'll be printing out my copy to take to a swim meet!